Rochdale by-election: a crappy result whatever happens. 3 awful people are the favourites.

[muriel_volestrangler]

In line with electoral law, Labour cannot replace Ali with another candidate because the deadline passed on 2 February. He will stand as a Labour candidate on the ballot paper, but if elected he will not hold the party whip and will sit as an independent MP.
...
Senior party MPs and members had urged the leadership to confirm Ali would be disciplined if he won the byelection as comments he had made soon after the 7 October attacks surfaced over the weekend. In them, he suggested Israel had deliberately relaxed security after warnings of an imminent threat.
...
A local Labour insider said that some activists will seriously consider throwing their support behind Simon Danczuk, the disgraced former Labour MP for Rochdale who was suspended from the party after sending inappropriate messages to a teenager. “Simon may be the best way of keeping [George Galloway, who is running as a Workers party candidate in the byelection] out,” a source said. “It’s the devil and the deep blue sea.”

Danczuk, who is standing for the populist Reform party, said that Labour should now take down posters and rip up leaflets supporting Ali, and ensure their activists no longer campaign for him.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/12/labour-withdraws-support-for-rochdale-candidate-after-israel-gaza-remarks

So they seem to think the people with a chance of winning are:

The candidate Labour withdrew support from, because he said Israel Let It Happen On Purpose on Oct 7th to have an excuse to bomb Gaza into smithereens
A disgraced former MP now running under the disgraceful Reform "party" (actually a private company) banner
George Fucking Galloway.

I can see why they think Tories or Lib Dems don't have a chance - the Tories got 31% in 2019, but their vote will presumably collapse, and the Lib Dems got just 7% (and the Greens 2%, for that matter)

The by-election is on February 29th. Can't we just cancel the leap year, so that it never happens?

[LeftishBrit]

1. Yes, they're certainly in a bloody mess there

They HAVE had LibDem MPs in the past, so could that be a possibility? Though Cyril Smith as Liberal MP wasn't exactly a shining example!

Is a Monster Raving Loony candidate standing? That might be the sanest choice.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. I doubt 7% is a viable starting point for the Lib Dems. MRLP? You know it makes sense:

The candidate for the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, Ravin Rodent Subortna, said that as MP he would campaign for the introduction of a 99p coin.

He said he would call for all roundabouts to have fairground carousels in the middle to tell cars where to go and prevent road rage.

Among his other policies is a plan for all new-build housing to have hedgehog homes included to help eradicate homelessness for hedgehogs, and making sure hedgehogs had lollipop signs to help them cross the road.

Ravin says he is aiming to win "zero votes" because "that would be fair to give everybody else a chance".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-68250468

Plus many independents, including 2 called "Howarth", but nothing seems to say they're related.

[LeftishBrit]

3. Yes. why not vote for the hedgehog lovers

I'd support the slogan, 'Vote for the Pricklies, Not the Pricks',

And while I admire Ravin's electoral generosity, in this case it might be better NOT to give everyone else a chance!

[Anarcho-Socialist]

4. These Labour insiders should be suspended

A local Labour insider said that some activists will seriously consider throwing their support behind Simon Danczuk, the disgraced former Labour MP for Rochdale who was suspended from the party after sending inappropriate messages to a teenager.

These Labour insiders are a disgrace and this would be a clear breach of the Labour Party rulebook. Danczuk is a bully and a pervert. Never mind the fact that he is standing for a hard-right party of national conservatives, culture war bigots and far-right fellow travellers.

Seriously if you are going to breach the Labour Party rulebook by supporting a candidate from another party, then surely why not the Lib Dems?

[LeftishBrit]

5. I'm now remembering...

that some years ago, nutty John Ashcroft was running for re-election as senator for Missouri, and the voters chose his opponent, despite the fact that said opponent was unfortunately dead.

Maybe the people of Rochdale should vote for their late MP Tony Lloyd, on the same basis.

In any case, I am fairly sure which party will win an overwhelming majority at this by-election. It will be the party commonly known as 'Why-Bother-to-Vote'.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. George Galloway wins sweeping victory in Rochdale byelection, saying 'this is for Gaza'

The veteran political agitator George Galloway declared “a shifting of the tectonic plates” away from Labour after claiming a stunning victory in the Rochdale byelection.

Galloway, one of the most divisive politicians in Britain, won almost 40% of the vote in a contest beset by chaos and controversy and dominated by the conflict in Gaza.
...
Galloway won 12,335 votes – 39.7% of the total – in a much more sweeping victory than anyone had predicted, giving him a 5,697-vote majority.

A surprise second place went to David Tully, a local businessman who stood as an independent, saying he would speak up for the town rather than use it as a vehicle for political ambition.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/01/george-galloway-wins-rochdale-byelection

The only consolation is that Reform party candidate came 6th. Turns out that running a candidate thrown out of Labour for sending sexual texts to a teenager is not that popular in a constituency where the grooming of teenagers is a big issue.

[T_i_B]

7. "This is for Gaza"?

Shouldn't it be "this is for Rochdale"?

A bad result for sure, but with the main parties all failing to some degree, the main parties only have themselves to blame for this.