Reform's candidate for Makerfield walked into a BBC Question Time by-election special tonight and didn't walk out of it in one piece.
Robert Kenyon arrived carrying the weight of a week in which his party leader called for "pure cold rage," refused to condemn disorder at PMQs, and told Times Radio the violence was "just the beginning." His job was to deliver Reform's message to a live audience two weeks before polling day. He did not manage it.
Kenyon had already deleted all of his previous social media accounts after posts emerged in which he agreed with a user saying he wanted to "smell and lick" an intimate area belonging to Carol Vorderman, and others in which he directly identified as a sexist and attacked women who had undergone abortions. He had dismissed the posts as "squaddie humour." Vorderman sent an open letter to 6,000 female voters in Makerfield ahead of tonight's programme.
Within minutes of the show opening, a woman in the audience told Kenyon she would rather have a career politician than a sexist. He was asked directly to apologise to Vorderman. He deflected. Later, a member of the LGBTQ+ community called him a sexist from the floor. He had been called it twice before Fiona Bruce reached the two-tier policing question, the one Farage spent the entire week building toward nationally.
When it came, Kenyon fumbled it. The erms and the you-knows took over. The media training, visible throughout as a series of mechanical pivots to party lines, fell apart precisely when the stakes were highest.
He eventually said he condemned the Southampton violence. It took two public accusations of sexism and most of the programme to get there. Farage could not say the same words in Parliament on Wednesday.
On Reform's pledge of 30,000 extra police officers, Kenyon was asked how the party would fund and deliver it. His answer: that's a problem for whoever is in charge of that. The audience laughed.
On the Green Belt question, local, specific, the kind of thing Makerfield voters actually care about, he pivoted to immigration. The room had already decided by then.
An audience member put the sharpest question of the night: how can you trust a leader who took a £5 million donation not to sell off the Green Belt to the highest bidder? Kenyon's answer was that it's going through Parliament, so it's not his problem. Three times in one evening, on three different questions, some variant of not my problem.
Andy Burnham did the opposite of all of it. He said plainly that if he wins Makerfield he will run for Prime Minister. He pointed to crime falling in Greater Manchester as the record he would take forward nationally. He said he would take a serious look at the knife exemptions for religious purposes. No pivots. No deflections. Actual positions, stated plainly, in front of an audience that responded to every one of them, including, at points, the Conservative candidate getting warmer applause than Kenyon in a Labour heartland.
Kenyon said this morning that Makerfield was a win-win, that even a loss would give Labour a bloody nose. Tonight looked more like a write-off.
The by-election is 18 June. Polymarket has Burnham at 74%.
#bbcqt
Question Time was a complete joke.
Restore Britain wasn't allowed on, despite the latest nonsense poll showing us ahead of the Lib Dems, Tories, and Greens - yet they are allowed to appear.
All the responses were weak, tiresome, and most importantly, unimpressive and dull.
Nobody addressed the glaring issues that are actually affecting local areas. To name just a few: mass migration and the need for mass deportations, net zero spending, rape gangs, demographic replacement, lack of justice, and an overbearing state with its mass authoritarian bureaucratic control. Give power back to the people!
It was a tragic show to watch. Establishment politics in 2026 is utterly tiresome.
There’s only one option: @RestoreBritain
This is glorious. Robert Kenyon, Reform's candidate for Makerfield, effortlessly and politely exposed the Green candidates utter stupidity on BBCQT.
She attacked him for DARING to suggest that immigration has an impact on housing, but then she obviously has to admit it does. 😂
🚨 HOLY CRAP! Straight from the Oval Office, President Trump says Democrats are cheating in California and stealing the election
"I just don't want cheating in our elections. And you see it happening in California. Those numbers are coming down rapidly!"
"They found a lot of mail-in ballots last night, shockingly."
California needs to be banned from doing this ever again.
💥 CALIFORNIANS Listen Up:
IT’s TIME to get organized. Please let me know if you would be interested in participating in a state wide CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT against any California city or state official, private corporation, NGO and any other individual that tampers with or cheats in this California election.
Constitutional/ Civil rights/ Class Action ATTORNEYS:
We have some great attorneys on board already but hit me up if you like to help consult on this.
It could potentially be the largest class action lawsuit in history and the discovery can be used to pursue criminal indictments against all involved for RICO conspiracy.
Californians are DONE accepting fraud and blatant criminality.
🚨 UNBELIEVABLE.
The Senate just REJECTED the SAVE America Act, a bill that would’ve required voter ID and proof of citizenship nationwide.
Vote: 48-50. It needed 60.
The Republicans who voted NO: Tillis, Murkowski, McConnell, and Collins.
Election Shambles Update:
1. California Democrats have turned our state into a global laughing stock. India counts 600 million + ballots in a day. California counts less than 10 million in a MONTH.
2. Make sure YOUR vote is counted. Watch this video for the steps you should take.
3. We're watching everything closely and have lawyers standing by if needed.
4. We're as confident as ever that we will make the top two.
5. As governor I will replace this absurd system. We cannot have another election that makes us look like a "failed state", as @NateSilver538 put it.
Link to check that your vote is counted:
https://t.co/3nhM0DvAZH
Link to report any incidents:
https://t.co/ajEO5EFY0a
Thank You - stay focused - Change is Coming!
Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilizational decline. They must be rejected across the West.
The United States sends our condolences to the family of Henry Nowak and the people of the United Kingdom at this troubling time.
I do not want to see patriots thrown in prison because they've had a beer or two, got fired up and acted stupid in the heat of the moment.
The state will make an example of you - they will show no mercy. Your life will be ruined.
Do not attack the police. Be smart. Stay calm.
The BBC’s decision to deliberately exclude Restore Britain from the Makerfield Question Time tonight is the most outrageous example of BBC bias I have ever witnessed.
The sneering establishment media will never understand why Restore Britain is gaining so much popularity in Makerfield and across the country.
A great example of that from Sky News and Beth Rigby...
This is true. When I meet a complete stranger, I find that the ‘scary’ right-wing types are easy-going and friendly while the ‘peace and love’ left-wing types are neurotic and aggressive. I know who I would rather share the world with.