'Clean candidate' tries to deliver rebrand for Reform

Sarah Pochin appears unlike many representatives of Nigel Farage’s party. But is she really different and can she win a by-election? Millie Cooke and Harriette Boucher investigate

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By-elections are always tough for a sitting government. Voters use them to take out their frustrations on politicians who haven’t delivered what they promised, without the risk of their vote having national consequences. Opposition parties can promise the world, knowing that later down the line if they don’t deliver, they can blame it on a lack of funding from the party in power.

While many see the upcoming Runcorn by-election as Sir Keir Starmer’s first major test in government, he’s not the only politician with a point to prove. Nigel Farage is attempting to persuade voters that Reform UK is a credible electoral force.

The party has grown in popularity in the past year – but it has also lurched from scandal to scandal. From last month’s explosive row with MP Rupert Lowe that saw him ousted over allegations he harassed female staff, to the party’s failure to properly vet its candidates at last year’s general election, it has been far from plain sailing.

But in selecting Sarah Pochin, Reform’s candidate for Runcorn and Helsby, Mr Farage is attempting to draw a line under the past.

Unlike Labour’s candidate, Karen Shore, who appears to be a safe-bet Starmer loyalist, Reform have taken more of a risk with Ms Pochin. A self-professed “clean candidate”, she represents Mr Farage’s attempt to rebrand and sanitise the party.