Change UK’s lead candidate in Scotland has quit the party and backed the Lib Dems, just eight days before the European elections.
David Macdonald, who was leader Heidi Allen’s number one on the Scotland list, pulled out and said the numbers “don’t look good” for the party north of the border and they “don’t stand much chance of winning”.
Adding he did not want Remain-minded Scots to “waste” their vote, he threw his weight behind the Scottish Lib Dems, who he said have a “very similar” platform.
It is the latest blow for the breakaway party, originally formed with an alliance of centrist Labour and Tory MPs, after numerous mishaps with its logo and after it failed to field a candidate in the Peterborough by-election.
In a letter to Change UK MP Anna Soubry, Macdonald said: “They [the Lib Dems] share many of the values of Change UK and are now the most likely party in favour of remaining in the EU and of Scotland remaining in the UK to have a chance of being elected.”
Change UK cited how one of Labour’s top officials in the north, Sheila Murphy, joined their party on Wednesday night, however. Murphy said she felt she had been in an “abusive relationship” with Corbyn’s party.
Chuka Umunna, group spokesman, said: “It is obviously disappointing that this candidate has chosen to pledge allegiance to another party - he has let down his fellow candidates and activists.
“But we are focusing all our efforts on adding to the Remain vote in the UK and challenging the pro-Brexit Tory, Brexit and Labour parties, which is why our leader challenged Nigel Farage to a live TV debate this week.
“In the past 24 hours Labour’s former head of campaigns for the North of England has come out for Change UK, as have many former Labour voters. Winning voters over from the main parties and growing the Remain vote across the UK will continue to be our focus.”
Willie Rennie, the Scottish Lib Dem leader, said he recognised it had been a “difficult” decision for Macdonald.
“I invite each and every person across Scotland who wants to stop Brexit, no matter where their political loyalties have lain before, to lend their vote to the Liberal Democrats and fight for a positive future inside the EU,” he said.