Labour and Liberal Democrats planning ‘non-aggression’ pact targeting Plaid Cymru and Tory seats
Labour and the Liberal Democrats are planning to form a “non-aggression pact” targeting Plaid Cymru, SNP and Tory seats at the next General Election.
The Labour party will run a ‘minimal campaign’ in 30 Lib Dem target seats such as Ceredigion and Brecon and Radnorshire to increase the chance of having enough combined seats to win power in a hung parliament.
The parties are also considering working together as part of a confidence and supply deal in a potential hung parliament, sources have told the Financial Times.
Keir Starmer’s allies told the newspaper that the deal made sense as none of Labour’s top target seats features on the Lib Dems’ list of top 30 target seats.
“If both parties put resources into where they are most likely to win, you end up with more Labour seats and more Lib Dem seats,” they said.
Thinking forward to a potential hung parliament, they added: “We can’t be in a position like we were in 2010 when we barely knew each other.”
The Liberal Democrats last year won shock wins in the Chesham and Amersham and North Shropshire by-elections, leading to Conservative fears that they could topple the Conservative ‘Blue Wall’ in the south of England.
Meanwhile, Labour plan to focus on winning back the ‘Red Wall’ seats that stretch into the north-east of Wales.
“If Labour and the Liberal Democrats spend all their time and money trying to beat each other it’s really not good for progressive politics,” one Lib Dem strategist said.
“We need to fight in the areas where we can win and that is the overwhelming priority.”
The plan to target Ceredigion could ruffle a few feathers in Wales where Plaid Cymru and Labour have formed their own co-operation agreement at the Senedd.
The Liberal Democrats held Ceredigion until the 2017 election when they were narrowly beaten by Plaid Cymru’s Ben Lake. In 2019 however they fell back further, behind the Conservatives into third place.
Ceredigion is number 30 on their list of top target seats. Together the Lib Dems and Labour would have won 13,292 votes in the seats, still short of the15,208 won by Plaid Cymru, but more than the 8,879 won by the Conservatives.
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Why don’t all the leftish parties do a proper job of combining against the right so we can have proportional representation for San Steffan and kick greed and self-interest permanently off the political top spot?
If Wales is ever to be independent ALL unionist parties must be seen as opposition and not imaginary allies.
Well, that is a bit of a kick in the teeth for Mark Drakeford, from his London boss, in view of the Plaid-Labour deal here in Cymru, London so out of touch with what is going on in the devolved nations. Looking at who hold seats in Cymru and Scotland should they not want to do a deal Plaid and SNP as the LibDems have 1 MS and no MP’s here. This just reinforces the Labour party unionist ideals, to our detriment.
No mate,this is really a kick in the teeth for Adam Price and his naivety.Drakeford says he will have retired by then anyway.
Makes you wonder if the Welsh Labour government have been asked for their opinion on this matter, or is this just what our inglish overlords have decided is best for Wales?
Time for Welsh Labour to break from the English party.
Drakeford should retire now. He’s done a fair job on Covid, so we can give him that, but the times need a fighter for Cymru we can all get behind. No more foreigners ruling us.
About time, diolch!
Watch out for Facebook bias…
Those Lib Dems don’t learn do they. They got caught out by tying up with the Tories post the GE 2010 and now seem to think that tying up in advance will work out better. Starmer’s having a chuckle although it does put a blight on Labour’s links with Plaid here in Wales. Drakeford may be trustworthy, some of his ministers too, but there’s plenty of hostile Unionism just under the surface just gagging to have a go at stealing seats off Plaid.
Don’t forget what Starmer said to the Western Mail about the importance of Wales – “Labour doesn’t win in Westminster unless it wins in Wales.” There you have it. Let’s not forget either, that Labour Governments also pursued de-industrialisation an neo-liberalist policies. They also espouse a centralised UK making a periphery of Wales, mocking us with their high praise of the UK as an “insurance policy” and the so-called generosity of fiscal transfers that do not make up for the lack of political power that has left half of Welsh housholds in or on the cusp of poverty. All being… Read more »
Well that’s made my mind up who to vote for next election. Not the tories and neither of these a-holes.
Wow – only 12 years too late.
What a shame Labour didn’t team up with the Lib Dems to form a coalition Government when we needed them to.
The Lib Dems would have greatly prefered a coalition with Labour, but a referendom on PR was too high a price for Labour.
And we all rememer what happened next – we are still suffering.
This is a history re-write. The numbers didn’t work for a Lab-Lib coalition in 2010.
You do realise that there weren’t enough Labour and Lib Dem MPs after the 2010 UK General election to command a majority in the House of Commons. Check the maths before you type out answers. Besides, this a pre election pact, not a post election agreement 🙄
Adam Price. What have you to say about this?
He can’t come out to speak He’s too busy sobbing his heart out in solitary. He’s been singled out along with those Tories he hates for the Lab-Lib “treatment”. A salutary lesson in how not to pick allies.
Amen!
Wow! A lot of Labour and Lib Dem attacks here 🙄😒 Even if Keir Starmer wanted to work with Plaid Cymru and the SNP, he can’t be seen to do that as it is electoral suicide in England. Besides, we’re never getting peaceful independence or even further devolution with Tories controlling the UK Government. As far as I’m concerned, this a means to end. The end being a Federal UK or Celtic indepence from England.