Reform UK says it has no plans to investigate its Makerfield by-election candidate, Robert Kenyon, after allegations about an X account linked to him surfaced following his selection earlier this week. Hope Not Hate published details of posts it said came from a deleted account, describing them as sexist, violent and homophobic.
A Reform UK spokesperson said the party fully backs Kenyon and said: “These comments were made before he was in politics.” The party also said, “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.”
The posts identified by Hope Not Hate were among the latest scrutiny to fall on Kenyon after he was named as Reform UK’s candidate for the constituency. The group said the deleted account contained graphic sexual and sexist language, including remarks about Carol Vorderman, as well as a slur used to describe members of the Labour Party. It also alleged the account interacted with Peter Imanuelsen, appeared to support a Covid lockdown conspiracy theory and compared Australian Covid vaccination policies to Nazism. The group said Kenyon also posted that businessmen including Richard Branson should be hanged for accepting furlough money during the pandemic.
The allegations do not stand alone. A separate X account owned by Kenyon was terminated by the social media company in 2024, and Searchlight claimed he was friends with three far-right organisers on a now-deleted Facebook page. Searchlight named fascist campaigner Gary Raikes among those organisers. Reform UK said the Facebook page was used for political campaigning, was a conventional page and was removed after Kenyon was elected as a local councillor earlier this month. The party said it concluded he should have a public-facing profile once he entered public office.
Labour branded the comments “disgusting” and said Kenyon is “not fit to represent Makerfield.” Its spokesperson added: “From creepy remarks about women, to peddling baseless conspiracy theories, this is appalling stuff from a parliamentary candidate.” The spokesperson also said: “Nigel Farage needs to explain why Reform UK selected him in the first place,”
The row now leaves Reform UK defending a candidate who it says has a right to be judged on what he posted before entering politics, while opponents say the material goes to whether he can credibly seek a seat in Parliament. With the party refusing to open an internal investigation, the immediate test is whether the controversy fades or hardens into a wider question about how Reform vets its candidates.
