Reform UK has pulled off a shock coup after announcing their candidate for the upcoming Rochdale by-election will be none other than the constituency’s former Labour MP.
Simon Danczuk will stand for Richard Tice’s party, after a by-election was called following the passing of incumbent MP Sir Tony Loyd a fortnight ago.
Mr Danczuk represented the seat as a Labour MP from 2010 to 2017, helping to expose the grooming gang scandal.
Speaking following this afternoon’s revelation in The Sun, Mr Danczuk said the town had been neglected by the main political parties.
He said: “Locally, Labour is failing to protect our people and support local businesses. Nationally, the Conservatives are failing to grow our economy and are leaving our borders open to illegal immigration.
“Labour refuse to say what they will do if they get into Government. The Tories refuse to do in Government what the public want. One has broken Britain, the other will bankrupt it.
“Rochdale and our country are crying out for change.
“We are all proud of Rochdale, its people and its fantastic history. But Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak don’t care about our town, they continue to take us for granted.”
Mr Tice heaped praise on his surprise candidate’s “knowledge, guts and experience”, adding he is “best placed to challenge and change Rochdale for the better”.
“Rochdale needs an MP who will challenge the lazy Labour local council. We need an MP prepared to challenge Labour’s vested interests.
“We need an MP who will challenge, not cover up, Labour wrongdoing.”
The news will be a major boost for Reform, who are comfortably beating the LibDems and Green Party to become the country’s third most popular party.
A recent poll showed the former Brexit Party is now just seven points behind the Tories, though today’s defection shows they can also pick up Labour support.
Mr Danczuk was an outspoken critic of Jeremy Corbyn while still in the Labour Party, but quit in 2017 after he was banned from standing for the party in the snap general election.
He branded Corbyn loyalists as “voting fodder”, and as far back as 2017 threatened to stand as an independent candidate in the constituency.
Mr Danczuk was forced to apologise in 2015 over allegations he sent sexually explicit texts to a 17-year-old girl.
The MP said his behaviour had been inappropriate and stupid, and apologised for letting anyone down.
At the time he received support from Tory MPs, with the now-enabled Stewart Jackson saying he’d been “stitched up like a kipper by the Corbyn cronies”.
The Rochdale by-election will take place on February 29.
Former Labour MP George Galloway has said he will also stand, after achieving 22 percent of the vote in the Batley and Spen by-election in 2021.
