Rochdale: The North Revolts – Galloway Set to Storm Labour Stronghold

Rochdale By-Election: Westminster Trembles as Galloway Closes In

At last, are we about to see a breath of fresh air waft through the stale chambers of Westminster?

The irrepressible gorgeous George Galloway, a lion of the left unfettered by the fetid political orthodoxies, stands poised to claim the Rochdale seat in next week’s by-election. The bookies overwhelmingly fancy this veteran warrior’s chances, and who can doubt them? But then again don’t sit on your laurels if you bet on the old war horse who isn’t afraid to face the neoliberal hordes of Westminster get out and vote this Thursday.

After Labour flailed and floundered, torn asunder by its latest outbreak of antisemitism, Galloway soars above the fray under the banner of his Workers Party.

Consider Labour’s shambolic disarray in this previously safe seat. It was never going to be a straightforward contest for the Labour Party following the death of the previous incumbent and Greater Manchester party stalwart Sir Tony Lloyd in January. The fact is Galloway was always going to give them the fight of their lives.

However, just into the byelection, their replacement candidate, Azhar Ali was caught in a trap of Labour’s own making, shot down with the loosened monster of weaponised antisemitism, he was suspended leaving the Party without a candidate whey-faced and scrambling.

Coming too late in the day for Labour to be able to announce a replacement candidate to stand in his place, the party won’t have its own candidate in a constituency it has held since 2010.

Labour’s response to that was the penchant shadow health secretary and advocate of private health care, Dr Doom, Wes Streeting telling people to give up their agency, and their power in a democracy and stop at home or spoil their ballots. He hoped to hand the constituency to the right-wing rather than a real socialist get the seat.

However, asking someone from Yorkshire to give up their vote shows how little they know us…

This arrogance echoes a long history of mistaken views about the North. As George Orwell once observed in his book A Road to Wigan Pier.

Democracy has always meant more to the northern working class!

A Yorkshireman in the South will always take care to let you know that he regards you as an inferior. If you ask him why, he will explain that it is only in the North that life is ‘real’ life, that the industrial work done in the North is the only ‘real’ work, that the North is inhabited by ‘real’ people, the South merely by rentiers and their parasites.
The Northerner has ‘grit’, he is grim, ‘dour’, plucky, warm-hearted and democratic; the Southerner is snobbish, effeminate and lazy – that at any rate is the theory.
Hence the Southerner goes north, at any rate for the first time, with the vague inferiority-complex of a civilised man venturing among savages, while the Yorkshireman, like the Scotchman, comes to London in the spirit of a barbarian out for loot.

– George Orwell, Road to Wigan Pier.

Of course, that’s something Lancastrian and Yorkshire folk have always shared, their proud working class grasp of democracy and their right to vote…

‘Barbarian at the Gate’ – Galloway Storms Labour Stronghold

In contrast, George Galloway understands intimately the proud Northern spirit so long patronised by both Tory and Labour liberal elites. He knows Northerners will exercise their democratic rights undeterred by dismissive southern politicians. His Workers Party harnesses this steadfast spirit, offering real change tailored to Northern priorities.

While other parties scramble to contain this political disaster, the ‘barbarian at the gate’ sees an opportunity to storm the ramparts of their rotting citadel. The North is rising up to take its destiny into its own hands.

This power vacuum means that Galloway, a former Labour and later Respect Party MP, could end up representing the Greater Manchester constituency after election day on 29 February and why shouldn’t he?

And what of Galloway?

Galloway is an exceptional politician a maverick with real experience. He garners controversy in his ability to articulate the real state of the nation and his understanding of geopolitics. This has brought him a personal following of hundreds of thousands on social media with his ever-popular The Mother of All Talk Shows. (MOATS.tv.)

