Anti-Brexit Change UK party flames out

Three months after being formed, the anti-Brexit party Change UK announced the departure of six of its 11 parliamentarians Tuesday.

The anti-Brexit party was formed in February by Conservative and Labour lawmakers frustrated by their former parties' stances toward Britain's departure from the European Union.

Dismal election result

Change UK, however, performed dismally in May's EU parliamentary elections, taking just 3% of the vote and failing to win a single seat. Most pro-European voters opted for the Liberal Democrats instead, though they were bested by Nigel Farage's Brexit Party, which dominated the vote.

Read more: European elections expose polarized British public

Among those who bailed on the party on Tuesday were its founder Heidi Allen, and former Labour rising star Chuka Umunna. Sarah Wollaston, a former conservative, and ex-Labour MPs Luciana Berger, Gavin Shuker, and Angela Smith also bailed.

Allen has been replaced as party leader by former Conservative MP Anna Soubry.

Soubry, who vowed the party would continue to fight against Brexit and for a second referendum, said she was "deeply disappointed" by Tuesday's shake up, adding, "Now is not the time to walk away, but instead to roll up our sleeves and stand up for the sensible mainstream center ground which is unrepresented in British politics today."

Ineffectual independents?

Those leaving the party will now sit as independents in the Parliament. The six released a statement reading, "We know the landscape will continue to shift within the political environment and have concluded that by returning to sit as independents, we will be best placed to work cross-party and respond flexibly," they said.

js/amp (AFP, Reuters)

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.