An unsuccessful Bolton council candidate has refused to say whether he believes gay relationships are 'normal'.

Sajid Pathan was one of two candidates running for George Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain in the borough.

Pathan's refusal to comment comes after George Galloway insisted that gay relationships were not normal in an interview with Novara Media's Aaron Bastani.

Mr Pathan spoke to The Bolton News as the count started in the early hours of Friday morning.

In the end, Pathan lost the Hulton seat, coming fourth place – with Labour's Fazeelah Khan taking the seat from independent Derek Bullock.

Asked why the Workers Party of Britain was gaining momentum, the Hulton candidate criticised Labour leader Keir Starmer, saying ‘he hasn’t put an agenda’ to the electorate.

He said: “It was Labour and Conservatives in my ward, but I’ve given a good fight – it’s my first time standing for the Workers’ Party, I’ve had George Galloway come to Bolton and endorse me.”

Pathan said his party is growing – and he was keen to mention that England cricketer Monty Panesar will be standing for the party in the next general election.

Asked if some of the support for the Workers Party could be attributed to the situation in Gaza, Pathan said: “It’s absolutely Gaza – where Labour and Conservative have both not gone for a total ceasefire, the pauses are no good.

“You’ve got to stop arming Israel with the ammunition, we have to stop that, you know, that’s number one – total ceasefire, let the aid get through, and we have to go for a two-state solution. We have to get two parties on the table.”

While Pathan was more than willing to speak about the situation in Gaza, he was less interested in speaking about his opinions of gay relationships.

In an interview with Novara Media’s Aaron Bastani, Workers Party leader George Galloway insisted that gay relationships are not ‘normal’ and that he would not want his children to be taught ‘that gay relationships are exactly the same and as normal as a mum, a dad, and kids’.

Asked about Galloway's comments, Pathan said: “I won’t comment on that, I’ll leave it to peoples’ opinion.”

Pressed further, asked if he would say gay relationships are normal, Pathan said: “No comment.”