‘Selfie Queen’ bids to stand for Parliament
SELFIE Queen Karen Danczuk is making a bid to stand for Parliament.
She is seeking selection as a Labour candidate in Bury North.
The former Rochdale councillor – who was married to the town’s MP Simon Danczuk – submitted an application for the seat last week.
A spokeswoman for Ms Danczuk said: “I can confirm that the application did go in last week.”
Karen hinted on Twitter last week she was considering a bid, writing: “Things can change overnight. Recent chaos in politics, hardworking people being hit hard by Tory gov. Maybe it’s time I fight MP seat?”
And when a follower asked if she was considering applying to stand in Rochdale, potentially against ex-husband Simon who is currently suspended from the Labour Party but has vowed to stand as an independent if he is not reinstated before the election, she wrote: “No never – that’s his seat however he stands but seen new list of vacant seats. Some in my area Greater Manchester.”
If successful Ms Danczuk, who gained fame for posting revealing selfies on Twitter, would go up against sitting Conservative MP David Nuttall in the crucial marginal seat – which is considered to be a bellwether constituency.
Mr Nuttall has a slender majority of just 378.
Ms Danczuk represented the Kingsway ward on Rochdale council for four years between 2011 and 2015.
Speaking during a BBC Radio 5 Live interview in February, Ms Danczuk told how she wanted to get back into politics and use her fame to help victims of sexual abuse.
It came after she bravely waived her right to anonymity to reveal she was raped as a child by her brother Michael Burke.
He was jailed for 15 years following a trial in December for the attacks on his sister and two other victims.
Ms Danczuk said: “I’ve been thinking this past week that I would love to be an MP. I genuinely would and I just hope I can get the support out there to enable that, because I think my voice is important. We’re a country of a mixed variety and mixed views should be taken into account.
“I would like to stand close to home, but I don’t think there’ll be anyone standing down.”