The man vying to oust George Galloway from Rochdale

This time four months ago, Rochdale was going into a by-election without a Labour candidate actually standing.

Now, Rochdale-born political journalist Paul Waugh is running as the Labour party candidate for the general election in July.

He was one of three candidates in the running to be a by-election candidate back in February, but in the end he lost out to Lancashire County councillor Azhar Ali, from whom Labour would withdraw its support after he made ‘deeply offensive’ comments about Israel.

During an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Mr Waugh admits that the by-election was ‘a car crash’ for Labour, but says that’s all in the past now.

“It was a car crash for the Labour Party because we selected a candidate who had to be withdrawn for the things he said.

“I was narrowly beaten to that selection but I think what people appreciated is that I didn’t just walk off and take my bat and ball away, I stuck around and campaigned for people in the local elections.

“Fantastic work from our local councillors really paid off. George Galloway said he would win nine seats in the local elections but only got two, that was a decent performance.

“For me the by-election is ancient history, Labour definitely messed that up, but my selection was because Rishi Sunak called a snap election. The party had to act quickly to get a candidate in place.”

Mr Waugh says he’s buoyed by local Labour candidates pushing him to go for candidacy again, stemming from his work helping them campaign during the local elections in Spring.

Until recently, Rochdale was relatively safe territory for Labour, with the parliamentary seat held by Sir Tony Lloyd, who enjoyed a majority of nearly 15,000.

But the death of veteran Greater Manchester politician Sir Tony in January triggered a by-election which, with Labour in turmoil over Gaza and local feeling running high about the scale of civilian bloodshed in the conflict, saw George Galloway take the seat.

Paul Waugh now hopes to win the seat back with a direct appeal to voters.

“This is not a by-election, this is a general election,” he says. “It’s a once-in-a-generation chance to swap this rotten Tory government with a serious Labour government.

“I want Rochdale to be part of a national wave of change that I hope sweeps the country on 4 July. To do that you will need a Labour MP in Rochdale.

“I genuinely think that is the only way to get real change in Rochdale.”

 

 

He points out it’s been 20 years since there has been a Labour government and a Labour MP in Rochdale – signalling this is the best recipe for a better future.

The lifelong Rochdale AFC supporter is also keen to point out that he will be Rochdale-first and party-second, outlining his priorities for his hometown.

“I was born in Birch Hill hospital and grew up in Spotland right next to the football club, the club I love. The floodlights stream into the bedroom.

“Oulder Hill school really pushed me on in life and the teachers there were fantastic for me. They gave me a chance to expand my horizons and fulfil my potential and that’s what I want for every working class kid like me.

“Education and housing, the decency of public services are basic standards everyone has the right to expect, as well as a standard of excellence. That is why I’m really passionate about Rochdale because my family live here and they’ve worked in many capacities across the area.

“My roots are really strong here in Rochdale and I think it really matters to have someone from here to speak up for Rochdale. We need someone who doesn’t need a map to get around here, who knows what the issues are and can properly represent the town.

“That has been my mission through this, to put Rochdale first, that is really important. I will always put the town first and the party second.”

He claims he knows the higher ups of the Labour party personally and believes that is how he can get Rochdale’s issues heard by the right people, if he were to win the seat on 4 July.

Thoughts on George Galloway

After losing out on the candidacy six months ago, Mr Waugh has had to sit back and watch on from the sidelines as his maverick political rival got on with the job. He admits it has been tough, but doesn’t want to be too critical of the Workers Party leader – who’s only been in post for a matter of months.

“It’s frustrating. But first and foremost I want to say I’m running a positive campaign, not a negative one. I want to talk about what I can do for Rochdale rather than what George Galloway hasn’t done for Rochdale.

“But the fact is that I’m not a career politician, he is. He is a protest politician and he’s very good at that, don’t get me wrong, but he’s not so good at delivering on his promises.”

Mr Waugh claims that the Workers Party leader has said on his election posters that he has ‘secured a new maternity ward for Rochdale’, but claims this came from a one minute meeting with a Tory minister who “couldn’t create a new maternity unit out of thin air even if they wanted to”.

Mr Galloway argues that the minister said she would ‘ask the treasury for the funding’ and that ‘civil servants’ told him it can be done by 2025 in an interview in which he outlined his ambitions for Rochdale to the M.E.N and the work he has done so far.

Mr Waugh, former Chief Political Commentator for the i newspaper, thinks a more realistic approach to getting babies born in Rochdale again would be through a new birth centre run by midwives. He believes this would work well through collaboration between the local council and NHS services.

And, according to Mr Waugh, the current Rochdale MP “talks a lot but delivers little”, although he admitted he would say that about a political rival.

Reflecting on the way in which Mr Galloway won the by-election in February with a firm stance on the Gaza conflict in support of Palestine, the Labour man is quick to say mistakes were made. He says he feels that issue has been addressed and the party is moving forwards.

Labour’s early stance on the fighting taking place in Gaza has been something that has lost them councillors, particularly in areas with higher Muslim populations, as well as weighing on February’s by-election result. Mr Galloway even opened his victory speech with the words, “this is for Gaza”.

Mr Waugh says he is grateful that Labour’s position on the matter is now clear, calling for an immediate ceasefire. He says that’s ‘clearly been an issue’ for people and he claims to share the disgust of the action taken by a ‘right-wing Israeli government who have bombed and starved thousands of men, women and children’.

The Labour Friends of Palestine group member added: “I was delighted that our manifesto spelled out very clearly a strong support for the state of Palestine, something that was long overdue. Labour is committed to this, it wants an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the upholding of international law as well as much more aid.

“We are taking this seriously and that’s the message I’ve been giving to people who are really concerned about this.”

He says this shows clear commitment from Labour and that they’ve listened to the public. He claims people on the doorstep have been really heartened by that.

Paul Waugh’s priorities

If Paul Waugh is named as the new MP for the town, his priorities will be three-fold: sorting out health care; levelling up; and tackling child poverty, he tells the LDRS.

During his time as a journalist and more recently on the doorsteps campaigning, he says he has been told stories of children being rushed to hospital to get teeth removed and older people suffering on cancer treatment waiting lists.

With a wife who works as a midwife, he says he has a personal connection to sorting out the healthcare in the country – and adds that this is the key reason for him running for Parliament.

“I will work to deliver the NHS birth centre to give women the choice locally to have their babies born in Rochdale again. Our council has worked for a long time on that.

“A fairer share of cash and powers that are held in London is really important for Rochdale. We need a fair share of London’s wealth and Manchester’s booming economy.”

He wants to see local projects like the Atom Valley framework, which would bring thousands of jobs and economic growth, accelerate the process of levelling up in Rochdale.

And, he says, as someone who was on free school meals himself, he has advocated a plan to provide hundreds more children in the borough with them in collaboration with the council. The plan for free breakfast clubs in primary schools, he thinks, can help relieve pressure parents are under, particularly during the cost of living crisis.

Come 4 July, alongside incumbent George Galloway, Paul Waugh faces competition from Conservative Paul Ellison, Lib Dem Andy Kelly, Michael Howard for Reform and Martyn Savin for the Greens.

But Mr Waugh claims lifelong Lib Dem and Conservative voters have told him they will be lending him their vote in order to oust George Galloway ‘out of fear of what he will do’. Concluding the interview, he added: “This is a government that couldn’t run a bath as well as being politically extreme. That is why we have to get some sense back into government, nationally and locally.”

George Lythgoe, Local Democracy Reporter