It was the arrival of George Galloway that Labour feared would cause the party the biggest headache in the Rochdale byelection at the end of the month. But in the end it was Labour's own candidate, the Lancashire county councillor Azhar Ali, who has sabotaged what should have been a safe Labour seat (majority: 9,668) and made a Galloway victory a slightly more likely prospect on 29 February.
Labour has made clear that even if Ali wins he will not be allowed to sit as a Labour MP. Instead, he would join other Labour outcasts including Kate Osamor and Andy McDonald in the odd-squad of independents and will no doubt disappear from parliament after the general election.
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