First 100 days Galloway keeps fuelling conspiracy theories

George Galloway was in full flow as he addressed tens of thousands of viewers online one evening in late March.

- Josh Halliday, Michael Goodier

In a five-minute monologue, the newly elected Rochdale MP dismissed what he described as the "official narrative" of the murders of the US president John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Senator Robert F Kennedy. They were, he said, "a pack of lies".

Galloway, 69, then turned to more recent events: the murder of more than 140 people at Crocus City Hall in Moscow on 22 March, an atrocity since attributed by Russia to Islamic State. The four-time parliamentarian said he believed that "the United States, that the Nato allies and their proxy servant, the state of Ukraine, Romanian state of Ukraine, were in fact responsible for this mass murder".

This may sound like the ramblings from the internet's wilder margins, but Galloway is one of Britain's best known politicians with one of the biggest audiences at home and abroad.

The Guardian has found that instead of resiling from conspiracy theories in the 100 days since he was elected as Rochdale's MP, which he will mark on Saturday, Galloway appears to have become further entrenched in them.

The leader of the Workers party has a bigger online audience than almost any other British politician and receives thousands of pounds a month from his videos - which, he has said, is pumped back into building his media profile. His popularity comes amid growing concern about MPs spreading false and unfounded speculation online. Last month, the Commons leader, Penny Mordaunt, produced a guide for MPs to spot conspiracy theories that could "pose a danger to democracy", and the thinktank Demos has called for stricter rules to prevent parliamentarians fuelling disinformation.

But Galloway appears unfazed.