From the winner's podium, George Galloway promised to "make Rochdale great again", and be an "MP for all Rochdalians".

Here are some of his key promises:

• Improve health services in a town with no Accident and Emergency (A&E) or maternity unit
• Crackdown on grooming gangs
• Find investment and save Rochdale AFC
• Reopen boarded up shops and clean the town hall clock

You can read a full breakdown of Galloway's campaign platform here.

Image source, Getty Images

Scarlett Maguire, director at polling company JL Partners, has been speaking to our colleagues on BBC Newscast about some of the recent electoral history in Rochdale - which she says has "gone all over the place".

The Greater Manchester seat used to be a Lib Dem-Labour marginal, "which is already relatively unusual in the country", Maguire explains.

Looking to more recent times, the far-right National Front party got 5% of the vote in 2010, which Maguire says is highly unusual, and UKIP came in second in 2015.

Maguire says this is "one of the reasons why it's hard to read more into" last night's election, and draw any broader conclusions ahead the general election.

Image source, PA Media

Rochdale's former Labour council leader tells Radio 4's Today programme that he doesn't believe George Galloway would have won last night's by-election if Labour had backed a candidate.

Alan Brett says he agrees that the by-election result was down to the mishandling of the Labour's selection process, which saw Keir Starmer withdraw party support for Azhar Ali over antisemitic comments he made after the deadline to change candidates had passed.

Brett says he did not vote for Galloway, adding: "I don't think he's for Rochdale. I think he's for himself. I don't think he cares about Rochdale.

"It'll be very interesting to see what he does."

For those who decided not to pull an all-nighter to watch the Rochdale results live, here's a round-up of the key moments in pictures:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, PA Media

The Rochdale by-election result is a message to all parties that there is a "mood for change" in the country, Tony Blair's former director of political operations says.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, John McTernan says it's not yet clear, however, if Labour can be "the change people want".

He says the Labour party "messed up" their selection in the Greater Manchester seat because they were rushing to counter the "momentum" of George Galloway's campaign.

McTernan adds that, despite the "Tories being nowhere", Labour should take the result "incredibly seriously" and believes the Rochdale result was a judgement on Parliament's inability to come to a position on a Gaza ceasefire.

We can bring you some more analysis now from political pollster Sir John Curtice.

It was "another poor Conservative performance", he tells BBC Breakfast.

The party's vote was down by 19 points, the biggest drop in the Conservative vote in a Labour-held seat at any by-election this Parliament.

He adds: "There is no sign here that the electoral gloom that hangs over the Conservative party has in any way been dissipated by Sir Keir Starmer's difficulties."

Here's a breakdown of the results in Rochdale overnight.

Azhar Ali won the contest to be Labour’s candidate and appeared as their candidate on the ballot paper. But Labour disowned and suspended him over remarks widely alleged to be antisemitic. He apologised for his comments.

Image source, .

Despite George Galloway's win in Rochdale - in which he put the Israel-Gaza war front and centre of his campaign - veteran political pollster Sir John Curtice says it's unlikely Labour's position on the policy will become a major vulnerability at the general election.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Curtice says Galloway was helped by his track record of doing well in electorates with large Muslim populations.

"It's unlikely that anybody else has the ability to use this issue, to exploit this issue (the war in Gaza) in the way that Mr Galloway is uniquely able to."

But Curtice says that even though Labour is "well insulated" against a challenge in other constituencies with larger Muslim populations, Galloway's victory will still intensify pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to "toughen up" Labour's stance on Israel.

He says "Labour's vote literally collapsed," noting it was the biggest drop in the party's support in a post-war by-election.

As a reminder, Azhar Ali won the contest to be Labour’s candidate and appeared as their candidate on the ballot paper. But Labour disowned and suspended him over remarks widely alleged to be antisemitic. He apologised for his comments.

Jennifer McKiernan
Political reporter

Few politicians can whip up a crowd - and generate controversy - quite like George Galloway.

In a career spanning four decades, he has been hailed as a hero of the anti-war left, ridiculed as a reality TV contestant on Celebrity Big Brother and elected to Parliament seven times for three different parties.

In the 1990s, he was heavily criticised for meeting Iraq's leader Saddam Hussein and telling him - in a much-repeated clip - "Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability". His multiple visits to the region during the period led to him being dubbed the "member for Baghdad Central".

