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'It's just disgusting stuff!' | Carol Vorderman hits out as Reform sexism row deepens
May 30, 2026
Carol Vorderman has hit out at Reform UK over what she describes as a 'disgusting online abuser' after 'misogynistic' comments allegedly posted by the party's candidate in the Makerfield by-election surfaced online. Robert Kenyon, a local plumber who is Reform UK's pick to take on Andy Burnham in the now-vacant seat, was seen to agree with several misogynistic online posts from his now-deleted X account, it's been alleged. Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #jamesobrien #uknews #ukpolitics #news #reform #debate #LBC LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
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0:00
It occurred to me, just sitting down now, Carol, that this is not something you sought
0:05
because you haven't been, in any sense, reticent in recent years with your political opinions
0:09
and even with activism, but you've been dragged into this deeply unpleasant situation entirely innocently
0:16
So unpleasant, in fact, that I'm not sure I can repeat, I'm not sure I'm comfortable saying in front of you
0:23
the words that Robert Kenyon chose to endorse and defend on social media
0:28
Well, I am. because it's important that people know. And this is just one comment
0:35
He has made multiple comments, which are online abuse, about me and lots of other people
0:43
So the one specifically about me that he endorsed was, I want to smell and lick Carave Alderman's eight-letter word beginning with A
0:54
And Reform have said, oh, it's just locker room banter. I don't know why they're using the term locker room, by the way, because I thought we said changing rooms in this country
1:03
But that's that's an entirely different question. But the thing is, James, I'm not upset by it
1:10
I am angered by it. And the reason that I'm angered by it is because every woman listening, any woman who is on social media will have similar said to her
1:22
Either abusive, all the other things that he said, you know, there was some forum that he was on
1:27
rugby league forum and they were posting pictures of the girls the women who play
1:34
and then he was saying oh English women they don't care all they want to do with their fat bellies
1:40
etc etc etc then there was some European women there and he was saying oh you know oh you wouldn't
1:49
get me off them with a bazooka you know all this stuff stuff about abortion I mean it's just
1:55
disgusting stuff and it's not just one comment it's a tirade of online abuse and every woman
2:05
listening who has had that will know how it makes them feel and so I am angry that a political party
2:13
can take this person on one without obviously vetting him properly but also that they just
2:22
defend it and they're fine with that he was not a politician at the time he was an ordinary man
2:29
from an ordinary place said danny crueger really that's what yeah that's what posh boys uh who lead
2:37
the reform party think of ordinary men well ordinary men generally are lovely you know they
2:45
really are we do our best well you are and they respect women all of that is true but you have
2:53
this growing minority who are extremely abusive and i'm 65 james and so i've been you know and
3:01
women my age we've been through the hard years so in the 70s you know i was a bright kid from
3:09
at comp in North Wales free school meals kid and it took you know a lot to get to a Cambridge college because there were only three girls colleges and I think four or five had gone what they called mixed so these
3:28
were boys colleges taking on women's colleges and it was like why wouldn't you
3:33
you know I was from a boys and girls comp but we had to go through that you
3:38
had to be the first woman to do this first woman from a state school in
3:42
north Wales first you know I was I think when I did engineering there were about 300 students in
3:48
our year four or five of them were girls uh I worked underground me and 2000 men all this again
3:55
so we have done the hard years over decades all that I wanted to be a fighter pilot you can't
4:02
because you're a girl and you don't have the appendage that's required you know all of this
4:05
nonsense that we had to put up with so for me that this reform party is saying on day one they
4:13
would repeal the equality act and we all know what that means so you know the the protections
4:19
against harassment of women in the workplace the equal pay uh maternity leave maternity pay all of
4:27
idea we're going to scrap all those so it is indicative of the way in which this might go as
4:36
we've seen in america i think talking of ordinary men the person who pushed back against him on
4:42
social media was it was a rather better model of masculinity yes absolutely so he's the author
4:48
Chris Ryan, who is a former SAS hero, a very successful author
4:58
Chris is his pen name. And he absolutely defended me because he is a real man
5:06
He's not a pretend. He's a real guy and a guy who respects women
5:12
I suppose in some sense the writing was on the wall with the leadership of reform
5:16
who have not responded, by the way, to our requests for a response to these allegations of misogyny
5:25
including the comments directed at you. But when James Murdoch ended up in Parliament just after the last election
5:32
it quickly emerged that he'd been jailed for attacking a former girlfriend
5:37
Yes. And here is another example, a very serious example to me
5:44
reforms excuses for things so i think it was a times newspaper fact he only got in with a majority
5:52
of 98 votes so imagine if this information had been available beforehand about him so
6:00
shortly after he was elected in 2024 as a reform mp i think it was a times newspaper found that he
6:09
had been convicted and served time for assaulting his girlfriend. He then said in his defense
6:17
oh it was a push. Then the official court documents show that she was on the floor
6:25
he was kicking her multiple times while she was on the floor and had to be dragged away by two
6:32
security guards Very different stories Richard Tice then defends it saying oh well he served his time that was a long time ago it doesn matter I am sorry it matters It matters to women
6:46
We know how much harassment online has increased and offline. So this is a time for all women to stand up and say enough now, we are not going backwards
6:58
I suppose one example is, it could be chalked up as accidental or carelessness
7:04
but two examples and emerging patterns speak of something altogether more sinister
7:10
Yes. Well, Lee Anderson, bless him, when he was a Tory, that was after he was a Labour
7:17
Yes. And now he's a reform. Correct. Well, at the time of this conversation, we'll have to check before we play it out on the programme
7:25
Tomorrow. Yeah. Yeah. So he was in the Conservative Party at the time and he was slinging insults to me all the time on Twitter in the days when we used to be on Twitter
7:39
And, you know, obviously now he's reformed. He thinks it's perfectly acceptable
7:44
So there is a pattern there with this party. And that is my concern that they will, if they get into it and they've stated it, is it out in the open
7:54
we will repeal the Equality Act. It's surprising to me when people like Danny Kruger
8:02
talk about ordinary people, an ordinary man for an ordinary place. When he went to Eton
8:07
Yeah, and well, also his mother is on telly as well. So, you know, she at least will be aware of the misogyny that can be..
