Row over ‘Jimmy Savile’ banner images in Makerfield by-election - were pictures shared online real or fake?

Ahead of the Makerfield by-election this week a furious online row erupted over images supposedly taken on the campaign trail, with arguments and confusion over whether different images circulating on social media were real or fake.

The first image we saw shared appeared to show people holding election material for Reform candidate Rob Kenyon, standing next to a man holding a sign reading: “I would rather vote for Jimmy Savile than Labour.”

However we then saw a second very similar image circulated, which showed the same man holding what appeared to be a banner with Mr Kenyon’s face on, instead of the banner mentioning serial sex abuser Savile.

This second image was then reshared by lots of social media accounts, including that of Reform MP Lee Anderson, who said: “Here's the original picture. It's hard to believe that some folk are actually daft enough to fall for the fake version.”

The North Liverpool branch of Reform also shared the second image on X, alongside a warning about “fake malicious AI communications”.

However, in fact this second image shared by Mr Anderson and Reform North Liverpool was a fake, and an AI forensics expert told us it was edited with AI. Mr Anderson’s post about the image on Tuesday was deleted a few hours after it was published, and Reform North Liverpool has now also deleted its post.

Meanwhile we’ve seen no evidence that the first image was faked, and one of the Reform councillors shown in the picture has since apologised for appearing alongside the Savile banner.

While the confusion over the images now appears to have been resolved, the row is yet another example of how hard it can be to verify images on social media, and how quickly false and misleading claims can spread. At the time of writing a large number of posts or comments on X and Facebook claiming that the second, edited image is in fact real have not been corrected or deleted.

We’ve contacted Mr Anderson, Reform UK and Reform North Liverpool for comment.

How do we know the second picture was edited?

After Mr Anderson and others claimed that the second image was the “original” photo, many online said that a number of details in the image suggested it was in fact AI-edited.

We asked a media forensics and AI expert to examine the two images circulating to assess whether either had been altered or manipulated.

Dr Siwei Lyu, an expert in digital media forensics at University at Buffalo, State University of New York in the US, told us his conclusion was that the second image (with the banner appearing to show Mr Kenyon’s face) was “AI-altered” and that the central campaign banner had been synthetically replaced.

“The manipulation is not perfectly localized: the surrounding signage also carries generative artifacts, such as the rounded, blurred arrow logo on the right-hand sign and the garbled sign on the background window,” Dr Lyu said.

“This is consistent with a local AI edit that could not keep the adjacent regions fully consistent.”

Councillor apologises for photograph

We couldn’t find any evidence that the viral image including the banner mentioning Savile had been altered, or edited with AI. It doesn’t contain a visible or invisible watermark showing it was created by AI tools, and we couldn’t find any obvious glitches or hallmarks of it being tampered with. Dr Lyu also told us he couldn’t find any evidence of it not being authentic. At the same time, we’ve struggled to directly verify that the image, and several other images showing the Savile banner, are real. A Facebook account it appeared to have been posted from has been deleted, and we’ve not been able to directly contact anyone pictured in the image.

However on Thursday evening one of the councillors pictured issued a public apology on her Facebook page for appearing alongside the Jimmy Savile banner.

Councillor Lilian Rogers said she had stopped to speak with a “supportive local resident who asked for a quick picture with a homemade sign”.

“While I saw the sign at the time, I want to be absolutely clear: I completely failed to realise its sickening implications or context. In the rush of a busy campaign day, it was viewed as entirely innocent… Had I understood the implication for even a second, I would never have associated myself with it or agreed to be photographed.

“I am deeply sorry for any distress this situation has caused to anyone who has seen it.”

She added the matter was now being “dealt with internally”.

A Wigan Council spokesperson told us: “We have received a significant number of complaints in relation to this matter.

“As with any complaints received regarding elected members, they will be considered under the council's mandatory Code of Conduct and its procedure.”

Councillor Paul Watson, the Reform UK group leader at Wigan Council, told us that he was not in a position to comment further until a “thorough” investigation conducted by Wigan Council’s complaints team had been completed.