A Sky Sports presenter has demanded to be removed from a campaign video posted by Nigel Farage's Reform UK party, expressing anger at being associated with the right-wing group.
Dan Bardell, a football pundit, discovered his image was used in a Reform UK video on X that mocked the political drama surrounding former Conservative minister Robert Jenrick's defection to the party. The clip compiled sports deadline-day bulletins to comment on the 'absolutely bonkers' political events.
Bardell posted: 'I don't want to be associated with Nigel Farage, can I be removed please?' to his 50,700 followers. When a user told him to 'stick to football,' he replied: 'I was, and then I've ended up on this video.' Others questioned whether Reform UK had permission to use Sky Sports footage and Bardell's image without consent.
The video also featured pundits Aidan Magee, Harry Redknapp, Chris Kamara, and Dan Bardell. Neither Reform UK nor Nigel Farage have responded to Bardell's request. The Mirror has approached both Reform UK and Sky Sports for comment.
The controversy comes after Robert Jenrick became the 24th ex-Tory MP to defect to Reform UK, with Labour branding him a 'shameless chancer.' Farage admitted he was only 60% sure the defection would happen before it was announced.
