Vorderman demands apology from Kenyon over 2019 comments, Makerfield By Election
Carol Vorderman has demanded an apology from Reform UK candidate Robert Kenyon over past social media comments as the makerfield by election approaches. She said his posts were abusive and described him as a misogynist and a cowardly man.
Vorderman said she wanted “an apology from Rob Kenyon, to me, and to all the other people he’s abused online.” Reform UK has backed Kenyon to face Andy Burnham in next month’s vote, putting his past remarks under fresh scrutiny.
Kenyon’s Past Posts
Kenyon’s 2021 reply to a post about Vorderman said, “He’s only saying what we’re all thinking.” Vorderman rejected Danny Kruger’s description of him as an ordinary man, saying the posts were public and should be treated as online abuse.
Further comments surfaced from 2019 on a rugby league forum. Reports said Kenyon claimed women who have abortions do so for vanity purposes and so they can “shag anyone they want.” The Independent also found he wrote that women cannot ref, drive or give directions, and that women presenting rugby games on TV are not up to the job and are only there to “tick a box.”
Reform UK Response
Kruger defended Kenyon on Radio 4 on Monday, saying the comments were “inappropriate” but not serious enough for the party to withdraw him as its byelection candidate. He also said he was “not going to judge people for what are essentially regarded at the time and intended as private conversations,” and added that Kenyon was “not a politician at the time.”
A Reform spokesperson said, “These comments were made before Cllr Kenyon entered politics.” The spokesperson also said, “Rob is perfectly entitled to his own personal opinions on abortion.”
Makerfield By Election
Angela Rayner criticised the comments, saying “it says all you need to know about Reform that they are allowing this repulsive misogynistic abuse to stand.” For voters in Makerfield, the immediate issue is whether Reform’s defence of Kenyon outweighs the social media record now attached to its candidate.
The dispute now sits inside an election campaign, not outside it. Kenyon’s deleted posts, the party’s defence, and Vorderman’s demand for an apology are all part of the same test: whether Reform continues to stand by him through next month’s vote.