Unfortunately for the neolibs Tories and Labour, the hard-headed people of Rochdale know Galloway’s mettle. It was Galloway whose tireless crusade for equality saw him working undercover against apartheid in South Africa, it was Galloway who left a US Senate Kangaroo court skipping in retreat after he gave them a speech and torrent of home truths that the press cheered and the audience wanted to carry him out on their shoulders

Galloway’s campaign does lean heavy on the Palestinian cause and Gaza, an issue close to the heart of many of Rochdale’s Muslim population. His campaign believes 15,000 votes are enough to win most by-elections – and Rochdale has a 30,000-strong Asian community.
The prospect of him taking the seat has alarmed Jewish campaigners, however, with the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) describing him as an “inflammatory firebrand”.

Galloway firmly denies his campaign is stirring up trouble and division after all he’s not the one blowing dog whistles in parliament. he stated: “That was Labour’s schtick before their candidate, again brought disgrace to Rochdale, with his recorded comments.

“The people who brought division to Rochdale are Labour. The people who covered up the grooming gangs, was Labour. The people that pulled their candidate because of antisemitism, was Labour.”

Westminster Trembles as Galloway Closes In

While Westminster’s spineless politicians bowed and scraped to every passing zeitgeist, it was Galloway whose stalwart defiance rang out for the Palestinian cause now so dear to local hearts.

And as the town’s services are bled dry by austerity, Galloway stands for investment in jobs, homes and infrastructure to restore Rochdale’s ravaged pride. The Workers Party offers a socialist vision to transform lives through radical yet practical policies.

Galloway insists the conflict in Gaza is not the only issue he is campaigning on, citing the closure of local maternity services, the NHS, the economy and Rochdale being one of the poorest towns in England.

The Workers Party aims to champion working people through a progressive left-wing agenda. Their manifesto promises to redistribute wealth, empower unions, and review pensions to support retirees.

On the economy, they back public ownership, workers’ control of industry, and tax reform to benefit lower-paid. Their programme advocates regulating Big Pharma profits, utilizing technology for social good, and tackling inequality.

To aid youth, they support free school meals, transport and bold action on climate change. On services, they commit to fully public NHS provision and upgrading national infrastructure.

The Workers Party offers an ethical foreign policy, seeking peace in Palestine and reviewing military commitments. They promise to refocus policing on community issues while protecting civil liberties.

With socialist principles, this new force provides a strong voice for the left. Their manifesto offers a positive vision of economic justice, social progress and international cooperation. The Workers Party seeks power to transform lives through radical but practical policies.

He has negotiated with the owner of a shopping centre in the town to bring Primark to Rochdale and pledged to get maternity services re-opened in Rochdale.

“When you’ve got a town in which you cannot be born, it’s not really a town at all. You lose, first in a small way and later completely, you lose your identity and the people of Rochdale once had a proud identity,” Galloway added.

“The football club is a metaphor; it got relegated, relegated, relegated until it fell out of the league altogether. And that’s what’s happened to the town.”

George Galloway and the Workers Party are poised to revitalize the former industrial heartlands of Labour. Their vision offers a genuine alternative, led by an experienced and canny politician with a proven track record of getting things done. Galloway isn’t afraid to speak truth to power, and his election in Rochdale would mark a significant positive change for the community. He’ll put Rochdale back on the map, focusing on revitalizing the town (though the football team might require a separate strategy).

Some political pygmies may sneer at this tireless titan, whose stalwart principles tower over their shallowness. But the wise folk of Rochdale spy a golden opportunity in this by-election to be represented by a politician of passion, perspicacity and pugnacity.

With Labour’s credibility lying in ruins here, its cynicism and cowardice exposed. But George Galloway, political prizefighter, comes off the ropes roaring, his left hook primed to hammer home the failings of our craven political class. Truly, his advance heralds the winds of change.

Rochdale now has the chance to make history, spurning the robe-wearing catamites of the establishment and embracing a real alternative. In Galloway, they have a champion whose grit and guile can shake awake the slumbering socialists and speak bold unvarnished truth to power. The hour has come for a politician of principle – rally to the standard of George Galloway!