It has been a historic night for Reform UK as it gained Sarah Pochin as its fifth MP, beating Labour in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by the skin of its teeth with six extra votes. Throughout the evening, Reform’s team appeared positively optimistic, despite predictions of the result being too close to call between them and Labour. However, their high spirits are now mirrored by their major win, setting a new tone for the political landscape.

Nigel Farage’s weeks of campaigning, with many of the days being spent in Runcorn, paid off as the party declared victory in numerous councils across the country too. With Runcorn and Helsby being historically one of Labour’s safest seats, it’s evident that confidence in Sir Keir Starmer is drastically slipping away. The Tories are also yet to regain the support of the British public after haemorrhaging a number MPs in the General Election last year, paving the way for the rise of Reform.

Despite its victory, Mr Farage’s party won the by-election by just six votes after declaring an initial recount at 4am. At this point, neither of the leading candidates, nor Reform’s leader, had made an appearance.

However, from the close two-horse race, one major thing stood out – the Tories have faded firmly into the background. Despite holding power for 14 consecutive years, and being the official Opposition, their presence – or lack of – throughout both the campaign and at the count raises the question of who the Opposition really is.

The Conservative Party faced a dramatic loss in local elections, mimicking that of July 2024. Reform’s chairman Zia Yusuf branded them as “not relevant” after Brits failed to even mention the party while he was out campaigning.

He told the Express: “His Majesty’s most loyal Opposition isn’t even in the running here in Runorn and Helsby – there’s a question on whether they’ll even win the national vote share, despite the fact that the locals are being held in the Tory heartlands.”

Mr Yusuf said that voters he’s spoken with feel “betrayed”, which is a word that “comes up a lot on the doorstep”.

“Interestingly, they’re actually not talking about the Tories because very few people are talking about the Tories here at all."

The by-election marked the first significant electoral battle that the Prime Minister faced since being elected, with this defeat marking his failure to retain support for Labour in his first nine months.

The newly elected Reform MP, a former Cheshire East councillor and magistrate, was unveiled as a candidate by the party leader in March, describing the new MP as someone “who is going to be a lawmaker, and I promise not a law-breaker” – a reference to the former Labour MP who previously held the seat.

Previously speaking to the Express, she said: “Reform stands up for common sense, which is sadly lacking in our politics at the moment.

"The British people want to get back to basic good values of what we care about, and Reform is the party that is standing up for British values."

Reform had been eyeing up the seat after placing second in the General Election. Runcorn and Helsby is a new constituency created in time for July last year, with Mike Amesbusy winning for Labour with 52.9% of the vote – a majority of 14,696. However, he later stepped down after being handed a 10-week prison sentence for punching a constituent.