Sky News' live programme erupted into chaos in the early hours of the morning in Wigan when presenter Anna Botting was joined by Labour peer Baroness Thangam Debbonaire and Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin at the Makerfield by-election.
Andy Burnham defied national trends to increase Labour's share of the vote in a seat where Nigel Farage's Reform UK made sweeping gains in last month's local elections. Mr Burnham won with 24,927 votes, defeating Reform UK's Robert Kenyon by 9,231 votes, up from 5,399 in 2024, and Labour's vote share increased by 9.61% after voters in Makerfield went to the polls on Thursday (June 18).
In the early hours of Friday (June 19) morning, before Mr Burnham's seismic victory was confirmed, Baroness Debbonaire and Ms Pochin became embroiled in a war of words during a live on-air clash, as the pair went back and forth during various talking points of Botting's live coverage.
It was when talk turned to Reform UK leader Nigel Farage receiving a large sum of money in early 2024, a personal gift from Christopher Harborne, a British cryptocurrency investor and the party's largest financial backer, that things became heated, reports the Express.
Addressing the funds he received, Ms Pochin commented: "In terms of the £5million, Nigel received that as a gift before he was in politics. So he doesn't need to declare it." Baroness Debbonaire attempted to interject, but the Reform UK MP snapped, "No!" as she wagged her finger at the politician.
As Ms Pochin tried to address the funds, the former Labour MP continued to hit out: "He took that £5million... he has been in politics for 20 years."
Ms Pochin continued: "Nigel has had his security taken away by the Labour government, which is spiteful. He is a politician that has been a target. And now he has to pay for his own security." Baroness Debbonaire continued to speak over the politician as she claimed Nigel does not have to pay for his own security. "Parliament provides security as you very well know," she remarked. The politician then furiously replied: "You have been interrupting me all night Sarah and now you're just talking rubbish. He took that £5million in the run up to the general election." But Ms Pochin hit back: "You know nothing about it."
The back and forth continued before Sky News presenter Anna Botting was forced to step in, with the clash since being shared in clips across social media.
Following Mr Burnham's win, in a video message published on social media, Mr Farage said Reform had been "hoist with our own petard" after claiming Labour adopted his party's message of "get Starmer out" on the doorstep by asking voters to support Mr Burnham. In a plea to voters who backed rival outfit Restore Britain in the by-election, Mr Farage said: "As for the Reform vote share, well, I thought we would get 18,000 votes, we got just shy of 16,000, so I'm disappointed by that, no question about it. But I would say this: there's a couple of thousand voters there who would normally have gone out and voted Reform that voted Restore, and I would say directly to them, what do you want? We are the challenger party to the left in this country, and I would urge you to think again. I really, really would."
