Remainer MP Wollaston joins Lib Dems to halt Brexit
Former Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston has joined the Liberal Democrats, as she continues to fight Boris Johnson’s threats of a no-deal Brexit.
Wollaston, who chairs the Health and Social Care Committee and the influential Liaison Committee, which will haul Johnson over the coals next month, was one of three Tories to quit the party in February to join Change UK.
However she left that party in June, instead joining fellow Remainer Chuka Umunna at the Lib Dems, which now has 14 MPs.
Read more: Lib Dems give Corbyn’s coup the thumbs down
Medical doctor Wollaston said she would be “unequivocally making the case for remain at the heart of Europe” as well as working on the party’s wider social issues.
Wollaston explained her political shimmying, saying: “Earlier this year I left the Conservative Party because I felt that the government had abandoned its promise to tackle the burning injustices across our society. It had moved to the right and become obsessed with a damaging form of Brexit.
“Several MPs from both main parties felt we could not passively watch our country slide towards economic ruin and the potential breakup of the United Kingdom, so we moved to set up a new grouping in the centre ground.
Read more: Tory MPs Allen, Soubry and Wollaston quit
“We sought to maximise the total Remain vote in the EU election. The clear evidence following the result was this risked a serious fragmentation of the Remain vote in any future general election fought under our system of First Past The Post.
“I will be more effective in campaigning for positive change as part of an established team of MPs committed to working together in the national interest.”
Wollaston added: “We are now entering the final weeks to prevent the dire consequences of the PM’s ‘do or die’ approach to Brexit. Preventing that harm will take unprecedented cross-party working and my in-box has been full of messages urging me to be part of a Remain Alliance which I will be doing through joining the Liberal Democrats.”
Umunna welcomed the move, saying “it’s massive”. He told the BBC: “She’s a widely respected person across the House of Commons… and it just underlines the fact that the Liberal Democrats are the biggest and strongest party of Remain”.
Party leader Jo Swinson added: “Sarah is a fierce campaigner who I have enjoyed working with in the campaign to stop Brexit and as one of the most respected Members of Parliament and brings real expertise to our team.”
Main image: Getty