Man arrested over alleged 'online threat' made to Rochdale by-election candidate Simon Danczuk
Police said patrols have been stepped up ahead of the by-election on Thursday
A man has been arrested over an alleged 'online threat' made to Rochdale by-election candidate Simon Danczuk.
The former Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk is Reform UK's candidate as voters go to the polls to elect the town a new MP on Thursday. Yesterday (February 26), the party posted a video to X - formerly Twitter - as well as a second post, with both showing threats being made to 'assault' Mr Danczuk.
The video posted showed a man holding up what appeared to be an election leaflet for the Reform UK candidate. A man speaking appeared to call him a 'bald, white, devil, b******'.
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He went on to read from the flyer - 'vote for Rochdale, not Gaza' - then said 'son of a b****'. The speaker then said he's 'gonna put one on his head' then makes further disparaging comments and references EastEnders character Phil Mitchell.
In an update issued today, a Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said a 23-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of malicious communications 'after GMP received reports of an online threat in the run-up to the Rochdale by-election'. Police said officers received the report at around 3.45pm yesterday and made the arrest just after 7pm.
The man remains in custody for questioning. Police added that patrols have been stepped up ahead the by-election.
Superintendent Lucy Smallwood, of GMP's Rochdale district, said: "We understand incidents like this can be concerning but the victim and the public should be reassured that we've made an arrest.
"In anticipation of the by-election, we had already put increased patrols in place. Anyone with information on this incident can contact our dedicated team in Rochdale on 0161 856 8549."
The Rochdale by-election will be held on Thursday. It was sparked after the death of sitting MP Sir Tony Lloyd, who represented Rochdale since 2017.
There are 11 candidates: Azhar Ali, Mark Coleman, Simon Danczuk, Iain Donaldson, Paul Ellison, George Galloway, Michael Howarth, William Howarth, Guy Otten, Ravin Rodent Subortna and David Tully.
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