Last week she was hoping to be selected as a Labour parliamentary candidate. Now Karen Danczuk is facing expulsion from the party.
BuzzFeed News has been told that the former councillor – known for a string of appearances in tabloid news outlets, the prolific posting of selfies, and her regular appearances on daytime TV – is set to be banned from Labour for breaking party rules, after deciding to nominate her ex-husband Simon Danczuk to run as an independent in the Rochdale constituency.
Karen Danczuk is one of the 10 names listed on his candidate application form as a nominee.
Labour declined to comment on the specific case but made it clear that the party rulebook unambiguously states that where there is evidence of a party member supporting a candidate other than the official Labour candidate they will automatically become ineligible for party membership.
The Labour compliance unit is now understood to be looking at Karen Danczuk's public declaration of support for her former partner. The unit gained notoriety during the last two Labour leadership contest for revoking party membership from supporters of Jeremy Corbyn who had previously backed candidates representing other anti-Labour left-wing parties.
A Labour party spokesperson said the party remained committed to ensuring individuals from all wings of the party do not back candidates from rival parties: "The Labour party had a robust validation process for all votes in leadership contests to ensure every vote cast was eligible according to the party's rules and agreed procedures."
Karen Danczuk attempted to be selected as the Labour candidate for the seat of Bury North during this election but was rejected, prompting a series of tweets about the party's alleged failings.
Her ex-husband Simon Danczuk was the MP for Rochdale between 2010 and 2017 and has rarely been far from controversy. He was suspended from Labour indefinitely in 2015 after being exposed for sending explicit texts to a 17-year-old girl. While suspended he was forced to repay wrongly claimed parliamentary expenses and accused of rape but no charges were brought.
After the snap general election was called he failed to be reselected as Labour candidate for the seat, and tore up his membership card in order to stand as an independent. Last week a new accusation of rape was made against him, a claim he strongly denies. He has not been arrested.
A spokesperson for Karen Danczuk could not immediately confirm whether she was aware her party membership was under threat, or whether she considered the possibility when she nominated her husband to stand as an independent.
UPDATE
Following the publication of this story Karen Danczuk told BuzzFeed News she could not be expelled from the Labour party as she had already resigned from the party.