REFORM UK’s shock win in Runcorn & Helsby has plunged Labour into crisis.
Nigel Farage’s candidate Sarah Pochin snatched the seat by a mere six votes, overturning a Labour majority of nearly 15,000 in a traditional stronghold — a humiliating collapse that shows the depth of disillusionment under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.
Farage declared that his party now leads the opposition to Labour’s government, as Reform surged in elections across England. ‘Labour’s vote in its heartland has collapsed and much of it has come to us,’ he said, framing his party’s rise as a response to the abandonment of working people by the political establishment. Labour, far from reversing its direction, has responded by doubling down on unpopular austerity measures.
Starmer brushed off the losses, stating: ‘I get it,’ before vowing to go ‘further and faster’ with policies that include slashing winter fuel allowances and tightening welfare support.
He dismissed concerns over Reform’s growing challenge, instead pointing to differences on NHS funding — even as Labour itself has endorsed market-driven reforms that echo Conservative policies.
Turnout in Runcorn fell to 46 per cent, a stark drop from the 59 per cent at last year’s general election. Reform’s win marked its fifth MP in Westminster and its first mayoral victory in Greater Lincolnshire, where former Tory Andrea Jenkyns led a decisive campaign.
The party also came within striking distance of Labour in North Tyneside and Doncaster, signalling growing momentum.
Labour’s slide coincides with Reform overtaking it in national polling.
The latest figures show Reform at 26 per cent, Labour trailing at 24, and the Tories at 21 — a devastating indictment of both main parties.
Starmer’s government, elected last July on a landslide, has since haemorrhaged support by mimicking Conservative policies while offering no genuine vision for change.
As results continue to come in, early indications suggest further gains for Reform and heavy losses for the Tories.
Yet it’s Labour that may suffer the most, as swathes of its former base across the North and Midlands desert a party that no longer speaks for them.
