It is a convention in Westminster that it is dangerous to draw too many conclusions from a by-election - and that is most definitely the case with the Rochdale by-election.
The two main parties were forced into third and fourth place, as George Galloway's Workers Party of Britain won the former Labour seat with a 6,000 majority.
The sheer oddity of this by-election was brought home by the fact that while Galloway campaigned on the issue of the war in Gaza - and the second placed candidate was an independent who campaigned for better maternity services in a local hospital.
Westminster is reacting with alarm to Galloway's victory. Labour has apologised for fielding a candidate that the party had to disown, while the Board of British deputies urged Parliamentarians to shun Galloway when he takes his seat in the Commons next week.
George Galloway's Workers Party of Britain won the former Labour seat with a 6,000 majority
PA
It might be tempting to dismiss Galloway's win as an anomaly - and that is certainly what some pollsters are saying today.
But the scale of Galloway’s win suggests that he might have taken the seat even if Labour's candidate Azhar Ali had not been dropped.
One ally of Galloway told me this morning that the party would now be fighting Labour in seats where Starmer is trying to win seats from the Tories.
This presents a risk to Labour - that the Workers' Party could leech support from Labour in key seats that the party has to win to overturn the Conservatives' 80 seat majority at the 2019 election.
Galloway's win certainly takes the wind out of Labour's sails, bringing to an end a run of six contests in a row in which Labour had gained ground.
The poor performance of the Reform UK party - it came sixth despite fielding a strong candidate in former Labour MP Simon Danczuk - will fuel suggestions that the party's popularity might have peaked.
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Yet that sense is belied by a new poll out this lunchtime putting Reform UK at 14per cent in a YouGov poll, closing in on the Tories' 20 per cent. Party leader Richard Tice said today: “We are coming for you Tories."
Right now, MPs are braced for the return of Galloway to the House of Commons green benches next week, when he will seek to press Labour on its Gaza policy. It is going to be an extraordinary election year.
