Candidate row shows there is trouble in Remainia

Remainers from the Lib Dems, Greens, Change UK and Renew wanted to unite behind a single pro-EU candidate to take on the buoyant Brexit Party, as well as Labour and the Tories. They just couldn’t agree on who that one candidate should be. It was understood to be Femi Oluwole, a law graduate and member of the Our Future, Our Choice group. Gavin Shuker, a former Labour MP who is Change UK’s convener (not to be confused with its leader or chief spokesman), blamed “senior Labour figures, including senior figures campaigning for a People’s Vote” who had “made it clear that they would strenuously disrupt the campaign and obstruct an independent candidate”. It is almost as if Labour would rather win the seat than not win the seat. Given that Labour won it by only 607 in 2017, any dalliance with smaller parties risks handing victory to the Tories.