Sarah Pochin - MP for Runcorn and Helsby | Reform Watch
Profile and accountability tracker for Sarah Pochin, MP for Runcorn and Helsby. Reform UK.
Role: MP for Runcorn and Helsby
Party: Reform UK
Recorded incidents (showing 1-10 of 18)
Sarah Pochin called senior party officials 'so f---ing chauvinistic'
Category: sexism
Sarah Pochin called senior party officials "so f---ing chauvinistic" and said women were "excluded" by "alpha males" in secretly filmed comments made during an undercover investigation. She also welcomed the arrival of a female press officer and said the party desperately needed more women in press roles. The footage formed part of a wider undercover investigation that showed party activists using racist language and staff admitting vetting aimed to exclude people who would cause press problems. Nigel Farage said you cannot vet against what someone might say in the future and claimed the party vets to a higher standard. A Reform spokesperson said Pochin’s concerns had been taken seriously; Pochin did not respond to requests for comment.
Sarah Pochin criticised for remark about French World War Two soldiers
Category: xenophobia
On 4 August 2026, Reform MP Sarah Pochin posted an online comment in response to France's rejection of Nigel Farage's Channel plan, saying "Pity the French did not show the same resolve in defending their sovereignty in June 1940." The remark referenced French losses in 1940 and was published in the context of Reform's proposals to intercept small boats crossing the Channel. Her comment drew criticism from MPs and others who said it insulted French wartime sacrifices. The remark was reported alongside Reform's Operation Fortress proposal; no party disciplinary action was reported in the coverage and Pochin remains an MP.
Sources: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/runcorn-reform-mp-sarah-pochin-34409273
Pochin told England footballers to "keep winning" for the sake of women's safety
Category: gender based comment
Location: United Kingdom
In a video posted on X on 18 June 2026 after England beat Croatia, Sarah Pochin said: "England won the football last night and thank goodness they did. Because on the occasions that they lose their football matches, the incidents of domestic violence go through the roof. So boys, keep winning." The caption read: "For the sake of women's safety we need England to keep winning." Refuge, Women's Aid, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and several Labour MPs said the framing shifted responsibility from abusers onto football results. Hours later she posted a longer statement saying no result excuses violence and linked a helpline, then defended the original clip on Sky News as highlighting a known statistical spike.
Sources: https://refuge.org.uk/news/refuge-responds-to-sarah-pochin-mp-comment-that-england-should-win-more-world-cup-matches-to-reduce-domestic-abuse/ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/sarah-pochin-mp-england-world-cup-domestic-violence-b2998783.html https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/reform-mp-england-domestic-abuse-women-5Hjdbn9_2/ https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/london-mps-sarah-pochin-womens-safety-world-cup-football-domestic-violence-b1286726.html
Sarah Pochin bought £800,000 Anglesey second home after questioning second-home impacts
Category: conflict of interest
Sarah Pochin bought an £800,000 Grade-II listed property on Anglesey, completing the purchase jointly with her husband Jonathan, two days after she submitted a written question to the housing minister about the impact of second homes on coastal and rural communities. The couple retain ownership of another home in Cheshire and have submitted planning applications at Anglesey county council for changes to the property. The purchase matters because the housing minister had warned that excessive concentrations of short-term lets and second homes reduce availability and affordability for local residents, and local politicians have criticised the wider effect on services and community life. Robin Wyn Williams, the deputy leader of Cyngor Sir Ynys Môn, said second homes can kill community spirit and displace families; the party did not respond to a request for comment.
Pochin deleted a video promoting a constituent jailed for a £740,000 benefits fraud
Category: inappropriate behaviour
Location: Runcorn and Helsby
On 27 May 2026, Sarah Pochin posted a video of constituent Ethel McGill praising Reform UK for helping her obtain an adapted bungalow, captioned "Helping people like Ethel is why I love my job". LBC then reported that McGill had been jailed in 2019 for five years and ten months after concealing her father's death and fraudulently claiming around £740,000 in benefits and a war pension, one of the largest single-person benefit frauds recorded. Pochin deleted the video within hours and said: "As an MP, I have to take people at face value. My office does not run background checks on constituents," adding that the issues her office handled were unrelated to the offence. A party that campaigns relentlessly on benefit fraud had promoted one of the country's largest benefit fraudsters as a success story.
