Simon Danczuk pictured going for a jog hours after rape allegations against MP emerged
The 50-year-old is accused of carrying out the attack at a property in the Westminster area of London a year ago
MP Simon Danczuk has been pictured going for a jog just hours after allegations that he raped a young woman emerged.
The 50-year-old is accused of carrying out the attack at a property in the Westminster area of London a year ago.
The dad-of-four was spotted running along a river back near his home in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, dressed in blue shorts, a jacket, a cap and wearing headphones this morning.
Last night he dismissed the rape accusation and insisted he would still stand as an MP.
The claims were reported to cops on Monday — the same day Danczuk quit Labour after his party banned him from the General Election over a sexting scandal.
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Mr Danczuk, former husband of Selfie Queen Karen, told The Sun: “The Metropolitan Police have not been in touch with me about this.
“It is a totally false allegation and I look forward to the police clearing it up.
“But I am very intrigued by the timing of it, two days before the closure of nominations for the parliamentary election in Rochdale.”
Mr Danczuk, accused of carrying out the attack in the Westminster area last May, quit Labour on Monday after party chiefs banned him from the General Election over a sexting scandal.
Hours later it was revealed a woman had walked into a Manchester police station to make a complaint about the alleged London sex attack.
But in an act of defiance, Mr Danczuk yesterday confirmed for the first time that he will stand as an independent MP in Rochdale.
The dad of four will take on left-wing Labour replacement Tony Lloyd.
New Labour stalwart Mr Danczuk won his seat with a healthy 12,442 majority in 2015, but was infuriated by the party’s surge to the left under leader Jeremy Corbyn.
He became one of Corbyn’s most vocal critics and was suspended in 2015 after it emerged he had sexted 17-year-old student Sophena Houlihan after she applied for a job in his constituency office.
He asked her in explicit text chats if she wanted a “spanking”.
Labour’s National Executive Committee finally decided nine days ago to bar him from standing as a candidate at the June 8 election.
On Monday Mr Danczuk — now engaged to care worker Charlene Meade, 31 — tweeted a picture of his torn-up party membership card and a letter saying Labour was no longer a “positive political movement”.
The MP’s decision to contest his seat looks certain to decimate the local Labour vote.
But he said: “I’m fighting to win and don’t care if I destroy the Labour vote in Rochdale.”
A Westminster source said of the rape allegation: “Simon is appalled.
“He feels he is the victim of a despicable dirty tricks campaign and will fight this all the way.
“He has no idea who’s accusing him, but the timing tells you all you need to know.”
A Met spokesman said: “A woman has alleged she was raped.
“Detectives have been notified and will investigate.”
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