Unite to Remain

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Constituencies covered by the pact, colour-coded by standing party British remain alliance.png
Constituencies covered by the pact, colour-coded by standing party

Unite to Remain (Welsh : Uno i Aros) [1] was a campaign and electoral pact during the 2019 United Kingdom general election. It involved three parties that supported remaining in the European Union: the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party of England and Wales, and, in Wales, Plaid Cymru. Its stated goal was to avoid the spoiler effect and maximise the number of MPs elected who would oppose Brexit.

In 49 constituencies in England and 11 in Wales, the pact led to only one of these parties standing a candidate. Of the 60 constituencies, 43 had Liberal Democrat candidates only, 10 had Green Party candidates only, and 7 had Plaid Cymru candidates only. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] The seats covered by the pact included some defended by a Unite to Remain party, as well as target seats held by the Conservative or Labour parties.

Nine Unite to Remain candidates were elected (5 Liberal Democrats, 3 Plaid Cymru, 1 Green), which represented one gain and one loss compared to the 2017 general election results.

Details

Though there was no formal pact, the August 2019 Brecon and Radnorshire by-election saw the Greens and Plaid Cymru stand aside for the Liberal Democrat candidate Jane Dodds, [7] who defeated the Conservative candidate by a small margin. [8] This arrangement was mooted as being the basis for a wider-ranging "Remain Alliance". [9]

The Unite to Remain group which brokered the pact was formed by the outgoing MP for South Cambridgeshire, Heidi Allen and former Liberal Democrat Treasurer Peter Dunphy in July 2019. [10] [11] The alliance approached the Labour party at an early stage, but were rebuffed. [12] The Labour peer Jim Knight was one of the directors of Unite to Remain. [13] The group was registered as a "non-party campaigner" with the Electoral Commission in November 2019. [14]

Seats were selected based on a targeted pooling of resources and only with the consent of local parties. [ citation needed ] All the parties also support electoral reform. [12] Liberal Democrat activists in constituencies where their party stood aside were encouraged to either campaign for the Unite to Remain candidate there, or to campaign in a nearby seat. [15]

On 13 November 2019, Unite to Remain and the Renew Party announced that Renew would not contest any of the 60 Unite to Remain target seats. [16]

List of constituencies

Incumbents marked in italics did not stand for re-election in that constituency.

Darker rows indicate constituencies where the Unite to Remain party won the previous election (the 2017 general election or the 2019 Brecon and Radnorshire by-election). The pact also covers three seats where, during the 2017–2019 Parliament, incumbent MPs defected from other parties to the Liberal Democrats.

