Reform UK’s Sarah Pochin has triumphed in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just six votes, pipping Labour candidate Karen Shore to the post.
After winning the election she declared “Enough Tory failure, enough Labour lies”, adding that voters had made it clear that “enough was enough”.
Her victory makes her Reform UK’s fifth MP and its first female representative in Parliament.
She was announced in March by Nigel Farage as Reform UK’s candidate for the by-election, after Labour MP Mike Amesbury was convicted for punching a constituent.
But, this is not Pochin’s first significant role. So, who is she and what does her appointment mean for Reform and her constituents?
What is Sarah Pochin’s political background?
Sarah Pochin entered politics as member of the Conservative Party, representing the Willaston and Rope ward in the 2015 Cheshire East council election, beating UKIP candidate Brian Silvester.
She stood as the Tory party’s candidate in the Bolton South East constituency at the 2017 general election, where she was defeated by Labour’s Yasmin Qureshi.
In 2020, she was offered the position of elected mayor of the Cheshire East council by the Labour-Independent administration. Her acceptance of the role led to her expulsion from the Tory party.
However, two years later following the resignation of Boris Johnson from the Tory party, Pochin rejoined the Tory party to vote in the leadership election.
Consequently, she was ousted from the independent group.
She joined Reform UK in 2025 as the Runcorn and Helsby by-election candidate.
What are her policies?
Her policies centre on British pride and in a recent video message, she said she was proud to be British and encouraged young people to be proud too.
Runcorn & Helsby needs Reform. 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/3OVIel7xtW
— Sarah Pochin (@SarahForRuncorn) March 24, 2025
During her campaign, she said she supported means-testing the winter fuel payment, which is in conflict with Reform’s stance on the policy.
A photo surfaced of Pochin at a “refugees welcome” event but since joining Reform UK, Pochin has stressed that her support only extends to asylum seekers, branding those who cross the English Channel into Britain as “illegal economic migrants”.
However, many of her policies are in line with Reform’s push for “British culture, identity, and values”.
She has stressed her commitment to the defence of Britain and has said family is the “bedrock” of the country.
On a local level, her agenda includes a new leisure centre and cinema, as well as rallying against the price of toll road between Runcorn and Widnes.
She has also promised to look at immigration, claiming it was one of Runcorn’s biggest problems.
“People are living next to private landlord accommodation full of illegal immigrants that are causing people’s lives hell,” she said.
What did she do before politics?
Pochin was educated at Haberdashers’ Monmouth School for Girls in Wales. After leaving school she read banking and finance at Loughborough University.
She then became a magistrate in Cheshire; a post she held for 20 years before joining the Conservative Party as a councillor.
She has previously been reprimanded as it was revealed during her campaign that she has used her status as a magistrate to influence colleagues.
Outside politics, she has said enjoys being a mother to her two sons and doing pilates.
Sarah Pochin will now enter the history books as Reform UK’s first female MP but whether she will make more history remains to be seen.
