PUNTERS have delivered their verdict on Reform’s car crash Question Time appearance as bookies revised the odds on them winning the Makerfield by-election.
Robert Kenyon was branded a “sexist” and laughed at by audience members in the BBC’s debate programme special for the upcoming vote, which Andy Burnham is hoping to use as his chance to oust Keir Starmer.
The Reform UK candidate has had a bruising campaign which has seen vile misogynistic comments he has made in the past on social media resurface.
His appearance on Question Time on Thursday night saw Reform “lose even more ground”, according to bookmakers at William Hill.
Gent in t-shirt on Reform UK's policing targets, "Where are you going to get 30,000 police officers from?" Robert Kenyon, "That's a problem for whoever is recruiting them" *audience laugh* pic.twitter.com/CQgCMsXy5v
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) June 5, 2026
Reform UK have slipped from odds of 5/2 to 4/1, while Labour’s odds have shortened to 2/11.
Lee Phelps, a spokesperson for William Hill, said: “Last night’s Makerfield Question Time has seen Robert Kenyon lose even more ground in our by-election market, with Reform UK now 4/1 from 5/2 to win the Greater Manchester constituency.
“Our punters have instead piled into Andy Burnham’s price of 1/3, which we’ve been forced to shorten further to 2/11, making Labour the overwhelming favourites to win this month’s vote.”
After he was challenged on how Reform hoped to fulfil its ambitions of recruiting 30,000 new police officers, Kenyon was met with laughter from the audience when he replied: “That’ll be a problem for whoever is recruiting them.”
Elsewhere, he was told by another audience member: “I’d rather have a career politician than a plumber who’s a sexist.”
Host Fiona Bruce read through comments he had made online over the years, including calling abortion a “cowardly act” as recently as the last three years.
She said: “You described yourself as sexist, you have made offensive comments about women, you’ve admitted that, you’ve also said that abortion is the ‘cowardly act of women murdering defenceless babies’ and that women do it so they can ‘shag anyone they want’.
“I’ve got nothing but respect for women… I’ve said things years ago that I wouldn’t say now” Reform UK’s Robert Kenyon says he “won’t accept” being labelled as “sexist”, but admits he “made mistakes” with comments he made “15 years ago” that have been “dragged up”#bbcqt pic.twitter.com/nwiRbkDI7T
— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) June 4, 2026
“That’s your phrase, not mine. I raise it because lots of people in the audience raise it and I want to give you the chance to answer.”
Keyon was also previously revealed to have responded “he’s only saying what we’re all thinking” to a post by a person who took issue with another social media user’s telling former Countdown presenter Carol Vorderman: “I’d love to smell and lick your arsehole.”
Vorderman previously demanded Kenyon apologise for the comment.
In response the Reform UK candidate said: “I’ve got nothing but respect for women. So I think something that’s said 15 years ago, dragged up from an old rugby forum, it’s taken out of context and like I say, I’ve made mistakes and said things years ago that I wouldn’t say now and I definitely don’t believe that, on that point, you know, so, yeah, I hope that addresses that issue and like I say, I’ve got nothing but respect for women.”
