LONDON: Veteran left-wing political maverick George Galloway lost his seat in the UK’s election on Friday, defeated by the Labour candidate in the northern English town of Rochdale, local media reported.
He had served for just four months following winning a by-election triggered by the death of the town’s previous MP. Back in March, Galloway’s pro-Palestinian campaign helped him win votes from the town’s Muslim community and he had secured what was his seventh stint as an MP, representing his left-wing Workers Party of Britain.
Both the Labour and Conservatives have said they want the fighting in the Gaza Strip to stop, but they have also supported Israel in the ongoing war, angering 3.9 million Muslims who make up 6.5 percent of Britain’s population.
Galloway strongly criticized Labour for supporting Israel in its war against Hamas during his winning by-election drive in March.
But this time he lost to Labour candidate Paul Waugh, a former political journalistm, who grew up in the town.
Galloway, 69, was himself a former Labour legislator before being expelled from the party in 2003 for criticizing former prime minister Tony Blair over the Iraq war. By that time, he already had a reputation for storm. In 1994, Galloway drew criticism for meeting the then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and telling him: “Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability.”
