Party loses lead candidate

Anti-Brexit party Change UK has lost its lead candidate in Scotland for next week’s European elections.

David Macdonald announced he was ending his candidacy immediately, as he urged voters to back the Liberal Democrats in a bid to keep Britain in the European Union.

With Lib Dems, SNP and Greens campaigning on an anti-Brexit ticket in the May 26 ballot, Mr Macdonald fears the Remain vote north of the border could be “diluted”, giving Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party the chance to get an MEP in Scotland.

Mr Macdonald, an independent councillor in East Renfrewshire, has written to Anna Soubry of Change UK, renouncing his candidacy “without animosity or rancour”.