Simon Danczuk to face no further action over rape claim Published duration 1 June 2017

image copyright PA image caption The former Rochdale MP said he believed the allegation was "politically motivated"

Former Labour MP Simon Danczuk will face no further action following a rape allegation, police have confirmed.

A woman had complained to police that she was sexually assaulted by a man in his 50s in Westminster last May.

The Metropolitan Police said the former Rochdale MP was informed the matter had been dropped on Wednesday.

Mr Danczuk, 50, who is standing for re-election in the town as an independent, said he believed the claim was "politically motivated".

He said the allegation was made to police the day he collected nomination papers from Rochdale Council entitling him to stand in the 8 June election.

He added the first he knew of the "totally false" allegation was when he was asked for a comment by a journalist on 8 May.

The allegation later appeared in newspaper headlines.

Mr Danczuk said the claim was "a desperate attempt to smear and undermine my general election campaign in Rochdale".

The former MP was suspended by the Parliamentary Labour Party in December 2015 amid allegations concerning his conduct.

He later resigned from the party after he was barred from standing for Labour in Rochdale, a seat he had held since winning it from the Liberal Democrats in 2010.