WHATEVER HAPPENED TO CHANGE UK?

The eleven Change UK founders
back row l-r: Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker, Chuka Umunna, Mike Gapes
middle: Angela Smith, Luciana Berger, Ann Coffey
bottom: Sarah Wollaston, Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry, Joan Ryan

One year ago today a group of eleven MPs formed Change UK, a party whose primary objective was to overturn the EU referendum.  Despite leaving the parties for whom they were elected, all refused to fight by-elections under their new banner.  The party was crushed in the European elections and was dissolved following the general election, at which none were re-elected to Parliament.

So, who faced the electorate and who bottled it?

Chris Leslie 

Leslie was the Labour MP for Nottingham East from 1997, a 57% Remain seat.  He defended the seat and finished fourth, losing his deposit.

Nadia Whittome (Lab) 25,735 (64.3%) -7.1%
Victoria Stapleton (Con) 8,342 (20.9%) -0.8%
Robert Swift (Lib Dem) 1,954 (4.9%) +2.3%
Chris Leslie (Change) 1,447 (3.6%) New
Damian Smith (Brexit) 1,343 (3.4%) New
Michelle Vacciana (Green) 1,183 (3.0%) +1.2%

Gavin Shuker

Shuker was the Labour MP for Luton South from 2010, a 55% Leave seat.  He left Change UK in June, but stood as an independent, finishing third.

Rachel Hopkins (Lab) 21,787 (51.8%) -10.6%
Parvez Akhtar (Con) 13,031 (31.0%) -1.3%
Gavin Shuker (Ind) 3,893 (9.3%) New
Garry Warren (Brexit) 1,601 (3.8%) New
Ben Foley (Green) 995 (2.4%) +1.4%
Mohammed Ashraf (Ind) 489 (1.2%) New
John French (Luton) 268 (0.6%) New

Chuka Umunna

Umunna was the Labour MP for Streatham from 2010, a 79% Remain seat.  He left Change UK in June and joined the Lib Dems later the same month.  He stood for the party in the Cities of London &Westminster, but failed to win.

Nickie Aiken (Con) 17,049 (39.9%) -6.7%
Chuka Umunna (Lib Dem) 13,096 (30.7%) +19.6% 
Gordon Nardell (Lab) 11,624 (27.2%) -11.2%
Zack Polanski (Green) 728 (1.7%) -0.4%
Jill McLachlan (Christian) 125 (0.3%) New
Dirk van Heck (Lib) 101 (0.2%) New

Mike Gapes

Gapes was the Labour MP for Ilford South from 1992, a 57% Remain seat.  He defended the seat, but finished third.

Sam Tarry (Lab) 35,085 (65.6%) -10.2%
Ali Azeem (Con) 10,984 (20.5%) -0.4%
Mike Gapes (Change) 3,891 (7.3%) New
Ashburn Holder (Lib Dem) 1,795 (3.4%) +2.0%
Munish Sharma (Brexit) 1,008 (1.9%) New
Rosemary Warrington (Green) 714 (1.3%) +0.4%

Angela Smith

Smith was the Labour MP for Penistone & Stocksbridge from 2005, a 61% Leave seat.  She left Change UK in June and joined the Lib Dems in September.  She stood for the party in Altrincham & Sale West and finished third.

Graham Brady (Con) 26,311 (48.0%) -3.0%
Andrew Western (Lab) 20,172 (36.8%) -2.0%

Angela Smith (Lib Dem) 6,036 (11.0%) +3.3%
Geraldine Coggins (Green) 1,566 (2.9%) +1.0%
Neil Taylor (Lib) 454 (0.8%) +0.3%
Iram Kiani (Ind) 224 (0.4%) New

Luciana Berger

Berger was the Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree from 2010, a 65% Remain seat.  She left Change UK in June and joined the Lib Dems in September.  She stood for the party in Finchley & Golders Green, but failed to win.

Mike Freer (Con) 24,162 (43.8%) -3.1%
Luciana Berger (Lib Dem) 17,600 (31.9%) +25.3%
Ross Houston (Lab) 13,347 (24.2%) -19.6%

Ann Coffey

Coffey was the Labour MP for Stockport from 1992, a 53% Remain seat.  She stood down at the election.

Sarah Wollaston

Wollaston was the Conservative MP for Totnes from 2010, a 54% Leave seat.  She left Change UK in June and joined the Lib Dems in August.  She defended her seat as a Lib Dem, but lost.

Anthony Mangnall (Con) 27,751 (53.2%) - 0.5%
Sarah Wollaston (Lib Dem) 15,027 (28.8%) +15.9%
Louise Webberley (Lab) 8,860 (17.0%) -9.9%
John Kitson (Ind) 544 (1.0%) New

Heidi Allen

Allen was the Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire from 2015, a 62% Remain seat.  She left Change UK in June and joined the Lib Dems in October.  She stood down at the election.

