5 Reform UK disasters this week

Reform’s Makerfield by-election candidate, Robert Kenyon, has been making it into the headlines almost every day this week for an array of offensive social media posts. Nigel Farage is being scrutinised over his unsubstantiated claim that Russian state actors illegally obtained the information about his £5 million gift from Christopher Harborne. Here is a full rundown of Reform’s biggest blunders this week. 

1. Reform’s by-election candidate has an alarming social media history

Robert Kenyon has a seemingly endless back catalogue of offensive social media posts, was formerly Facebook friends with neo-fascists, and, in an embarrassing blow to Nigel Farage, has previously said he didn’t support Brexit. For starters, Kenyon has two suspended X accounts, and a deleted Facebook account. 

Kenyon has made anti-migrant comments, including saying in response to a stabbing at an army barracks by a man with psychosis in July 2024 that “we are being put at risk due to the invasion of foreign criminals”.

In a series of misogynistic comments, Kenyon agreed with a comment another social media user made about wanting “smell & lick” Carol Vorderman’s “arsehole”. When Vorderman demanded an apology earlier this week, Kenyon refused to say sorry. He also made anti-abortion comments, stating that women use abortions so they can “shag anyone they want”.

 In other comments online, he said Russia was “well within their rights” to invade Crimea, and was critical of Brexit, stating that Brexiteer politicians peddled “nationalistic pish and got [the] working class vote”.

2. Reform appoints Nazi salute candidate as special adviser

Despite having had to step down as a Senedd candidate in March, Reform has made Corey Edwards a special adviser to the Welsh Reform leader, Dan Thomas. 

Edwards withdrew his candidacy citing mental health struggles, but stepped down shortly after Nation.Cymru unearthed a photo of him doing a Nazi salute. Nigel Farage defended Edwards, stating that he was doing an impression of Basil Fawlty, from Fawlty Towers. This didn’t match up with Edwards’ account, who said he was impersonating a footballer. Either way, in a Plaid Cymru spokesperson’s words, the fact that Reform is “rewarding someone” who did a Nazi salute “will raise eyebrows”.

3. Nigel Farage gets grilled over unsubstantiated Russia hack claim

Last weekend, the Daily Mail reported that Farage had claimed Russian spies hacked his phone to get hold of the information about the £5 million donation from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.

Reform has claimed that Farage was “intensely suspicious” that the information had been illegally obtained, so he submitted his phone for “forensic analysis by counter-espionage experts”. The party has not provided proof of this. 

In addition, while Reform has said the allegation had been reported to “the relevant authorities”, they wouldn’t say who these were. Earlier this week, Ciaran Martin, former head of the National Cyber Security Centre, said Farage’s claim was “entirely unsubstantiated” and “without any merit” and said that he had yet to provide “a shred of evidence” about his allegation.

This has prompted chair of the Labour Party, Anna Turley, to call on Farage to report his allegation to the police within 24 hours, or Labour will do it for him. 

4. Zia Yusuf threatens the elections watchdog over Reform Islamophobia complaint

A group of MPs has reported Reform to the Equality and Human Rights Commission over Islamophobia in its ranks. Responding to the complaint, Yusuf took the opportunity to threaten the equalities watchdog, stating that Reform would abolish it and fire all of its employees. 

Admittedly, Reform has already said it would scrap the Equality Act 2010 on day one in power, and that it wants to pull the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). However, the fact that Reform’s home affairs spokesperson has responded to a formal complaint by threatening the regulator is telling. 

5. Reform voters don’t agree with the party’s policy on fracking

Despite Reform UK’s policy to scrap “net stupid zero” policies and lifting any fracking ban in place immediately if it wins power, its voters actually support renewable energy initiatives over fracking.

New polling by More in Common has revealed that 43% of people who said they planned to vote Reform in the local elections on 7 May backed having a solar farm in their local area over fracking. By comparison, 23% of respondents who back Reform said they supported fracking. Among all voters, these percentages increased, with 60% saying they support solar farms, and just 10% saying they are in favour of fracking. This means Reform’s anti-renewables stance is not just out of step with public opinion, but a large section of its voter base.

Desmog recently reported that Reform UK has received £24 million in donations from oil and gas interests, accounting for more than two thirds of its total income.

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward