[SCS0021]

Written evidence submitted by Simon Danczuk

Speaker’s Conference on the security of candidates, MPs and elections.

Simon Danczuk, Reform UK parliamentary candidate, Rochdale By-Election, 29th February 2024.

Introduction

Experience from the 29th February 2024 Rochdale By-Election provides the Speaker’s Conference with a case study in how threats of violence and attack can impact our democratic processes.

Set out below is a concise description of what happened, how it was handled by the authorities, and the consequences of the intimidation and threat. Related points from other threats and intimidation are also provided. It broadly follows the terms of reference for the conference but does not, and cannot, as understood in the guidance, answer every question.

Background

The By-Election was brought about by the death of Sir Tony Lloyd MP on 17th January. Unusually, it was called at short notice by Labour on 29th January, before Tony had been laid to rest on 16th February. With Labour holding a lot of data on where their potential voters were a short campaign would give them the advantage over George Galloway and other candidates.

I was chosen as the Reform UK candidate towards the end of January, ready for the four week campaign, with election day scheduled for Thursday 29th February.

We quickly established a small campaign team and rented premises in both central Rochdale and Milnrow from which we operated. Our main methods of campaigning were knocking on doors, delivering leaflets, touring the constituency in our campaign bus and taking part in as many public debates as possible.

Initial intimidation

The first signs of intimidation were on Thursday 22nd February when a public hustings meeting, organised at a council community centre, excluded a good proportion of the candidates and only had George Galloway (Workers Party) and Iain Donaldson (Liberal Democrat) speak from the platform. I was refused the opportunity to speak by the organisers, clearly contravening the Electoral Commission’s guidance. See local new report here.

This was followed by people in the South Asian/Muslim community threatening to throw objects at us on our bus as it passed through parts of the town.

Death threat

On Monday 26th February at around 2pm, whilst having a break from door knocking, I checked my private Facebook messages and found that I had received several messages and a video threatening to kill me. The 22 second video showed a man holding one of my direct mail leaflets, showing his home address, swearing, and stating: “This white devil bastard… If I ever see this bald motherf**ker, I’m going to put one in his head…”

The threat was widely reported in the national media, for example by the BBC and Daily Express.

The messages are self-explanatory and can be seen here:

I immediately discussed the death threat with party colleagues and contacted Greater Manchester Police (GMP). At 4.30pm that day I attended Rochdale Police Station and provided a full statement and indicated that I would be prepared to help prosecute the perpetrator.

GMP arrested him later that day, set bail conditions, released him the following day, and regularly kept me informed of developments. I asked, on a couple of occasions, for a picture of the perpetrator so that our team and I could identify him should he try to attack us. This was refused and it was explained that he had the right not to be identified.

Keeping in regular contact, GMP let me know on the 12th October 2024 that a case file had been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) supporting prosecution. As we approach 12 months since the death threat, I still want the perpetrator to be prosecuted but the CPS have not yet reached a decision.

Further intimidation

A local businesswoman who endorsed me and shared my leaflets with customers received messages from a foreign mobile number threatening to firebomb her premises.

36 hours before polling day I received a message from my ex-wife who lives in Rochdale with my two young children explaining that intruders had attempted to enter the family home in the middle of the night but were deterred by the sophisticated alarm system.

There was aggressive and intimidatory campaigning outside polling stations on the day.

Direct consequences of intimidation

Credit to Reform UK, and particularly Richard Tice, they immediately engaged two trained security personnel who remained with me for the remainder of the campaign.

However, with added security risks, and not knowing what the perpetrator looked like, engagement with the public was undoubtedly reduced. Some Reform UK activists decided not to campaign in the area because of the risks. We decided that my wife, who had been enjoying her first British election campaign, should, for safety reasons, immediately leave Rochdale and return to our home in London.

Some of our campaign team, by coincidence, had been staying in a property which was on the same street as that of the death threat perpetrator. It was decided to move them into a local hotel. My ex-wife and children were moved from their family home and into a local hotel for the remainder of the campaign.

All this upheaval and intimidation had an adverse impact on our campaign. Psychologically, many of us were worried and felt threatened. Anyone with a good knowledge of politics will understand that meeting voters is crucially important to success, yet we had our campaigning schedules disrupted, security checks put in place, and our time with voters was inevitably reduced.

Previous death threats

Death threats to politicians have become increasingly common.

When the Member of Parliament for Rochdale I received death threats, via social media and to my constituency office, in 2015 regarding how I voted in relation to Syrian airstrikes. These were reported to the police and are documented by the BBC here and the Manchester Evening News here.

In 2007, whilst running to be Labour’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) for Rochdale, I received death threats demanding that I withdraw from the race. This included a death threat phone call and large funeral wreaths sent to my office – described here in the Manchester Evening News.

Where these threats emanate from, action required

There is no doubt in my mind that most, if not all, these death threats and intimidation emanate from people of South Asian origin and are predominately Muslim.

We appear to have imported, and/or developed, an aggressive style of politics which is more common in other countries. Britain is supposed to be a beacon of democracy, yet these examples of intimidation show our election contests now have characteristics more akin to those of a failed state.

The police appear to have got better at investigating these matters, though they still need to consider the victim’s situation more, rather than that of the perpetrator. The CPS need to radically improve, giving these cases as much time and attention, for example, as they did the perpetrators in the Southport riots. It’s incredible that someone making death threats in a parliamentary election still hasn’t been prosecuted 12 months on – it’s as though we have a two-tier justice system.

Simon Danczuk

7 February 2025

3