Labelled as 'the weirdest by-election ever' by The News Agents, the Rochdale by-election was triggered following the death of it's Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd who passed in January. Of the candidates standing, three candidates were former members of the Labour Party - George Galloway, Simon Danczuk and more recently Azhar Ali.
Galloway had sat as a Labour MP for Glasgow Hillhead and Kelvin until 2003 when he joined the fledgling Respect Party, a party set up in response to the anti-war movement in early 2000s Britain. He then was elected as an Independent for the Respect Party in Bethnal Green in 2005 and later won a landslide by-election in Bradford West in 2012.
His pledges include saving the town's football club from "extinction", to "reopen maternity services and A&E at Rochdale Infirmary without delay", cracking down on grooming gangs, "bring back big names to our town centre like Primark" and promised a "grand alliance" with independents and others to push the mainstream parties out of the local council.
Galloway won 39.7% of the votes, Independent David Tully came in with 21.3%, Conservative candidate Paul Ellison at 12.0%, Azhar Ali - having had Labour's support withdrawn over comments over Israel - received 7.7% of the votes, Lib Dem Iain Donaldson at 7.0% and Reform's Simon Danczuk - previously suspended from the Labour Party after sending explicit messages to an underage girl - came in last with 6.3% of the votes.
Galloway praised David Tully for coming in second as an independent candidate campaigning on local issues as a "remarkable achievement". Mr Tully, a well-known figure in Rochdale, said he decided to stand in the by-election "to be the voice of Rochdale".
In his victory speech, Galloway said: "Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak are two cheeks of the same backside and they both got well and truly spanked tonight here in Rochdale."