Labour county chief will bid to hold onto seat
LABOUR have chosen their Lancashire county council group leader to fight the Rochdale by-election sparked by the death of sitting MP Sir Tony Lloyd.
Coun Azhar Ali had been named on a shortlist of three to succeed Sir Tony, alongside Rochdale-born Paul Waugh, chief political commentator for the i newspaper and Wigan councillor Nazia Rehman.
Labour North west posted on X: “Congratulations @ Cllrazharali @Uklabour candidate for Rochdale. Azhar will be a strong voice for Rochdale and send this Conservative Government a clear message.
“It’s time to end the chaos. Let the country have its say and let us get Britain’s future back.”
On Saturday afternoon Oldham council leader Arooj Shah posted a picture of Coun Ali accepting the nomination alongside the message: “Bitter sweet thinking of Tony but so happy for my good friend.”
Rochdale Labour councillor Liam O’rouke posted: “Huge
congratulations to @ Cllrazharali. A formidable campaigner and a genuine lovely guy to boot. Will be proud to campaign for you.”
With a majority of almost 10,000 Rochdale is a relatively safe Labour seat. The other parties will now have to choose who they want to enter the contest as the by-election could be held as soon as next month.
Coun Ali says the by-election will give voters the ‘chance to send a clear message to Rishi Sunak.’ Reacting to his selection, Coun Ali paid tribute to Sir Tony, who died on January 17 aged 73, only days after announcing he was suffering from an incurable form of leukaemia. He said: “I am proud and humbled to be chosen by our local party members as the Labour candidate for the Rochdale by-election.
“Sir Tony Lloyd was a dear friend of mine and a dedicated public servant. He was admired and respected far and wide and I intend to follow in his footsteps and be a champion for Rochdale in Parliament.
“I promise to be a strong voice for every community across our town and to get things done. There is a lot to do and I will get to work straight away, fighting your corner.”
Coun Ali, from Brierfield in Lancashire, has stood as a councillor in Nelson East since 2013.
According to the Lancashire Telegraph, his interest in politics began when he stood as leader of the Students Union at Nelson and Colne College before he went to university.
He joined Pendle council aged 24, before serving as leader for three years to 2003. He also had a five-year stint as a government advisor under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
He was awarded an
OBE for service to the community in the 2021 New Year’s Honours. Following his selection, he added: “Along with the council, the NHS, public bodies and local businesses, I will work to bring new investment to Rochdale, strengthening our economy and public services. The people here in Rochdale have had enough of paying the price for Tory failure.
“They have crashed our economy and brought our NHS to its knees. After five Tory Prime Ministers, we are left with mortgages, rents, food bills and energy costs out of control, longer hospital waiting lists and neighbourhood policing destroyed.
“We cannot afford another five years of Tory failure and this by-election is a chance to send a clear message to Rishi Sunak: Give us a general election now.”