The Rochdale By-Election takes place on 29th February to find a new MP after Labou’s Tony Lloyd sadly died recently.
Since a General Election is due whoever wins will quite probably only hold the seat for a few months. By-Elections are traditionally contests that focus on protests and issues of the moment because the election of a Government is not at stake. Voters can send a message of some kind to Westminster
Judging by London based media only certain kinds of messages are acceptable- certainly not anything on Gaza even if that issue is actually currently dominating Westminster politics.
Rochdale has a long history of being dumped on by Westminster politics. After Peterloo in 1819 magistrates were busy sending not the Yeomanry but protesters for the vote to jail. With Government support one of the most zealous, Magistrate Hay, was rewarded with the living of Rochdale a sinecure which paid £2000 a very large sum in those days. The living, in effect the clerical authority in a particular area, was a sinecure involving no activity from the recipient
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