Trump is ‘a bit of a chauvinist', says Reform's first female MP

Telegraph

2 days ago

Donald Trump can come across as 'a bit of a chauvinist', Reform UK's only female MP has said.
Sarah Pochin, the MP for Runcorn and Helsby, said the US president 'clearly does respect women', but he can 'certainly' appear prejudiced at times.
She also distanced her party from the Republican leader, insisting Reform is 'not aligned with Donald Trump '.
Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, is a long-standing friend of Mr Trump, having helped him campaign for the US election last year.
However, he recently said the pair were in a 'slightly awkward position' for diplomatic reasons, with the president bound to deal with Sir Keir Starmer as leader of the UK.
Ms Pochin made the remarks about Mr Trump in an interview following a press conference on Monday morning, at which she discussed women's safety in Britain.
Asked about whether Reform had found itself 'aligning' with the president, she told the PA news agency: 'This party is not aligned with Donald Trump. Donald Trump does what he does over the pond, and we do what we do.'
She added: 'The other thing I would say is, Donald Trump certainly comes across at times, when I look at him through the television or the media, as possibly a bit of a chauvinist, or whatever.
'But look at his team. I mean, his press secretary [ Karoline Leavitt ] is awesome – can't remember her name – but he has a lot of very senior women in his team.
'So actually, he clearly does respect women and promotes women in his team, as Nigel is very much doing, as you've seen today, with four senior women hosting this press conference.'
Mr Trump has come under fire in the past for his remarks about women, having been recorded in 2005 boasting about 'grabbing [women] by the p----' and stating that 'when you're a star, they let you do it'.
He went on to apologise for the comments, saying: 'Anyone who knows me knows these words don't reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong and I apologise.'
Ms Pochin was elected as Reform's first female MP at the by-election to replace Mike Amesbury, the disgraced former Labour MP, in May.
She described herself as a 'clean candidate', with no big scandals to speak of besides her expulsion from her local Tory group over a mayoral row in 2020.
However, she has since emerged as an outspoken voice in Reform, most notably butting heads with Zia Yusuf, the party's then chairman, when she urged Sir Keir Starmer to ban the burka in June.
Mr Yusuf resigned over the remarks but rejoined the party in a new role shortly afterwards.
Ms Pochin's comments about Mr Trump risk putting her at odds with Mr Farage, who recently said his relationship with the president had 'always been one of friendship'.
The Runcorn MP was one of four female Reform politicians hosting the press conference on Monday.
She was joined by Dame Andrea Jenkyns, the mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, who described herself as one of 'Farage's fillies', as well as Linden Kemkaran, the leader of Kent county council, and Laila Cunningham, a Westminster City councillor.
During her speech, Ms Pochin claimed that illegal migrants from 'predominantly Muslim' countries put women 'at risk of sexual assault'.
'The inconvenient truth for the Left is that the culture of men from predominantly Muslim countries like Afghanistan is one that holds a medieval view of women's rights,' she said.
'It is fundamentally alien to the centuries of progress made by our own western culture and attitudes.
'Women are at risk of sexual assault and rape from these men, hundreds of young men who arrive in this country, housed in our communities, who undoubtedly become sexually frustrated, have a warped view of their right to sexually assault women.'
During her speech, Ms Kemkaran stressed the need to protect single-sex spaces, saying: 'It is a fact that allowing biological men into women's spaces has made women and girls in the UK less safe.'
However, Reform was forced to defend its own policies after it emerged that men attending the event at the party's headquarters had been asked to use the women's lavatories for security reasons.
It came days after Reform was caught in a row over trans rights, with Mr Farage distancing himself from his new justice adviser over the issue of trans women in female prisons.
I have never supported men in women's prisons. https://t.co/z2CpIu2EeJ
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) August 5, 2025
Asked why men were using the women's lavatories at the press conference, a Reform source said: 'Due to operational security, it's the press toilets when we have a press conference or use the event space. They're individual lockable cubicles.'
By the end of the event, the sign on the door to the women's lavatories had been covered by a piece of paper saying 'press toilet'.