Ok, so the final majority was a wafer-thin six votes. Ok, so the seat was only vacant because the former Labour MP quit after an assault conviction. But still that was a remarkable victory for Reform in the Runcorn and Helsby by-election.

Along with results in the English local elections, there is ample evidence that voters are ready – for now and to varying degrees – to sideline the two big parties, Conservative and Labour, in favour of Reform.

Runcorn was the first by-election gain by an anti-EU party, starting from scratch. (Two others involved defecting Tory MPs.) So this is significant. It suggests a deep-seated sense of discontent among the electorate. Distrust of the troubled Tories, certainly. But then we knew that from the UK General Election last July.

However, the results south of the Border confirm that Labour leaders also face tough questions posed by the populace.

We should never neglect the scunner factor in politics. The moment when large numbers of voters say to hell with the lot of you. You’re not listening. This is what you get.

I do not believe that voters in England are eagerly thirled to the detail of the Reform prospectus. Nor that they regard Nigel Farage, necessarily, as a putative Prime Minister.

However, he does, rather effectively, reflect their anxieties and anger. Over immigration, over the cost of living, over the health service. Voters just want to be heard – and see Reform as their mouthpiece, a conduit.

Two questions. One, might that anger be a transient phenomenon? Might voters return to the established parties of UK governance after voicing their discontent? Depends how those big parties respond.

And, two, how does the scunner factor translate into Scottish politics? Where we are just........

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