Parties agree to stand aside in more than 60 seats to avoid splitting remainers’ vote

This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

Pro-EU candidates have said they are “putting party politics aside” at the launch of a pact under which they have agreed not to stand against each other in 60 seats at the general election to avoid splitting the remain vote.

The Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and the Green party said they would give voters one “remain choice” across England and Wales, with candidates standing aside in seats in Brighton, Exeter and Bristol, parts of London and the south-west, and 11 of Wales’s 40 constituencies.

The project, called Unite to Remain and led by the former MP Heidi Allen, was launched more widely on Thursday after its initial success in the Brecon and Radnorshire byelection earlier this year. The Greens and Plaid Cymru stood aside for the Lib Dem candidate in that seat, ousting the sitting Conservative, Chris Davies, in the process.

Allen, who is leaving politics at the election after spells with the Tories, Change UK and the Lib Dems, said: “This is a Brexit election, and staying in the European Union is possible, and this is the deciding moment.

“We are putting party politics aside in the interest of our country and [we have] cemented a cross-party arrangement whereby remain-voting parties in England and Wales are working together to back one remain candidate.

“With a single remain candidate in each of these seats, we can deliver a greater number of MPs into parliament. This is our opportunity to tip the balance of power away from the two largest parties and into the progressive remain alliance.”

The Lib Dems will not challenge the Green party in Brighton Pavilion, which Caroline Lucas is defending. The party did the same in the 2017 general election. The Greens will also field the only “remain candidate” in eight other seats in England, and Vale of Glamorgan in Wales.

The Lib Dems are expected to benefit most from the arrangement, given the Greens will stand aside in 40 seats in England, and Plaid and the Greens will stand aside in three seats in Wales. Among the seats in England are Tory-held Watford, Esher and Walton, and Chelsea and Fulham.

The Lib Dem leader, Jo Swinson, said it was only possible to build a brighter political future “if we are prepared to work alongside others”. Adam Price, the Plaid Cymru leader, said the strategy was “grownup politics”.

10 key marginal seats that may define the general election Read more

The Greens and Lib Dems will stand down in favour of Plaid in Arfon, Caerphilly, Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Llanelli, Pontypridd and Ynys Môn.

Unite to Remain said it had approached Labour about being part of the process, but had been rebuffed. Asked about the pact, the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said: “We will never enter pacts, coalitions or deals like that. Ever.”

After a speech in Liverpool, McDonnell condemned the Lib Dem role in the 2010-15 coalition government with the Tories.

“I’d just say this to those Greens and others who are getting into bed with the Lib Dems: I remember what the Lib Dems did when they were in government. I say, go and ask any disabled person in this country who went through the brutality of the work capability assessment,” he said.

Unite to Remain’s directors include the Labour peer and former cabinet minister Jim Knight and the remain-supporting QC Jessica Simor.

Full list of remain candidates

England

Green party (Lib Dems standing aside)

Brighton Pavilion

Isle of Wight

Bristol West

Bury St Edmunds

Stroud

Dulwich and West Norwood

Forest of Dean

Cannock Chase

Exeter

Lib Dems (Green party standing aside)

Bath

Bermondsey and Old Southwark

Buckingham

Cheadle

Chelmsford

Chelsea and Fulham

Cheltenham

Chippenham

Esher and Walton

Finchley and Golders Green

Guildford

Harrogate and Knaresborough

Hazel Grove

Hitchin and Harpenden

North Cornwall

North Norfolk

Oxford West and Abingdon

Penistone and Stocksbridge

Portsmouth South

Richmond Park

Romsey and Southampton North

Rushcliffe

South Cambridgeshire

South East Cambridgeshire

South West Surrey

Southport

Taunton Deane

Thornbury and Yate

Totnes

Tunbridge Wells

Twickenham

Wantage

Warrington South

Watford

Wells

Westmorland and Lonsdale

Wimbledon

Winchester

Witney

York Outer

Wales

Green party (Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru standing aside)

Vale of Glamorgan

Lib Dems (Greens and Plaid Cymru standing aside)

Brecon and Radnorshire

Cardiff Central

Montgomeryshire

Plaid Cymru (Lib Dems and Greens standing aside)

Arfon

Caerphilly

Carmarthen East and Dinefwr

Dwyfor Meirionnydd

Llanelli

Pontypridd

Ynys Môn