Reform’s by-election candidate Robert Kenyon has refused to apologise for a lewd comment he made about broadcaster Carol Vorderman.
Since being unveiled as Reform’s candidate in the Makerfield by-election, Kenyon has found himself at the centre of controversy over his social media activity.
From sexist comments and anti-abortion views to seemingly admitting he didn’t vote for Brexit and that Russia were ‘well within their rights’ to invade the Crimea, every day more controversial posts from Kenyon are being unearthed.
One of Kenyon’s most widely criticised old posts though centred around broadcaster and former Countdown star Carol Vorderman.
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In a tweet from Christmas Eve 2021, a user replied to Vorderman on X, writing: “Happy birthday, Carol. My god, I would love to smell and lick your a*******.”
The user was criticised for the vile comment by someone else on the platform, who retweeted it with the caption: “If you’re prepared to put this on a public forum, I would suggest that your computer drive probably needs checking. @Twitter??”
Responding to this, Kenyon wrote: “He’s only saying what we’re all thinking Chris.”
This was accompanied by crying laughing and thumbs up emojis.
Vorderman has since demanded an apology from Kenyon for the post, and has described the Wigan councillor as an “online abuser” in a video posted on her social media.
But it sounds like Kenyon is in no mood to apologise for his behaviour.
In an interview with the Manchester Evening News, Kenyon admitted he was “not a polished politician” and had “made mistakes in life.”
Speaking about the tweet, he said: “I think everybody does say things that eventually they regret. It was a crude attempt at a joke to probably about 50 followers.
“No offence was meant, and it’s not something I’d do now.”
However, after trying to turn the conversation onto grooming gangs and transgender women, Kenyon was asked if he would like to directly apologise to Vorderman.
“I think I’ve addressed the issue, ” he replied.
“I think that no offence was meant and it wasn’t a direct comment to her. If you go into any building site in the area or any public barracks, I think you’d hear a hundred times worse said.
“It was just, like I said, a crass attempt at a joke and it’s not something I’d make now.”
So that will be no actual apology then…