Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has apologised to voters in Rochdale after George Galloway's by-election victory
Galloway overturned a Labour majority to win the seat, describing the outcome as Starmer's "worst nightmare"
Labour withdrew its support for its candidate over remarks he made that were widely alleged to be antisemitic
Starmer said he made the right decision in not standing Azhar Ali, vowing to put forward a "first-class candidate" for the general election
In his victory speech, Galloway, a former Labour and Respect Party MP, addressed the Labour leader directly, saying: "Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza"
David Tully, an independent, came second with 6,638 votes. Turnout in the by-election was 39.7%
You can watch our live coverage at the top of the page clicking the play button
Victorious George Galloway declared "this is for Gaza" as he was announced as the winner of the Rochdale by-election.
He also addressed Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in the speech, which you can watch below:
Watch: Galloway directs by-election victory speech at Labour
Image source, ReutersGeorge Galloway has told the BBC he will attempt to turn his Rochdale victory into a movement which can take on MPs - particularly Labour ones - at the next general election.
The veteran campaigner took almost 40% of the vote in Rochdale, which becomes the fourth parliamentary constituency he has represented.
He rejected any suggestions his victory was only possible because Labour withdrew support from its own candidate, saying "none of us can know" what might have happened had the party ran a stronger campaign.
Galloway also said his Workers Party could run dozens of candidates in the general election.
"We've got 60 parliamentary candidates but we won't necessarily use them all, we're open to negotiations with others...I think this victory tonight will spread far," he said.
He rejected any suggestion his supporters had intimidated other campaigners on the trail and said his victory "could be the beginning of something new, something big".
Image source, PA MediaThis has been a fractious campaign - and that chaos continued on stage during George Galloway’s victory speech.
Rev Mark Coleman - who ran in the by-election as an independent candidate - produced a box of orange confetti and threw it in Galloway's direction as he began addressing the hall.
Coleman is a long-time climate campaigner and Just Stop Oil supporter who was imprisoned for taking nonviolent direct action.
Another climate change protester could be heard heckling from somewhere in the room too, which led to quite a long pause in the speech.
As we've been reporting, George Galloway has won the Rochdale by-election by almost 6,000 votes.
The surprise runner-up was David Tully, a local businessman and independent candidate, with Conservative candidate Paul Ellison coming third.
Here's the moment the full results were announced:
Annabel Tiffin
Political editor BBC North West
Reform UK’s Simon Danczuk was here but seems to have left before the result was declared.
The former Labour MP for the seat has alleged he was the subject of racist intimidation.
Peter Saull
Reporting from Rochdale
George Galloway has made it clear he sees his victory as sending a message to Labour - and doesn't think it will stop in Rochdale either.
Keir Starmer or someone from the shadow cabinet will likely have to address this result in the morning.
It is damaging and it is a headache for the Labour Party - and Galloway is extolling a view that does still exist in that party to some extent.
There was less mention of Rishi Sunak in Galloway's victory speech but it wasn't a good result for the Conservative Party either.
They would have hoped to have come second here but they were beaten into third place by a local businessman running as an independent.
Nor was it a good night for Reform UK either, who picked up fewer than 2,000 votes.
George Galloway continues his speech by predicting his victory in Rochdale will inspire a "movement...a shifting of the tectonic plates" in British politics.
"Labour is on notice that they have lost the confidence of millions of their voters who loyally and traditionally voted for them generation after generation," he says.
He adds: "Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak are two cheeks of the same backside and they both got well and truly spanked tonight here in Rochdale."
He also pledged to build a local "grand alliance" to "clean up" the local council, and invited David Tully - his closest competitor in this race - to join it and congratulated him on his "remarkable achievement".
Image source, ReutersGeorge Galloway is giving his victory speech now. He begins by saying: "Keir Starmer, this is for Gaza."
"You have paid and you will pay a high price for the roll you have played in enabling, encouraging and covering for the catastrophe presently going on in occupied Palestine in the Gaza Strip," he says.
But he's soon interrupted by a climate protester, who is in turn drowned out by chants from Galloway's supporters.
In alphabetical order, here's how many votes the 11 candidates received:
Turnout was 39.7%.
David Tully, an independent candidate who has never ran for election before, has come second in the Rochdale by-election with 6,638 votes.
