Labour’s new shadow City minister thinks they shouldn’t fight for Zac Goldsmith’s seat, but his party disagrees
A fresh rift has emerged in the Labour party after three MPs – including two on Jeremy Corbyn's front bench – called on their party to stand aside in the battle for Zac Goldsmith's Richmond Park seat.
Labour maintained this morning that Corbyn's party will field a candidate.
Goldsmith stepped down as an MP yesterday, protesting against the government's decision to expand Heathrow with a third runway. He will stand in the by-election as an independent candidate.
The Conservatives have already said they will not field a candidate in the battle to replace him, and now three Labour MPs – including the party's shadow City minister – say their party should not enter the battle either.
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Labour party sources say that they are determined to field a candidate.
One told Morning Wire "We exist to win elections. So standing a candidate is the right thing to do."
If the party changes tack, it would mean Goldsmith's largest rival for the seat would be Liberal Democrat candidate Sarah Olney.
Writing for LabourList, the shadow City minister Jonathan Reynolds, shadow business secretary Clive Lewis and former shadow energy secretary Lisa Nandy said they believed the plan would provide the best chance of unseating Goldsmith.
“Not only did Goldsmith bring a new low to mainstream politics with his campaign against Sadiq Khan, but he is a hard Brexiteer willing to throw hard won environmental and workplace protections down the drain despite all his talk of being green,” the trio wrote.
“His claim that this is a referendum on Heathrow is absurd as his chief opponent also opposes a third runway. This is nothing but a vanity project and Labour should think carefully about playing a part in it.”
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Intriguingly, they also call on the Lib Dems to recognise, that this is not “a free ride” and moot the possibility of Lib Dem candidates also standing aside in a general election to support the efforts of other parties.
“With the upcoming local elections next May there may well be seats where Labour (or possibly the Greens) could be given a clear run against their Tory opponents, with local consent,” the MPs said.
Co-Green party leader Caroline Lucas has previously suggested a similar electoral pact with Corbyn's party – while Nandy has also expressed interest in working with other left-wing parties to fight the Tories.