George Galloway to be sworn in as MP for Rochdale

George Galloway has arrived at Westminster to be sworn in as the new MP for Rochdale.

“I’m feeling good,” the Workers Party of Britain leader said, speaking out of the window of his car as he arrived.

“I’ve always loved the building – the people in it not quite so much.”

Mirroring that view, Conservative minister Bim Afolami told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “We’re going to have to endure him and that is really the fault of the Labour party.”

Mr Galloway will meet the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle before being sworn in at 1430 GMT.

He won a clear victory in Thursday’s by-election, which had seen Labour withdraw support for candidate Azhar Ali over remarks widely alleged to be antisemitic.

Mainstream parties were beaten into third place after a chaotic campaign, sparked by the death of Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd, with independent and local businessman Dave Tully taking second place.

Mr Galloway has previously been an MP for Labour until 2003, when he was expelled from the party. He then sat in the Commons as an independent and Respect Party MP for three constituencies between 2003 and 2015.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Galloway only won in Rochdale because Labour withdrew support from its own candidate about a fortnight before polling day.

Sir Keir apologised to voters for the decision, which forced Labour to effectively withdraw from the race due to electoral law, the but said it was “the right decision”.

Mr Galloway, 69, has long campaigned for causes in the Middle East and the first words of his victory speech in Rochdale were “Keir Starmer: This is for Gaza”.

He refused to condemn Hamas when quizzed by the BBC’s political editor Chris Mason.

Following his win, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “very concerned” at reports of intimidation during what he labelled “one of the most divisive campaigns we’ve seen in recent times”.