General election: Labour and Lib Dem rivals urged to step aside in 90 key seats to prevent split in pro-referendum vote

Second referendum campaigners are urging Labour and Liberal Democrat general election candidates to step aside in 90 key seats to avoid a split between among pro-EU voters.

The eleventh-hour call from the People’s Vote campaign comes ahead of Thursday’s nomination deadline for candidates wanting to run for parliament at December’s general election.

Urging pro-second referendum candidates across Britain to put aside party rivalries for the “greater cause”, the group identifies dozens of constituencies where at least one party should step aside.

The organisation praised the former Liberal Democrat candidate, Tim Walker, who stood down from the contest in the Labour-held seat of Canterbury last night because he did not want to split the pro-Remain vote in the constituency.

Among its 90 recommendations, the People’s Vote campaign suggests Labour’s candidate Alexa Collins should stand down to give the former Conservative MP Dominic Grieve a greater chance of winning the seat as an independent contender.

It adds in the Labour MP Karen Lee’s seat of Lincoln, her Liberal Democrat rival Caroline Kenyan should consider stepping aside to prevent the pro-second referendum vote being split in the constituency.

In the seat of Brecon and Radnorshire, the People’s Vote suggestion is that Labour’s candidate drops his candidacy, giving the Liberal Democrats’s Jane Dodds a clearer path to victory on 12 December.

In total, it asks 28 Labour candidates to step aside at the election, and dozens of Liberal Democrat hopefuls to do so, despite both Jeremy Corbyn and Jo Swinson’s resistance to do so.

A spokesperson for the People’s Vote campaign said: “This election is the most important election of our lifetimes. It will decide the country’s future for decades to come. It will either result in a parliament that supports a People’s Vote or one that backs Boris Johnson’s hard Brexit.

“Now that Nigel Farage has stood down Brexit Party candidates in 317 seats, it is more important than ever for those on our side of the argument to show willingness to put party politics aside for the greater cause.”

They continued: “Wherever possible, pro-People’s Vote candidates who have the best chance of success, should be unopposed by others who share their commitment to a Final Say referendum.

“We appreciate this would involve a huge personal sacrifice, but this is an opportunity to save our country from a disastrous deal and give the people the Final Say on Brexit. The stakes have never been higher.”

The organisation said its 90 recommendations relied on a combination of recent general, local and European Parliament election voting data and its own private polling of parliamentary constituencies.