David Tully did not win the Rochdale by-election last month.
The local independent candidate had no prior political involvement and received no media attention. For the national press he was a non-fixture, simply one of many candidates in an election dominated by George Galloway and Gaza.
However, Mr Tully was on everyone’s lips following the count. Whilst Galloway stormed to victory, Mr Tully won over 6,000 votes, finishing second and trouncing every major party.
I went down to visit David at his local business to discuss his campaign – what was next for the local lad turned potential MP?
A man of the people?
We should all be sceptical of politicians who claim to be not like the rest. The “I’m not like the others” trope is tired and played out, as well as often being false.
However, Mr Tully has a legitimate claim to the title. If anyone is a man of the people, it is him.
He speaks with a broad northern accent and dialect. His body language is open and relaxed, with a genuine smile across his face. Most jarringly of all, he actually answers questions.
There are no airs or graces, seemingly no ulterior motive, just David Tully.
Tully’s family have owned his vehicle repair business for the last 58 years, which was started by his father, David Tully Sr. As we conduct the interview, and the workers filter in and out of the room, you can sense the genuine affection they all have for one another.
David is also well known in the area for his charity work. Alongside his family, he has raised thousands for charities such as the Stephen Gartland Foundation, British Heart Foundation and Motor Neurone Disease Association. He has participated in walks, bike rides, marathons, ultramarathons and much more for charitable causes.
Mr Tully and his wife Lindsey explained further: “We started raising money for the British Heart Foundation because Lindsey’s Dad passed.
“He was 56, and we did a lot of fundraising alongside Lindsey and her mum – cycling, running, walking events.
“Then we raised funds for the Stephen Gartland foundation, who sadly passed, that was mental health issues so we try to raise awareness and fundraise for that.
“I’m also on the committee at Mayfield, the rugby club I was involved in myself, doing a monthly lotto to raise for the open age players and the youth, including the 3 women’s teams. That’s a labour of love.”
David’s wife Lindsey is crucial to his work alongside the rest of the team around him.
In my correspondence with his office for the interview, it is Lindsey and his daughter Olivia who I have liaised with – and without them, and his other daughter Georgia, it is safe to say the political campaign would not have been possible.
Two family friends, Jadene and her mum Nikki, have also been crucial with their running of the Tully campaign on TikTok.
Jadene is the daughter of a lifelong family friend of the Tully family, Michael McElhinney, who sadly passed away in 2022. Lindsey tells me that David likes to look out for Jadene since her Dad passed, and both really stress their vital role in the campaign.
“A bit overwhelming!”
I asked Mr Tully how he felt that night of the election. How did it feel to get 6000 votes as a total outsider?
“Well it was unexpected! We were guess-timating, touching base looking at between 1500 and 2000 votes. So a bit overwhelming! I feel very humbled and overwhelmed that we got to those sorts of numbers.
“During the campaign we got a good message across – we made a good connection to the community of Rochdale, you know. We did a lot of legwork in the town. So it was good and it was nice that people backed us and supported us.
“My big intention for standing was to have a voice for Rochdale and the people in it. And that’s the message I tried to get across. The points raised were daily issues that our town has.”
Mr Tully’s campaign focused on local issues such as a crackdown on speeding, supporting local businesses and getting funding to secure the future of Rochdale AFC, where he is a season ticket holder.
But the biggest issue he campaigned on was to reopen Rochdale’s maternity ward.
“That was on top of my list, the maternity ward. If you speak to some people in the NHS they say it can’t be done, too much funding, but my answer to that is why not. The funding is there in the amount of taxes we generate as a town and nationwide – other towns smaller than us have maternity wards.
“We don’t have an A&E or maternity ward so let’s get it here because we deserve it, we have a birthright.”
What are his politics?
David’s politics aren’t fully known – even to himself. This is likely a large part of his appeal, as it means people can project their own ideas onto him and he can gain a wide-array of support.
However, this could be a weakness too – even with a genuine desire to help the community, apoliticism and a lack of ideology does not always help.
To get a sense of his politics, I ask him whether he would consider himself to be on the political left or right:
“People ask me that a lot! People who have looked at my background probably found nothing!”
