Reform UK's candidate in the upcoming Makerfield byelection, Robert Kenyon, has been found to have expressed skepticism about the severity of Covid-19 and the efficacy of vaccines in a series of now-deleted social media posts. The plumber, who previously stood for Nigel Farage's party in the 2024 general election, is set to challenge Labour's Andy Burnham on 18 June.
Archived Posts Reveal Vaccine Doubts
Archived webpages from Kenyon's deleted X account show multiple posts questioning the seriousness of the virus. In July 2022, he responded to a post about a new variant by stating, 'It's not making people sicker, I've no booster and had covid last week asymptomatic.' When challenged, he claimed that four others on his course also experienced no symptoms. He further noted that his 70-something mother-in-law, despite chronic lung disease, had experienced the virus 'as a cold.'
The following day, Kenyon advised someone ill with Covid to 'wait longer, take vitamins, stop having boosters.' In February 2023, he quote-tweeted a Sky News post featuring Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty urging booster vaccinations, adding a profanity-laden dismissal.
Earlier Forum Comments
Kenyon also posted on a now-defunct rugby league forum in January 2022, suggesting that news of a variant potentially affecting children more could be a tactic 'to scare parents into getting their kids jabbed,' adding, 'I smell a rat.'
These revelations come after previously unearthed messages showed Kenyon interacting with far-right figures and expressing strong support for Donald Trump. Broadcaster Carol Vorderman has also demanded an apology for 'disgusting comments' he made about her on X.
Political Reactions
Sharon Hodgson, a junior health minister, condemned Kenyon's views, stating, 'Over 200,000 people died from Covid across Britain. How anyone seeking public office can have sought to have minimised the risk posed by the pandemic and undermined confidence in vaccines is beyond the pale.' She added that encouraging people not to take potentially life-saving booster vaccines 'exposes just how unfit for office he is.'
A Reform UK spokesperson defended Kenyon, saying, 'Robert had all his Covid jabs during the pandemic and his children are fully up to date on every vaccination. These comments were made long before Rob was in politics. He 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.'
Vaccine skepticism is not new within Reform UK. At the party's last annual conference, controversial doctor Aseem Malhotra, an adviser to Trump's health secretary Robert F. Kennedy, argued that Covid vaccines 'created havoc' in the body and were linked to cancer incidents in the royal family.
