Reform UK are fielding a candidate in an upcoming by-election whose family business went bust because of Brexit.
Sarah Pochin is set to stand as Reform’s candidate in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election on May 1.
Pochin will be looking to win the seat for Nigel Farage’s party, six years after Brexit contributed to her husband’s family firm to collapse.
North West Bylines reports that Cheshire firm Pochin’s Ltd were working on a £15.7mn dementia care village at City Road in Chester when the company collapsed into administration.
One of the reasons for the firm’s struggle was the impact that Brexit had had on import prices, according to property intelligence service Place North West.
Despite her husband being a prime example of the disastrous impact Brexit had on British business, Pochin joined Reform in 2024, a party led by one of the main architects of the Brexit campaign.
John Stevens, former MEP and Rejoin EU candidate in the Runcorn & Helsby by-election, said it was “astonishing” to see Pochin running for parliament for a Farage-led party.
He said in a comment to the London Economic: “It’s quite astonishing that someone who knows from direct personal experience how disastrous leaving the EU has been for Britain should be running for Parliament for the party led by the man who brought us Brexit. This shows how Reform UK is not a vehicle for securing sound policies to help the British people.”
Reform UK are currently the favourites to win the Runcorn and Helsby seat. The by-election is taking place after Mike Amesbury’s resignation as MP following his conviction for punching a constituent in the street.
Related: Lib Dems accuse Starmer and Badenoch of copying Reform’s ‘extremism’