UK
Polls close in Rochdale by-election
Polls have now closed in the Rochdale by-election as political parties wait to see who has taken the Greater Manchester seat.
The campaign to replace Labour stalwart Sir Tony Lloyd – who died last month from leukaemia – has been fractious, with the Labour Party withdrawing support for its candidate, Azhar Ali, over controversial remarks about Israel.
The Green Party candidate also withdrew from the contest over contentious social media posts, while the Conservative’s hopeful faced criticism for going on holiday shortly before the vote.
Politics latest: Ballots being counted in Rochdale
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Meanwhile, some controversial contenders, including former Labour MPs George Galloway and Simon Danczuk, threw their hats in the ring in attempts to make a return to Westminster under a different party banner.
Several independents candidates have also been seeking to win power in the seat, which until tonight had been a safe Labour constituency – with Sir Tony having a majority of almost 10,000 at the last general election.
The results are expected at around 3am on Friday, and Sky News’ chief political correspondent, Jon Craig, is at the count to bring you updates throughout the night.
The Sky News online team will also bring you the results as they happen, so stay tuned to find out who the Commons’ newest MP will be.
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Mr Galloway was the bookies’ favourite as the polls opened, and he has campaigned heavily on the Palestinian cause in Gaza, hoping to mobilise Rochdale’s large Muslim population.
Mr Danczuk represented the seat for Labour from 2010 to 2017 – but he was expelled from the party ahead of the 2017 general election after apologising for “inappropriate” text messages sent to a 17-year-old girl.
Crucially, as Jon Craig points out, Mr Ali will appear at the top of the ballot paper due to his name starting with the letter “A” – something which does seem to benefit candidates.
Rochdale voted 60% in support of Brexit, and the area also been affected by scandals surrounding grooming gangs.
Local Billy Howarth, who is involved in the Parents Against Grooming UK group, is one of those standing as an independent.
He said he has taken to wearing a stab vest while campaigning.
Meanwhile, Mr Danczuk said he had been subject to a death threat, prompting police to make an arrest.