Galloway win makes Workers party a focus for far-left challenges to Labour

Party now on course to field as many as 90 candidates in general election and looking to team up with independents

Until George Galloway’s Rochdale byelection win, few may have taken notice of the Workers party beyond those intrigued by the minutiae of the far left. Others may have flicked through some of its literature, such as “Ukraine and the origins of the special military operation”, a 44-page pamphlet using Vladimir Putin’s term for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and echoing Kremlin talking points on the conflict.

But the win last week has suddenly catapulted it to national prominence as a vehicle for challenges that could deprive Labour of votes in scores of constituencies where anger at Keir Starmer’s stance on Gaza may now have a focus.