Reform UK has announced Sarah Pochin as its candidate for the Runcorn and Helsby by-election. This follows the resignation of former Labour MP Mike Amesbury after he was handed a suspended prison sentence for punching a man in the street.
The by-election stands as a major test for Sir Keir Starmer’s party, as it will be the first since Labour came to power in July last year. Ms Pochin will be battling against the Labour candid ate Karen Shore, Conservative Sean Houlston, Lib Dem’s Paul Duffy and the Green’s Chris Copeman.
Reform has since been eyeing up the seat after placing second in the 2024 General Election. Runcorn and Helsby is a new constituency created in time for the GE in July last year, with Amesbusy winning for Labour with 52.9% of the vote – a majority of 14,696.
A date is yet to be set for the by-election (Image: Getty)
The by-election was triggered by the sentencing of former Labour MP Mike Amesbury (Image: Getty)
Reform UK came second, taking 18% of the vote. The Conservatives garnered 16%, the Green Party received 6.4% and the Liberal Democrats claimed 5.1%.
No date has been set for the by-election yet as this will be announced upon Amesbury formally standing down. “I’m going to step aside at the earliest opportunity,” he told the BBC. “I’ve got processes I must go through – there’s a statutory process in terms of redundancies.”
Amesbury was the Labour MP for Weaver Vale from June 2017 until the seat was removed in the general election. The new seat, Runcorn and Helsby, is made up of Runcorn, Frodsham and Helsby, as well as various other villages and a larger rural area – it has a population of 93,520.
Reform UK came second in the seat last year, taking 18% of the vote (Image: Getty)
The former MP said he would quit the commons after being handed a 10-week prison sentence for punching a constituent. This was later reduced to a suspended sentence following an appeal. Amesbury said he was “sad” and “devastated”, adding: “Not only for me, but my staff as well, because, course, it goes beyond me, for my family. This is a result of something that I did on October 26.”
Amesbury pleaded guilty in January to assaulting Paul Fellows, 45, after a row in the street in Frodsham, Cheshire, in the early hours of October 26.
Footage showed Amesbury punching Paul Fellows to the head, knocking him to the ground, then following him on to the road and starting to punch him again, at least five times.
