Voters in the northern English town of Rochdale say they have little enthusiasm for an election this week dominated by political disputes over Gaza and paving the way for leftist firebrand George Galloway to return to parliament, Reuters reports.

Britain’s opposition Labour Party, riding high in the polls nationally, had been the clear favourite to retain the seat until its candidate Azhar Ali was recorded espousing conspiracy theories about Israel, forcing the party to ditch him.

He remains in the race as an independent, leaving Labour with no official candidate, and giving the impetus to the veteran left winger.

Labour has been engulfed by an internal battle over its policy towards the Gaza conflict, after its leader Keir Starmer initially gave full backing to Israel following the Oct 7 attack. The party has recently called for a ceasefire.

Galloway had himself been thrown out of Labour more than two decades ago over his opposition to the Iraq war, and went on to represent two other parliamentary seats, including Bradford, which he declared an “Israel-free zone” in 2014.