Nigel Farage didn’t waste a second rubbing it in after Reform UK managed to wrestle the Runcorn and Helsby seat away from Labour by just six votes. It was a shock result, and Farage used the moment to take a direct swipe at Prime Minister Keir Starmer, calling him a “coward” in a blistering post-vote interview.
Speaking on GB News shortly after the result was announced, Farage didn’t hold back. When asked why Starmer hadn’t shown up in the constituency during the campaign, his answer was scathing.
“He’s a coward. He doesn’t lead from the front,” he said. “He obviously feared they might lose and therefore he didn’t come. I knocked on doors for eight hours today and I would have been in this hall with our candidate regardless of whether we won or lost.”
Farage didn’t stop there. He added, “With Keir Starmer, who by the way is a perfectly decent human being, it’s caution, caution, caution. No one knows what he believes.”
The seat was previously seen as a safe Labour stronghold, with the party winning it in the 2024 general election by nearly 15,000 votes. But this time around, it was a completely different story. The race was so tight that a full recount had to be called after the first round of counting showed just a four-vote difference.
Sarah Pochin, standing for Reform UK, ended up taking the win, handing Starmer his first by-election defeat since becoming Prime Minister. And it’s not just a narrow loss that stings. It’s the fact that Labour lost a seat they were expected to win, a blow made worse by the circumstances that caused the by-election in the first place.
The vote was triggered after Labour’s Mike Amesbury resigned in disgrace, following his conviction for punching a 45-year-old man in Frodsham. He got a ten-week suspended sentence and walked, forcing Labour into a contest in one of their backyards – and now they’ve lost it.
Labour did its best to downplay the result. A party 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.” They argued that public anger after “14 years of failure” was still running high and claimed there were signs their plan was working, pointing to falling NHS waiting lists, lower inflation and rising wages.
Still, it’s clear Reform UK is gaining momentum in places many assumed were out of reach. That narrow six-vote margin might not seem like much, but it’s one of the tightest results in recent memory, and it’s got people talking.
Elsewhere in the country, more than 1,600 council seats were up for grabs in 23 local authorities, including big counties like Kent, Devon, and Oxfordshire. Voters were also picking several local and regional mayors.
It’s a tough moment for the Conservatives, too. They went into these elections holding a majority in 19 of the 23 councils in play – a legacy from 2021 when the party was in a stronger place. Even Tory Party chair Kemi Badenoch admitted losses were likely.
What do you make of Reform UK’s surge?
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