Reform UK’s MPs now all have 24-hour security, Sarah Pochin has announced.
The Runcorn and Helsby MP said security for the eight Reform MPs has been stepped up since the death of Ann Widdecombe, the former Tory minister who was an immigration and justice spokeswoman for Reform when she was killed at her home in July.
She also revealed that her children have begged her to quit politics because they fear for her safety.
“I am so grateful they are looking after us, but the impact on your family life is severe. I have two boys, 25 and 27, and of course, although they’ve got their own lives now, when I go and see them, security comes and it upsets them so much,” she told GB News.
“They’re like, mum, ‘Please stop what you’re doing. Please stop, [because] it can never be worth risking your life’.”
She said she had recently gone on holiday to North Wales with her husband and had two security guards while they were walking their dogs along a coastal path, with her partner “nervously holding my hand”.
“I’m so grateful for the security, but it is very, very intrusive. I can’t go clothes shopping anymore. I can’t go make-up shopping. I can’t. I can’t really even go to Sainsbury’s, such is the risk to us now,” she said.
“But I will never be silenced.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage complained earlier this year that his security had been cut back, and subsequently met with the Royal and VIP Executive Committee, the body responsible for the security of high-profile figures.
Ms Pochin, who entered Parliament in 2025 after winning a by-election, said Westminster was the most chauvinistic place she has ever worked.
She has previously worked for Shell and as a justice of the peace, as well as being a Conservative councillor and mayor of Cheshire East.
She was Reform UK’s first female MP, and has since been joined by former Tory minister Suella Braverman, who defected in January.
She said: “I have never, ever come across chauvinism like I have in Westminster. It has taken me by such surprise. I have had men drop doors in my face.
“But the only way we can overcome that is to have strong female voices. And I would say to women, join me.
“Join me, Suella, and all the women in Parliament. Because the only way we will stop this is to be strong and be a presence there.”
