Journalist Paul Waugh to stand as Labour candidate in Rochdale

Paul Waugh

Labour’s candidate for Rochdale in the upcoming general election is to be political journalist Paul Waugh, it has been announced.

The former political editor of HuffPost UK, Editor of PoliticsHome and former deputy political editor of The Independent and the London Evening Standard, Mr Waugh said he will stand for his hometown because “Rochdale desperately needs a Labour Government”.

Mr Waugh will be vying to regain the seat for the party, which lost it to George Galloway and the Workers Party in a by-election in February.

That contest was prompted by the death of MP Tony Lloyd, who held the seat after serving as Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner.

The Workers Party of Britain's Mr Galloway said he will stand again.

Paul Waugh posted: "It’s a true honour to have been selected as Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for my home town.

"Rochdale desperately needs a Labour government and a Labour MP to end 14 years of Tory chaos and decline. 

"We need an MP who can unite the town, and who reflects the basic decency and local pride that all us Rochdalians share. "Labour is back in the service of working people. 

“And I'll do everything in my power to ensure that Rochdale gets an NHS back on its feet and the economic renewal its residents deserve.”

He had applied to run in the February by-election but lost to Azhar Ali, who subsequently lost party support due to comments made about Israel and the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Martyn Savin from the Greens and Paul Ellison from the Conservatives have also declared their candidacies. Candidates will also be on the ballot from the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK. David Tully, who stood as an independent in the by-election and came second, has said he is not going to stand.

The general election is scheduled for 4 July.