Robert Kenyon, Reform’s candidate in the Makerfield by-election, appeared to support Russia’s invasion of the Crimea in old social media posts.
In an online forum, Kenyon agreed with a post that labelled Russia’s annexation of Crimea as “democracy in action,” the Telegraph reports.
In a post titled “Hypocrisy of the West regarding Ukraine in the sin bin”, one forum member wrote: “The people of the Crimea want to be in Russia, for me that is democracy in action.
“The Government should work for the people not the other way round. The people have spoken and they have what they want. The Falklands and Gibraltar, they want to stay British, so be it.”
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Responding, Kenyon wrote: “I agree totally, Russia are well within their rights to do what they have done as we did with the Falklands. However, will Latvia be next?”
These are just the latest of Kenyon’s controversial online comments to be unearthed.
In recent days, it has been reported that Kenyon posted sexist and lewd comments about women, including expressing his support for a sexually explicit tweet about Carol Vorderman.
The self-employed plumber and Wigan councillor also shared anti-abortion views, claiming that women get abortions for “vanity purposes” so they can “shag whoever they want.”
An account linked to Kenyon also suggested he had not voted for Brexit.
Responding to the Telegraph’s story about Kenyon’s seemingly pro-Russian posts, a Reform spokesman said: “At no point did Rob explicitly support or endorse Russia’s actions in Crimea. He is fully opposed to Russia’s illegal and brutal invasion of Ukraine.
“We fully back Cllr Kenyon. He is an excellent, local candidate who we are confident will be a superb MP for Makerfield.”
However, defence minister Luke Pollard said the comments were the latest example of Reform “promoting Kremlin talking points.”
He said: “Nigel Farage has again chosen a candidate who promotes Kremlin talking points and makes excuses for Putin’s unacceptable actions against Ukraine.
“While we stand with Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, Robert Kenyon has shown he’s completely out of step with the British people.”
Last year, Reform’s former leader in Wales, Nathan Gill, was sentenced to ten-and-a-half years in prison for taking bribes to make statements in favour of Russia while a Member of the European Parliament for UKIP and later the Brexit Party.