He campaigned on local issues with "no allegiance to any of the parties or any political views or opinions".
Image source, ReutersGeorge Galloway has won the Rochdale by-election with 12,335 votes.
The Workers Party of Great Britain candidate overturned a Labour majority in the Greater Manchester town.
George Galloway has arrived and we're expecting the result any minute now.
The candidates are standing by the stage at the Rochdale count centre, where votes have been tallied since the polls closed at 10:00 GMT last night.
Kevin Fitzpatrick
Radio Manchester Political Editor
The Rev Mark Coleman who stood as a Just Stop Oil campaigner said the election has been "an absolutely amazing experience".
He added: "I felt a real privilege and talking to the people of Rochdale. It is not like going to say come to a meeting or buy some double glazing.
"This is like saying, can I have your vote. And they want to know why so I've had to explain myself. What the platform is what we want to do. But they inevitably say we don't trust politicians."
He continued: "I know it's a bit of a cliche, but people like local candidates but we are all local candidates and some of the other candidates are not so local, so we have that sense of what's wrong. And what's possible. In the community.
"And, yes. I'm talking a bit about a global issue. The climate, the economy. But you cannot separate local from national. Because if there's no food in the supermarkets that will happen throughout the country. And the solutions are a national and International
"Rochdale's heart for the people of Gaza is his enormous. People are so sad to see the suffering there. So I've been moved by their compassion and kindness."
Counting is done and most of the candidates are ready to hear the results at the Rochdale count centre.
However, George Galloway - who is expected to be declared the winner - still hasn't arrived.
It looks like his arrival might be imminent though and we're expecting a result shortly after, so stay tuned.
Paul Burnell
Reporting from Salford
Image source, Rochdale CouncilEvents in the Middle East have cast a shadow over the by-election but the Gaza crisis has not been the whole story of the campaign.
The cost of living crisis has been an undercurrent especially as most of the poverty indicators in the seat are way above the national average.
Also casting a shadow over the campaign was the ongoing tension surrounding the sexual abuse by grooming gangs after a damning report on the failure of Greater Manchester Police and Rochdale to deal with this issue between 2004-13 was published last month.
The local businessmen who pitched in as independent candidates made much of the town's need for regeneration.
The Lib Dems also highlighted sewage in rivers a cause that would have seen them vying with the Greens had the social media footprint not tripped up their candidate Guy Otten the lapsed Quaker turned humanist.
Reform candidate Simon Danczuk may have fought on a Rochdale, not Gaza platform, but ultimately with 30% of the voters identifying as Muslim it is easy to see how local issues may well have been overwhelmed.
It is the last time this current seat will exist as the townships of Heywood and Middleton in the seat have been hived off to a Heywood and Middleton North in the latest boundary changes.
Kevin Fitzpatrick
Radio Manchester political editor
Dave Tully (centre) and his team
All the indications seem to be that independent candidate Dave Tully has done well.
The local businessman has run his campaign from a standing start with family and friends.
Tully has been speaking to the BBC in the last few minutes, during which he said he wanted to be "a breath of fresh air". You can watch a clip of that below:
It sounds like we might get a result very soon, possibly in around 10 to 20 minutes time.
We were originally expecting the final result a little later but the candidates are getting ready to take their places on the stage now.
Joe Twyman
Co-founder and Director, Deltapoll
At the count in Rochdale, rumours are circulating that we could see a victory for George Galloway, but also that local business owner David Tully could finish second.
If such a result were to occur, it would represent a stunning rejection not just of the major parties, but of British politics in general – and to a degree that we have not seen before.
Historically by-elections have often proved to be fertile ground for candidates outside the mainstream, including Galloway himself, but to see Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats all perform so poorly is unprecedented in the modern era.
Between them, those three main parties accounted for just shy of 90% of the votes in Rochdale at the 2019 election.
Of course, it is important not to read too much into any by-election result – and particularly one held under such unusual circumstances. The message coming out of this particular constituency tonight is, nonetheless, one that those in Westminster would be wrong to dismiss.
Annabel Tiffin
Political editor BBC North West
George Galloway’s team is so confident he’s won they’ve already planned a victory rally in the town.
We're expecting a result at about 02:00.
Read more on each candidate here
Image source, .