8:13
Prue Leith, yeah. Yeah, you'd think that that might have given him a slightly more sensitive insight into what it's like for women like you
8:19
And you are tough. I mean, I don't mean that in a patronising way. I take it as a compliment
8:24
Good. I'm glad you do, because you are perfectly capable of looking after yourself
8:28
A lot of women, both online and offline, are not, of course. And those are the kind of women that misogynistic men prey on
8:37
But the thing is, I have a tough skin now because of all of the abuse over decades
8:44
And, you know, I can remember when I wore a short skirt to the BAFTAs, I was age 39
8:50
Well, it was like I'd killed my grandmother the next day. It was the even the BBC made a whole Kilroy show about it, flew this dress in, copy dress from Paris
9:00
And the question was, should a woman aged 39 wear a dress above the knee
9:05
I mean, that's my lifetime. This isn't Victorian days or my mother or post war
9:11
This is me in my lifetime. So, you know, as I go back to the beginning, women my age who love the fact that our daughters or nieces
9:22
or grandchildren can play football you know very happily can be applauded
9:32
for what they do in sport can be, oh another thing that
9:35
old Kenyon said was that women can't referee, drive take directions and he had a go at various
9:43
female sports presenters on the telly it's constant, it's consistent so they're not up to the job, they're only there
9:50
to tick a box, and then declaring And from a political point of view, this is interesting
9:55
Actually stating I sexist sorry but I am Yeah And then the defence from Reform UK becomes these comments were made before he entered politics He perfectly entitled to his own personal opinions on abortion
10:05
That was three weeks ago. Yeah. Yeah. It's extraordinary that he can state that
10:11
because Murdoch didn't get dropped by the party for the conviction for battering his ex
10:16
He got dropped after it emerged that he'd taken COVID loans out under the COVID support scheme
10:21
I think that's still ongoing. but to state I am sexist sorry but I am in 2024 would have probably been a career ending
10:30
revelation do you think we're going a bit backwards I think we have the potential to go
10:36
backwards we now you know generally you go oh life's good you know doing this that and the other
10:42
um when I began my career as an engineer funnily enough uh not many women then were talking about
10:51
having a career because not many women have been to university and all of that now thankfully
10:57
decades later women are having careers but also housing was a lot cheaper then so now we need to
11:06
you need two incomes to fund a mortgage generally in this country so the whole business of oh well
11:16
we're going to scrap the law that says about equal pay that's going to affect people directly
11:21
and this is what I want people to understand really. This is not just about a woman
11:29
getting on a high horse about something. This is very, very, very, it couldn't be more serious
11:35
And yeah, it is of course people like Nigel Farage and Sarah Pochin who claim that they're the party
11:40
dedicated to protecting women and children. I mean, it's beyond irony. It emerged yesterday that one in five of the people
11:47
arrested over the riots in 2024, which many people feel were fermented by Nigel Farage's social media activity
11:55
One in five of the people arrested over those riots have since been reported to the police for domestic abuse
12:02
So to simultaneously encourage and excuse the misogyny that's been directed at you and at other women while claiming
12:09
and of course to put a violent offender into parliament and say that that's not an excluding offence
12:15
while simultaneously claiming that they act for women and children, it's beyond parody, isn't it
12:21
And those same people who were arrested, there were almost 900 of them, weren't there
12:25
about the rights across the country. At the time, 41% had already been reported to the police for domestic abuse
12:35
So who are the women and children they're dedicated to protecting? Well, quite. And who are they protecting them from
12:40
None. It's good to see you. I knew that you would be unperturbed by this
12:44
I am. but enraged yes I am and are you expecting an apology
12:49
I know you've demanded well you've politely asked no you did not demand anything
12:53
I can't demand anything I have asked for an apology not for me no
12:57
but for all of us and for his comments so far I think we're on day three nothing
13:06
not even a whisper? nothing nothing he's still running away hiding away from cameras
13:12
maybe don't hold your breath Carol thank you thanks James
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