George Galloway has lost the Rochdale constituency just months after he won it.
The leader of the Workers Party of Britain received 11,508 votes, behind Labour’s Paul Waugh who won the seat with 13,047 votes.
On the BBC election programme Neil Kinnock, the former Labour leader, could scarcely contain his glee.
He described Mr Galloway as “repulsive” – but said when he was leading the party, he could not find a reason to throw him out.
The Workers Party leader did not turn up to the count in Rochdale, a seat he has only held for four months.
Mr Galloway won the seat in a February by-election, overturning a Labour majority of 9,668.
The former Labour and Respect party MP, has held four different seats in parliament since 1987.
The political firebrand was first Labour MP for Glasgow Hillhead from 1987, and after that constituency was abolished before the 1997 election, he became Labour MP for its successor, Glasgow Kelvin.
He was expelled from the Labour party in 2003 for bringing the party into disrepute, after he called the then Labour Government “Tony Blair’s lie machine”, and said British troops fighting in Iraq should refuse to obey their orders.
In the February by-election Mr Galloway took almost 40 per cent of the vote and a majority of almost 5,700.
During the general election campaign, Mr Galloway came under fire for saying he trusts Vladimir Putin more than Keir Starmer. He faced criticism earlier this year for “blatant homophobia” after saying he doesn’t think that gay relationships are equal to heterosexual relationships.
He has also repeatedly been accused of spreading conspiracy theories, including recently speculating that the Princess of Wales was “dead” and that the April 2022 Russian massacre of civilians in Bucha, just north of Kyiv, was likely staged.
Full results:
Paul Waugh, Labour – 13,027 (32.82%)
George Galloway, Workers Party of Britain – 11,587 (29.20%)
Michael Howard, Reform – 6,773 (17.07%)
Paul Ellison, Conservative – 4,273 (10.77%)
Andy Kelly, Liberal Democrat – 2,816 (7.10%)
Martyn Savin, Green – 1,212 (3.05%)
Labour majority – 1,440 (3.63%)
Electorate 71,264
Turnout 39,688 (55.69%)