Posted by Ken Waldron on February 10, 2024, 10:32 pm
Roshan M Salih @RmSalih 14h Just spent an interesting few days in Rochdale talking to Muslims about the by-election. Seems obvious that Labour have basically lost the Muslim vote which will overwhelmingly go to George Galloway. Whatever differences some Muslims may have with GG, they seem to be parking them for the sake of Palestine during this campaign. Meanwhile, it looks like the Labour candidate Azhar Ali has basically given up canvassing in Muslim areas because he's just getting too much grief. He also seems very reluctant to talk to Muslim media, not just 5Pillars. I've been told the Tories and Lib Dems aren't really running serious campaigns but Reform UK will get a decent vote from working class whites. Don't forget Rochdale was the scene of the "grooming scandal." So it looks like this might be a race between GG and Labour. GG is still the underdog because he is starting from zero and is relying on volunteers, whereas Labour has a lot of money to throw at this. And I guess they will have their fair share of white voters as well as Muslim elders who will stick with Labour even if the UK invaded Kashmir. So in conclusion I don't know who is going to win but I guess the Sufi Muslim Council/ Prevent/Iraq war guy is still the frontrunner. But nearly three weeks to go and all to play for.