The 69-year-old's latest political comeback, in Rochdale, shows he has not lost his appetite for a fight - or his talent for riling his opponents.

As he has done in previous by-elections, he mainly targeted his message at Muslim voters, promising, in this case, to be a powerful advocate for Palestinians in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

And he also took aim at the entire political and media establishment, accusing Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer of "collaborating" in the Israel-Gaza war.

Read our profile here.

Galloway's victory a reminder of how conflict in Middle East is shaping UK politicspublished at 07:11 Greenwich Mean Time 1 March

07:11 GMT 1 March

Chris Mason
Political editor

An outsized character with an outsized facility for articulating outrage.

George Galloway has now represented four towns and cities and three parties in Parliament – and long represented, with a dextrous fluency even his greatest critics acknowledge – a left-wing fury at what he sees as the supine failures of the Labour Party, particularly in the Middle East, from the Iraq war to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

His critics, though, see him as division in a fedora – he’s rarely without his trademark hat – stoking anger, not solving problems, they claim.

Labour’s contention that Galloway only won because they didn’t stand deserves scepticism; he beat them in Bradford 12 years ago for a start. And their reason for not standing was itself an illustration of how the Israel-Gaza war divides them.

Galloway now becomes a walking and loudly talking reminder of that and the latest example of how the conflict in the Middle East is shaping our politics.

Rochdale result points to wider dissatisfaction with Westminster partiespublished at 07:02 Greenwich Mean Time 1 March

07:02 GMT 1 March

Hannah Miller
Political correspondent

This was an extraordinary by-election that has produced an extraordinary result.

Not just George Galloway’s win, but also the independent David Tully coming second, getting more votes than the Conservatives and Labour combined by fighting solely on local issues.

Reform picked up fewer votes than had been expected, perhaps as a result of Tully’s campaign and their choice of candidate.

There is a concerted effort under way in some constituencies, particularly those with large Muslim communities, to find independent candidates to stand in a general election.

Whether such a candidate can win without the profile and track record of George Galloway is highly questionable, especially once the mainstream parties ratchet up their election campaigning.

But the result in Rochdale points to a wider dissatisfaction with the Westminster parties, and suggests people are willing to vote for an alternative.

From 7am, join Adam Fleming and Chris Mason for a live Newscast by-election special.

Also joining them will be Annabel Tiffin, political editor at North West Tonight and Scarlett Maguire, director at the polling company JL Partners.

To watch along, just press the Play button at the top of this page.

Send in your thoughts and questions to newscast@bbc.co.uk, or use the hashtag #BBCNewscast

Rochdale result unprecedented by historical standardspublished at 06:45 Greenwich Mean Time 1 March

06:45 GMT 1 March

Joe Twyman
Co-founder and director of Deltapoll

The result of the Rochdale by-election is unprecedented by historical standards.

At the 2019 general election nearly 90% of all of the votes in Rochdale went to either Labour, the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats.

In the by-election those same parties could not manage 27% between them. Instead, the top two positions were won by Galloway and independent local business owner David Tully.

Even though the next general election will be different, this result is still likely to cause deep discomfort to the Labour Party, who in many ways could be seen to have brought these problems upon themselves.

Nobody can say for sure what the result would have been had Labour selected a candidate they could stick with and campaign for, but given the party’s previously strong position in the constituency, it is certain to have been a closer contest.

Marita Moloney
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

Good morning from New Broadcasting House, where we have been reporting on the Rochdale by-election overnight along with our colleagues at the count centre.

If you're just waking up, here's what you missed:

• George Galloway has won a resounding victory in the Rochdale by-election, picking up 12,335 votes, almost 40% of the total
• The Workers Party of Britain candidate said the result should send a message to Labour over Gaza and pledged to stand dozens of candidates under his Workers Party banner at the general election
• On a bad night for the big parties, second place was comfortably won by David Tully - a local businessman running as an independent who began his political career four weeks ago
• The Conservatives finished a distant third, while Labour's vote collapsed entirely and the candidate they suspended and disowned mid-campaign came fourth
• Labour apologised to the people of Rochdale for not fielding a candidate, and claimed Galloway "only won because Labour did not stand"
• Reform UK finished sixth behind the Lib Dems - and its leader Richard Tice made a furious statement alleging intimidation and violent threats on the campaign trail

• So far we've only heard from Galloway and Labour, with the other party candidates not sharing their reaction to the result yet

For those of you who stayed up with us overnight, thanks for joining us. We're handing over to the early team now who will bring you plenty of reaction and analysis throughout the morning, so stay with us.

