Far-right activist Tommy Robinson has endorsed Reform UK’s by-election candidate, after Labour warned he represents “extreme” politics.
Matt Goodwin - GB News presenter and former university academic - was unveiled as Reform UK’s candidate for the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election earlier this week.
On Thursday, Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, endorsed Mr Goodwin despite Reform UK reiterating that Yaxley-Lennon “isn’t welcome in the party”.
Responding to a post on X made by Nick Lowles, the CEO of anti-racism group Hope not Hate, pledging to go “all in” to stop Mr Goodwin’s election, Yaxley-Lennon wrote: “Vote for Matt.”
Labour later shared the endorsement, writing: “Tommy Robinson has endorsed Reform’s candidate in Gorton and Denton. Only a vote for Labour can stop him.”
Tommy Robinson has endorsed Reform’s candidate in Gorton and Denton.
— Labour Press (@labourpress) January 30, 2026
Only a vote for Labour can stop him. pic.twitter.com/zs0T4fH01x
But a Reform UK spokesman rejected the endorsement and said: “We have consistently been clear on this issue. He isn’t welcome in the party.”
Nigel Farage has previously distanced himself from Tommy Robinson, saying the far-right activist is “not what we need”.
Mr Goodwin’s candidacy was met with concern from political opposition and anti-racism groups, including Hope not Hate who branded him an “opportunist extremist”.
In a fundraising email seen by The National, Labour said Mr Goodwin’s positions don’t represent “mainstream politics” and said they were “extreme”.
He sparked criticism last year when he was accused of suggesting people from minority ethnic backgrounds are not necessarily British, even if they were born in the UK.
Following a mass stabbing on a train in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Mr Goodwin, who appears as a presenter on GB News three times a week, blamed “mass uncontrolled immigration” in a post on X/Twitter.
After it came to light that the suspect was born in the UK, Goodwin wrote: “So were all of the 7/7 bombers. It takes more than a piece of paper to make somebody ‘British’.”
The comments were criticised by the Liberal Democrats as “racist rhetoric” and a “disgrace”.
In 2017, the politics professor ate pages from his book, Brexit: Why Britain voted to leave the European Union, live on Sky News after he wrongly predicted Labour would not poll as high as 38 per cent under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. The party won 40 per cent of the vote in that year’s general election.
The Gorton and Denton by-election is expected to take place on 26 February, after former MP Andrew Gwynne stood down for health reasons.
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