Umunna to stand as MP for Cities of London and Westminster

[Ferris]

5D chess deep into the 9th mate, injury time

no doubt no doubt

#rrr

[Jittlebags]

Don't give a shite. Let's defeat Boris.

[Urinal Cake]

Then he'll leave the lib dems, join the Tories, and the stitch up will be complete.

Umunna out here playin 5D chess

You laugh but guys like this always make a comeback. The only problem I see is that he doesn't seem to have a fanatical fanbase. 

[greencalx]

A colleague was suggesting that Lab and Lib should have an electoral pact to see off the tories in England. The popular line of course will be that it won't happen due to Corbyn's intransigence. But doesn't this just show that the LDs have no interest in the idea either. Unless they want to hang Umunna out to dry.

[imitationleather]

A colleague was suggesting that Lab and Lib should have an electoral pact to see off the tories in England. The popular line of course will be that it won't happen due to Corbyn's intransigence. But doesn't this just show that the LDs have no interest in the idea either. Unless they want to hang Umunna out to dry.

Definitely. If, as is being reported, Berger stands in Finchley and Golders Green it's even more obvious that they're intending to split the Labour vote.

Just look at dem 2017 results:
Conservative    Mike Freer   24,599
Labour Jeremy   Newmark   22,942
Liberal Democrat   Jonathan Davies   3,463

Is she standing there purely to make a point about anti-Semitism? Seems a bit cynical if so.

[pigamus]

Has Chuka fucked his career?

That's hilarious.

He fucked it the day he decided to run for Labour leader and then un-decided 24 hours later. Still love to know what happened there.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Lib Dems are the natural home of a sex/drugs scandal

[Phil_A]

He fucked it the day he decided to run for Labour leader and then un-decided 24 hours later. Still love to know what happened there.

I reckon some kind of deal must've been struck with one of the other candidates that Chuck would drop out of the race in exchange for a juicy shadow cabinet role, that's the only thing that makes sense to me.

[NoSleep]

I think they're still buoyed by the LibDems success in the MEP elections as they did well in London; better than Labour or the Tories. I'm not sure that translates in a GE.

[greencalx]

Me neither. I think the crucial thing is how many people recognise that it's a binary choice between No Deal and Corbyn.

I am very worried that popular aversion to the latter will land us with the former.

[Ferris]

I think the lib dems have done an impressive job as branding themselves as the remain party, and will do a lot better than previous GEs. That said, I'd be delighted if Chuka lost.

[peanutbutter]

It's gonna be a Tory/Lib Dem coalition with the Lib Dems giving up absolutely everything for a second referendum, isn't it? They've probably told themselves it's the safe choice because they've been in government with them before and that all went fine.

[Blumf]

Tory/Lib Dem coalition and they happily wave through no deal for access to the government limos again.

[Ferris]

It's gonna be a Tory/Lib Dem coalition with the Lib Dems giving up absolutely everything for a second referendum, isn't it? They've probably told themselves it's the safe choice because they've been in government with them before and that all went fine.

I mean, best will in the world I think Labour are sleepwalking into a complete disaster this GE. They're appealing to the Labour faithful and no one else, and even then I expect them to lose a number of former safe seats to Farage's evil mob and/or Umunna & co.

The election will be treated as a second referendum, and in a "do you want A or B" referendum, you won't get many people voting for "hmm not sure on A or B, can we have another referendum instead". It'll be big gains for Brexit Party and Lib Dems.

Other opinions are available, of course. I don't live in the UK so can only speculate.

[NoSleep]

I don't think it's so bleak for the Labour Party. People will vote for them as the safe bet to get a 2nd referendum. Voting for the most rampantly remain party (and thus allowing the Tories back into power) does not guarantee that.

[Ferris]

I don't think it's so bleak for the Labour Party. People will vote for them as the safe bet to get a 2nd referendum. Voting for the most rampantly remain party (and thus allowing the Tories back into power) does not guarantee that.

I suspect you've put more thought into it than Joe Public, though I'd be happy to be proved wrong.

