Labour backbenchers Yvette Cooper or Hilary Benn could become prime minister under a plan to convince Tories to collapse the government and prevent a no-deal Brexit.
With cross-party talks ongoing on how to stop no deal, Liberal Democrat leadership candidate Sir Ed Davey is pushing proposals for a government of national unity.
Keeping Jeremy Corbyn out of power would be “the key to unlock” the 25-30 Tory MPs needed for the plan to work would not countenance bringing down their own government in a vote of no confidence, he said.
If anti-no deal MPs did pass a vote of no confidence to bring down the government, there would be a 14 day period for others to see if they could command the confidence of the Commons and form a government with a majority.
In that situation, Davey would challenge anti-no deal Labour MPs to defy their leadership and back someone like Cooper or Benn, who have played key roles in cross-party attempts to block no deal.
But while Benn backs a second Brexit referendum, a key Lib Dem policy, Cooper does not.
At a Westminster Lib Dem leadership hustings, Davey said: “I have named in other places... Yvette Cooper, for obvious reasons.
“She’s been very high profile in cross-party working.
“I have also mentioned Hilary Benn as the chair of the Brexit select committee.
“But it would not be for me here to say this is the right person, it would be for others working cross party.
“I think it probably has to be a Labour MP because most of the MPs supporting a Queen’s Speech of this government of national unity would be Labour.”
Even if Corbyn backed a second referendum, Davey said the Lib Dems under his leadership would not support him as PM.
“You wouldn’t get a vote of no confidence in the Commons if Conservatives believed Jeremy Corbyn would be the prime minister,” he said.
“And therefore it’s really important to win that vote of no confidence that people like me as the leader of the Liberal Democrats say that’s not what we would allow, we’d be aiming something different.
“That’s the key that unlocks that vote of no confidence and unlocks no-deal Brexit.”
Meanwhile, Davey revealed the Lib Dems would eventually campaign to rejoin the EU even if Brexit happens after a second referendum, while conceding “you would have to wait a while”.
“Ultimately the Liberal Democrat policy under me would still be to rejoin but we would realise that we would have to wait a while before that could even be considered as a national government policy,” he said.
Davey is battling Jo Swinson for the party leadership and both said they were aiming potentially to form the next government and sit as prime minister as the Lib Dems surge in opinion polls.
A more likely scenario could see the Lib Dems win around dozens of seats and play a kingmaker role in parliament.
But Davey made clear he saw the party acting on its own and wielding an effective veto over the government of the day, dictating policy on a case-by-case basis.
“We’re not in the game of coalitions with either a Tory Brexit or a Labour Brexit,” he said.