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George Galloway Tells Journalist To ‘Suck It Up’ After By-Election Win

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George Galloway has clashed with Sam Coates of Sky News as the veteran left-winger faced criticism from the prime minister after winning the Rochdale by-election.

The Workers Party of Britain leader dismissed “little” Rishi Sunak’s comments, and urged Coates to “suck it up” after repeated questions about the conduct of his supporters during the campaign.

The journalist faced shouts of “bye-bye” and chants of “free Palestine” from Galloway activists as the interview at the new MP’s headquarters wrapped up.

Galloway ran on a pro-Palestine ticket, and pulled off a stunning victory to be elected to parliament for the fourth time, comfortably defeating Azhar Ali, the Labour candidate who was dumped by the party during the campaign.

Ali finished a lowly fourth place behind independent candidate David Tully and Paul Ellison of the Conservatives.

Galloway’s win prompted a reaction from Sunak during an unexpected address from Downing Street on Friday night. The prime minister said: “It’s beyond alarming that last night, the Rochdale by-election returned a candidate that dismisses the horror of what happened on October 7, who glorifies Hezbollah and is endorsed by Nick Griffin, the racist former leader of the BNP.”

When pressed by Sky News, Galloway was dismissive of the PM. “You talk as if this is God,” he said. “You’re talking about little Rishi Sunak, in the fag end of his prime ministership. Don’t talk to me as if he’s come down from the Mount with tablets of stone – the things that he says are somehow meant to awe me. They may awe you, they don’t awe me.”

The interview with Coates, the broadcaster’s deputy political editor, became increasingly edgy.

“Who won the election? Me or Rishi Sunak?,” said Galloway. “I’ve got the democratic mandate here, not Rishi Sunak. He didn’t even come second. He was lucky to come third. So don’t put to me statements made by Rishi Sunak as if I’m supposed to be impressed by them. He don’t impress me much.”

When asked if he respected Sunak, the Rochdale MP fired back: “I despise the prime minister. And guess what? Millions and millions and millions of people in this country despise the prime minister. I do not respect the prime minister at all.”

The mood intensified further as Coates asked about the conduct of Galloway’s supporters during the contest amid allegations of intimidation from rival campaigns.

Again dismissing Sunak’s concerns, Galloway said: “What I care about is that the returning officer, a man of unimpeachable integrity, I’m sure you’ll agree, declared it a free and fair election. And me as the winner, and Rishi Sunak as one of the crushed two big parties of the state.”

He added: “You just have to suck it up. I won the election.”

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Rishi Sunak Addressed The Nation Outside No.10 – And Said Very Little

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Rishi Sunak has used a “lectern speech” outside the doors of No.10 Downing Street to condemn extremists “trying to tear us apart” – but offered little by way of a policy solution.

Westminster was buzzing as the prime minister announced he would make an unexpected Friday night address – with the prospect he was about to call a general election swiftly ruled out.

Instead, Sunak’s addressed the nation on tackling the unrest in Britain in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks by Hamas against Israel – a situation the PM had likened to “mob rule” in a statement earlier in the week.

Against the backdrop of the No.10 front door, Sunak warned “our democracy itself is a target” for extremists.

He continued: “In recent weeks and months, we have seen a shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality.

“What started as protests on our streets have descended into intimidation, threats and planned acts of violence.

“Jewish children, fearful to wear their school uniform lest it reveals their identity. Muslim women abused in the street for the actions of a terrorist group they have no connection with.

“Now our democracy itself is a target. Council meetings and local events have been stormed. MPs do not feel safe in their homes. Long-standing parliamentary conventions have been upended because of safety concerns.

“And it’s beyond alarming that last night, the Rochdale by-election returned a candidate that dismisses the horror of what happened on October 7, who glorifies Hezbollah and is endorsed by Nick Griffin, the racist former leader of the BNP.”

The latter part of the statement alludes to the victory of George Galloway in the Rochdale by-election.

Sunak was vague, however, on how his government would take action to deal with the problem, alluding only to a “new robust framework” to tackle the “root causes” of extremism and “asking more of the police”.

The speech came at the end of another rancorous week for British politics.

On Wednesday, Sunak claimed that there is a “growing consensus that mob rule is replacing democratic rule” in the UK, but Downing Street failed to provide any evidence for the extraordinary allegation.

In another controversy, Lee Anderson, the former Tory party chairman, claimed policing of the largely peaceful demonstrations showed that “Islamists” had “control” over London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, who is Muslim. Anderson had the Tory whip removed last weekend after he chose not to apologise for the comments, and spent this week rowing back from his original “little bit of contrition”.

On Friday, Galloway, the former Labour MP, claimed a stunning victory in the Rochdale by-election on the back of a pro-Palestine ticket and a disastrous Labour campaign that saw the party drop support for their candidate after he made comments branded anti-Semitic.

Following the speech, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “The British people will take no lessons from a prime minister and Conservative party who have sowed the seeds of division for years.

“This is the same prime minister who made Suella Braverman his home secretary and Lee Anderson his party’s deputy chairman.

“If the prime minister is serious about bringing people together, he would call a general election now, so that the British public can decide the future of our country.”

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Is George Galloway About To Make A Dramatic Return To Parliament?

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According to the bookies, today’s Rochdale by-election is already a done deal.

