Sarah Joanne Pochin is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Runcorn and Helsby since a by-election in May 2025. She is Reform UK’s first female MP. She was previously the Mayor of Cheshire East and a local councillor, as well as a justice of the peace (JP).
Formerly a Conservative councillor who later sat as an independent member, she left the party and joined Reform UK. She currently holds the record for the smallest margin of victory in modern British by-election history, having overturned Labour's 14,700 majority from the 2024 general election by just six votes.
In March 2020, a rift occurred between Pochin and her Conservative colleagues on the council when she accepted the position of Mayor of Cheshire East, a role offered by the governing Labour-Independent administration, she took over the position following Mayor Barry Burkhill's role in the Handforth Town Council incident involving Jackie Weaver. This decision led to her suspension and subsequent expulsion from the Conservative Group on the council, as it was seen as a breach of party rules.
Pochin was reprimanded in 2018 by the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) for misconduct during her tenure as a magistrate. The JCIO determined that Pochin used her judicial position to influence colleagues' views in a political context and breached confidentiality by publicising the complaint against her. The JCIO stated that her actions "fell below the standards expected of a magistrate".
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