Who is Sarah Pochin? Reform's newest MP wins Runcorn and Helsby seat

Pochin has made good Nigel Farage’s threat to continue to upset the apple cart of UK politics - taking control of the seat that Labour MP Miek Amesbury won with a majority of more than 14,000 last July.

Since then, though, not only has the sheen come off the early days of the Labour government, but Amesbury inflicted some damage on the party’s reputation after being caught on camera punching a constituent late at night. His resignation is what sparked the by election, held yesterday on the day of local and mayoral elections around England.

Who is Sarah Pochin?

The 55-year-old has lived in Cheshire for more than 30 years, and has worked for big corporations including Shell and Novar, and Companies House outlines how she has held directorships in several other firms and organisations.

She has also sat as a magistrate for 20 years.

She is married with two sons. She has said that Reform’s policies centre on “family, community and country” and that she had “dedicated her life” to these values.

Sarah Pochin’s political career

Pochin came into politics as a Tory, being elected to Cheshire East council in 2015 in the Willaston and Rope ward. In a minor irony, she took that seat from Ukip - then led by Nigel Farage, her current leader. Two years later she attempted to break into national politics by standing in the Bolton South East constituency in the general election, but was defeated by the incumbent Labour MP, Yasmin Qureshi.

Then in 2019 she stood in the Bunbury ward in Cheshire East, and was elected again, but fell out with the Tories after accepting the position of the Mayor of Cheshire East, which was offered by the governing Labour-Independent council. She was suspended and thrown out of the Conservative Party as this was said to be breaking their rules. She decided to serve as mayor and stand as an independent councillor from then on in.

In 2022 Pochin rejoined the Conservative group, and was promptly thrown out of the independent faction.

Magistrate

A misconduct finding was made against Sarah Pochin by the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office in 2018 during her time as a magistrate. The JCIO ruled that Pochin had used her status as a magistrate to influence the views held by her colleagues in a political context at a meeting.

The watchdog also found she breached confidentiality by publicising the complaint levelled against her, saying her “behaviour fell below the standards expected of a magistrate”.