Reform's Makerfield candidate Robert Kenyon - the gift that keeps giving

The social media history of Robert Kenyon, the definitely fully vetted Reform candidate for the Makerfield by-election, continues to be the gift that keeps giving for the party’s opponents. Or for the party itself, if you believe, as it seems to, that a history of sexist, violent and homophobic posts is some kind of virtue.

Plumber and Wigan councillor Kenyon has been caught out variously admitting “I’m a sexist” and claiming women can’t drive, saying they get abortions “for vanity purposes”, complaining about local ladies’ “fat bellies” and endorsing graphic sexual remarks about former Countdown numbers whizz Carol Vorderman.

Possibly even worse in the eyes of Nigel Farage’s mob were unearthed posts in which he claimed to have voted Remain in the 2016 referendum and praised European freedom of movement rules. In a social media post dating from March 28, 2019, an account attributed to Kenyon rejected suggestions that he was a stereotypical right winger. He wrote: “So anyone who thinks I love Trump, voted Brexit, read the Daily Mail, live in the 1950s, a Tory and 103 is wrong. I’m none of the above.”

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Rats in a Sack

Now further posts have emerged which have once again passed Reform’s crack vetting team. The Daily Mirror has reported that he moaned on social media about “poofs” and gay men “mincing about” on TV.

According to the paper, in 2009 an account linked to Kenyon complained of Her Majesty Elizabeth II that “You can’t call her ‘The Queen’ anymore because it offends the poofs.” The following year a post on the account said: “People who want to make a stand for homosexuals need not combat the throwaway comments of a sportsman on twitter but need to do something about the way homosexuals are perceived in the mainstream media, for instance having Julian Clarey [sic], Graham Norton, 4 poofs and a piano and Paul O’Grady mincing about on TV does a lot more damage to the reputation of homosexuals and causes greater insult in my opinion.”

The Guardian, meanwhile, has discovered posts in which the candidate expressed doubt over the seriousness of Covid and the efficacy of vaccines for the virus. Archived webpages show a series of posts connected to Covid, including one in July 2022 in response to a post about a new variant. “It’s not making people sicker, I’ve no booster and had covid last week asymptomatic,” he wrote.

And in February 2023, Kenyon quote-tweeted a Sky News post about Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, urging people to get Covid booster vaccines, saying Whitty “can fuck right off”.

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Rats in a Sack

The posts should be particularly embarrassing for Reform since, in January, it unveiled former vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi as a defector to the party to much fanfare. When asked at his press conference about the vaccine-sceptic views of a lot of Reform candidates, Zahawi said: “That was a really stupid question, and it doesn’t even deserve an answer.”

Still, Reform are not only unperturbed but appear to increasingly believe Kenyon’s suspect social media history is a boon to his chances of beating Andy Burnham. They show that Kenyon would be a “superb” MP, Farage has claimed, as they highlight that he “isn’t a polished, professional politician and doesn’t speak like one”.

Meanwhile, as ever with this kind of high-profile by-election, the final list of candidates shows a number of no-hopers frittering their deposits away for a chance to be stood on the stage as the results are announced.

This time around they include, inevitably, Count Binface of the Count Binface Party, Dan Clarke of the Libertarian Party, Howling Laud Hope of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party, a number of independents and Michael Winstanley of the Conservatives.