Reform UK's candidate in the upcoming Makerfield byelection, Robert Kenyon, has come under fire for a series of now-deleted social media posts in which he appeared to question the severity of Covid-19 and the effectiveness of vaccines. The plumber, who previously stood for Nigel Farage's party in the 2024 general election, is challenging Labour's Andy Burnham in the 18 June byelection.
Posts Questioning Covid Severity
Archived webpages reveal that Kenyon was a prolific poster on X, where he shared his views on the pandemic. In July 2022, responding to a post about a new variant, he wrote: "It's not making people sicker, I've no booster and had covid last week asymptomatic." When challenged, he cited his own experience and that of four others on a course who also had no symptoms.
He further claimed that his 70-something mother-in-law, despite having chronic lung disease, experienced Covid "as a cold." The following day, replying to someone ill with Covid, Kenyon advised: "Wait longer, take vitamins, stop having boosters."
Attacks on Chief Medical Officer
In February 2023, Kenyon quote-tweeted a Sky News post featuring England's chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, urging people to get booster vaccines. Kenyon's response was: "can fuck right off."
Forum Posts on Vaccine Conspiracy
Kenyon also posted on a now-defunct rugby league forum, where in January 2022 he suggested that news of a variant affecting children might be a way "to scare parents into getting their kids jabbed," adding: "I smell a rat."
Reform UK's Stance on Vaccines
Vaccine scepticism is not new within Reform UK. At the party's last annual conference, controversial doctor Aseem Malhotra, who has advised Trump's health secretary Robert F. Kennedy, argued that Covid vaccines "created havoc" in the body and were linked to cancer in the royal family.
Political Reactions
Sharon Hodgson, a junior health minister, condemned Kenyon's comments: "Over 200,000 people died from Covid across Britain. How anyone seeking public office can have sought to have minimised the risk posed by the pandemic and undermined confidence in vaccines is beyond the pale."
A Reform UK spokesperson defended Kenyon, stating: "Robert had all his Covid jabs during the pandemic and his children are fully up to date on every vaccination. These comments were made long before Rob was in politics. He isn't a polished, professional politician and doesn't speak like one. That's precisely why he'll be a straight-talking, effective voice for normal working people in Makerfield."
