Jeremy Corbyn’s team have informally explored the idea of collaborating with the Greens and Liberal Democrats in Stoke-on-Trent Central to keep Paul Nuttall, the Ukip leader, out of parliament.

A senior figure in the Labour leader’s office has asked a go-between what it would take to persuade the Lib Dems and Greens to dial down their campaigns, or even withdraw candidates, in the byelection later this month, the Guardian understands.

The contest, which will be held on 23 February, was triggered by the resignation of Labour MP Tristram Hunt, a trenchant critic of Corbyn’s leadership, to run the Victoria & Albert museum in London.

He had a majority of just over 5,000 in the 2015 general election, but Ukip came second, just a few votes ahead of the Conservatives.

It is understood that Labour officials have not had any direct contact with other political parties over the issue.



Labour sources subsequently insisted the individual in question had been acting without the approval of the leader.

A Labour spokesperson said: “It’s untrue that Jeremy Corbyn’s team or the Labour Party have been exploring collaborating with other parties in the Stoke-on-Trent Central by election, informally or otherwise.”

The Lib Dem leader, Tim Farron, has made clear he has no intention of forming a “progressive alliance” with Corbyn, who has infuriated some pro-remain voters by whipping his party to back the government’s article 50 bill.

Farron told the Guardian recently he believed Corbyn was “electorally toxic” and “on the wrong side of the argument from a progressive point of view on the biggest issue of the day.” Local Lib Dem leaflets attack Labour, and Corbyn’s leadership.

But other senior Lib Dems, and Greens, would like to see their parties step aside to minimise the chance that Nuttall, Ukip’s new leader, gains a valuable platform in the House of Commons.

The Greens threw their weight behind the Lib Dem candidate, Sarah Olney, in the recent Richmond Park byelection, and she went on to win the seat. Two prominent Labour MPs, Lisa Nandy and Clive Lewis, called on Labour not to field a candidate then, but the party hierarchy disagreed.

Green co-leader Caroline Lucas has made building up a progressive alliance a key aim of her party, and edited a book with Nandy and Lib Dem Chris Bowers, which examined the idea of holding open primaries to decide which left-of-centre candidate would be best equipped to challenge the Tories in each seat.

The former Lib Dem MP Andrew George admitted that Stoke posed a difficult question, but said it was important to remember that his party came fourth in the seat in the last election.

“If there really was a chance of us pulling off a remarkable result then we should give it our all,” he said. “However, we should also be careful that, in our enthusiasm, we don’t unintentionally help elect a thinly disguised fascist to parliament.

“The Regressive Alliance, between the Tories and Ukip, is in rude health – in Stoke, just as it was at Richmond Park.”

George admitted that it was hard to cooperate with a Labour party that lacked “credibility and competence”. But he said his party must avoid the risk of helping open a door to the “extreme right”.

Labour has traditionally fought hard against the Lib Dems at local level; but Corbyn’s leadership, which has attracted hundreds of thousands of new members to the party, may be more open to cooperation with other left-of-centre groups.

The Greens would be likely to demand assurances from the Labour leadership about closer coordination in the runup to the 2020 general election in exchange for soft-pedalling in the campaign — though the local party makes the final decision, and has already selected a candidate, Adam Colcough.

Nuttall has emphasised his determination to take on Labour among working-class voters in its traditional heartlands, by focusing on issues such as jobs and living standards.

Labour’s candidate, Gareth Snell, is a former local councillor who, unlike Nuttall, has lived locally for more than a decade. Nuttall is being investigated by the police over claims that he registered his candidacy using an address that he has only since moved into.

Electoral experts point out that Labour should be in a strong position to win the seat, without the support of other left-of-centre parties, so the fact that Corbyn’s team are considering asking them to step aside underlines the anxieties in Labour headquarters about a series of tough electoral tests.

The Lib Dems and the Greens scored only just over 1,000 votes each, compared with Labour’s 12,000.

Stephen Fisher, of Oxford University, said Corbyn’s insistence on respecting the result of the referendum might help Labour. “Brexit is not under threat from the Labour party and leavers generally are not desperate to re-voice their leave views in elections. (Remainers are sometimes.) On the other hand, it should be easy for Labour to mobilise anti-austerity and pro-NHS sentiment in Stoke.”

He added that while Corbyn’s party had been performing poorly in opinion polls, it should not be nearly enough to lose them the seat. “If the result reflects the national movement in the polls, then the Labour to Ukip or even the bigger Labour to Conservative swings in the polls nationally are nowhere near big enough to suggest Labour should lose.”

Another potentially challenging byelection is being held on the same day, in the Cumbrian seat of Copeland, where Jamie Reed stepped down to work for Sellafield. The Tories in the local area have been stressing Corbyn’s ambivalence about nuclear power.

Separately, campaign group More United, which was co-founded by Lord Ashdown, convened a meeting earlier this week to discuss making financial backing available to whichever candidate is willing to sign up to a series of progressive principles, including seeking to retain a close relationship with the EU. The Guardian understands that a senior Labour figure attended.

More United Olney in Richmond Park, but has not ruled out making its support available to Labour in Stoke.