Simon Danczuk received death threats during the selection process. The postal ballot got a 78% turnout and Danczuk received almost twice as many votes as the second-placed candidate. Seven members of Rochdale Labour Party who were accused of bringing the Labour party into disrepute by criticising his behaviour were expelled, or resigned, after a disciplinary hearing in September 2009. In the 2010 general election, Danczuk won 16,699 votes, unseating incumbent Liberal Democrat Paul Rowen, who received 15,810 as Conservative Mudasir Dean polled 8,305, despite the incident leading to Prime Minister Gordon Brown's "bigoted woman" remark having occurred in Rochdale. In May 2011,
1972 Rochdale by-election 1972 Rochdale by-election The Rochdale by-election, 1972, was a parliamentary by-election held on 26 October 1972 for the British House of Commons constituency of Rochdale. The by-election took place during the 1970s Liberal revival, in one of the areas with few Labour held seats and where the Liberal Party was in second place. This was the first Liberal gain during the 1970–1974 Parliament. The seat had become vacant when the constituency's Labour Member of Parliament (MP), John "Jack" McCann (4 December 1910 – 16 July 1972), died. McCann first contested the Rochdale seat for Parliament in 1955 without success. He