Reform candidate ‘posted offensive comments about women and liked sexually explicit tweet about Carol Vorderman’
Reform UK’s candidate in the Makerfield by-election has been accused of sharing transphobic slurs, sharing Covid-related misinformation and objectifying women in now-deleted social media posts.
Robert Kenyon is running as Nigel Farage’s candidate in what is set to be a dramatic contest between Reform UK and Labour’s Andy Burnham; this election will likely use the victory to challenge Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.
But in posts made between 2020 and 2022 on a now-deleted account
In one post, the account shares a sexually suggestive post sent to Carol Vorderman on her birthday, in which another user declares to the host that he or she wants to perform a sexual act.
Another user responded to the post: “If you’re prepared to put this on a public forum, I’d suggest your computer drive probably needs to be checked.”
But @robkenyon1 replied: “He’s just saying what we’re all thinking.”
Another post by the user stated that she was blocked from the Sky Sports Rugby League Twitter page for “saying something about women’s rugby”.
The account has also used transphobic slurs and peddled conspiracy theories about vaccines during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The account responded to someone who said Covid vaccines “work great”: “What nonsense” and likened Covid vaccine policies in Australia to Nazism.
He also suggested the media was “complicit” in “global tyranny” when responding to a post by far-right Holocaust denier Peter Sweden.
A Labor Party spokesman condemned the “disgusting” posts.
“From chilling remarks about women to peddling unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, these are appalling things said by a parliamentary candidate,” a spokesman told the BBC. “Nigel Farage needs to explain why Reform UK chose him.”
But when the posts were sent to Reform UK a spokesman said they were “fully supportive” of Mr Kenyon.
“He is an excellent, local candidate who we are confident will be an excellent MP for Makerfield,” the spokesman said. “These comments were made before he entered politics. Rob is not a flashy, professional politician and doesn’t talk like one. That’s why he will be an outspoken, effective voice for normal working people in Makerfield.”
The party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, appealed to X to defend Mr Kenyon against what he called “Westminster woke people” who criticized the posts.
“The whining left fails to realize that Makerfield has already voted for our big candidate out of thousands. Local man, local tradesman, real business. Westminster is woke and so out of touch,” he wrote.
Mr Kenyon, who was born in the constituency and now works as a freelance plumber, previously ran in the 2024 election and came second in the constituency with 31.8 per cent of the vote.
After he was announced as the party’s candidate in the upcoming by-election, it was revealed that he had previously been “friends” on Facebook with the neo-fascist founder of the New British Union, Gary Raikes.
Independent He understands that the page Mr. Kenyon has befriended is a political page, not a personal one. Reform noted that Facebook friendship “does not constitute endorsement of oneself.” [Raikes’] views”.
The NBU, which Raikes founded in 2013, claims to be a revival of Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists. The party supports fascist groups, including Golden Dawn in Greece, and Raikes himself has previously been photographed in his fascist uniform.
A Labor spokesman described the statement as “deeply disturbing” and added: “Nigel Farage urgently needs to clarify whether Reform was aware of his candidate’s apparent fascist friends before electing him.
“This is simply unconvincing. Makerfield and voters across Britain deserve an answer.”
