Makerfield: Reform candidate sexist?

MissAdventure

Being arficulate doesn't necessarily mean being the best candidate for the job.
I'm not excusing him; I didn't watch it, and don't follow politics at all now.

Depends on the job - for a politician communication's one of the top skills they need, I would say.
What's the point of sending someone to a meeting with foreign leaders, or business leaders, or Union leaders, if they're not articulate ehough to make the neccessary arguments & explanations?

Although integrity would score even higher for me, but I haven't seen many glimmers of that from any of the Reform bunch.

Hitler was rumoured to be an excellent orator.
Farage is pretty good too, i think.

MissAdventure

Hitler was rumoured to be an excellent orator.
Farage is pretty good too, i think.

Mmmmmm 🥸🥸

I think it's of note that most of the people funding Reform would not have funded Labour, although many of the better known funders have given substantial amounts of money to the Conservative party in the past eg Charlie Mullins, Bamfords, Nick Candy, Christopher Harborne etc. The question I want answered is why do multi-millionaires/billionaires give money to Reform? What do they want in return?

Overcome your fear of needles by A Sharp-Scratch

Ooops
Don't mind me
Wromg thread.
Exit stage left...

foxie, I can only expect they expect being given the opportunity to make even more money and the destruction of workers rights. Following mr T

I don't speak German but my history teacher told us that Hitler's 'speeches' were nothing more than rambling rants.
Remind you of anyone?

I was taught that his speeches were a good part of why people engaged with ideals you'd never have imagined they could.

AI overview says
While Hitler’s speeches often gave the external impression of rambling or manic outbursts to critics or non-native listeners, historians and communication experts characterize them as highly deliberate, rehearsed, and stage-managed. They were carefully structured to manipulate crowd psychology.
which is what I would have thought likely.

Gift of the gab, so to speak

Rob Kenyon claims to be a plumber but Companies House shows that his company was only registered in February 2026.

Oreo

Galaxy 😉I know exactly what you mean.

So do I!

foxie48

Robert Kenyon is a fool who is being used by Reform and who will be of little or no interest to the other Reform MPs should he get elected. He is a means to an end and that is all, a useful idiot.
I listened to the second part of The Rest is politics podcast about where Reform gets it's money. It is a really interesting and well researched podcast but unfortunately I don't think many Reform voters will bother to listen to it, which is a pity. Reform is being funded by extremely rich business people, many of whom live abroad but who circumvent the rules regarding donations to political parties by using various legal means. The laws around party donations are abysmal and it means that little is often known about who funds them and why, however, I doubt most are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts! The links that some of Reform's big donors have to foreign countries and extreme far right groups are questionable to say the very least. Will this stop people voting for Kenyon? Almost certainly not. Will Kenyon's misogynistic and racist comments put Reform voters off? Probably not, we just have to hope that Kenyon's attitude to women and minority groups is held by a small minority in Makerfield rather than a large minority.

Will Kenyon's misogynistic and racist comments put Reform voters off?

Possibly, some - maybe, hmm, not sure.

Over the pond, for example, it seems that there are women who not only did not object to you-know-who "grabbing them you-know-where"... they even invited him to grab theirs by having the invitation printed boldly on their t-shirts which they proudly wore at a rally.

Perhaps some women are just lads at heart?

I still seethe a little when I remember that (to me) 'orrible oik, Lee Anderson, telling a group of women to keep out of "big boy politics" - bet he wouldn't have dared to say that to Margaret Thatcher.

I really dislike these Temu candidates and politicians.

Well, from the Manchester Evening news:

"The sexist comments have become a dominant issue, drawing fierce condemnation and likely harming his standing in a tight race.

While his party fully backs him as a "straight-talking" candidate, the backlash from political rivals, public figures, and voters is directly impacting his campaign's momentum in the Makerfield by-election.

From late may -in the Independent newspaper more choice quote from Kenyon

"Women can’t ref, drive or give directions’: Reform candidate sexism row deepens as more ‘degrading’ posts resurface.

And
An account linked to Robert Kenyon claimed ‘English women just walk around with their fat bellies and odd shapes pushing a pram at 16’. (and are, about he would fancy a "European women".

Now that will go down a storm?

🙄

Just spare us ignorant misogynists like him..*an MP*, fgs?

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/reform-uk-robert-kenyon-comments-misogynistic-b2983146.html

'Carefully structured to manipulate crowd psychology.'
In other words...dog whistle comments.
Perhaps similar to 'cold rage'?
Thanks to Rosie for the research.

All this mess has been caused as people voted Reform because no one stopped illegal immigration. The Reform candidate that tried to push a leaflet through my door was a joke,. Do not want Burnham, sure he managed Manchester but the country, no way. . Hope that Starmer sticks it out because the rest are dire. I do not support any party now and I never thought it would get to this, women do not feel safe on our streets but it's ignored. You cannot have people in positions of power that are sexist pigs.

Reform can't get decent intelligent people to stand for them because they recognise them for what they are so they have to rely on people like Kenyon. I find that comforting.

Kandinsky

Honestly. you’d think sexist men were only invented the year Reform UK was born ( just 7 years ago )
Who were these men voting for before Reform?
Mostly Labour I’d say.

In my relatively small world of work, and gym and Parish Council that’s quite possible.
In the wider picture, who knows?
Sexists don’t wear badges.

Galaxy

The articulate ones are usually the worst, they hide their misogyny.

Galaxy, that's a very good point.
A polished politician is guarded, and very often able to disguise his true colours, unlike this fella, thrown into the limelight and raw.

MissAdventure

I was taught that his speeches were a good part of why people engaged with ideals you'd never have imagined they could.

I also learned that, I was also taught that initially Hitler gave good, concise speeches centred on the economy and “making Germany great”.

Then, of course, the rest is history!

MissAdventure

Ooops
Don't mind me
Wromg thread.
Exit stage left...

Pursued by a bear?😁

Vintagewhine

Reform can't get decent intelligent people to stand for them because they recognise them for what they are so they have to rely on people like Kenyon. I find that comforting.

Spot on 👍

Reform knew of Makerfield candidate’s deleted accounts before selecting him

www.politico.eu/article/reform-uk-knew-robert-kenyon-social-media-posts-before-makerfield-by-election/

In a world where Farage has links with Andrew Tate, we need to take that hatred and apparently careless sexism seriously

"Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has drawn significant public and political attention for his sympathetic rhetoric toward controversial online influencer Andrew Tate" (The Independent, June 24)

""An Important Voice for Men": Farage has publicly praised Tate on podcasts and in interviews as an "important voice for men," arguing that Tate stood up for male culture and helped give young boys confidence.

During the 2024 general election, Farage likened himself to Tate, remarking that he and the influencer were part of a "similar phenomenon" regarding the alienation of young men.

(Guardian, August 2025)