Reform UK have won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by just six votes, ousting Labour from what had been one of their safest seats.
Sarah Pochin overturned a massive Labour majority of 14,696 to become Reform’s fifth MP, in a vote that was so close it required a recount.
In the end, the margin of victory for the party was just six votes, making it the smallest majority ever recorded in a by election.
The previous record was held by the Liberals, when they won the 1973 Berwick-upon-Tweed by-election by only 57 votes.
Labour’s share of the voted in Runcorn and Helsby dropped from 53% to 38.7%, compared to the general election last year, whilst Reform’s vote share surged from 18% to 38.72%.
Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme after the win, Reform UK leader NIgel farage said his party had “supplant the Conservative Party as the main opposition party in government.”
He adds: “The message that we’re getting in places where we didn’t win, was that if you vote Conservative you actually get Labour.”
In her victory speech, Sarah Pochin labelled Farage a “great leader” and thanked voters “brave enough to put a cross against my name on the ballot paper”.
She adds: “I will do my very best for all of you… regardless of how you voted and I will be accessible to you all.”
Related: Nigel Farage ‘says quiet part out loud’ with NHS funding comments