George Galloway, the former Labour MP who now represents the Workers Party of Britain, is the odds-on favourite to win.

If he does, it will represent another remarkable comeback for one of British politics’s most controversial figures.

Voters in the Greater Manchester seat began going to the polls from 7am this morning to elect a successor to Tony Lloyd, the veteran Labour MP who died of leukaemia in January.

Lloyd, who had been the constituency’s MP since 2017, was re-elected in 2019 with a majority of 9,668.

All things being equal, the by-election would have been a safe Labour hold. But, in an unprecedented move, the party withdrew support for its own candidate, Azhar Ali, after recordings emerged of him making anti-Israel comments at a community meeting.

Because it was too late to replace him on the ballot paper, Ali is still officially Labour’s candidate even though, if he wins, he will sit as an independent MP and will not stand for the party at the general election.

Labour’s difficulty has become Galloway’s opportunity. The Dundee-born left-winger aims to capitalise on his former party’s turmoil over the war in Gaza to become Rochdale’s new MP.

A voter arrives at a polling station in the Rochdale by-election.
A voter arrives at a polling station in the Rochdale by-election.

Christopher Furlong via Getty Images

Galloway was first elected to parliament as the Labour MP for Glasgow Hillhead in 1987, a seat he held until 2005.

By that time, however, he was no longer a Labour member, having been expelled from the party two years previously over his outspoken opposition to the Iraq war.

At the 2005 general election, he was elected the Respect MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, defeating Labour’s Oona King in the process.

After losing his seat in 2010, Galloway returned to parliament again in 2012 when he won the Bradford West by-election.

Once again, he was defeated at the subsequent general election in 2015 and, after unsuccessful attempts to become London mayor and a member of the Scottish Parliament, he is once again on the verge of becoming an MP.

Another curiosity of the Rochdale by-election is that is is being contested by no fewer than three former Labour politicians – Azhar Ali (who is a councillor in Wigan), Galloway and Simon Danczuk, who represented the seat for Labour between 2010 and 2017 and is standing for Reform UK.

Former Labour MP Simon Danczuk is standing for Reform UK.
Former Labour MP Simon Danczuk is standing for Reform UK.

Christopher Furlong via Getty Images

The unique circumstances of the contest also make it hard to predict, although there is little doubt that Galloway is now the man to beat.

One local voter told HuffPost UK: “The Labour vote isn’t just going to go to Galloway.

“The idea that George will also get all of the Muslim vote is just not true. And Muslim voters only make up around 20% of the electorate, so it’s hard to call. It will all depend on turnout.”

George Galloway has made the war in Gaza the central theme of his campaign.
George Galloway has made the war in Gaza the central theme of his campaign.

James Speakman – PA Images via Getty Images

Galloway has been clear about what his priorities will be should be sent back to the Commons, telling the Manchester Evening News: “On my return – if I’m elected – I’ll begin with, ‘as I was saying, Mr Speaker’, and I’ll ask the prime minister to meet me urgently to hear from the frontline, what millions of British people think about what’s happening in Gaza.

“But my second question will be on the A&E and the maternity services which are now non-existent in Rochdale.”

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George Galloway’s Twitter Account Labelled ‘Russian State-Affiliated Media’ – And Ex-MP Threatens To Sue

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The Twitter account of George Galloway has been labelled “Russia state-affiliated media” – and the former Labour MP is furious about it.

Galloway, who presented the Mother of All Talk Shows on Radio Sputnik, which is owned by the Kremlin, said he would sue the social media giant over the marking.

In an angry message, the politician-turned-commentator urged Twitter to take down the message which was applied to his account.

“I am not ‘Russia state affiliated media’,” he complained.

“I work for NO #Russian media. I have 400,000 followers. I’m the leader of a British political party and spent nearly 30 years in the British parliament.

“If you do not remove this designation I will take legal action.”

Galloway has been a contributor for RT, formerly known as Russia Today, which recently had its licence revoked in the UK by regulator Ofcom.

He has presented The Mother of All Talk Shows on Radio Sputnik since 2019.

Galloway – a Labour MP until he was expelled in 2003, and most recently MP until 2015 for the Respect party – also presented Sputnik: Orbiting The World With George Galloway each week with his wife Gayatri.

When it was pointed out references to the Russian-backed media had been removed from his Twitter profile page, Galloway responded: “I deleted it because it no longer exists. The show, the channel, are closed by government edict.”

Galloway later tweeted with reference to new Twitter shareholder Elon Musk: “It’s Kafkaesque really. When I did present on #Russian state media I had NO Twitter designation. Now that I don’t can’t and would be committing a crime if I did I have been given the designation. Shome mishtake shurely @elonmusk.”

On Tuesday, Twitter announced that the platform would no longer “amplify or recommend government accounts belonging to states that limit access to free information and are engaged in armed interstate conflict”.

In a statement last month, broadcasting watchdog Ofcom said RT was not “fit and proper”, given its close links to the Russian state.

The move followed accusations that the channel was promoting pro-Putin propaganda about the war in Ukraine.

It has been unavailable to British viewers since earlier in the month as a result of a ban imposed by the European Union.

Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes said: “Freedom of expression is something we guard fiercely in this country, and the bar for action on broadcasters is rightly set very high.

“Following an independent regulatory process, we have today found that RT is not fit and proper to hold a licence in the UK. As a result we have revoked RT’s UK broadcasting licence.”

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