Yahoo News George Galloway loses Rochdale seat and joins list of shortest-serving MPs
George Galloway has been unseated from the Rochdale seat he won in February, as he joins the list of the shortest-serving MPs.
The Workers Party of Britain leader took a shock win in a by-election earlier this year, winning 40% of the vote and overturning a Labour majority of close to 10,000.
However, the former Glasgow Kelvin MP was defeated by the Labour Co-op candidate Paul Waugh, who took 13,027 votes to Mr Galloway's 11,511.
Reform beat the Conservatives into fourth place.
As a result, the 69-year-old joins the list of shortest-serving MPs having been unseated 127 days after being elected and 123 since being sworn-in.
It sees Mr Galloway, who has also represented Bradford West and Bethnal Green and Bow at Westminster, join an exclusive club of MPs who served for less than a year.
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Calculating the shortest parliamentary terms depends on when and how you start counting.
For example, Thomas Higgins was elected as MP for North Galway in 1906 but had died that morning.
Alfred Dobbs was elected as the Labour MP for Smethwick in 1945 but was killed in a car crash on the way to take his seat so while he was elected and nominally the representative for a day he was never sworn in.
When it comes to MPs who were elected but then defeated at the next election, Henry Francis Compton was elected as the Conservative MP for New Forest in a 1905 by-election.
However, the government had collapsed the previous day and an election was called for January so, as parliament was not sitting, he too was never sworn in though he did have 46 days as the nominal MP before being defeated at the election.
Hugh Alfred Anderson, the Irish Unionist MP for North Londonderry was sworn in, and resigned three days later - 47 days after first being elected.
Therefore to find the MP who served the shortest term having been elected, sworn in, and defeated at the next election we have to turn to Donald Bennett who was elected as the Liberal MP for Middlesbrough West in a by-election on May 14, 1945 then sworn in a day later before being unseated at the general election on July 5 of that year.
Mr Galloway's 127 days puts him between Ulster Unionist Charles Beattie, who was elected in 1955 but disqualified after 123 days and George Henry Williamson who was elected for Worcester in 1906 but removed after 128 days after extensive corruption in the process.
