I’m delighted to say I’ve joined the @LibDems! - here’s my joint interview with @vincecable in tmr’s @thetimes where I explain why https://t.co/DcqnCWikzg— Chuka Umunna (@ChukaUmunna) June 13, 2019
This is an act of self-preservation for Chuka. Change UK was a trainwreck and it was quite obvious that he had zero chance of re-election under that banner. He is now pinning his hopes on an amber rosette continuing his Parliamentary career, but it's still a long shot. Although the Lib Dems topped the poll in Lambeth in the recent Euro elections, such votes rarely translate into a Parliamentary election - as we saw last week in Peterborough. All three MPs in Lambeth (Chuka in Streatham, Kate Hoey in Vauxhall and Helen Hayes in Dulwich) have huge majorities. They were all elected for Labour. In Chuka's seat the Lib Dems actually came third in the last general election, miles behind the Tories let alone Labour.
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| Some tweets don't age well |
Chuka Umunna (Lab) 38,212
Kim Caddy (Con) 11,927
Alex Davies (Lib Dem) 3,611
Nicole Griffiths (Green) 1,696
Robert Stephenson (UKIP) 349
It's difficult to see how Chuka could cling on to this seat, even with a huge swing to the Lib Dems. Labour would make this eminently more implausible by selecting an openly Remain candidate to fight him. They'd be daft not to in this Remain heartland. Furthermore, how can his constituents trust a man who has changed his party twice since being re-elected in 2017 and hasn't entrusted them once with a by-election.
The only rosette that could keep Chuka on the Westminster gravy train is a red one, but perhaps this would be a change too far even for Chuka - as if Corbyn would have the turncoat Zionist Blairite traitor back in the first place.
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| Well tonight Matthew, I'm going to be a Lib Dem... |
