Reform UK has announced self-employed plumber Robert Kenyon as the party's candidate for the crucial Makerfield by-election to challenge Andy Burnham's bid to return to Westminster.
Mr Kenyon, who has served as an army reservist and previously worked as a technician for the NHS in Lancashire, also ran in the 2024 election, where he finished in second place.
Reform leader Nigel Farage said: “This by-election contest is now a David versus Goliath battle.
"This is ‘the plucky plumber’ taking on ‘open borders Burnham’. Only Reform UK can beat Labour in this by-election.”
The by-election was triggered after Josh Simmons MP forfeited his seat to make way for Mr Burnham, who is using the vote as a means to re-enter Parliament and launch a leadership challenge against the Prime Minister.
Reform's candidate prides himself as a true local, claiming his family lineage can be traced back in Makerfield for at least the last 200 years.
With a narrow margin of just 5,000 votes between Labour and Reform in Makerfield during the last general election, Mr Burnham by no means picked a safe seat.
Makerfield, made up of Wigan, Hindley and Ashton-in-Makerfield, has held as a Labour seat for decades, but saw a surge in support for Reform during the local elections earlier this month.
Reform UK has announced self-employed plumber Robert Kenyon as the party's candidate for the crucial Makerfield by-election
|REFORM UK
Nigel Farage previously said Reform would "throw absolutely everything" to stop Andy Burnham, in what has been described as the most significant by-election in history.
Announcing Mr Kenyon's candidacy, a party spokesman said: “Makerfield was Andy Burnham’s back up plan. For Robert Kenyon, it’s his home.”
If elected, Mr Kenyon would become the first person born in the constituency to become the MP.
He already sits as one of Reform’s newly elected councillors in the area, currently sitting for Bryn with Ashton-in-Makerfield North.
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In a video shared by the party, Mr Kenyon said: “Labour and a lot of the other parties have got career politicians, they go to private school, they go to university, they get a job at a think tank.
“For Andy Burnham, Makerfield will be a stepping stone, but for me it’s the only place I’ve ever wanted to represent.”
So far, four candidates have been appointed to run in the anticipated by-election - with candidates confirmed by Labour, Reform, Restore Britain and the Monster Raving Loony Party.
The Conservatives, Green Party and Liberal Democrats are all expected to submit candidates before the deadline, with the contest speculated to take place on June 18.
Andy Burnham has confirmed he will run in the Makerfield by-election for Labour
| GETTYMr Burnham, 56, was confirmed as Labour’s candidate earlier today, after the party’s National Executive Committee signed off on his selection.
The party said no other candidates had been shortlisted for the seat, meaning no selection vote was needed.
Meanwhile, 53-year-old Wigan businesswoman Rebecca Shepherd will stand on behalf of Restore Britain - marking the first time the emerging party has fielded a candidate at a Westminster election.
Restore Britain described her as “understanding first-hand the pressures facing local businesses and working families across the area”.
The other known candidate at this time is 83-year-old Alan "Howlin" Laud Hope, who took over as leader of the Monster raving Looney Party after Screaming Lord Sutch's death in 1999.
As the former Mayor of Ashburton in Devon, Mr Hope has stood for Parliament more than 30 times without ever winning a seat.
In a social media statement, the party said: “We can confirm that our glorious leader Alan ‘Howlin’ Laud Hope with selected agents will be standing against Andy Burnham in the forthcoming election in Makerfield.”