Carol Vorderman has demanded an apology from Reform UK candidate Robert Kenyon over what she describes as “disgusting comments” he made about her on social media. The broadcaster and former Countdown star called Kenyon, who is standing in the upcoming Makerfield byelection, a “cowardly man” for a series of offensive posts that have since been deleted.
In 2021, Kenyon responded to a post about Vorderman in which another user wrote: “My god I’d love to smell and lick your arsehole”, by saying: “He’s only saying what we’re all thinking”. Vorderman told the Daily Mirror she wants “an apology from Rob Kenyon, to me, and to all the other people he’s abused online”.
Danny Kruger, who joined Reform last September, defended Kenyon, saying the comments were “inappropriate” but not serious enough to remove him as a candidate. Kruger said Kenyon was “an ordinary man from an ordinary place” who had since stepped forward to represent his community. Vorderman dismissed this, arguing that being an “ordinary man” was no excuse and that the public nature of the posts constituted online abuse.
Further comments from Kenyon have emerged on a rugby league forum from 2019, where he claimed women who have abortions do so for “vanity purposes” and said “I’m sexist, sorry but I am”. A Reform spokesperson said these comments were made before Kenyon entered politics and that he is “perfectly entitled to his own personal opinions on abortion”. They added that Kenyon is “not a polished, professional politician” but will be a “straight-talking, effective voice for normal working people”.
