Esther McVey rejects Lib Dem claims she is ignoring Tatton on Brexit

Esther McVey launched her Conservative leadership bid earlier this month, with Theresa May set to step down from the role next Friday, June 7.

Ms McVey quit Mrs May’s cabinet last November over the Withdrawal Agreement for Brexit negotiated between the Government and the European Union – and is a vocal supporter of leaving the EU without a deal.

But Gareth Wilson, chairman of Tatton Liberal Democrats, believes that the results of last week’s EU elections show that voters in the constituency are firmly against a ‘no deal’ Brexit.

“Finishing fourth in the recent EU election is an unprecedented disaster for the Tory party locally and is a clear rejection of their handling of the Brexit process so far,” he said.

“Adding up the votes cast for ‘remain’ parties like the Lib Dems, the Greens and Change UK comfortably beats the votes cast for the Brexit Party and UKIP and confirms to me again that Tatton is a remain constituency.

“Esther McVey is advocating a hard ‘no deal’ Brexit in her leadership bid, it’s clear from the vote last week her constituents strongly reject that policy and want a people’s vote to finally settle the matter.

“We believe she will be vulnerable to losing her seat if a General Election is called and she continues to pursue a reckless no deal Brexit.”

The Liberal Democrats came second in both Cheshire East and Cheshire West in the EU election, and the party believes its share of the vote was higher in Tatton than elsewhere.

The party received 23 per cent of the vote in Cheshire East, behind the Brexit Party which received 34 per cent, while it won 22 per cent of the vote in Cheshire West, where the Brexit Party received 33 per cent.

When the Lib Dem votes are added to those for the Green Party and Change UK, the three pro-remain parties received 40 per cent of the vote in Cheshire East, compared to 37 per cent for the Brexit Party and UKIP – the two parties advocating a ‘no deal’ Brexit.

In Cheshire West, the three pro-remain parties picked up 39 per cent of the vote, while the Brexit Party and UKIP picked up 36 per cent combined.

The Conservatives finished in fourth place in Cheshire East with 11 per cent of the vote, while the party finished in fifth place in Cheshire West with just 10 per cent of the vote, behind Labour in fourth with 13 per cent of the vote.

However, Ms McVey insists she is carrying out her election promise from two years ago by pursuing a ‘no deal’ Brexit.

She said: “Despite what the Lib Dems would have you believe, the clear winners in both Cheshire East and Cheshire West at the European Elections were the Brexit Party.

“These results were terrible for the Conservative Party but that is because we didn’t keep our promise to leave the EU on March 29.

“We had a referendum in 2016 and people voted to leave. It seems that the Liberal Democrats are anything but democrats and refuse to accept the referendum result because they lost.

“I always said I would accept the result of the referendum whichever way it went. I am sorry the Lib Dems only accept the election results they want.

“I was elected on a promise at the last general election to deliver on Brexit, leave the Single Market and the Customs Union and where we explicitly said in our manifesto that no deal was better than a bad deal.

“I received well over 50 per cent of the votes in that election. I am sorry the Lib Dems are criticising me for keeping my election promises, but I would sooner that than be criticised for breaking them.”

The Brexit Party finished on top across the north west in the EU elections, winning three seats in the European Parliament.

Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats picked up two seats each, while the Green Party also won a seat.