What is happening in the Rochdale by-election?

With Labour’s candidate falling foul of conspiracy theories, the Rochdale vote may not be a sure thing for Keir Starmer, with trouble ahead even if they were to win. What’s more, a controversial but familiar political player has stepped in to cause even more trouble. Sean O’Grady explains whether any of this will make a difference

The revelations about Labour candidate for Rochdale, Azhar Ali, make what could have been a fairly simple but competitive by-election even more complicated (PA)

The already heated battle for Rochdale (the parliamentary by-election to be held on Thursday 29 February) has been thrown into disarray by sensational allegations made against the Labour candidate, Azhar Ali, when remarks he made some months ago came to light at the weekend. Ali told a private Labour meeting after the attacks that the Israeli government had removed its border security to enable the Hamas atrocities: “The Egyptians are saying that they warned Israel 10 days earlier... Americans warned them a day before [that] there’s something happening... They deliberately took the security off, they allowed... that massacre that gives them the green light to do whatever they bloody want.” He also attacked Keir Starmer: “A lot of the MPs I’ve spoken to, non-Muslim MPs, feel that on this issue, he’s lost the confidence of the parliamentary party.” Ali has since apologised and retracted his remarks, indicating he fell for an internet conspiracy theory. But despite his apology, the Labour Party has withdrawn its support for Ali.

A parallel controversy has enveloped the Green Party candidate, as their candidate has stood down on account of Islamaphobic tweets from a few years ago. The energetic and divisive presence of George Galloway has only added to the chaos, with the controversial politician running an anti-Labour protest campaign as a candidate for the Workers Party of Britain. The irony is that, distressing as it may be, it may have little impact on electoral politics…

Why doesn’t Labour just get a new candidate?