By-election win-win for me, Reform candidate says

The Reform UK candidate for the Makerfield by-election said the poll was a "win-win situation" for him because even if he loses he would "give the Labour Party a bloody nose".

The by-election was called after Labour MP Josh Simons stepped down, a move he said he had undertaken to allow his party colleague Andy Burnham to run for Parliament and potentially mount a leadership bid.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, Robert Kenyon said if he won, he becomes an MP, but he he lost, he had made his point as "a working class lad who has given two fingers to the establishment".

The former Army reservist also dismissed comments he made in relation to TV presenter Carol Vorderman as "squaddie humour".

Vorderman demanded an apology after Kenyon responded to a sexually graphic post about the TV presenter with a thumbs up and laughing emoji and a comment saying "He's only saying what we're all thinking".

Kenyon admitted the comment made about Vorderman was "disgusting" but described it as a "crass joke", adding: "The person I made it to was ex-military, so it was just of what we might call squaddie banter and to make light of it."

Kenyon is one of fourteen candidates contesting the by-election on 18 June.

The self-employed plumber, who became a councillor in Wigan after winning in the Bryn with Ashton-in-Makerfield North ward in May's local elections, said he was not feeling the pressure of being thrust into the national spotlight in the lead up to the by-election.

"It's water off a duck's back," he said.

"If I lose it, I'm just a working class lad who has given two fingers to the establishment [and given] the Labour Party a bloody nose and I can hold my head up high that at least I had the guts to throw my hat in the ring."

He said the "biggest issues" for people in the constituency "have been ignored" and that was what inspired him to get into politics in 2023.

"I got involved because we've not been listened to.

"We've been ignored for donkey's years, and I thought instead of moaning about it on the sideIines what I did is throw my hat in the ring and have a go.

"Whatever happens at least I can say I have tried."

He said he would concentrate on local matters and not wider global "geopolitics".

That would include starting a campaign for a new hospital in Wigan as the current one "isn't fit for purpose" and stopping plans for a housing development on green belt land, as well as houses of multiple occupation "putting strains on resources".

When asked about how he would fund the hospital, he replied saying how money "can be found when needed", citing money spent on hotels accommodating asylum seekers "costing over £2bn a year".