MOSCOW, (Russia):– UK politician George Galloway has achieved a sweeping victory in a by-election to the House of Commons in the Rochdale constituency, making support for the Gaza Strip the pillar of his election campaign, reported Russian news agency Sputnik.
The by-election was needed to replace Rochdale's member of parliament, the Labour Party's Sir Tony Lloyd, who died in January.
Galloway, who started his political career in the Labour Party but was expelled in 2003 for criticising then-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's stance on the Iraq War, established his own Workers Party in 2019.
"(Labour leader) Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza. You have paid and you will pay a high price for the role that you have played for enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Palestine and in the Gaza Strip," Galloway said in his victory speech today (March 1).
He won the vote in Rochdale with 39.7 per cent of votes while his main rival, independent candidate David Tully, took 21.3 per cent, UK media reported, citing Parliament data.
In his election campaign, Galloway paid significant attention to the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, condemned Israeli military actions and criticised UK political leaders' handling of the conflict, which made him popular among Muslim voters who make up a third of Rochdale's population. — Bernama
Keywords: UK, Gaza, parliament, election