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
We've just spotted by-election candidate Ravin Rodent Subortna and his supporters at the count centre in Rochdale.
Subortna, the Official Monster Raving Loony Party candidate, said that as MP he would campaign for the introduction of a 99p coin, as well as for all roundabouts to have fairground carousels in the middle.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, ReutersRichard Tice, leader of Reform UK, has been speaking to the BBC in the last few minutes, during which he claimed the Rochdale by-election was marred by intimidation on the campaign trail.
Tice says there are "questions over whether this was a free and fair election" because of death threats, racial abuse and violence he alleges his party's candidate and supporters experienced.
He did not specifically accuse any particular candidate or campaign of abusive behaviour, but says his party drafted in security because they were so concerned about the situation.
Tice says the conduct on the campaign trail has been "like what you see in a failed state", adding: "The result is irrelevant, it is the implications for our democracy."
Nigel Farage has claimed a George Galloway victory in Rochdale could embolden candidates with similar politics.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Political Thinking with Nick Robinson podcast earlier yesterday, the former UKIP and Brexit Party leader said Galloway would have little power as a backbencher but could influence British politics in other ways.
Critics of Galloway have accused him of stoking divisions in towns he has previously had little to do with, and his campaign in Rochdale has focused on the constituency’s 30% Muslim population.
Farage said: “Whether it is in Tower Hamlets or Sparkhill or wherever it may be in the country, it will embolden people to believe that a vote for a candidate who thinks what's happening in Gaza is more important than what is happening in Britain.
“It will embolden that whole movement, and maybe they'll win a few more seats at a general election.”
You can watch the full clip below.
Farage: A George Galloway win will 'embolden' others
Peter Saull
Reporting from Rochdale
George Galloway’s people think they’ve won and think they’ve won comfortably.
It’s still relatively early on and we won’t have a result for a couple of hours, but they think he’s on his way back to Parliament.
Independent candidate David Tully appears to be doing very, very well too and may have come second - which would be extraordinary for someone who is completely new to politics.
Reform are playing down the chances of their candidate Simon Danczuk.
A fascinating by-election is emerging here.
Image source, PA MediaReform UK candidate Simon Danczuk is in the count centre with his partner Claudine Uwamahoro
We've just heard from council officials that the turnout for the Rochdale by-election was 39.7%.
Peter Saull
Reporting from Rochdale
We have a long night ahead here at the Rochdale Leisure Centre so we’ll need plenty of sustenance.
And what could be better than a locally-made pie?
The dozens of journalists who’ve come here to cover the by-election have a choice of meat and potato or cheese and onion.
Image source, ReutersSteve Rumbelow, the returning officer overseeing tonight's count, tells the BBC some postal votes which arrived today are still being processed and verified, which slows down the process slightly.
Postal votes are accepted right up until the polls close but have to go through additional checks which in-person ballot papers do not.
Rumbleow still expects a result at about 03:00 GMT but that could change depending on turnout or if the result is very close.
Joe Twyman
Co-founder, Deltapoll
By-elections are always unusual, but the by-election in Rochdale is unique – and for political geeks like me, that makes it absolutely fascinating.
In the run-up to polling day, candidates will often talk about what they are hearing on the doorstep and the various campaign teams will speculate on possible outcomes, but often this actually represents little more than spin, mixed with guesswork.
Instead, to get a better sense of where voters really are, we would look to the polls, but polling individual constituencies is both difficult and expensive, and no polls have been published for this particular contest.
The national polling can also provide a sense of what you would expect the outcome to be were those national numbers replicated at a general election. Based on that you would expect Labour to hold the seat easily, but the party has disavowed their candidate and not campaigned for him – though his name remains next to Labour on the ballot paper.
Finally, you might also look to historical precedent, but there has never been a by-election like this before. The combination of a disavowed candidate in Azhar Ali, an insurgent challenger in George Galloway and a former MP for the constituency standing for a new party in Simon Danczuk, make the Rochdale by-election quite unlike any other we have seen before.
Nobody can be certain of the result, but whatever happens, this by-election could live long in the memory of political geeks.
Peter Saull
Reporting from Rochdale
It’s still early days here at the count, but the chatter among activists is fascinating.
The first ballot papers to be counted are from central areas and, as expected, George Galloway appears to be performing well.
But the other candidate on people’s lips here is an independent, local businessman David Tully.
One of the stories that could emerge tonight is one of voters rejecting the traditional parties.
We've just been hearing from BBC Newsnight's political editor Nick Watt, who says George Galloway is already celebrating a win in Rochdale.
Shortly after voting finished, his campaign put out a statement thanking his supporters for sending a message to Westminster, Watt says.
During his campaign, Galloway said he offered a voice to people who otherwise wouldn’t have one. A former Labour MP and a former Respect MP, his campaign was focused on the 30% of the constituency which is Muslim.
Galloway, from the Workers Party of GB, clearly thinks his campaigning on Gaza has done enough to get him elected to Parliament again, but it will be a while yet until we know whether his confidence will be borne out by the final result.
