Vision 21 boss to fight next general election
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Simon Danczuk, boss of UK social research agency Vision 21, is in the running to be the next MP for Rochdale after winning the backing of local Labour Party members.
Danczuk – who saw off his nearest rival with almost double the number of votes – told Research: “I'm absolutely delighted to be chosen. It was a very strong field of aspiring candidates.”
The next general election is not expected for at least two years, however a succession strategy at Vision 21 is already in place, he said.
Danczuk co-founded the agency in 1999 with Ruth Turner and Anne McNamara, however by 2005 both McNamara and Turner had left, selling their stakes in the business.
Since then, Danczuk has been building up a new management team, bringing in Nick Carley, co-founder of PR firm October Communications, as a director, and Kevin Lee, former Labour Party director for the North West region, as an associate director.
Along with director Helen Bidwell – a long-serving Vision 21 executive – Danczuk said: “The idea was to bring people in to help develop the company. There has always been an intention for me to do less day-to-day work.
“We're not at that stage yet,” he said, “but that [plan] moves forward.”
Danczuk is “convinced” he can win back the Rochdale seat for Labour at the next general election. In 2005, it went to the Liberal Democrats with a majority of just 444.
He is no stranger to politics, having been a councillor for Blackburn with Darwen from the age of 27 to 35. Now 40, he has been active in the Labour movement for over 20 years.
But were he to win at the next election, Danczuk said he has no intention of completely severing all ties with Vision 21.
Former business partner Ruth Turner also has close links with the Labour Party. She left Vision 21 in June 2005 to become Prime Minister Tony Blair's director of government relations.
On Friday, 19 January, Turner was arrested by police investigating the ‘cash-for-honours' affair – an inquiry into allegations people had been given peerages in exchange for donations and loans made to political parties.
She was released pending further enquiries, and has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
Author: Brian Tarran
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