The Reform UK candidate for the Makerfield by-election has described the upcoming poll as a "win-win situation," claiming that even if he loses, he will have "given the Labour Party a bloody nose."
Robert Kenyon, a self-employed plumber and former Army reservist, is one of 14 candidates contesting the by-election on 18 June. The election was triggered after Labour MP Josh Simons stepped down, a move he said was to allow party colleague Andy Burnham to run for Parliament and potentially launch a leadership bid.
Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, Kenyon said: "If I win, I become an MP. If I lose, I'm just a working class lad who has given two fingers to the establishment — and I can hold my head up high knowing I had the guts to throw my hat in the ring."
Kenyon also addressed controversial comments he made about TV presenter Carol Vorderman, which he dismissed as "squaddie humour." Vorderman had demanded an apology after Kenyon responded to a sexually graphic post about her with a thumbs-up and laughing emoji, adding, "He's only saying what we're all thinking."
Admitting the comment was "disgusting," Kenyon described it as a "crass joke" made to an ex-military contact: "It was just what we might call squaddie banter — to make light of it."
Despite being thrust into the national spotlight, Kenyon said he feels no pressure: "It's water off a duck's back." He emphasised that his motivation for entering politics in 2023 was the feeling that local people "have been ignored for donkey's years."
His campaign will focus on local issues over "geopolitics," including campaigning for a new hospital in Wigan — which he says is "not fit for purpose" — and opposing housing developments on green belt land and houses of multiple occupation that "put strains on resources."
On funding the hospital, Kenyon argued that "money can be found when needed," pointing to the £2bn annual cost of housing asylum seekers in hotels.
On immigration, he said he believes in "sensible immigration," welcoming those who "offer us something."
Kenyon believes voters relate to him because "I am one of them: I go to the same shops, my kids go to the same schools, I support the same football teams, walk the same streets, and go to the same pubs."