Who is Sarah Pochin? Reform UK’s first female MP

Reform UK’s Sarah Pochin has clinched victory in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just six votes.

She was the favourite to win since being unveiled by Nigel Farage in March, following Labour MP Mike Amesbury’s conviction for punching a constituent.

Ms Pochin will become Reform’s fifth MP and its first female representative in parliament when the Commons returns on Tuesday.

But who is the 55-year-old new MP and what is she likely to do as a Reform MP?

Sarah Pochin is a former Conservative councillor and mayor for Cheshire East. As a member of the Conservative Party, she was pictured smiling alongside various big names including former prime ministers Liz Truss, Boris Johnson and Theresa May.

She also stood as the Conservative Party’s candidate in Bolton South East in 2017, coming a distant second to Labour’s Yasmin Qureshi.

She was expelled from the Conservative group on the Cheshire East council in 2020 after being elected mayor instead of the official Tory candidate with the support of Labour and independent councillors.

But, two years later when she wanted to vote in the Tory leadership election after Boris Johnson’s resignation, she was forced out of the independent group on the council after rejoining the Conservatives.

She was not an enthusiastic Tory however, in the wake of Mr Johnson’s ousting as leader, and even volunteered to quit the party immediately after achieving her aim of voting in the leadership contest.

Ms Pochin has also been a magistrate in Cheshire for 20 years before becoming a Tory councillor.

She introduced herself to voters with a video highlighting her focus on British pride. Her father was in the army and she said she has a huge commitment to the defence of Great Britain.

The Reform MP added that family “is the bedrock” of the country and called for more to be done to ensure young people are proud to be British.

She has spoken frequently about being a mother to grown up children and, in an interview with The Independent, she said she likes to take an hour each morning to do pilates and unwind.

Ms Pochin has recently played down her own past support for refugees in the constituency.

After being pictured at a “refugees welcome” event, she stressed that her support only includes asylum seekers, branding those who cross the English Channel to enter Britain “illegal economic migrants”.

Her views on migration mean she will likely slip into Reform’s parliamentary ranks seamlessly, describing immigrants as “flooding our country” and calling for those seeking asylum in Britain to “stop in France or any other country in Europe before that”.

But she does have local priorities, and has promised to campaign on issues including a new leisure centre and cinema for the area as well as railing against the price of a toll road from Runcorn to nearby Widnes.

During the campaign, it was revealed that she was previously reprimanded for using her status as a magistrate to influence colleagues.

She also historically expressed support for means-testing the winter fuel payment, a position which is at odds with Mr Farage and Reform’s fervent opposition to Labour’s decision to withdraw it from millions of pensioners.

Speaking after winning the by-election, Ms Pochin said voters had made clear "enough is enough".

"Enough Tory failure, enough Labour lies," she said.

She added that illegal immigration was a "massive issue" for Runcorn.

Ms Pochin said: "People are living next to private landlord accommodation full of illegal immigrants that are causing people's lives hell.

"That is an issue that we will absolutely be looking at as the priority."

She claimed constituents were "frightened to go out of their houses".

She added: "It's a whole area that we will be looking at in detail."