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<\/p>\nReform UK’s Makerfield candidate – local plumber and councillor Robert Kenyon – was joined for a pint by party leader Nigel Farage in the constituency ahead of the crunch by-election<\/p>\n
19:00, 20 May 2026Updated 22:17, 20 May 2026<\/p>\n
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Reform UK leader Nigel Farage MP with Robert Kenyon(Image: M.E.N.)<\/p>\n
When Reform UK said they would throw everything – including the kitchen sink – at the Makerfield by-election, they weren\u2019t joking.<\/p>\n
Punters at Real Ale Revolution 1 Revolution in Winstanley were surprised when none other than Nigel Farage walked through the doors on Wednesday (May 20).<\/p>\n
His party had only announced the day before that local plumber and councillor Robert Kenyon was its candidate for the crunch poll following Andy Burnham’s move for a Parliamentary seat.<\/p>\n
The Reform leader was greeted with a round of applause as he arrived at the microbar. He headed straight to the bar and ordered a pint of Blonde Witch ale, brewed neighbouring Lancashire.<\/p>\n
Click here<\/a> for the latest on Greater Manchester’s politics in our newsletter<\/p>\n Ann Mangmall, 73, former Barclays worker, seemed starstruck. \u201cI think he\u2019s honest and he\u2019s for Britain,\u201d she told the Manchester Evening News. \u201cI think he\u2019d make a good Prime Minister. And I think he\u2019s closer to the people.\u201d<\/p>\n She doesn\u2019t share the same affection for Mr Burnham<\/a>, citing his scrapped Clean Air Zone policy. Speaking about Mr Kenyon, she said her daughter knows him and sees him out and about regularly.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to have a local candidate,\u201d Ann added. Like many the Manchester Evening News has spoke to in the constituency, Ann said she grew up in a Labour<\/a>-supporting family.<\/p>\n Punters at The Real Ale Revolution 1(Image: M.E.N.)<\/p>\n She voted the party until Jeremy Corbyn\u2019s leadership before switching to the Conservatives<\/a> in 2019. Now she’s backing Reform. Comments like hers offer a snapshot of the political mood in Makerfield, a former coal mining area where Labour traditionally dominated – until recently, it seems.<\/p>\n Reform hopes frustration with mainstream politics can help it pull off a major win against one of Labour\u2019s biggest names. Mr Farage himself appeared cautious. Asked how he thought the contest would go, he said: \u201cDunno. Dunno, it\u2019s very early.\u201d<\/p>\n He described the mayor or Greater Manchester as ‘a large figure’ in Labour politics, but insisted Reform had chosen ‘a genuine local candidate’.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a really solid, normal bloke who understands what the problems are,\u201d he said of Mr Kenyon. The Reform leader acknowledged Burnham is a favourite with the bookies, but promised the party would ‘fight a big campaign’.<\/p>\n \u201cI did say before I knew we were picking a plumber, we\u2019d throw the kitchen sink at it,\u201d he joked. \u201cIt turns out to have been a very appropriate comment.\u201d<\/p>\n Farage said voters\u2019 main concern is the cost of living crisis. \u201cRob makes the point that he works harder now than he did five or 10 years ago but he can afford less,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n He also claimed there was growing ‘resentment’ between ‘those who work and those who choose not to work’. \u201cWe\u2019ve pitched ourselves as being on the side of working people,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Robert Kenyon (centre), Reform UK’s candidate for the Makerfield by-election at Real Ale Revolution 1(Image: M.E.N.)<\/p>\n Makerfield\u2019s Reform candidate is attempting to present himself as exactly that. Mr Kenyon, 41, was born and brought up in the constituency.<\/p>\n He attended St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School. Before becoming a self-employed plumber, he worked as a welder and fabricator, served as an army reservist and later worked as a specialist NHS<\/a> technician in Lancashire.<\/p>\n Away from politics, Mr Kenyon is a rugby league fan, supporting Wigan<\/a> Warriors. He\u2019s also a specialist in Muay Thai martial art. He\u2019s married, but doesn\u2019t want to say how many children he has, presumably for security reasons.<\/p>\n Kenyon was elected as a Reform councillor in Bryn with Ashton-in-Makerfield North in May and previously finished second in Makerfield at the 2024 general election, losing out to Labour\u2019s Josh Simons, who has now resigned.<\/p>\n Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, he said many people in the area had once voted Labour out of habit. \u201cYou get brought up to vote Labour because you think they\u2019re going to do the best for you,\u201d he said. \u201cThey took us for granted. There\u2019s a saying you could put a red rosette on a donkey and it would win.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Kenyon said his campaign had focused heavily on doorstep conversations. \u201cWe\u2019ve knocked on doors that haven\u2019t been knocked on for 40 years,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople just want to be listened to.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked what it felt like to be the man attempting to derail Mr Burnham<\/a>\u2019s path to Westminster, he paused for some time. \u201cAs a regular plumber it\u2019s a big ask and a big responsibility,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Robert Kenyon(Image: M.E.N.)<\/p>\n \u201cBut the rewards would be unbelievable. It\u2019s been mentioned that it\u2019s like David versus Goliath, but I think it\u2019s bigger than that.\u201d He said he had spent time driving Mr Farage around places important to him, including his old school, workplace and the streets where his grandparents lived.<\/p>\n The contrast with Mr Burnham is central to Reform\u2019s campaign. In a campaign video released this week, Mr Kenyon criticised what he described as a string of career politicians.<\/p>\n \u201cLabour and probably the majority of the other parties have got career politicians,\u201d he says in the video. \u201cThey might know Westminster, but they don\u2019t know the area or the people. For Andy Burnham<\/a>, Makerfield will be a stepping stone. But for me it\u2019s the only place I\u2019ve ever wanted to represent.\u201d<\/p>\n The candidate has also faced questions about his past social media activity. His old account on X, Makerfield_RFK, was suspended because it violated the rules of the platform. Mr Kenyon insisted he doesn\u2019t know why.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s political,\u201d he said. He was shown posts that had generated some controversy, but said he didn\u2019t remember writing them. \u201cIt\u2019s whether or not I made them comments,\u201d he said. \u201cOther people had access to those accounts.\u201d He said he would have to look at the posts in more details before commenting further.<\/p>\n Reform UK leader Nigel Farage MP(Image: M.E.N.)<\/p>\n Such comments haven\u2019t put off friends Paul Moorcroft, Wayne Croft, David Holmes and Michael Dumican, who are were firmly behind Mr Farage\u2019s party.<\/p>\n Paul, a 61-year-old painter and decorator, described Mr Kenyon as a ‘top bloke’. Wayne, 55, said: \u201cPeople have got to give Reform a chance. The country needs to go back to where it was.\u201d<\/p>\n Not everyone in the bar was convinced.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_JS406992476-1.jpg\")
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