Sources: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/reform-sarah-pochin-ethel-mcgill-benefits-fraud-b2985228.html https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/reform-uk-sarah-pochin-ethel-mcgill-b2985365.html https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/reform-benefits-ethel-mcgill-video-cheat-scam-fraud-5HjdZpr_2/
Standards complaint over £5,000 donation and Pochin's packaging campaign
Category: conflict of interest
Location: House of Commons
Sarah Pochin accepted a £5,000 donation on 19 May 2026 from Catherine Wantling of Etonbrook Ltd, linked to the Wantling family and food producer Meadow Vale Foods, to fund her parliamentary office. She had been campaigning against the Extended Producer Responsibility packaging scheme, describing producers as unfairly penalised, and tabled questions to Defra after the donation was made. The Good Law Project and DeSmog asked the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to investigate, reported on 4 August 2026. They stated there was no evidence of a quid pro quo, but argued the proximity between the donation and the campaigning warranted scrutiny.
Sources: https://www.desmog.com/2026/08/04/reform-mp-sarah-pochin-parliamentary-standards-investigation/ https://www.theyworkforyou.com/regmem/?p=26683
Pochin joked about a "Reform tartan burqa" at the party's Scottish conference
Category: discriminatory remark
Location: Renfrewshire, Scotland
At Reform UK's Scottish conference in Renfrewshire on 19 March 2026, after her autocue froze, Sarah Pochin told the audience: "I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burqa, but apparently I just wasn't allowed. One day, let's have one of these events that aren't livestreamed. We'll do all the naughty stuff." Labour said it had taken less than 30 seconds for her to start making jokes about Muslims, while Reform's Scottish leader Malcolm Offord called the remark "completely harmless". In the same speech she claimed she had been "virtually strip-searched" at London City Airport, saying "they knew who I was, they wanted me to react", and added that she could not wait for the police to arrest her "for talking about Islam".
Sources: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/reform-uk-sarah-pochin-tartan-burqa-b2942018.html https://news.sky.com/video/mp-jokes-she-wasnt-allowed-to-wear-reform-tartan-burka-at-event-13521973 https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/sarah-pochin-burqa-reform-uk-5HjdWYk_2/ https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/25954532.fighting-talk-i-spent-day-reform-uk-scottish-conference/
Pochin warned parents about a Scouts "Islamo-badge"
Category: discriminatory remark
Location: United Kingdom
In a Facebook Live in March 2026, Sarah Pochin attacked a Scouts activity badge tied to Islamophobia Awareness Month, whose suggested activities include learning about the five pillars of Islam or visiting a mosque. She said: "There is now a Scout's badge that you can earn by learning about Islam. That is frightening. And it should not be happening in our country," and told parents to "be wary" and to "be careful that they're not doing some kind of Islamo-badge thing". In the same video she claimed a government definition of anti-Muslim hostility would stop people criticising Islam and that no equivalent existed for Jewish people, both of which were disputed. Children learning about their neighbours' religion was presented as a threat to the country.
Sources: https://hopenothate.org.uk/2026/03/18/reform-watch-22/ https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/rats-in-a-sack-is-sarah-pochin-too-mad-even-for-reform/
Pochin backed Donald Trump's pressure on Greenland
Category: other
Location: United Kingdom
Speaking on a Mike Graham livestream in January 2026, Sarah Pochin defended Donald Trump's threats over Greenland, saying he was "raising a really important issue, the security now of the High North" with "two hostile superpowers circling up there in the Arctic", and that he was "shining a light on this issue, quite rightly in Reform's view". She said tariffs were not necessarily the right method but that he was "going in there with both barrels". The remarks placed a sitting British MP behind a foreign leader's territorial pressure on a European ally, rather than behind Greenland's right to self-determination. She framed the position as Reform UK's, not merely her own.
Sources: https://leftfootforward.org/2026/01/reform-mp-sarah-pochin-sides-with-trump-on-greenland-dispute/ https://hopenothate.org.uk/2026/01/21/reform-watch-18/
Pochin told the Commons digital ID risked "mass state surveillance"
Category: factual inaccuracy
Location: Westminster Hall
In a Westminster Hall debate on digital ID on 8 December 2025, Sarah Pochin said the scheme would not solve illegal working, and on social media said the cards "will not address illegal migration" and instead "risk creating a system of mass state surveillance" that threatened the privacy and personal data of British citizens. Campaign group HOPE not hate and The New World also recorded her claiming that digital ID would stop people buying airline tickets, a claim with no basis in the published proposals. The pattern is familiar: a legitimate privacy argument inflated with assertions the evidence does not support.
Sources: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2025-12-08a.7.1 https://www.parallelparliament.co.uk/mp/sarah-pochin/debate/2025-12-08/commons/westminster-hall/digital-id https://www.runcornandwidnesworld.co.uk/news/25682861.thousands-halton-oppose-digital-id-mp-speaks-parliament/