Rochdale by-election: Leading candidates and latest odds

There have been many eyes on Rochdale with regards to the upcoming by-election which has already shown plenty of movement in the markets due to various controversy surrounding some of the candidates.

We have a look at the leading candidates and their latest odds below.

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George Galloway – Workers Party of Britain 4/7

George Galloway flew into favouritism for the Rochdale seat following Labour pulling support for the former odds-on Labour candidate Azhar Ali. Galloway has been serving the Workers Party of Britain since 2019, but was initially an MP for the Labour party, who campaigned in Glasgow before the turn of the millennia.

At 4/7, Galloway looks to be the shoo-in for success in the Rochdale by-election, however, despite Labour’s tumultuous journey within this constituency thus far, they are still close behind in the race to maintain their seat in the House of Commons.

Galloway has focused his campaign around the Palestinian cause and Gaza, however he has also claimed to campaign for the NHS as well as the economy in Rochdale.

No candidate – Labour 13/10

Although Azhar Ali stands as an independent, he remains the candidate for Labour on the ballot paper, due to them withdrawing their support following distasteful comments he made over the situation in Gaza, implying that Israel was complicit with the massacre of its own people in Hamas’ attack on the 7th October. Considering Rochdale has a strong Muslim population, these comments threw him off his perch as the top candidate in the constituency as inhabitants of Rochdale didn’t believe him to be the voice of the people that he had promised to be.

Ali will stand as an independent party, as it is too late in the day for Labour to announce a replacement candidate, which will be the first time in 14 years that Labour have failed to have its own candidate in this constituency, which they have held since 2010.

Simon Danczuk – Reform UK 50/1

Although a heavy outsider, Simon Danczuk stands for Reform UK at 50/1 and is set on stopping George Galloway from becoming an MP in the Rochdale by-election. Danczuk is another former Labour MP but was suspended from the party in 2015.

Danczuk is currently campaigning for stronger representation in Parliament which he claims will result in more jobs, fill the empty shops, and make Rochdale a safer place. Under current Labour rule, Danczuk believes they aren’t doing what they should be in order to support the community.