Lisa Nandy Ready To Back Ken Clarke As Caretaker PM To Avoid No-Deal Brexit

Labour MP Lisa Nandy has revealed she’s prepared to vote for Ken Clarke as caretaker prime minister in order to stop a no-deal Brexit.

The former shadow cabinet minister told HuffPost UK that she was so worried about the economic and political damage caused by quitting the EU without an agreement that even the Tory grandee would be preferable to Boris Johnson as PM.

Speaking at the Big Tent Ideas Festival in East London, Nandy also said that politics was so volatile that she could even imagine Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson getting into No.10.

And in a clear warning to Jeremy Corbyn, she said that Clement Attlee’s 1945 Labour landslide stemmed from his ability to ‘reach out’ to everybody rather than “holding rallies and talking to himself”.

Nandy was asked if she would back Clarke or Hilary Benn if they emerged as MPs’ preferred choice to Jeremy Corbyn as a caretaker PM following a vote of no confidence.

She replied: “If the choice is between Ken Clarke and Boris Johnson, which is basically where we’re at at the moment, if you’re talking about replacing Boris Johnson with Ken Clarke, of course I’d vote for it.

“You have to find common cause with those people who agree with you and those people are found in every political party and none.

“For the last eight months in parliament, I voted for anything that would avoid no deal.”

Nandy, whose constituency voted to Leave, added that she was ready to vote for a withdrawal agreement that led to an orderly exit, but said removing the Northern Ireland backstop would not help win her backing.