Runcorn Reform UK riding high as voters lose faith in Starmer

On a weekday morning, an advertising van is weaving its way through the narrow streets of Runcorn town centre. On the side is a black-and-white picture of Nigel Farage with a quote from the Reform UK leader: "We are going to have to move to an insurance-based system of healthcare."

- Hannah Al-Othman

The starting gun was fired for a byelection when the sitting MP for Runcorn and Helsby, Mike Amesbury, announced his intention to resign, setting a huge test for Keir Starmer's government.

Although a date has yet to be set for the vote, on Thursday evening, Labour selected Karen Shore, a teacher and local councillor, to be its candidate; a source from Reform, the party's main challenger, said its candidate would be announced early next week.

In July last year, Labour easily won the seat, securing more than 50% of the vote, but now things are looking more difficult for the party. Depending on which poll you choose to rely on, Labour will either just hang on to the seat, or lose to Reform.

The byelection was triggered by Amesbury's suspension from the Labour party after he was filmed punching a constituent in a late-night altercation in Frodsham, a town in his constituency.

He received a 10-week prison sentence and was briefly jailed before his prison term was suspended on appeal. Shortly after his release, he announced his intention to wind down his office and resign from parliament.

Yet despite the reasons behind the byelection, it is not Amesbury's name that disgruntled voters here most often cite among reasons for not wanting to vote Labour, but Starmer's.