Labour choose political journalist Paul Waugh as Rochdale general election candidate

Labour have chosen political journalist Paul Waugh as their candidate in Rochdale at the upcoming general election.

Mr Waugh will be hoping to win back the seat for the party following George Galloway's victory in a by-election in the town earlier this year.

Rochdale-born Mr Waugh, who was previously Chief Political Commentator for the i newspaper - was one of three people shortlisted to be Labour's candidate at the by-election, which was prompted by the death of veteran MP Tony Lloyd.

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He eventually lost out to Azhar Ali. The contest became mired in controversy when Labour withdrew its support for Mr Ali after he made 'deeply offensive' comments about Israel.

That allowed Mr Galloway to coast to victory with a whopping 12,335 votes, almost 6,000 more than his nearest rival. Mr Galloway has said he will stand again at July's general election.

In a post on X - formerly Twitter - Mr Waugh wrote: “It’s a true honour to have been selected as Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for my home town.

"Rochdale desperately needs a Labour government and a Labour MP to end 14 years of Tory chaos and decline. We need an MP who can unite the town, and who reflects the basic decency and local pride that all us Rochdalians share.

"Labour is back in the service of working people. And I'll do everything in my power to ensure that Rochdale gets an NHS back on its feet and the economic renewal its residents deserve.”

Mr Waugh is a life-long Rochdale Football Club supporter who was born and raised in the town, going to local schools and growing up on a council estate at Spotland opposite the football club.

Before becoming Chief Political