General election: Lib Dem candidate stands aside to avoid splitting Remain vote
Tim Walker withdraws from the race in a key marginal, but the Lib Dems say they will pick another candidate "in due course".
Tuesday 12 November 2019 22:23, UK
A Liberal Democrat candidate has stood down in a key marginal constituency to avoid splitting the Remain vote.
Tim Walker was due to stand for the party in Canterbury but has asked the local party to withdraw his nomination papers.
Mr Walker said he wanted "no part" in allowing a Brexit-supporting Conservative to win the seat.
He added that he shared the "visceral dread" felt by "many members of my party locally" that parliament would be filled with people like his Tory rival Anna Firth.
But the Lib Dems have said they will choose another candidate to replace Mr Walker "in due course".
Mr Walker used an article in the Guardian to explain his decision.
He said there was a "danger I'd divide the Remainers" by standing, adding: "That would allow in our common enemy, Anna Firth, the Tory candidate and an avowed hard Brexiter and former Vote Leave stalwart.
"I don't trust Corbyn on Brexit, but I share with many members of my party locally a visceral dread of the Commons being filled with people like Firth.
"Trying to stop that happening is now more important than ever given Nigel Farage's unholy alliance with Johnson.
"I've therefore asked that my local party withdraw my nomination papers to stand for Canterbury.
"Politics does not always have to be grubby and small-minded; sometimes it's possible to acknowledge that what's at stake is more important than party politics - and personal ambition - and we can do what's right.
"In this invidious situation, both standing and not standing could be interpreted as weakness.
"But the nightmare that kept me awake was posing awkwardly at the count beside a vanquished Duffield as the Tory Brexiter raised her hands in triumph. I wanted no part in that."
Labour's Rosie Duffield, who won the seat two years ago with a slim majority of less than 200, said the choice facing voters in the Kent seat was "now clear" between herself and a "Brexiteer who supports Johnson's hard right Tory agenda".
Nominations for the seat close on Thursday, with Owen Prew standing for the Brexit Party and Henry Stanton standing for the Greens.
Meanwhile, prominent anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray has been chosen as the Lib Dem candidate in the Welsh seat of Cynon Valley.
Mr Bray, a Lib Dem member, has become known for appearing in the background of news broadcasts outside Parliament, brandishing placards and shouting anti-Brexit slogans.
Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson said he should not be seen as a joke candidate, adding: "He has been well-known within the Remain cause more widely and I am sure he will bring that energy to the campaign here in Wales."
Ann Clwyd held the seat for Labour in 2017 with a majority of around 13,000 but has decided not to stand again.
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