He’s back. George Galloway, victor of Friday’s Rochdale by-election, has this afternoon been sworn in as MP in the House of Commons for his fourth different constituency. After a morning swanning around the estate, ‘Gorgeous George’, who last sat in 2015, arrived to a rather empty chamber, flanked by Alba MP Neale Hanvey and Father of the House Sir Peter Bottomley. The unwilling escorts were chosen after David Davies and Jeremy Corbyn both turned down the chance to accompany Galloway into the House for his triumphant return. Talk about awkward…
After taking the oath – on a Holy Bible – parliament’s newest MP set about doing what he does best: holding an emergency press conference outside parliament to talk about, er, himself. He pledged, perhaps a touch implausibly, to ‘Make Rochdale Great Again’ and complained that there was ‘no Churchill’ to unite MPs who are ‘all the same.’ None like you though, George.
When he arrived at Westminster this morning, the Workers Party of Britain leader wasn’t especially gracious about his new colleagues, telling reporters: ‘I always loved the building – the people in it, not quite so much.’ The feeling certainly appears mutual. Ben Afolami, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, told GMB that Galloway’s election win was the result of an ‘appalling spectacle’ for British democracy, adding ‘We’re going to have to endure him and that is really the fault of the Labour party’.
Still, not everyone seems disappointed that Galloway is returning to the fray. Diane Abbott, now an Independent MP after being suspended by Labour last year, was spotted warmly welcoming the politician in Portcullis House this afternoon. Surprise, surprise…
Watch Galloway being sworn in here:
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