Anna Soubry

Soubry was the Conservative MP for Broxtowe from 2010, a 53% Leave seat.  She defended the seat, but finished third.

Darren Henry (Con) 26,602 (48.1%) +1.3%
Greg Marshall (Lab) 21,271 (38.5%) -6.8%
Anna Soubry (Change) 4,668 (8.5%) New
Kat Boettge (Green) 1,806 (3.3%) +2.0%
Amy Dalla Mura (Eng Dem) 432 (0.8%) New
Teck Khong (Ind) 321 (0.6%) New
David Bishop (Elvis) 172 (0.3%) New

Joan Ryan

Ryan was the Labour MP for Enfield North from 1997, a 51% Remain seat.  She stood down at the election.

THE (EX) LABOUR 15

15 former Labour MPs have put their names to an advert today urging voters to "think again" about backing Labour.  This is not simply a collection of pro-Brexit, Tory-backing ex-members, far from it.  This is a diverse group coming at from a variety of political angles.  There are the ardent Brexiteers Tom Harris and Gisela Stuart, but there are also ardent Remainers such as Mike Gapes, Ann Coffey, Louise Ellman and Chris Leslie.  The latter group are certainly not advocating a vote for the Tories, just anyone but Corbyn.  However, as there are only two scenarios on Friday - either Brexit with Boris or the death of Brexit with Corbyn, they will clearly be relieved to see a Boris victory.  That says a lot about how emotive feelings are towards Corbyn and safeguarding the security of our nation - in that individuals so vociferously opposed to Brexit would rather see Brexit happen than have their former leader running the country.

Click on the images below for a better look at the full text.

THE TOP 20 CHICKENS

Following Labour's u-turn, the government's general election bill was passed in the Commons by a whopping 418 majority.  It still has to pass through the House of Lords, but is likely to gain royal assent by the end of the week.  Predictably it won't move as swiftly as the Benn Surrender Act did.  Nothing moves that fast!

Embarrassingly for Corbyn almost half of his own MPs refused to back his newfound enthusiasm for a general election. 104 abstained in the final vote, while a further 11 voted against, making a complete mockery of Corbyn's triumphant announcement earlier in the day that his party was "totally united".

There were 20 MPs in total who opposed the final reading of the bill, many of whom clearly desperate to cling on to the Westminster gravy train for as long as possible.  More than half of them were Labour, including the most despicable parasites of all ie. those who are standing down anyway at the next election, but who wanted to stay on and milk the system just that little bit longer.  They are all unapologetic Remainers, so some of them will be fearing the election of a pro-Leave Parliament.  We've put our suggestions for their main motives in italics.  Obviously there's no doubting the motives for Change UK...

Labour

Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich West) - huge Leave vote in his constituency, running scared
Margaret Beckett (Derby South) - big Leave vote in her constituency, running scared
Ann Clwyd (Cynon Valley) - standing down, wanted to ride the train a bit longer
Paul Farrelly (Newcastle-under-Lyme) - standing down, wanted to ride the train a bit longer
Peter Kyle (Hove) - safe seat, doesn't think Labour can win
Dave Lammy (Tottenham) - safe seat, doesn't think Labour can win
Ian Lucas (Wrexham) - standing down, wanted to ride the train a bit longer
Albert Owen (Ynys Môn) - standing down, wanted to ride the train a bit longer
Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) - has not yet been reselected, fears deselection
Owen Smith (Pontypridd) - announced after the vote that he is standing down, didn't think Labour could win
Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) - recent poll suggests a Lib Dem surge could unseat him, running scared

Change UK

Ann Coffey (Stockport) - cheerio, cheerio, cheerio
Mike Gapes (Ilford South) - cheerio, cheerio, cheeri-oooo
Anna Soubry (Broxtowe) - cheerio, cheerio, cheerio, cheeri-oh

Plaid Cymru

Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East & Dinefwr) - constituency voted Leave, running scared
Liz Saville Roberts (Dwyfor Meirionnydd) - shrinking majority, running scared
Hywel Williams (Arfon) - wafer thin majority, running scared

SNP

Angus MacNeil (Na h-Eileanan an lar) - shrinking majority, running scared

Green

Caroline Lucas (Brighton Pavilion) - safe seat, fears a Brexit majority

Independent Unionist

Lady Hermon (North Down) - shrinking majority, running scared

CHANGE UK SPLITS

'Change UK' met today and its eleven MPs have decided to part ways.  This follows its European election disaster in which it spent shedloads of cash and finished eighth with not a single seat to show for its efforts.  The split itself was thought to have been triggered by a public spat between Anna Soubry and Change leader Heidi Allen.

Soubry will now take Heidi's place as leader while four of her colleagues stay put - Ann Coffey, Mike Gapes, Chris Leslie and Joan Ryan.

Those who have quit Change UK will return to being just plain old independents - Chuka, Heidi, Luciana Berger, Gavin Shuker, Angela Smith and Sarah Wollaston.

By-elections anyone?