‘We’re going to need a bigger bench’ - Angela Smith becomes third MP to join Lib Dems this week
Angela Smith. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA. - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images
Angela Smith MP has joined the Liberal Democrats after three months of sitting as an independent MP.
Smith is the third MP to join the Liberal Democrats in a week, bringing the total number in the House of Commons to 17.
In a blog post for the party the MP called for more inclusive and tolerant politics as well as fighting against Brexit.
She wrote: "Our country deserves better than this. At a time of national crisis, people deserve a better choice than the two old parties.
"I am therefore delighted to be joining Jo Swinson and the Liberal Democrats.
You may also want to watch:
"The Liberal Democrats are the strongest party to stop Brexit and build a society that gives opportunities to everyone, tackles the climate crisis and invests in our public."
She was welcomed by leader Jo Swinson, who had hinted in a tweet on Saturday afternoon that the anti-Brexit party would be gaining another member.
Most Read
- 1 Nigel Farage loses nearly 50,000 followers after Twitter suspends QAnon accounts
- 2 Michel Barnier tells UK to be 'very careful' in Brexit diplomatic status row
- 3 Fifteen ways to fix Britain
- 4 This chumocracy is costing our country
- 5 Holyrood in talks with EU to extend Erasmus scheme to Scottish students
- 6 Independent SAGE adviser gives scathing assessment of Priti Patel's £800 Covid fines
- 7 Susanna Reid takes on Priti Patel over government's gaslighting of public on coronavirus
- 8 Bob Geldof takes swipe at No 10 saying 'lying is second nature' to them
- 9 An actor whose politics were a touchy subject
- 10 Brexiteer says he'd never have voted for Brexit 'if we knew we'd lose our jobs'
Swinson wrote on Twitter: "Welcome Angela Smith to the Lib Dems. She's the sixth new MP to join us in the last three months, along with over 30,000 new members. Together we can stop Brexit."
Smith joins former Change UK members Chuka Umunna and Luciana Berger in joining the Liberal Democrats from the Change UK group which was formed in February.
She was one of 11 representatives who left Labour and the Conservatives to form the group, however she departed the group to sit as an independent MP in June.
Deputy Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey also greeted Smith to the party, tweeting: "We're going to need a bigger bench."
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.