Danczuk - The Last Straw

There had been concerns that today’s Mail On Sunday front page lead might not go ahead - after all, more than one paper had shied away at the last minute because of legal threats in the past - but this time, Rochdale’s nominally Labour MP Simon Danczuk was bang to rights, in graphic detail, and in the words of his first wife Sonia Rossington. He was a bully, an alcoholic, a drug addict, and, it seems, a complete sociopath.

The headline, “My years of abuse by sex text MP: Ex-wife of disgraced Danczuk claims he bullied her into 'sly, awful sex while she was asleep' - then said 'It's the deal, you are my wife' when she complained”, was bad enough. That Ms Rossington also branded Danczuk a “sexual predator” was worse. The confirmation that he had been involved in an affair even before becoming Labour candidate for Rochdale was worse still.

On top of that was his attempt to impose a gagging order on his ex-wife - why else would he do that unless she knew something that would harm his career? - which was later found to be ineffective. The desire to control his partner. The incessant imposition of his demands for regular sex, whatever her response. The love of pornography. The enjoyment of sado-masochism. And the complete and total lack of empathy.

Then there was the dishonesty: Danczuk only admitted to the affair with one of his staff at the now-defunct Vision 21 on pain of having his mobile phone flushed down the pan. He had to be threatened with a DNA test before admitting he was the father of Karen Burke’s (as she was then) child. And his “sexting” of a 17 year old girl, which he kept from his last squeeze Claire Hamilton, only for her to find out and dump him.

Ms Rossington summed it up well when she said “I was completely controlled by him … It was a form of domestic violence, without the hitting. I think he never hit me because he was usually too stoned”. That Danczuk allegedly told her “You’re my wife. I can have sex with you whenever I want”, and that he told her “If you get on the wrong side of me I will destroy you”. The picture that emerges would embarrass any political party.

And that brings us to the investigation the Labour Party has to undertake, following the decision to suspend Danczuk. It is now being reported that he “will apparently be accused of breaching his duty of care to a potential employee, after it was revealed he told student Sophena Houlihan he was “horny” and asked if she wanted him to ‘spank’ her”. That may be enough to have him permanently excluded from the party.

All that would then remain would be Danczuk’s position as an MP: could he hang on as an Independent? It’s been rumoured that UKIP would only accept him if he agreed to a by-election - which, right now, he would lose - and so sitting tight until 2020 would be the only option. But opinion in Rochdale is hardening against Danczuk, with a protest outside his constituency office scheduled for 1100 hours tomorrow.

And that, folks, is why we can now finally see Simon Danczuk, on his way … out.