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A former Labour MP who was turfed out amid an antisemitism row has thrown his support behind Zack Polanski for the by-election in Sir Keir Starmer’s old seat.

Chris Williamson, who was elected as the Labour MP for Derby North in 2010, announced the endorsement, saying he felt his old party was “in the pocket of the neoliberal Zionist war machine”.

He had previously served as a Labour MP from 2010-19, before being booted out of the party following a lengthy investigation.

The now 70-year-old former parliamentarian then joined a political outfit led by George Galloway, who is in self-imposed “exile” in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

But in a fresh twist, Mr Williamson took to the social media website X to announce that he had resigned from Mr Galloway’s movement.

“I have tonight resigned from the Workers Party of Britain because I profoundly disagree with the decision to stand in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election,” he wrote.

Mr Williamson added that he had a “huge amount of respect for George Galloway” but called on people to back Mr Polanski in the by-election.

Mr Galloway has a long history of courting controversy, having once praised the murderous tyrant Saddam Hussein, and more recently blamed the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine on the West.

His party will stand a candidate in the by-election, which was triggered when Sir Keir Starmer announced he would be standing down as an MP.

Writing online, Mr Williamson said: “My firm view is that the Left must collaborate to defeat the Labour Party, Reform UK, Conservatives and Lib Dems because these parties are all in the pocket of the neoliberal Zionist war machine”.

He added: “Zack is best placed to do that in this by-election”.

It is not yet known if the Green Party was aware Mr Williamson was about to endorse them, or whether he will be allowed to campaign for them in the coming weeks.

Mr Williamson backed a number of the Green Party boss’s policies, including Mr Polanski’s professed support for legalising heroin and cocaine.

He added: “I do have some differences on a small set of issues, most notably their current pro-EU and pro-NATO stances, but my view is that we should agree where we agree, which is on most things, and simply have fraternal disagreements where we don’t.”

Currently, the former MP works as a TV show host for the Iranian government-owned channel Press TV, where he presents a programme on Palestine.

Following his removal from Labour in 2019, he joined the Workers Party GB in July 2023 and was elected as one of three deputy leaders that same year.

He stood in the 2024 General Election for the seat of Derby South, coming third behind Labour and Reform.

The Green Party was approached for comment.