MP said Tories and Labour have ‘turned their backs on the liberal, progressive centre ground’

This article is more than 11 months old

This article is more than 11 months old

The former Conservative MP Heidi Allen, who left her party to join the breakaway Independent Group, has become the seventh MP this year to defect to the Liberal Democrats.

The Lib Dems have unveiled a series of new recruits in recent months, with the arrivals of ex-Tories Sarah Wollaston, Sam Gyimah and Phillip Lee, as well as former Labour MPs Chuka Umunna, Angela Smith and Luciana Berger.

Allen said she had been cooperating with the Lib Dems in building a “remain alliance”, and now believed it was the right time to join the party.

“Shifting to the extremes, the Conservatives and Labour have turned their backs on the liberal, progressive centre ground our country is crying out for,” she said.

“As we face the monumental task ahead of stopping a damaging Brexit, healing the rifts in society and rebuilding the UK, there is only one party with the honesty, energy and vision to do that – and that is the Liberal Democrats under the leadership of Jo Swinson.”

Unlike Umunna and Berger, who have announced plans to move to new seats at a general election, Allen intends to contest her South Cambridgeshire constituency as a Lib Dem.

She was one of the three Conservatives, together with Sarah Wollaston and Anna Soubry, who joined what was then called the Independent Group, after it was launched in February by a group of former Labour MPs.

At the time, they called themselves the “three amigos”; but the fledgling party, which launched with hopes of sparking a radical realignment in British politics, was beset by differences over strategy, and a disastrous performance in the European elections.

Despite recruiting high-profile candidates, including Boris Johnson’s sister Rachel, the re-named Change UK polled just 3% and failed to return any MEPs.

Allen was the party’s interim leader – but then quit in June, along with five other members, including party spokesman Umunna.

In total, Swinson’s Lib Dems now have 19 MPs, and hope to make gains at a forthcoming general election with their clear anti-Brexit policy. The party leader has said that if the party won a majority they would revoke article 50, effectively cancelling Brexit.

She welcomed Allen’s move, saying: “She has long been an ally in the fight to stop Brexit, and having worked with her I know the energy and passion she will bring to our party. This once again proves that the Liberal Democrats are the strongest party of remain.”

Change UK, which has been renamed again and is now called the Independent Group for Change, is led by the former Conservative MP Anna Soubry and now has just five MPs.