Rochdale byelection loss will concern MPs in seats with big Muslim populations, says Compass director
The Rochdale byelection result shows that Labour risks taking its support from Muslim voters for granted, an influential thinktank linked to the party has said after the veteran agitator George Galloway won the seat with a single-issue campaign based around Gaza.
While a Galloway victory was anticipated after Labour cut adrift its candidate over inflammatory comments about Israel, the scale of the win – taking almost 40% of the vote – reinforces concerns among some in the party that the refusal of the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, to back an immediate ceasefire in Gaza has dismayed many usual supporters, especially in Muslim communities.
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