What does George Galloway's Rochdale win mean?

George Galloway stormed to victory in the Rochdale by-election provoking delight from some quarters and bitter condemnation from others, but what does it actually mean?

George Galloway won more votes in the Rochdale by-election than Labour, the Tories, and the Lib-Dems combined to take the parliamentary seat in convincing style.

"It’s only a by-election"

The first thing to note is that strange things tend to happen in by-elections because the turnout is generally lower, yet political parties can afford to invest much more effort in fighting them than in general elections where they’re campaigning in constituencies all over the country simultaneously.

Having made this disclaimer it’s worth pointing out that the much-derided Rochdale turnout of 39.4% (down from 60.1% in 2019) wasn’t particularly low by by-election standards, and slightly higher than the turnouts in the much vaunted string of Labour by-election wins preceding it (Wellingborough 38%, Kingswood 37%, Tamworth 36%).

Public anger

Rochdale does have a significant Muslim community of around 30%, but anyone trying to pretend that Galloway won purely because of this is lying to themselves, and outright ignoring the utter collapse in support for the establishment political parties.

Labour tumbled from 24,475 votes (51.6%) to 2,402 (7.7%) and the Tories who finished as runners up in 2019 fell from 14,807 votes (31.2%) to 3,731 (12%).

Even in the fantastical and ridiculous scenario that Galloway only won because virtually every Muslim in Rochdale voted for him, it would still mean that the 70% odd non-Muslim population were so dissatisfied with mainstream politics that the overwhelming majority simply stayed at home.

As Galloway said in his victory speech "Labour has lost the confidence of millions of their voters who loyally and traditionally voted for them for generation after generation … It’s true that [Muslims are] bitterly angry at Keir Starmer and his misnamed Labour Party, but you would be very foolish if you did not realise that millions of other citizens of our country are too".

And he’s not wrong, is he?

Labour vulnerability

Labour are almost certain to win the next election because people are so sick and tired of the Tories after 14 dreadful years of austerity ruination, corruption, and chaos. However this by-election result shows that they can actually be vulnerable from the left.

If the Green Party, small left-wing parties, and socialists in exile from Starmer’s right-wing Labour Party play their cards right they can disrupt the hegemony, win target seats and representation in parliament, and make the first steps towards reshaping the future of Britain’s political landscape.

Some victories are easier to envisage than others. It would be surprising if Jeremy Corbyn didn’t retain his Islington seat were he to run as an independent, and the Greens would be bitterly disappointed if they couldn’t hold Brighton Pavilion and take Bristol West from the Labour’s dreadful incumbent Thangam Debbonaire. But wouldn’t it be incredible if the left unified behind the Jewish anti-racism campaigner Andrew Feinstein in Holborn and St. Pancras to take Keir Starmer’s seat and dethrone the guy who stole the Labour leadership with an outrageous pack of lies?

The man himself

Even George Galloway’s fiercest critics admit that he’s one of Britain’s top political orators, and many of his supporters would have to admit that he’s a divisive and sometimes infuriating figure.

In 2021 he caused disgust and outrage on the left when he publicly supported Boris Johnson’s Tories in the Scottish Parliament elections. If the man has such an extreme blind-spot over Scottish independence that he’d advise people to actually vote in favour of the Tory austerity wreckers simply because because they’re anti-independence too, you have to wonder what else he could be spectacularly wrong about.

You’d have to be incredibly bold and outspoken to try and argue that Galloway isn’t an inveterate self-publicist, but then you’d also be lying to yourself to deny that the man can make an incredible speech.

His evisceration of an audience of Oxford toffs (see video below) was an example of the incredible oratory he’s capable of, and it will be interesting to see if he can bring this kind of passion to parliament to speak up against the Gaza genocide, and in favour of ordinary working Brits.

A voice for Gaza

Galloway himself admitted that the huge public anger at Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak over their genocide complicity played a crucial role in his by-election win.

There are surely many in the Labour Party ranks who would want to speak out just as vehemently against the atrocities in Gaza, but they’re too terrified of retribution from Starmer and his goons to do it.

But there’s nothing Starmer can do to intimidate Galloway into silence.

Starmer can’t remove the Labour whip or rig selection processes to replace him with a genocide-complicit drone; he can’t force him to pipe down or do as he’s told; and he there’s nothing he can do stop him from calling out the outrageous genocide complicity of Starmer’s Labour or Sunak’s Tories.

British politics sorely needs someone to speak up for Gaza in the corridors of power (besides Galloway’s SNP foes who have been doing their best despite Lindsay Hoyle’s outrageous sabotage tactics), and Galloway says he’s going to be that voice.

It might not be for long

The Tories are still desperately clinging onto power rather than telling us when the general election will be, but it’s going to be within the next year.

You only have to look at the torrents of unbelievably bitter Labour right bile in reaction to Galloway’s win to understand that they’ll put an immense effort into getting Galloway out again when the long-overdue general election is called.

Whether Galloway is successful or not at fending off this inevitable Labour onslaught when the time comes, the fact remains that he’s only guaranteed to keep hold of his Rochdale seat for a matter of months.

A failure for Farage’s mob

Galloway’s win didn’t just give the establishment parties bloody noses, he also completely wiped the floor with the extreme-right Reform UK mob and their pervy sex creep of a candidate Simon Danczuk who only picked up 1,968 votes (6.3%).

For all the £millions that filthy rich radical-right backers like Richard Tice have pumped into Farage’s mob, Galloway has actually won a seat in parliament by getting elected, and they never have.

"Islamist extremism"

Britain’s disgraced former Prime Minister Liz Truss recently jaunted off to an obscene conference of the American extreme-right, where she told Trump’s former right hand man Steve Bannon that an Islamist extremist party was set to win the Rochdale by-election (after smirking along as he’d called the racist street thug and professional grifter Tommy Robinson a "hero").

She was clearly referring to George Galloway and his Workers Party, and insinuating that anger at and condemnation of Israel’s ongoing atrocities in Gaza is motivated by Islamist extremism, rather than humanitarian concern.

Like the majority of the Westminster establishment cabal and their media lackeys, Truss is utterly wrong. The opinion polls are absolutely clear that the majority of Brits want Israel’s genocide and war crimes to stop.

Galloway didn’t win in Rochdale because he’s some Islamist extremist with minority appeal, he won because on this issue he represents the majority British opinion, while the likes of Starmer and Sunak whip up Islamophobic panic as cover for the fact that they’re intent on belligerently defying it.

Conclusion

It’s possible to enjoy seeing the depraved establishment order take a hammering over their genocide complicity, without adopting the guy who beat them as any kind of unimpeachable hero.

It’s possible to agree with Galloway that his win proves that it’s possible to disrupt the Westminster establishment hegemony, without agreeing with him about everything he says.

It’s possible to have concerns that Galloway might make another horrible error of judgement like his decision to back the Tories in 2021, while hoping that he’ll use his parliamentary platform and undisputed oratory skills to speak up for ordinary British people, and against Israeli genocide and apartheid in Palestine.

It’s possible to have a bit of nuance and accept that Galloway is neither the sickening monster that the establishment order want to portray him as, nor the wonderful savour of British politics he seems to think he is.

Sure he’s got his flaws, but at least he’s got the humanity to speak out against genocide and war crimes, rather than defying public opinion and deliberately whipping up anti-Muslim hate like Starmer and Sunak’s parties have done to cover their ongoing genocide complicity.