ConstituencyCountryUnite to Remain partyUnite to Remain candidateIncumbent partyIncumbentRefsResult
Arfon WalesPlaid Cymru Hywel Williams Plaid Cymru Hywel Williams [17] Elected
Bath EnglandLiberal Democrats Wera Hobhouse Liberal Democrats Wera Hobhouse Elected
Bermondsey and Old Southwark EnglandLiberal DemocratsHumaira AliLabour Neil Coyle [18] Not elected
Brecon and Radnorshire WalesLiberal Democrats Jane Dodds Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds [17] Not elected
Brighton Pavilion EnglandGreen Caroline Lucas Green Caroline Lucas [19] Elected
Bristol West EnglandGreen Carla Denyer Labour Thangam Debbonaire [20] Not elected
Buckingham EnglandLiberal Democrats Stephen Dorrell Speaker John Bercow [21] Not elected
Bury St Edmunds EnglandGreen Helen Geake Conservative Jo Churchill Not elected
Caerphilly WalesPlaid Cymru Lindsay Whittle Labour Wayne David [22] Not elected
Cannock Chase EnglandGreenPaul WoodheadConservative Amanda Milling Not elected
Cardiff Central WalesLiberal DemocratsBablin MolikLabour Jo Stevens [17] Not elected
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr WalesPlaid Cymru Jonathan Edwards Plaid Cymru Jonathan Edwards [17] Elected
Cheadle EnglandLiberal DemocratsTom MorrisonConservative Mary Robinson Not elected
Chelmsford EnglandLiberal DemocratsMarie GoldmanConservative Vicky Ford Not elected
Chelsea and Fulham EnglandLiberal Democrats Nicola Horlick Conservative Greg Hands Not elected
Cheltenham EnglandLiberal DemocratsMax WilkinsonConservative Alex Chalk Not elected
Chippenham EnglandLiberal Democrats Helen Belcher Conservative Michelle Donelan Not elected
Dulwich and West Norwood EnglandGreen Jonathan Bartley Labour Helen Hayes [18] Not elected
Dwyfor Meirionnydd WalesPlaid Cymru Liz Saville Roberts Plaid Cymru Liz Saville-Roberts [17] Elected
Esher and Walton EnglandLiberal DemocratsMonica HardingConservative Dominic Raab Not elected
Exeter EnglandGreenJoe LevyLabour Ben Bradshaw [23] Not elected
Finchley and Golders Green EnglandLiberal Democrats Luciana Berger Conservative Mike Freer Not elected
Forest of Dean EnglandGreenChris McFarlingConservative Mark Harper Not elected
Guildford EnglandLiberal DemocratsZöe FranklinIndependent
won as Conservative
Anne Milton Not elected
Harrogate and Knaresborough EnglandLiberal DemocratsJudith RogersonConservative Andrew Jones Not elected
Hazel Grove EnglandLiberal DemocratsLisa SmartConservative William Wragg Not elected
Hitchin and Harpenden EnglandLiberal DemocratsSam CollinsConservative Bim Afolami Not elected
Isle of Wight EnglandGreenVix LowthionConservative Bob Seely Not elected
Llanelli WalesPlaid CymruMari ArthurLabour Nia Griffith [22] Not elected
Montgomeryshire WalesLiberal DemocratsKishan DevaniConservative Glyn Davies [22] Not elected
North Cornwall EnglandLiberal DemocratsDanny ChambersConservative Scott Mann Not elected
North Norfolk EnglandLiberal DemocratsKaren WardLiberal Democrats Norman Lamb Not elected
Oxford West and Abingdon EnglandLiberal Democrats Layla Moran Liberal Democrats Layla Moran Elected
Penistone and Stocksbridge EnglandLiberal DemocratsHannah KitchingLiberal Democrats
won as Labour
Angela Smith Not elected
Pontypridd WalesPlaid CymruFflur ElinLabour Owen Smith [22] Not elected
Portsmouth South EnglandLiberal Democrats Gerald Vernon-Jackson Labour Stephen Morgan Not elected
Richmond Park EnglandLiberal Democrats Sarah Olney Conservative Zac Goldsmith Elected
Romsey and Southampton North EnglandLiberal DemocratsCraig FletcherConservative Caroline Nokes Not elected
Rushcliffe EnglandLiberal DemocratsJason BillinIndependent
won as Conservative
Kenneth Clarke Not elected
Stroud EnglandGreen Molly Scott Cato Labour David Drew Not elected
South Cambridgeshire EnglandLiberal DemocratsIan SollomLiberal Democrats
won as Conservative
Heidi Allen [24] Not elected
South East Cambridgeshire EnglandLiberal DemocratsPippa HeylingsConservative Lucy Frazer Not elected
South West Surrey EnglandLiberal DemocratsPaul FollowsConservative Jeremy Hunt Not elected
Southport EnglandLiberal DemocratsJohn WrightConservative Damien Moore Not elected
Taunton Deane EnglandLiberal DemocratsGideon AmosConservative Rebecca Pow Not elected
Thornbury and Yate EnglandLiberal DemocratsClaire YoungConservative Luke Hall Not elected
Totnes EnglandLiberal Democrats Sarah Wollaston Liberal Democrats
won as Conservative
Sarah Wollaston Not elected
Tunbridge Wells EnglandLiberal DemocratsBen ChapelardConservative Greg Clark Not elected
Twickenham EnglandLiberal Democrats Munira Wilson Liberal Democrats Vince Cable Elected
Wantage EnglandLiberal DemocratsRichard BenwellConservative Ed Vaizey Not elected
Warrington South EnglandLiberal DemocratsRyan BateLabour Faisal Rashid Not elected
Westmorland and Lonsdale EnglandLiberal Democrats Tim Farron Liberal Democrats Tim Farron Elected
Watford EnglandLiberal DemocratsIan StotesburyConservative Richard Harrington Not elected
Wells EnglandLiberal Democrats Tessa Munt Conservative James Heappey Not elected
Wimbledon EnglandLiberal DemocratsPaul KohlerConservative Stephen Hammond Not elected
Winchester EnglandLiberal DemocratsPaula FergusonConservative Steve Brine Not elected
Witney EnglandLiberal DemocratsCharlotte HoaglandConservative Robert Courts Not elected
Vale of Glamorgan WalesGreenAnthony SlaughterConservative Alun Cairns [22] Not elected
York Outer EnglandLiberal DemocratsKeith AspdenConservative Julian Sturdy Not elected
Ynys Môn WalesPlaid CymruAled ap DafyddLabour Albert Owen [22] Not elected

Pre-election analysis

Psephologist John Curtice stated that the pact could be critical in "half a dozen" seats that could have otherwise been won by the Conservatives. [25]

An analysis published in the Financial Times attempted to evaluate the potential impact of the pact. This analysis applied uniform regional swing based on polling (as of early November) to the 2017 result to estimate the parties' standings in the seats before the pact, then assumed that voters for parties standing aside would transfer their support as per the pact. The analysis found that in 18 seats the Unite to Remain party would not need the pact in order to win, in 39 the pact would be insufficient to secure victory, and in two (Brecon and Radnorshire and Winchester) the pact would make the critical difference between winning and losing for the Unite to Remain party. [26]

Other pro-Remain arrangements

In addition to the Unite to Remain pact, the Liberal Democrats did not stand candidates against the following anti-Brexit or "soft Brexit" supporting incumbents:

All failed to be elected.

In Canterbury, the original Liberal Democrat candidate (Tim Walker) stood down in aid of the Labour incumbent Rosie Duffield, but the Lib Dems stood a replacement candidate. [30] Duffield retained her seat.

In Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the Green Party in Northern Ireland all stood aside in certain constituencies to increase the chances of anti-Brexit candidates. [31]

See also

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References

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