In alphabetical order, here's how many votes the 11 candidates received:

• Azhar Ali (on the ballot as a Labour candidate) - 2,402
• Mark Coleman (Independent) - 455
• Simon Danczuk (Reform UK) - 1,968
• Iain Donaldson (Liberal Democrats) - 2,164
• Paul Ellison (Conservative) - 3,731
• George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain) - 12,335
• Michael Howarth (Independent) - 246
• William Howarth (Independent) - 523
• Guy Otten (on the ballot as a Green candidate) - 436
• Ravin Rodent Subortna (Monster Raving Loony Party) - 209
• David Anthony Tully (Independent) - 6,638

Turnout was 39.7%.

In the last few minutes, Labour have reacted to the by-election result overnight by apologising to the people of Rochdale for being unable to field a candidate.

"George Galloway only won because Labour did not stand," a party spokesman said.

"Rochdale deserved the chance to vote for an MP that would bring communities together and deliver for working people.

"George Galloway is only interested in stoking fear and division. As an MP he will be a damaging force in our communities and public life."

Labour will "quickly" select a new candidate for the upcoming general election, the spokesman said, adding the party wants to deliver the "representation and fresh start that Rochdale deserves".

It comes after Azhar Ali won the contest to be Labour’s candidate and appeared as their candidate on the ballot paper. But Labour disowned and suspended him over remarks widely alleged to be antisemitic, for which he has apologised.

Annabel Tiffin
Political editor BBC North West

Image source, PA Media

Rochdale has a new MP - who launched his campaign by stating he wanted to "teach Labour a lesson" over Gaza.

But now George Galloway, leader of the Workers Party of Britain, will be heading back to Westminster, has he more to offer the people of Rochdale?

"I'm the MP for all Rochdalians," he shouted from the winner's podium. He pledged to try to improve health services in a town with no A&E or maternity unit.

"No new Rochdalians will ever be born here unless I can get the A&E back," he told me. He's also promised to try to help the town's beleaguered football club. He also wants a Primark.

But the bulk of his victory speech was an attack on Labour and Keir Starmer in particular. "Keir Starmer this is for Gaza," he said, to cheers from his supporters.

And there's no doubting his appeal among British Muslim voters. But the former Labour MP took almost 40% of the vote, overturning a Labour majority of 9,668. A sign he has wider appeal.

Galloway, who's represented four cities and three parties in his political career, is not from Rochdale, but he says he will live there now he's been elected.

With a general election around the corner, Galloway doesn't have long to prove he really is for all Rochdalians.

Let's bring you more now from George Galloway's victory speech, during which orange confetti was thrown in his direction by a rival candidate.

A heckler also accused Galloway of being a climate change denier, and you can watch that moment below:

Paul Burnell
Reporting from Salford

Image source, Getty Images

Winning candidate George Galloway also pledged to restore the fortune of Rochdale's football club in his victory speech, citing it as a symbol of the town's decline along with the loss of essential services.

One of his campaign promises had been to "secure the future of AFC Rochdale".

As voters went to the polls US firm World Soccer Holdings LLC signed a letter of intent to purchase National League Rochdale.

Chairman Simon Gauge said earlier this month that the football club could go bust if they did not find investment before the end of March.

Dale were relegated from the Football League after 102 years last season.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) has released a statement responding to George Galloway's victory, saying it is "extremely concerned" over how he will use his platform.

It pointed to several remarks made by Galloway during his political career, including calling Bradford - where he was an MP at the time - an "Israel-free zone" in a speech in 2014. Galloway has denied any suggestion he is antisemitic.

The CAA said: "Given his historic inflammatory rhetoric and the current situation faced by the Jewish community in this country, we are extremely concerned by how he may use the platform of the House of Commons in the remaining months of this parliament."

Galloway put the Israel-Gaza conflict front and centre in this campaign and he sought to attract support from Rochdale's relatively large Muslim population.

His victory comes at a time when there are wider concerns about how the war in the Middle East is inflaming community tensions in the UK, fuelling a rise in hate crimes and leading to personal threats against MPs.