On 16 June, we reported on a grim story from the Makerfield by-election concerning Reform. Local Reform councillors posted a picture which suggested they’d vote for Jimmy Saville if it allowed them to replace Keir Starmer. The problem is this means they would vote for Jimmy Saville – one of Britain’s most notorious sexual predators.
Since then, Reform have done what they can to distance themselves from the controversy. The problem is their attempts only made things worse. This is why a defensive post from Lee Anderson now looks like this:
Reform distraction tactics
As we reported on 16 June, Saville was a serious offender:
450 people accused him of sexual abuse. 82% of the victims were female; 80% of them were children. Saville used his position as a children’s entertainer to get away with this, as well as his connections within the media and charity sectors. He was a plague on this country, and no one should forget that.
It’s one thing for private individuals to make edgy jokes about paedophiles; it’s quite another for a political party which is arguing that the establishment doesn’t take issues like ‘grooming gangs‘ seriously.
The offending image from Reform UK was this:
Reform UK’s #Makerfield campaign team for @RobKenyonReform, including 2 Wigan councillors Gemma Painter and Lilian Rogers.
Photo ops with Jimmy Saville jokes.
Sick.@reformparty_uk and Kenyon, anything to say?
Share this, make sure everyone in Makerfield sees it. pic.twitter.com/GHT3TFWCHj
— Reform Party UK Exposed
(@reformexposed) June 15, 2026
While the defensive post from Reform chair Lee Anderson is now deleted, we can still get an idea of what he posted from the replies:
Lee Anderson now complicit in a lie.
Look at the one you’ve posted.
It’s not Rob Kenyon, and the logo is AI warped. Plus look at the union flag.
Why did your councillor Gemma Painter delete it and then her Facebook?
Because it was real.
Here’s also images by Stephen… pic.twitter.com/MZr7MxKiyd
— Reform Party UK Exposed
There’s also this post from Reform North Liverpool making the same claim as Anderson (screengrabbed in case they delete):
Here’s a closeup of that AI Rob Kenyon. As you can see, he’s running for a party which seems to be called ‘Rafcvim *INDECIPHERABLE*’:
Almost as robotic as the real thing.
Reform Party Exposed UK said this following the deletion:
Reform UK’s Chairman @LeeAndersonMP_ has deleted his post claiming the Councillor Gemma Painter photo of her with a man holding a sign saying “I’d rather vote for Jimmy Savile” was a fake.
He’s a head of the party and he’s clearly realised he’s posted a faked attempt to… pic.twitter.com/ZjpveEkpMd
— Reform Party UK Exposed
And they captured Anderson’s tweet for posterity:
Knowing how the right-wing mind works, we assume this means Anderson was up all night playing “X Box”.
Reputational damage
Reform politicians have tried to paint themselves as protectors of women while simultaneously not taking crimes against women seriously. We saw this when Farage insulted grooming gang survivors, and they demanded an apology from him. We saw it when Reform politicians pushed to end no-fault divorce, which would trap many women in abusive marriages. And we’ve seen it with the accusations of sexism in the party, which come from Reform politicians themselves.
Given all this, it’s unsurprising Reform councillors would think Saville is a big joke. Their whole party is a joke, so why not make it obvious to everyone?
Featured image via the Canary
By Willem Moore
