4 min read
Reform’s Sarah Pochin has won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just six votes, replacing former Labour MP Mike Amesbury who stepped down after pleading guilty to assault.
A recount saw Pochin on 12,645, Labour’s Karen Shore on 12,639 and the Conservatives’ Sean Houlston on 2,341.
In her victory speech, Pochin – who was once a Tory councillor – said “the people of Runcorn and Helsby have spoken: enough is enough”.
“Enough Tory failure, enough Labour lies – and I want to thank every one of you who were brave enough to put a cross against my name in the ballot paper,” said Pochin.
“Every one of you who voted for change, every one of you who have put your fath in me as your next member of parliament for this constituency.”
In an interview with PoliticsHome last month Pochin, who is also a former magistrate, expressed her opposition to the death penalty and was critical of the Conservative and Labour records on the criminal justice system. She also sought to distance herself from what she described as “the toxic Tories” after her previous role as a councillor for the party.
“At a local level, exactly the same was going on as how they behave at a national level,” said Pochin .
“The infighting was nasty. They cared more about their own positions of power than they did about doing the right thing for residents.”
Speaking to Sky News from the constituency following Pochin’s victory, Reform leader Nigel Farage said “this is Labour heartland county, their vote has collapsed”.
“[There has been] a loss of confidence in the Labour party, and no one knows what the Prime Minister really stands for, a sense that somehow in this very patrotic constituency the Labour party doesn’t really stand for those values anymore”, said Farage when asked why Labour lost the seat.
Responding to the results, a Labour spokesperson said ” by-elections are always difficult for the party in government and the events which led to this one being called made it even harder”.
“Voters are still rightly furious with the state of the country after 14 years of failure and clearly expect the Government to move faster with the Plan for Change” they said”.
“While Labour has suffered an extremely narrow defeat, the shock is that the Conservative vote has collapsed. Moderate voters are clearly appalled by the talk of a Tory-Reform pact.
“There are encouraging signs that our Plan for Change is working – NHS waiting lists, inflation and interest rates down with wages up – but we will go further and faster to deliver change with relentless focus on putting money back into people’s pockets.”
Meanwhile, the Conservatives said the result in the Chesire constituency was a “damning verdict on Keir Starmer’s leadership”.
“Just 10 months ago Labour won an enormous majority, including in this seat with 52 per cent of the vote, but their policies have been a punch in the face for the people of Runcorn,” said a Conservative party spokesman.
“Snatching Winter Fuel Payments from vulnerable pensioners, pushing farmers to the brink with their vindictive Family Farms Tax and hammering families with a £3500 jobs tax, families are being punished for their disastrous decisions in government. Now we know why Keir Starmer never bothered to visit the area.
“Keir Starmer promised change, but the change he’s delivered has been roundly rejected. Keir Starmer’s MPs will rightfully question his leadership and whether he is now on course to be a one term Prime Minister.”
At the general election last year, Amesbury won 22,358 votes with Reform’s candidate in second place with 7,662 votes and the Conservatives close behind in third place with 6,756 votes.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not visit the constituency during by-election campaigning despite his party winning 53 per cent last year in the Chesire seat, with one Labour MP telling PoliticsHome they believed a visit from him would “do more harm than good”.
PoliticsHome also found that Labour’s election materials in the constituency featured little of Starmer, something shared with Conservative election literature and their leader Kemi Badenoch; in contrast, Reform leader Nigel Farage was featured heavily in its material.
The by-election was triggered after Amesbury plead guilty in January to assaulting 45-year-old Paul Fellows in a Cheshire street. The now former MP had been caught on camera attacking Fellows, saying: “you won’t threaten your MP again, will you?”
More follows…
