The Mayor of Oldham has ruled himself out of the race to become MP for Rochdale following the death of Sir Tony Lloyd.

The former MP died at his home on Wednesday, January 17, just days after it was revealed he was suffering from rare form of leukaemia.

There is expected to be a by-election in Rochdale, however, the Mayor of Oldham has ruled himself out of running to be the MP of the constituency.

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Cllr Zahid Chauhan OBE of Labour shared in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday (January 22) that he was "humbled by the messages of support and encouragement for the Rochdale selection" but that he would not be putting himself forward due to "family circumstances".

The Mayor, who is a qualified general practitioner, wrote: "Many will know that at this time my family circumstances require my full energy and focus.

"But [I] will do all I can to campaign for a resounding win on the road to a Labour government."

Cllr Chauhan has represented the Alexandra ward since 2013 and has served as the Mayor since May last year.

In August last year he announced he would be taking a step from his role due to his wife, Afsheen, the mayoress of Oldham, being diagnosed with a "very serious illness".