Labour MP says young women are his ‘achilles heel’ and that he feels awful about texts he sent to teenager

The Labour MP Simon Danczuk has said an alcohol problem led him to send sexually explicit text messages to a teenage girl and that younger women were his “achilles heel”.

Danczuk, 49, made the comments to the Sun newspaper, which on New Year’s Eve reported that he had sent a series of sexually explicit text messages to 17-year-old Sophena Houlihan after she asked him for a job as a case worker in his constituency office.



Labour swiftly suspended the MP, pending investigation, on 31 December, with a party spokesperson saying: “The general secretary of the Labour party has today suspended Simon Danczuk’s membership of the party, pending an investigation into allegations published in the media today.

“A full investigation will now take place under the authority of the national executive committee, which will be responsible for determining any further action.”

The MP has been a prominent campaigner against child sexual exploitation and played a leading role in exposing Sir Cyril Smith, his predecessor as MP for Rochdale, as a paedophile.

“Younger women are my achilles heel,” Danczuk told the paper on Sunday. “My first wife was 10 years younger than me, my second wife was 17 years younger, my last girlfriend is 17 years younger. Some men like older women, some like younger women, some like brunettes, some like blondes.

“I have a drink problem, and that is a major contributory reason why I sent the messages. I’ve seen a psychiatrist about it and he’s told me to stop drinking for six months. I feel awful about what happened. I don’t know what came over me.

“I’m so embarrassed that I’ve been such an idiot. I’m sorry for letting my family down and I’m already dreading my young sons finding out about this when they are older.”

Danczuk’s first wife accused him of being a sexual predator in an interview with the Mail on Sunday. Sonia Rossington, who was married to the MP for a decade, accused him of drug-taking and sexually abusive behaviour during their marriage.

Rossington claimed the pair’s two teenage children intended to change their surnames following the allegations.

“I’m appalled at his disgusting behaviour with this young woman who is only a few years older than his daughter. But no, not surprised,” said Rossington, who divorced Danczuk in 2010. “To be honest, I was waiting for something like this to happen.”

“I think this has been his modus operandi for years,” she alleged. “He’s a sexual predator who made my life hell.”

Danczuk responded to Rossington’s claims, telling the Mail On Sunday paper: “She is consumed by bitterness, is susceptible to drinking too much and is telling lies.”

Danczuk’s former girlfriend and a Labour councillor for Leyland Central told the Sunday Mirror that the MP was “a total embarrassment to Rochdale” and was unfit to be a member of parliament.

“He enjoys being seen to be doing something ­positive and thrives on the attention it gets,” said Claire Hamilton. “He was in no hurry to get back to Rochdale to deal with the flood crisis. In fact, he spent two days doing radio interviews instead of helping.”

Hamilton described Danczuk as a “self-obsessed narcissist”, adding: “He told me he had come up with a plan for 2016 to make more money out of the celebrity and press side of things than from being an MP.

“He’s a real Jeykll and Hyde ­character,” she said. “You get the public Simon who claims to care passionately about things, then the Simon who drinks too much and doesn’t care who he hurts to get his own way.

“He follows loads of random young women on Twitter so who knows who else he has been texting and sending messages to? He’s finally pressed the self-destruct button.”

Danczuk allegedly told Houlihan that he was “horny” and asked her if she wanted spanking. The MP claimed that he had sent the text messages while drunk.

Houlihan told the Sun: “When I first got in touch I never expected the messages to get so graphic. At the time I played along with it, but now I feel like he duped me. I was keen for a career in politics and he is a very high-profile MP and I was in awe of him.”

Greater Manchester police confirmed on 31 December that they had looked into a report that Danczuk had been “communicating inappropriately with a teenage girl” after a complaint was made to them on 29 December. “This matter was looked into and it has been determined that no offences have been committed,” they said in a statement.

Danczuk’s comments came as the Sunday Times reported that Labour was preparing to expel the MP permanently from the party. A source familiar with the inquiry told the paper that the focus would be on claims that Danczuk abused his position by making sexual references to someone who had asked him for work in his constituency office.