The count is well under way at Rochdale Leisure Centre, after the polls closed almost 90 minutes ago.
Here are some pictures of the tellers in action:
Image source, PA Media
Image source, Reuters
Image source, Reuters
As a reminder, Azhar Ali won the contest to be Labour’s candidate but the party disowned and suspended him over remarks widely alleged to be antisemitic. He said sorry for what he said.
Despite Labour suspending Ali, he still appeared on voting papers in Rochdale under the party banner. If he is elected, he will sit in the Commons as an independent MP.
What was the reason for this?
Electoral law means ballot papers effectively cannot be changed after publication. Ballot papers are "a snapshot in time", explains Peter Stanyon, the chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators,
The only exception to this is, he says, is in the event of a candidate's death.
Stanyon explains nominations must be closed 19 working days before the date of any election "regardless of there being any change in circumstances", and Ali was confirmed as the Labour candidate on Friday 2 February.
That meant the party's withdrawal of support on Monday 12 February was too late to change the ballot paper before the by-election.
Peter Saull
Reporting from Rochdale
This by-election in Rochdale created a massive opening for former Labour MP George Galloway.
He has won elections in places like this before, such as Bradford West - another area with a relatively large Muslim population.
The conditions are set for him to potentially make a sensational return to Parliament.
But the result of this by-election is fiendishly difficult to predict - and either way, we're probably in for a long night.
Image source, ReutersLloyd, then Manchester's interim-mayor and police and crime commissioner, speaks to reporters in 2016
Hailed as "a great man of Manchester" by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Sir Tony Lloyd was first elected to Parliament in 1983 for Stretford. This later became the Manchester Central constituency following significant boundary changes.
A Labour MP, he represented the seat until he stood down in October 2012 to contest the police and crime commissioner election.
In June 2015, Lloyd was appointed interim-mayor of Greater Manchester, and was succeeded by the current mayor Andy Burnham. Lloyd then sought to re-enter the Commons and went on to represent Rochdale from June 2017.
Lloyd died last month on 17 January, just days after announcing he had an incurable form of leukaemia.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said everyone held him in "high esteem".
Sunak said Lloyd was an "enormously decent man who gave his life to public service", adding: "He will be missed but he and the change he fought for and achieved will never be forgotten.”
In the Rochdale count centre, tellers are knuckling down for a busy few hours of counting votes.
It's also going to be a long night for the press pack assembled to track every update into the small hours.
We've just spotted some sweet treats on offer to keep them going: bespoke election-themed cupcakes.
Image source, Reuters
The count has officially begun - but there's a way to go until we'll find out which candidate has come out on top.
Residents of Rochdale have been able to cast their vote since 07:00 GMT and polls officially closed more than 20 minutes ago.
You can tune in live by tapping the Play button at the top of this page. Our political editor Chris Mason is there, as are some of our other BBC colleagues who we'll hear from throughout the night.
Read more on each candidate here
Image source, .It's fair to say this hasn't been your regular by-election build-up, with Labour withdrawing support for candidate Azhar Ali a fortnight before polling day over comments he apparently made about Israel and Jewish people.
He was still listed as the Labour candidate on the ballot paper because under electoral law it was too late to replace him. If he is elected, he'll sit as a independent MP or join another party.
Also running in this election are former Labour MP Simon Danczuk, now the Reform Party candidate, and George Galloway, of the Workers Party of Britain, who is campaigning against Labour's stance on Gaza.
See the next post for a full list of candidates.
Chris Mason
Political editor, reporting from Rochdale
I’ve never covered a by-election like it. Bizarre, noisy, angry, colourful. 11 candidates, all men.
Oh, and wildly unpredictable. Candidates disowned. And the local and the international jostling alongside each other for attention.
The big characters: the two former Labour MPs, George Galloway and Simon Danczuk. The candidates abandoned, not least Azhar Ali, who won the contest to be on the ticket for Labour and, indeed, appeared as their man on the ballot paper.
But Labour suspended and ran a mile from him over remarks widely alleged to be antisemitic. He said sorry for what he said.
Enter next, George Galloway in a patch with a substantial Muslim population and a war raging in the Middle East. With a rhetorical dexterity even his biggest critics admire, he says he will stand up for Gaza like no one else if he wins.
He, and others, also talk up their commitment to talking up Rochdale. Hauling a town with entrenched poverty towards answers and a better future. So who is going to win?
"Who knows?" is the most polite version of the answer I’ve been getting when I have asked that question over the last few weeks.
Galloway is a very effective campaigner. But how many will have voted for Ali anyway, perhaps by post before they found out what he had said? And what of the other nine wannabes? Tonight, Team Galloway are sounding confident. It’s going to be quite a night.
It’s 22:00 GMT and that means polls have officially closed in the Rochdale by-election.
Now, we wait for the result. But before then, there'll be lots of live reporting - including from our colleagues at the count itself.