Joe Levy, Green Party parliamentary candidate for Exeter, has been agreed as the Remain candidate in an electoral agreement announced today. The arrangement between the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and Plaid Cymru will see a single candidate stand in some 60 constituencies while Remain candidates of other parties agree to stand aside.
In response to the agreement, that will see him fight the Remain corner in Exeter, Joe Levy said:
“I am delighted to have been selected as the Remain candidate for Exeter. But standing aside is never easy, so I pay tribute to my Lib Dem counterpart Tom Deakin who has agreed that here in Exeter it will be the Green Party fighting the Remain corner. In many other seats Greens have agreed to stand aside for a Lib Dem candidate. This is grown up non-partisan politics and is the right thing to do both for Exeter and for the country.
“We cannot escape the fact that this election is above all about Brexit and it is vital to unite to stop a disastrous Tory crash-out. We must make sure we send enough staunchly pro- European MPs to parliament to end the Brexit nightmare once and for all.
“Earlier this year the Greens achieved 27% in the European elections in Exeter, narrowly missing the top spot, while Labour achieved only 12%. We stood on a platform of remaining in the EU to protect our hard-won rights, safeguard our environment and retain freedom of movement. It is clear our unequivocal Remain stance is popular in the city.
“Ben Bradshaw has championed remaining in the EU, but the Labour Party has refused to say whether it will back Remain in a future referendum. Many people voted Labour in 2017 believing they were a Remain party, only to find the leadership using this to justify Brexit.
“Labour has also consistently refused to join electoral alliances, preferring to continue with tribal politics than work for the common good. Neither have they committed to electoral reform to make all votes count. Whereas all the parties in the Unite to Remain alliance are committed to a proportional electoral system.
“This must also be the climate election. The climate emergency is the biggest threat facing humanity and the future of our planet. The Green Party are the only Party willing to take the bold action needed which is why we have committed to investing £100 billion a year into transforming our economy and society to prevent climate chaos.”