Confirmed: Greens and Plaid backing Lib Dems in Brecon and Radnorshire by-election

The previously reported noises of a cross-party deal for the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election have culminated in this:

Pro-Remain parties will unite behind a single candidate for the first time at next month’s parliamentary by-election in an attempt to reduce the Tories’ working majority to three.

Plaid Cymru and the Green Party will not stand in Brecon & Radnorshire to help Jane Dodds, the Liberal Democrat leader in Wales, to secure the seat. [The Times]

This is great news for getting an excellent pro-Remain MP in the form of Jane Dodds, and indeed for the odds of continuing to improve the party’s record on diversity.

This news also highlights how important the instincts of the next Liberal Democrat leader on such issues will be. Is their instinct one of ‘if you like some of our views, vote for us’ or is it one of ‘if you like some of our views, let’s work together’? Often those instincts end up in the same place, but certainly not always – which is why the differences on this between Ed Davey and Jo Swinson should be central to how members choose who to elect party leader.