Nigel Farage has warned on Friday that George Galloway’s Rochdale win will “divide” the country after the Workers Party of Britain has taken the seat in the by election.
Farage warned that Galloway’s win could now spark a new emergence of “sectarian politics” in the UK as was seen in Northern Ireland.
Tory MP Tobias Ellwood has also warned that Galloway’s by election campaign was “full of hate” which was “designed to rally fear.”
Farage told GB News, “George Galloway is perhaps the best orator I’ve ever heard and during the referendum campaign, George and I did work together and it was really notable that Bradford, a city with a huge Muslim population, voted to leave.
“So George is enormously powerful, very charismatic, and even though I disagree with him profoundly on things, on a one-to-one basis I struggle not to like him.
“But I’m afraid he’s now using that power, that ability, that personality, in a way that will divide our country horrendously.
“I’m old enough to remember what sectarian politics looked like in Northern Ireland and I now fear it’s come to England.”
Ellwood told Sky News, “This was a chaotic by-election. It’s taking place when temperatures are already raised very, very high as we’ve been seeing in the headlines.
“This should have been an easy win for Labour following the loss of Sir Tony Lloyd.
“But many Britons will be waking up today asking themselves if George Galloway is the answer, we really don’t know what the question is.
“I read some of his literature – they are so full of hate. They are designed to rally fear, they are designed to cause division.”
The Tory MP added, “Ultimately if you look at the language he is using, it is inflammatory, it doesn’t offer answers. It only articulates problems.
“He plays politics very, very well indeed, but he offers no political leadership.”
He then told the broadcaster that he is concerned as to “where our elections are going” as the general election is looming.
Ellwood said that this “was a very, very horrible by-election to watch.”