[NoSleep]

I'm sure that relevant outlets will provide guides to tactical voting, as we have seen in previous elections. No party is likely to walk into an election pledging to ally with others as it tends to work against them and isn't a good political stance.

[holyzombiejesus]

Just seen that Farron is trying to "broker a deal" whereby the LibDems don't put a candidate up against Rory Stewart. Not only that, apparently the Green Party have also said they won't campaign against him. So that's the LibDems standing aside to help a leaver who wants to leave the customs union and single market, yet they refuse to work with Corbyn as he's a "brexiteer".

[Fambo Number Mive]

Green Party deputy leader says the part about the Greens is incorrect

I can imagine Rory Stewart as Lib Dem leader in 2025 once Umunna goes to the House of Lords

[king_tubby]

Greens are saying that's bollocks.

[touchingcloth]

Chuka, Chuka, Chuka, Chuka, Chu-kameleon.

[José]

I can imagine Rory Stewart as Lib Dem leader in 2025 once Umunna goes to the House of Lords

i can imagine rory stewart as my personal AIDS gimp, making that sad uh oh du-rag face as i kick a sockful of snooker balls up his arse.

[Johnny Yesno]

https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/lib-dems-could-stand-aside-for-rory-stewart-1-6258912

The Times reports that former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron is in talks with Rory Stewart and existing Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson to broker a deal.

The newspaper reports that Stewart would stand as an independent MP for the next election but could accept a "soft Lib Dem whip" in exchange for the party not standing against him, despite peddling proposals for a "soft Brexit" and opposing a People's Vote.

It claims that the Green Party could also form part of the pact.

A similar proposal could be created for other Tory rebels considering standing again including Sam Gyimah, Margot James and Philip Hammond.

The story was quickly refuted by the Green Party, although has yet to be rubbished by the Lib Dems.

A Green Party spokesperson today said: "We are not in any talks with expelled Tories and we will not be considering this.

"The Green Party is entirely focused on getting rid of the Tory government, remaining in the European Union, addressing the climate emergency and ending the disastrous policy of austerity."

They added: "We have a call for candidates for the seat out now and we have every intention of standing. It is in an area where we are fast growing our representation in local government."

[Cuellar]

Could accept a soft Lib Dem whip oooffffff dirty old bollocks

[Fambo Number Mive]

He's written a column in the Independent about how Labour and the Tories are rubbish and everyone should join the Lib Dems, and how terrible it was that the Tory rebels were expelled from the party.

Labour has fought to make a 20th century voting coalition – born of class and left/right politics – work for it in the 21st – where increasingly, the liberal/conservative and internationalist/nationalist fulcrum divides its support base.

What? Does Chuka think that class is not relevant in the 21st century?

He also writes

Up until recently, politics in our country primarily played out along left/right and traditional class lines. But the general election of 2017 began to illustrate how class ties to parties were weakening and are no longer the strong driver of voting intention that they once were, with a swing towards Labour among better-off Britons and a shift towards the Conservatives among some lower-income groups.

Fairly sure that we had working class Tories and middle class Labour supporters as far back as the 1980s, if not earlier?

The article isn't worth a link

[Huxleys Babkins]

I wouldn't take any claims of the Lib Dems refusing to work with Corbyn seriously. They were saying they'd refuse to work with Labour to avert no deal three weeks ago and we saw how that ended. They made a deal across those opposition benches, held firm and rattled the fuck out of the Tories.

Nobody with any sense* would ever go into an election stating they'd be a coalition partner. If you do that, you haemorrhage votes. The Lib Dems are clearly targeting Tory seats in the south. Any mention of a Labour pact might just be enough to scare disenfranchised Tories back to the mothership or to abstain which serves neither the Lib Dems or Labour. So they'll play it down for now.

_{*lolClegg 2015}

[Ferris]

I like that this only dawned on him in 2017 which is why his 2 acts of skullduggery happened immediately after, but prior to that it was completely fine that he was part of the establishment he is now criticizing.

[Cardenio I]

I'd say it is still eminently possible that we've already left the EU before the next election happens.