Labour drops Azhar Ali, but the damage is already done for looming UK by-elections, as George Galloway and Tories in the running

What should have been a promising week for Labour has become deeply damaging

Labour has dropped Azhar Ali as its candidate in the Rochdale by-election in a deeply embarrassing blow for the party.

Sir Keir Starmer had headed into this week planning to focus on the Kingswood and Wellingborough by-elections taking place on Thursday, only for his candidate’s comments on Israel to overshadow them completely.

Mr Ali had claimed, in a room full of Labour members, that Israel allowed the October 7 attacks by Hamas as a pretext to invade Gaza.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer joins parliamentary candidate Gen Kitchen at the home of AFC Rushden & Diamonds, in Rushden, Northamptonshire, ahead of the Wellingborough by-election. Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire

Labour tried to stand by their man, insisting he’d fallen for a conspiracy theory, and apologised immediately. However, after new allegations emerged that Mr Ali also blamed Jewish media figures for stoking criticism against a pro-Palestinian Labour MP, the candidate will now run as an independent.

It is by any definition a disaster, and one that is almost unbelievable. Mr Ali is no newcomer to politics. He’s been a parliamentary candidate twice, and is the leader of the Labour group on Lancashire County Council. He also acted as an adviser to the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown governments between 2005 and 2010.

For Labour, it raises serious questions as to why it took them 48 hours to suspend him, and accusations that anti-Semitism matters more when it comes from the left of the party, rather than those the leadership support.

Having served the party for so long, the scandal has now ensured the seat will not have a Labour MP at least until the general election, with the party no longer supporting Mr Ali’s candidacy.

Former Labour by-election candidate Rochdale, Azhar Ali has apologised for his "deeply offensive" comments after he reportedly said Israel allowed Hamas to carry out its October 7 attack to provide grounds to invade Gaza.

Labour had enjoyed a majority of more than 9,000 until the death of Sir Tony Lloyd, and now simply do not have a candidate.

Tory candidate Paul Ellison, a local business owner and campaigner, may sense an opportunity, along with Iain Donaldson, who represents the Liberal Democrats.

Also running are former Labour MP Simon Danczuk, now the Reform Party candidate, and another former Labour MP in George Galloway, of the Workers Party of Britain, who is campaigning against the party’s stance on Gaza.

Both men have their controversies. It is understood many in Labour would rather the Tories win than have someone as divisive as Mr Galloway enter Parliament.

As much of a headache this is for the party in Rochdale, the crisis goes far beyond that, throwing the two by-elections this week into potential disarray.

Labour's Damien Egan is the favourite to win in Kingswood, after former minister Chris Skidmore stood down, as is Gen Kitchen in Peter Bone’s old seat, after he faced a recall petition.

But now MPs and party figures are focused on distancing themselves from Mr Ali, and could be tarnished by association. Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester, deputy party leader Angela Rayner and leading shadow cabinet member Lisa Nandy all campaigned in Rochdale recently, with the latter going even after the allegations emerged.

The Tories are not going to win in Rochdale, and they probably won’t win in the other two by-elections either. But Mr Ali’s comments, and Labour’s failure to act quickly, raise the prospect they could, and have opened up new attack lines around anti-Semitism for the year to come.