Rochdale by-election: What do voters think of Westminster?

Rochdale voters are heading to the polls on Thursday 29 February for a by-election unexpectedly besieged by political controversy and media scrutiny.

The election was triggered when Tony Lloyd, the Labour MP for the constituency died in January 2024, and Labour has struggled to find another candidate after runner-up Azhar Ali was suspended for saying that Israel had “allowed” the 7 October attacks to mandate the country’s invasion of Gaza.

Some Rochdale constituents told The Independent that they feel like Westminster doesn’t care about them or that they have been included in the government's “levelling up” plans, with some even arguing that “everything stops at Birmingham”.