'We just want to know what they're going do for Rochdale'

"It's turned into a bit of a farce hasn't it?"

The first words uttered to the Manchester Evening News by a weary voter a few yards from Rochdale's historic town hall sum it up.

"It's a bit diabolical what's happened."

In the past few days, the town has found itself at the epicentre of a national political storm.

What was initially expected to be a straightforward by-election for Labour has turned into one of the strangest and most chaotic in recent memory.

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The party has no officially endorsed candidate at a poll that will feature two of the party's former MPs - George Galloway and Simon Danczuk - and a suspended candidate in Azhar Ali on the ballot paper.

The constituency will elect a new MP on February 29 following the death of highly-respected Labour stalwart Sir Tony Lloyd last month.

The party chose Lancashire councillor Mr Ali as its candidate for the seat, which they have held since 2010 and boast a majority of just under 10,000.

The party later withdrawn its support for Mr Ali after it emerged he had claimed Israel had 'allowed' the 7 October attacks by Hamas as a pretext to invade Gaza.

Party bosses initially stood by Mr Ali following headlines about the the 'deeply offensive' comments - reported to have been made at a party meeting in Hyndburn, Lancashire. On Monday, the party U-turned after 'new information about further comments made by Azhar Ali came to light'.

As nominations have closed, his name will still appear on the ballot paper as the Labour candidate but the party withdrawn its support for his campaign and suspended him from the party. If he wins, it is expected he will sit as an independent.

The drama has seen the eyes