Chuka Umunna 'obvious' candidate to lead new Independent Group, say Conservative splitters

Eleven MPs have quit their parties in recent days to join the breakaway group

Ex-Labour minister Chuka Umunna is the "obvious" person to lead the newly formed breakaway group of MPs, according to two Conservative defectors.

Heidi Allen and Anna Soubry both indicated they would back the Streatham MP to head up the Independent Group, a political collective made up of 11 disenchanted Labour and Conservative MPs.

Mr Umunna was among seven Labour politicians who dramatically resigned from their party on Monday in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's leadership on both Brexit and antisemitism.

Their numbers swelled to 11 when they were joined by Joan Ryan, another ex-Labour MP, and three Conservatives - Ms Soubry, Ms Allen and Sarah Wollaston, the respected health committee chairman.

South Cambridgeshire MP Ms Allen told The Telegraph it was “obvious for all to see” that Mr Umunna was the clear candidate and he was most capable of getting “the best out of that group”.

In a separate interview, she said he had brought them together and indicated that other "incredibly sympathetic" colleagues may soon be joining the new group.

She told Good Morning Britain: "My view right now is that Chuka has brought us together.

"But like any leader in business, politics, it needs to be the best person to get the best out of that team.

"And given that we're still going to have other colleagues come and join us I don't think we can say who that leader's going to be until we know the range of people that are going to be in our group."

During an LBC phone-in, Ms Soubry, the outspoken MP for Broxstowe, read out an endorsement from a listener which said “Chuka for PM”, to which she responded: “Oh, there’s a good idea”.

Mr Umunna said the group were not a political party "at this stage" when questioned on their policies.

He said: "I think for all of us we were deeply, deeply unhappy in the parties that we were at. Just walking off the field would have been a cop out.

"We thought actually as members of parliament we've got mandate, we're in a position to provide people with an alternative, whether that's a party or a movement, we're clear that we want to provide people with an alternative."

Both Labour and the Conservatives are braced for fresh defections in the coming days, amid warnings both sides could see resignations over Brexit.

Dudley North MP Ian Austin resigned from Labour on Friday morning in protest over antisemitism, but said he had no plans to join the Independent Group.

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said his party would not field candidates against any Independent Group MPs who trigger by-elections in their constituencies.

He told i: "It wouldn't make a great deal of sense to be at each other's throats when we have the Tory Party increasingly under the control of the militant far right and the Labour Party under the control of the Corbynites."