There are lessons to be learned from the Rochdale byelection. One is that when Labour fails to listen to its supporters or blames them for defecting, it risks losing its strongholds. Another is that the Tories are being held responsible at the ballot box for the decay in urban Britain. While local concerns figured in George Galloway’s campaign, it was the geopolitics of the war in Gaza – and the inadequate responses from the main two parties – that helped the former Labour MP win the seat.
Mr Galloway, a strident critic of Israel, is living proof that there is power without office. Labour rushed this byelection – firing the starting gun before its last MP, Sir Tony Lloyd, was even buried – to stop Mr Galloway, a formidable campaigner, from building up momentum in the seat, where almost a third of voters are Muslim. A demagogic opportunist, Mr Galloway has represented four cities and three parties in his political career. Only Winston Churchill constituency-hopped as much. It is unlikely that local issues will often occupy Mr Galloway in the Commons, especially while there is salt to be rubbed into Labour’s wounds over Gaza.
