Overview
- Campaign group Hope Not Hate published on Monday resurfaced social media posts linked to Reform candidate Robert Kenyon that include an offensive remark about Carol Vorderman and other alleged misogynistic, transphobic and Covid‑related comments.
- Reform UK has publicly backed Kenyon and told broadcasters it will not open an internal investigation while senior Reform MP Danny Kruger called the Vorderman post "inappropriate" but framed it as private‑realm chatter.
- Kenyon said the Vorderman remark was "a crass comment" he would not make today and expressed regret for throwaway past comments, but he remains the party’s candidate.
- An early Survation poll gives Labour’s Andy Burnham a narrow lead (43% to Kenyon’s 40%) with Restore Britain on about 7%, a distribution that polling experts say makes the seat vulnerable if the right‑wing vote fragments.
- The Greens are divided over whether to run a full campaign and Nigel Farage has criticised Elon Musk’s public backing of Restore Britain as likely to split the right, a dynamic that could determine whether Burnham regains a Commons seat and challenges Labour leadership.