I am guilty as charged on this count. Looking into Mr Tully in preparation for this interview, I found literally nothing regarding his political views released prior to the by-election.
Tully explains: “I just want the best for people around me. I see everyone the same. When I said I haven’t got a political agenda and I haven’t got political views, I know I probably should have the game I was getting in, but I don’t really. I just want the best for my community. I feel if you build on that, then you can start looking upon the horizons to sort the world out.”
However, there are some clues as to the wider politics in his brain. There is clearly localism infused into his thinking, as well as an anti-corporate sentiment.
Mr Tully said: “[We must] target these corporate firms who, on a monthly basis, take off people when they get home through gas and electric, and obviously people who insure their homes, your working environment with local businesses.
“Let’s drive them down. We are all entitled to have a living and make profit, but why should they have that much wealth when the people who drive forward are struggling to get the bare necessities. So that would be a big drive for me to tackle.
“I think people experience that on a daily basis, so they could engage with it.”
And whilst we were on the topic of wider politics, I couldn’t help but ask him about his thoughts on the current state of politics and on the Prime Minister. As I do, a knowing smile creeps across his face.
“Well hence why I really stood! You know, I’m probably just a local lad who sees the format of politics, the government and the establishment, you know the system, doing what it does on a daily, monthly, yearly basis, and how it disconnects from people where they are just looking to make enough to cover the cost of living.
“That’s what I wanted to try and get a spotlight on. So that the politicians and the establishment realise that this is going on. Instead of looking at big agendas, lets get down to the nitty gritty and what politicians are there for, to look after the communities they are from.
“If your own back garden is tidy you have a chance of making the world a better place. It starts there doesn’t it?”
What does the future hold?
My next question is a simple one. Do you think you would win if you stood again?
Again, a big smile creeps across his face.
“I feel if I stood that’s what my intentions would be now. That would be a massive commitment of myself, my family and my friends, to make that leap, because if we were doing it we would be doing it to win. I wasn’t doing it for that this time – I did it to be a voice for Rochdale in the by-election. Now I’ve got that momentum.
“But it would be life-changing for me, so that’s why I would need to consider the responsibility and my family in order to make that commitment, so that’s something I have to decide! If we did do it, we would be doing it for one reason – to win.”
He had also previously told reporters that many parties had reached out to him following the by-election. I pressed him for more details on this, expecting to be batted away, but his blunt honesty took me aback.
“Officially the Lib Dems have offered for me to join their party. I can honestly say George Galloway’s party have offered for me to join.
“Tories have made an interest known, and also the Labour Party – they’ve made an interest in me known. They haven’t said ‘Would you like to join our party’ but they have communicated with me and kept the dialogue open. Reform on the night offered to have communications. So those parties that were involved in the by-election have spoken to me personally.
“At the minute, I just feel it’s David Tully – I was standing as an independent and I feel if I made any other commitments to any other parties I’d be letting the people down who voted for me.
“And myself really, as I stood as an independent and my own principles, and my own message which I wanted to get across as an independent.”
Finally, I want to ask him about the new MP for Rochdale, George Galloway. The controversial veteran politician is the leader of the Workers’ Party of Britain and won the by-election off the back of his opposition to Israel and support for Palestine.
However, he was also accused of running a divisive campaign, and he is regularly condemned by the media and politicians.
A pained expression initially hits David’s face when I ask him for his opinions on Mr Galloway… but a surprising answer follows.
“I must admit, the first impressions I got coming in were… well you know… I shouldn’t really… but he’s growing on me a little bit.
“Especially his maiden parliamentary speech, where he mentioned Tony Lloyd who he paid a lovely tribute to, which I can only compliment him for, and a 6 minute speech about Rochdale.
“I feel in my heart that I might have planted a seed there and for his approach to that. Doing what I did standing up for the town. If I have done that and he’s gone ahead and said things about Rochdale and the plight of the town and he’s made a speech, I’ll have to say I appreciate what he’s done. So fair play to him.
“Let’s hope it actually continues and he does do what he says he’s going to do for the town. We will see how it plays out; time will only tell.”
