It is a dark day indeed when George Galloway once again gains a platform in parliament to vent his views

Editorial: Just as the Tories can never out-Farage Nigel Farage, so Labour will never be able to match George Galloway’s extremist instincts. This is no time to abandon the centre ground and the national interest

(Dave Brown)

Never knowingly understated, George Galloway, the freshly recycled member of parliament for Rochdale, declared in his speech at the count that his victory will “spark a movement, a landslide, a shifting of the tectonic plates in scores of parliamentary constituencies”.

There is some doubt about that, even though the issue of the war in Gaza – and Sir Keir Starmer’s attitude to it – has undoubtedly distressed many voters. Sir Keir has lost support for his “balanced” approach, and not just among Muslim voters (though they are not some homogenous bloc that can be shepherded around by Mr Galloway).

The young and those on the left are also especially moved by the plight of the Palestinian people, and disgusted by Israel’s conduct of the war. Even so, these groups will not be turning to the painfully Islamophobic Conservatives, and that is the crucial electoral factor that will spare Labour serious harm.