Change UK leader’s quit threat

THE leader of the Change UK party, said she threatened to quit after an internal party row over whether to endorse the Liberal Democrats during the EU elections.

Heidi Allen wanted Remain supporters to vote tactically for the Lib Dems outside of London and the South East, but was overruled.

She told Channel 4 News: ‘Had it been left to me, I would have absolutely advised tactical voting. [Group members] didn’t want to go that way, but it is something that still troubles me. I have no doubt that the British public will look at the tactical voting websites out there and make their own decisions.’

Miss Allen – MP for South Cambridgeshire – was one of three Tory MPs to resign their party’s whip to join eight Labour defectors to form Change UK. When pressed on whether she had threatened to resign over the matter, she said: ‘I did.’

She added: ‘Putting all the votes in one direction doesn’t always create the result that you want. If the next party further down in the polls isn’t still big enough to win a seat, you can end up... giving more votes to the Brexit parties. Ultimately, do I think we have reached an acceptable balance point? Yes, I do.’