The recount in Runcorn and Helbsy has declared Reform’s Sarah Pochin the winner. There were just six votes in it.
In winning 38.7% of the vote, the party has matched the highest share of the vote for any Eurosceptic party in a by-election ever (Heywood and Middleton 2014), other than in the two occasions in 2014 when a defecting Tory MP won in UKIP colours.
Meanwhile, there are only 17 previous by-elections in which a majority as big as the 35% majority Labour enjoyed has been overturned.
It will be difficult for Labour to argue that this was anything other than a serious defeat for the party.
