Rochdale by-election: The fight for ‘the forgotten corner of England’

Published

2 years ago

February 28, 2024

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Nestled in the foothills of the Pennines, Rochdale is a town with a proud history.

It was once home to the world’s foremost cotton processing centres and is widely known as the birthplace of the modern co-operative movement.

But in recent years the town has been marred by child exploitation scandals, poverty and deprivation. According to Poverty Action’s Monitor report, 28% of children in Rochdale are still living in poverty.

“There are housing issues that we need to deal with, there are homeless issues we deal with and there are child protection issues we need to deal with”, one resident said.

The last thing this town wants is this dysfunctional by-election. But now that’s just one day away.

At the local Judo club, the committee secretary Dave feels like many others.

“It’s turning into a little bit of a pantomime.

“I don’t think there’s a credible vote amongst the main candidates which leaves me in a bit of a quandary.”

Labour has ditched its candidate, the Green candidate is still on the ballot paper but not campaigning after what he described as “regrettable” social media posts, the Conservative candidate was on holiday until a week before the by-election, and now there are in total 11 candidates in the race – many running as independents.

Once the frontrunners, Labour disowned their candidate Azhar Ali after he made alleged antisemitic remarks, revealed in a leaked recording.

Mr Ali now runs as an independent but his name will still be on the ballot paper by Labour as per electoral rules.

The rise of the independents

The bookies have their eye on the left-wing challenger George Galloway running for the Workers Party of Britain.

He is a former Labour MP turned experienced protester who has seized on by-elections before, this time seemingly trying to mobilise those disaffected with Labour over the party’s stance on Israel and Gaza.

He has condemned Azhar Ali’s comments and says some of the remarks are antisemitic. This is an allegation that has sometimes been levelled at him – something he completely denies.

I asked him whether he understood why the Jewish Labour Movement expressed a concern about the potential for his return to parliament.

“If I return to parliament, it will be because I’m elected to parliament, and if I’m elected to parliament, I’ll be saying the same things that I’ve been saying for more than 50 years on the issue of Israel and Palestine. Don’t expect me to change,” Mr Galloway said.

A Reform battle bus driving past George Galloway’s headquarters interrupts the interview halfway through.

A rival candidate at the helm bellows into a microphone: “Vote Reform UK to stop Galloway becoming an MP in the Rochdale by-election.”

That individual is another former Labour MP, Simon Danczuk, who was suspended from the party after sending explicit texts to a 17-year-old girl.

He has since left the party and is a candidate in this by-election under the banner of Reform UK.

“The choice is between me and Galloway and there is a real difference between what I would stand for, which is Rochdale, and what he would stand for, which is Gaza,” Mr Danczuk said.

On the ballot paper

The Liberal Democrats used to be a major party here but the risk for them now is the potential to get lost amongst an array of characters.

Their candidate Iain Donaldson said: “What needs to be done here is about graft, it’s about getting the services up to standard and it’s about helping people.”

Conservatives say their campaign is one of localism, though the candidate Paul Ellison was on holiday last week and said he was too busy this week for an interview with Sky News.

At a lunch club for locals, run by the Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Circle, Margaret tells me she’s not surprised about the spirit of the campaign in Rochdale and the circus that it’s become.

“We’re like the forgotten corner of England, we don’t count.”

Politics

Kemi Badenoch accuses Sir Keir Starmer of ‘lying’ about Peter Mandelson prior to sacking him

Published

12 hours ago

September 13, 2025

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Kemi Badenoch accuses Sir Keir Starmer of 'lying' about Peter Mandelson prior to sacking him

Kemi Badenoch has accused Sir Keir Starmer of “lying to the whole country” about what he knew regarding Peter Mandelson’s correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein.

Lord Mandelson was this week stripped of his position as ambassador to the US amid fresh scrutiny over his years-long friendship with the convicted paedophile.

The prime minister initially defended the Labour peer but removed him from his post on Thursday after newly seen emails revealed he sent messages of support to Epstein even as he faced jail for sex offences in 2008.

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The Times has now reported that Downing Street and the Foreign Office were aware of the emails on Tuesday – a day before Sir Keir gave Lord Mandelson his backing at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs).

In a post on X, Conservative leader Ms Badenoch wrote: “Looks like the Prime Minister and Labour MPs spent the week lying to the whole country about what they knew regarding Mandelson’s involvement with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.”

She continued: “If No 10 had those emails for 48 hours before acting, it means he lied at PMQs and ministers lied again about new additional information. These are yet more errors of judgment.

“The Prime Minister has very serious questions to answer. The only way to clear this up is full transparency about who knew what, and when.”

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Sources said Sir Keir was not aware of the contents of the emails when he told MPs he had “confidence” in Lord Mandelson.

A media enquiry outlining details of the messages between Lord Mandelson and Epstein was sent to the Foreign Office on Tuesday, and passed on to Number 10.

Sir Oliver Robbins, the permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, asked Lord Mandelson about the emails on Tuesday, but did not receive a response until the following day.

Sir Keir is understood not to have been aware of the contents of the emails until Wednesday evening.

Speaking to Sky News, one Labour MP has called for more information on what happened behind closed doors at No 10 this week.

Jo White, MP for Bassetlaw, in Nottinghamshire, said: “We cannot move on until we find out how he [Sir Keir] was not briefed properly before PMQs.”

“What he needs to do now is get on top and sort out this mess,” she said. “Suspend the whip from Peter Mandelson and expel him from the party, then have a transparent enquiry about what went wrong at No.10.”

This came as Sir Keir enjoyed some time away from Downing Street.

The prime minister was on Saturday pictured watching Arsenal face Nottingham Forest in a Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium.

Lord Mandelson’s exit came after less than a fortnight after another high-profile loss for the Labour government, as Angela Rayner was forced to quit as deputy prime minister and deputy Labour leader over her tax affairs.

As Sir Keir has faced a scandal-hit start to the month, a growing number of Labour MPs have begun calling his leadership into question.

Lucy Powell, who is running to replace Ms Rayner as Labour’s deputy leader, has called for a “change of culture” at Downing Street.

“We’ve got a bit of a groupthink happening at the top, that culture of not being receptive to interrogation, not being receptive to differing views,” she told The Guardian newspaper.

Meanwhile, senior Labour MP Emily Thornberry has written to the new foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, demanding answers about the vetting process for UK diplomats in the wake of Lord Mandelson’s sacking.

Politics

Man admits arson after major fire at MP Sharon Hodgson’s constituency office

Published

18 hours ago

September 13, 2025

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Man admits arson after major fire at MP Sharon Hodgson's constituency office

A man has admitted arson after a major fire at an MP’s constituency office.

Joshua Oliver, 28, pleaded guilty to starting the fire which destroyed the office of Labour MP Sharon Hodgson, at Vermont House in Washington, Tyne and Wear.

The fire also wrecked a small charity for people with very rare genetic diseases and an NHS mental health service for veterans.

The guilty plea was entered at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on the basis that it was reckless rather than intentional.

The Crown did not accept that basis of plea.

Oliver, of no fixed address, had been living in a tent nearby, the court heard.

Northumbria Police previously said it was “alerted to a fire at a premises on Woodland Terrace in the Washington area” shortly after 12.20am on Thursday.

“Emergency services attended and no one is reported to have been injured in the incident,” it added.

Drone footage from the scene showed extensive damage to the building.

A spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.

“We have worked closely with Northumbria Police as they carried out their investigation.”

Oliver was remanded in custody and will appear at Newcastle Crown Court on Tuesday, 14 October.