Residents of Rochdale caught up in increasingly toxic by-election campaign

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As the residents of Rochdale prepare for a snap by-election later this month, voters find themselves at the centre of an increasingly toxic political campaign to become the new MP for the former mill town in north-west England.

The poll on February 29 was called after the death last month of the serving Labour MP, Tony Lloyd, a veteran party figure viewed with affection by colleagues and many local voters.

But many of those on the all-male list of candidates now lining up to replace him have tapped into one of two highly charged issues — Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and Rochdale’s legacy of child sex abuse scandals — leading to an increasingly bitter political debate.

Azhar Ali, the candidate chosen by Labour to defend Lloyd’s 9,668 majority at the 2019 election, was disowned by the party on Monday night after leader Sir Keir Starmer initially stood by him.

The withdrawal of support followed press reports about alleged comments the local county councillor made about the Gaza conflict, in which he repeated a conspiracy theory about Israel and criticised “Jewish” elements of the media.

Starmer’s handling of the issue has provoked a vicious war of wards within the national party, with the leader criticised for failing to act fast enough after the details of Ali’s comments emerged at the weekend.

The decision leaves Labour without an official candidate in its seat, although electoral rules mean Ali will still appear as the party’s candidate on the ballot paper because nominations for the contest have closed.

It has also left several of the other candidates, with controversial pasts, in a stronger position, with the bookmakers installing George Galloway, a firebrand former Labour MP, as the new favourite.