Reform has stood by Robert Kenyon, a plumber and the candidate for the party in the upcoming Makerfield by-election, after comments he made about TV star Carol Vorderman resurfaced
Carol Vorderman has lashed out at a creepy sexual message by a Reform by-election candidate with a brutal three-word takedown.
Reform UK candidate Robert Kenyon, who is standing to be the next MP for Makerfield in the upcoming by-election, backed up a degrading comment about the TV star along with other comments directed at women. Hitting back, Carol branded Nigel Farage’s candidate a “disgusting online abuser”.
The campaign group HopeNotHate found Kenyon had two X accounts. One has been deleted and the other was suspended by X, HopeNotHate said.
Reform has stood by Kenyon, a plumber, and has said his lack of “polish” could make him an effective MP.
“Fundamentally, Rob Kenyon is a misogynist,” Carol told The Mirror. “I wouldn’t let him in my house if he was a local plumber in my area, not with what he’s been posting online. There is always a pattern.”
In 2021, an X user who wrote a degrading sexual message about Carol, which drew criticism from another person. To this, Kenyon responded by saying “he’s only saying what we’re all thinking”.
And another of the posts from the accounts referenced being blocked by the Sky Sports Rugby League account on X for comments about women’s rugby.
Carol added: “He’s been talking about how female rugby players ‘handle their knockers’, saying if it’s not ‘t**s, and a**e’, and he’d been blocked by the Sky Sports Rugby League Twitter page for his online behaviour.
“It’s a torrent of abusive and vile language. Nobody knows why his X account was suspended. X has a very low bar for suspension, and the public should know and Reform should tell us why his account was suspended. What were his actions for this to have happened?
“Last year the Victim’s Commissioner said ‘misogyny normalises violence against women and girls, normalises illegal harms such as harassment, abuse and stalking. And these harms manifest in both online and offline spaces’.”
Carol emphasised the comments are not just Kenyon “being a lad”, adding he is “being a disgusting online abuser who became a Reform councillor three weeks ago”.
In response to HopeNotHate’s investigation, a Reform UK spokesman said: “We fully back Cllr Kenyon. He is an excellent, local candidate who we are confident will be a superb MP for Makerfield.
“These comments were made before he was in politics. Rob isn’t a polished, professional politician and doesn’t speak like one. That’s precisely why he’ll be a straight-talking, effective voice for normal working people in Makerfield.”
After being read Reform’s response, Carol said: “So basically, it doesn’t matter how misogynistic or otherwise he has been as far as Reform are concerned. And they didn’t care that their MP James McMurdock had been put in jail for kicking his girlfriend outside a nightclub and that it hadn’t been declared. They simply don’t care at all.”
A Labour Party spokesman said: “Robert Kenyon’s comments online are disgusting and show that he’s not fit to represent Makerfield.
“From creepy remarks about women, to peddling baseless conspiracy theories, this is appalling stuff from a parliamentary candidate – on top of being Facebook friends with a fascist campaigner. Nigel Farage needs to explain why Reform UK selected him in the first place.”
The first weekend of campaigning in Makerfield, meanwhile, got underway.
Andy Burnham, who is viewed as a challenger to Sir Keir Starmer in a potential Labour leadership race, launched his by-election campaign on Friday and promised he was not offering “more of the same”.
Allies of Mr Burnham have suggested he may not launch a bid for the party leadership immediately if he is successful in his attempt to return to Parliament in the June 18 contest.
But Wes Streeting, who resigned from the Cabinet earlier this month, has openly talked about launching a campaign to oust Prime Minister Sir Keir.
The MP and former health secretary told reporters on Friday that he held off triggering a leadership race to give Mr Burnham time to tread a path back into the Commons.
In a pitch to voters, Greater Manchester Mayor Mr Burnham said: “I know my own party needs to change. We need to be better than we have been.
“A vote for me in this by-election is a vote to change Labour.”
Mr Burnham, who is also a former health secretary, later told reporters Labour has “space to be more radical” while honouring the party’s 2024 general election manifesto.
