Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was serenaded by a potential voter as he visited Runcorn to campaign ahead of the by-election.
The politician spent about 15 minutes walking along Church Street in the Cheshire town with the party’s candidate, Sarah Pochin, on Monday afternoon.
Reform UK is hoping for victory in the previously safe Labour seat of Runcorn and Helsby, where a by-election was called after MP Mike Amesbury stood down following his assault conviction for punching a constituent.
Mr Farage stopped to shake the hands of passers-by and posed for selfies as he walked along the shopping street.
Resident Alan Ayres got out his guitar after speaking to Mr Farage and he and a friend launched into a rendition of The Kinks song Sunny Afternoon as the delighted politician clapped along.
The song, which begins with the line “The tax man’s taken all my dough”, was released in 1966 and referenced high levels of tax introduced by the Labour government of the time.
Mr Ayres told the politician: “I love what you do, mate, and I love the stuff you say and what you’re saying. It’s what Britain needs.
“I don’t mean to be rude but we don’t need Keir Starmer, we don’t need that.”
As Mr Farage walked along the town’s promenade to do media interviews, one passing driver shouted: “Go on Farage, lad. Send the f****** back.”
The former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! contestant said he did not trust early polling which predicted a win for his party, but told the PA news agency: “All I can say is it’s Labour’s 16th safest seat, they’re only nine months in to a landslide government, it’s a must-win for them.
“We are, by our estimates at the moment, maybe a little bit behind but it really is a little bit.
“It’s going to be very very close and, boy, if we win this, this will be one of the most dramatic by-elections of modern political history.”
Candidate Ms Pochin was previously a Conservative councillor in Cheshire East.
But Mr Farage said there were as many former Labour supporters standing for Reform UK as ex-Tories.
He said: “We’ve got people from the centre-right and the centre-left that support this party.
“The reason we’re doing so well is there are many millions of us who think that economically and societally this country is going downhill and it needs a change of direction.”
The by-election is the first Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Government has faced since coming to power and will be held on May 1, along with local elections across the country.
