Oh, the sanctimonious howls echoing through the digital corridors of the Corbynista right! You’d think Reform UK had nominated a reincarnated Lord Adonis — or an English Merkel — to run in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, such is the venom spewing forth from the keyboards of the perpetually outraged. Their latest target? Sarah Pochin, Reform’s freshly minted candidate, a woman whose CV glitters with a quiet competence that’s left the ideologues clutching their pitchforks in despair. Her crime? Once upon a time, as Mayor of Cheshire East, she dared to smile at a “Refugees Welcome” event for Afghans who aided British troops, Ukrainians fleeing Putin’s bombs and Syrians escaping Assad’s butchery. Quelle horreur!
The Corbynista right — those curious souls who blend populist anti-migrant purism with a visceral loathing of anything that smells faintly pragmatic — are apoplectic. “Hypocrisy!” they scream, as if Pochin’s presence at a ceremonial gig somehow negates Reform’s hardline stance on illegal migration. Never mind that the Afghans she welcomed were the translators and fixers who risked their necks for UK squaddies, or that the Ukrainians and Syrians were fleeing wars that’d make even the most hardened peacenik wince. No, to these online inquisitors, any whiff of compassion is a betrayal of the anti-immigrant gospel they are trying to project onto Nigel Farage’s merry band. Context? Details? Pah! Who needs ’em when you’ve got a hashtag and a grudge?
Let’s pause for a reality check. Pochin’s mayoral role was ceremonial, think ribbon-cutting and tea with the WI, not penning immigration policy. She wasn’t brokering open borders or drafting EU directives; she was doing the job of a civic figurehead, smiling for the cameras and shaking hands. But the Corbynista right, bless their cotton socks, aren’t ones for nuance. They’ve seized on a grainy photo of her at that event like it’s the Zapruder film, proof positive that Reform’s gone soft. “She’s a Tory plant!” they wail, ignoring her expulsion from the Conservatives in 2020 over a local spat. “She’s a WEF globalist!” they shriek, glossing over her 30-year career in international business — working for Shell, no less, before dipping into the DIY sector. Hardly the résumé of a bleeding-heart liberal.
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This isn’t just a protest vote anymore; it’s a party flexing its muscles
Then there’s her record: 20 years as a magistrate in Cheshire, dispensing justice with a steady hand, plus a decade as a borough councillor. This isn’t some fly-by-night chancer who stumbled into Reform’s orbit after a pint too many at the local. Pochin’s a grown-up, a rare breed in politics these days, with a CV that screams substance over sloganeering. She has stepped down from the bench to fight this by-election, a move Farage himself has trumpeted as a sign of Reform’s new direction. “Vote for a lawmaker, not a lawbreaker,” he quipped, a jab at Labour’s disgraced ex-MP Mike Amesbury, whose fists landed him a suspended sentence and triggered this whole circus.
Here’s the rub: Reform UK is evolving. Gone are the days of ramshackle passion projects, of plucky outsiders shouting into the void. With candidates like Pochin — polished, experienced and, yes, human, they’re signalling serious pretensions to government. This isn’t just a protest vote anymore; it’s a party flexing its muscles, eyeing the big leagues. Runcorn and Helsby, Labour’s 16th safest seat, is a mountain to climb — a 14,696 majority isn’t pocket change. But Reform’s polling at 40 per cent to Labour’s 35 per cent in the latest Ashcroft survey, a swing that’d make even the most jaded politico sit up. It’s not a done deal — by-elections are fickle beasts — but it’s a hell of a lot closer than the Corbynistas would like.
Yet here’s the kicker: these purists would rather lose than win. They’re not fussed about toppling a Labour stronghold or sticking it to Starmer in his first by-election test. No, they’d prefer Reform to field some ideologically flawless caricature, preferably one who’s never smiled at a refugee or ventured beyond the M25, than a real person with a real record. Pochin’s not perfect, because no one is. She’s a pragmatist in a party born of idealism, a bridge between the raw anger of Reform’s base and the respectability it needs to govern. But to the Corbynista right, that’s apostasy. They’d rather cling to their keyboard crusades, pristine in their purity, than sully themselves with the messy business of winning.
So, let them rage. Let them flood X with their vitriol, clutching their pearls over a woman who’s spent decades serving her community whilst they’ve been perfecting their sanctimony. Sarah Pochin’s not the villain they want her to be; she’s too busy being something far more dangerous: competent. If Reform keeps picking candidates of this calibre, the ultra montaigne Corbynistas might have to find a new hobby. Governing’s a lot harder to boycott than a by-election.
