Voters don't want to be extras in a drama...they just want an MP to stand up for them

LOTS of people have lost faith in politics. Looking at the Rochdale by-election it's not hard to see why.

- Joseph Timan

Here we have, in sharp relief, much of what is wrong with British politics. Opportunism, divisive and racist rhetoric and a political culture detached from the concerns of everyday people.

And for those who think Westminster's macho culture is a thing of the past, look no further than this ballot paper. There are 11 men on it, but not a single woman. The Rochdale by-election is a microcosm of much that's wrong in our wider politics.

The town is the scene of the latest Westminster psychodrama and its residents are reluctantly role of extras. National playing the media have descended upon the streets over the last few weeks as voters decide who will replace the late Sir Tony Lloyd as their MP.

The widely-respected principled politician would be turning in his grave if he knew what the contest had become. Meanwhile, his party has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by ditching their candidate when it was already too late.

Even if he wins, they lose.

In common with by-elections elsewhere, this contest had already attracted opportunists capitalising on anger and division as a route for a return to Parliament.

Ex-MP and Celebrity Big Brother contestant George Galloway has put the war in Gaza at the centre of his campaign, promising voters he will teach Labour a lesson, while Rochdale's former MP Simon Danczuk is staging a political comeback of his own, less than a decade after he was caught sending lewd messages to a 17-year-old girl, suspended by the Labour Party and then beaten at the ballot box.

So far, so unpleasantly familiar.

But the race, which was expected to be a straightforward win for Labour, was blown wide open after the party withdrew support for its candidate who made 'deeply offensive' comments about Israel. The row rumbled on for days before the party took 'decisive action.