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Change UK Splits, Soubry Chosen as New Leader (Posted June 4, 2019)

Three and a half months after making headlines by forming a centrist party composed of independent-minded, pro-Remain MP's, six of the eleven MP's of Change UK announced their decision to leave the party and sit as independents. With the departure of Luciana Berger, Gavin Shuker, Angela Smith, Chuka Umunna, Dr. Sarah Wollaston, and leader Heidi Allen, the party loses two of its three former Conservatives, and half of its former Labour MP's.

A joint statement posted by the party's first leader Heidi Allen on behalf of Luciana Berger, Gavin Shuker, Angela Smith, Chuka Umunna, and Sarah Wollaston thanked and congratulated Remain supporters for their work leading up to the EU elections, and signaled an intention to work with other parties to advance a pro-Remain agenda.

A personal statement from Umunna gave more specific reasons for leaving: "...whilst I believe it should carry on as an organisation, I do not believe Change UK should carry on in its current form. This has put me in a fundamentally different place not only to other Change UK parliamentary colleagues but also it’s activists and candidates who should be free to take the party in the direction they wish. "

The party will now be led by #6 Order Paper Top 25 MP Anna Soubry, a formidable backbencher who, along with remaining party colleagues Ann Coffey, Chris Leslie, Joan Ryan, and Mike Gapes, will have to decide how to save the party from disintegration.

UPDATE June 8, 2019: Heidi Allen has issued a personal statement describing her reasons for leaving Change UK.