Far-Left Special Election Win After Courting Muslim Vote

There can be little dispute that this election was a referendum on Rochdale residents’ views on Gaza. The victorious candidate, Galloway, opened his victory speech by saying, “This is for Gaza,” and reportedly published campaign documents directly targeting Muslim voters. “The people of Gaza don’t have the right to vote in this election, but you do,” said the appeal, which included a Galloway-branded flyer. read:

To all Muslim voters in Rochdale

Asalam-o-Alkum [peace be unto you],

The last 130 days have shocked the Ummah. [global Islamic community] To the core of it all…I, George Galloway, have fought for Muslims at home and abroad all my life…I have always come to the side of the Palestinian people in their suffering…Together, we can help all You can send messages that reach people in the four corners of the world…

Meanwhile, candidates from both Labor and the Greens were dropped by their respective parties after campaigning began. Comments about Islam, Israel, Palestine, and Gaza conflict. Meanwhile, Reform UK tried the opposite tactic, calling on people to vote for “Rochdale, not Gaza” and pointing out that Mr Galloway has never seriously claimed to be “a friend of the terrorist organization Hamas”. , only 6 percent of the vote paid off for his troubles.

Speaking in the Earldom where his victory was announced early Friday morning, Mr Galloway, who will now be able to sit and speak in the British Parliament for the rest of his term, possibly until the autumn of this year, made his case clear. His victory, he believed, was significant for British politics. He said:

Keir Starmer, this is about Gaza. And you will pay a high price for your role in enabling, encouraging and covering the current catastrophe in occupied Palestine in the Gaza Strip… Above all, I want to say to Mr Starmer that the plates have changed tonight… Keir Starmer’s problems are now 100 times worse than they were before today.

This will cause movements, landslides and tectonic shifts in a number of parliamentary constituencies, starting here in the North West…Labour has lost the confidence of millions of loyal and traditional voters. For generations they are aware that there is.

Mr Galloway responded to claims about his campaigning style by insisting that it was not just Muslims who voted for him in the election. He continued:

This evening I heard several stories being spun around the outcome of this election. Yes, it’s true that all Muslims are furiously angry at Keir Starmer and his misnamed Labor Party, but if we don’t realize that so are millions of other citizens of our country. , you are very stupid. Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak are two sides of the same coin and tonight they both came out strong and really hurt.

As for the near future, Mr Galloway issued a “warning” to Rochdale councilors, who are overwhelmingly Labor members, and said he would campaign to replace them with a “Grand Alliance” at the upcoming council. Election in 3 months. Regarding the national election, Mr Galloway said he was “alarmed” by Labor MPs across the country who did not share his views on Palestine and said he would stand against them and would stand aside if: He added. Other candidates were more likely to unseat incumbent Labor MPs.

Reacting to the atmosphere of campaigning in the Rochdale by-election, Reform UK made serious complaints about the behavior of some people in Rochdale, saying: ‘The actions of certain candidates and their supporters in this election campaign are “It fell far short of traditional democratic standards.” In addition to death threats (some arrests have already been made during the election period), the party has been accused of “racist abuse…routine threats and slander” and interference with hustling candidates. I mentioned it.

George Galloway election sign near Castlemere Community Center in Rochdale as voting begins in the Rochdale by-election, which began after the death of Labor MP Sir Tony Lloyd. Photo date: Thursday, February 29, 2024 (Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)

George Galloway is a great orator and very charismatic. But he is using that ability to divide our country. pic.twitter.com/V5UCKfPtVq

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) March 1, 2024

The party said in a statement: “In one incident, Reform UK business supporters were threatened with a firebomb attack if they handed out our leaflets. Intimidatory behavior was a feature of the entire campaign, including at outdoor polling stations on election day. In this ugliest of elections, we are also concerned that the number of postal votes in this constituency has increased from 14,000 to approximately 23,000 since the last general election.”

“This should serve as a stark wake-up call to those in power and to the electorate as a whole,” they said in a statement released before the election results were announced. This is England. We should be a beacon of democracy. This shameful contest is characteristic of more failed states. ”

Party founder Nigel Farage, who previously campaigned alongside Mr Galloway during the 2016 referendum campaign (Mr Galloway’s support for the Brexit referendum was largely based on left-wing opposition to the European Plan). He also expressed concerns that it might be seen as a throwback to the previous century. his feelings about the election. He told GB News: “George Galloway is probably the best orator I’ve ever heard…Very strong, very charismatic, and I disagree with him a lot on things, but one-on-one I can say… I’m having a hard time not objecting to him like that.

“But I fear that he is now using that power, that ability, that character in a way that will horribly divide our county. I am concerned that sectarian politics in Northern Ireland will I’m old enough to remember what it was like, but I’m worried that it’s making its way to England.”

George Galloway is a demagogue and conspiracy theorist who has brought his politics of division and hate to every place he has run for Congress. His election marked a dark day for the country’s Jewish community and for British politics in general. pic.twitter.com/lbMwtEi65E

— Board of Deputies of British Jews (@BoardofDeputies) March 1, 2024

Mr Farage’s comments do not mean Mr Galloway’s return to politics opens the door for the rise of faith-based Islamic parties at a time when Middle East issues are a prominent feature of British debate. It raises the question. In that case, Britain would follow the example of other European countries with large Muslim immigrant populations that have established their own Islamic and minority rights parties, such as the Dutch Denk Party and the Islamist Party. someone else’s hostare contesting elections with varying levels of success.

In many cases, these parties struggle to gain traction because established parties, for example the Labor equivalents of the Social Democrats and the Greens, are already in play and have established party bureaucracies. This is because it is expensive to reproduce this. However, this may not be the case in the UK. In Britain, Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labor Party has been characterized in part by a concerted effort to wean the party away from the era of former leader Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-Semitism scandals.

Balancing the view of many British moderates that anti-Semitism is wrong and that attacks on Israel are an expression of such sentiments with the view of British Muslim voters, who have supported Labor fairly reliably for many years. , but their own views are Labor supporters. Israel-Gaza may be more sympathetic to Palestine, but it has proven to be a political tightrope for Starmer to walk. The dropping of his own party’s candidate in this election for spouting anti-Semitic tropes in a private meeting is a powerful example of the challenges facing left-wing leaders. Because by taking the moral high road there, he doomed his party to electoral defeat. Galloway’s victory was almost certain.