Change UK are facing a new reality: one in which the Liberal Democrats are a serious force

CHELMSFORD, ENGLAND - MAY 03: Leader of the Liberal Democrats Vince Cable addresses the media with activists outside Chelmsford City Council Civic Centre on May 3, 2019 in Chelmsford, England. In local election results, the Liberal Democrats - who oppose Brexit, gained 26 seats giving them control of Chelmsford City Council in Essex, a Brexit stronghold. The two main parties, Labour and the Conservatives, lost seats. This is believed to be attributed to frustration at the lack of progress in the continuing Brexit negotiations. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The argument for Change UK rests on two foundations. The first is that the two major parties are inadequate for the challenges the country faces and that neither has any business running the country. The second is that none of the existing challenger parties are capable of filling the gap.

The case against three of the United Kingdom’s four challenger parties is, from a Change UK perspective, open-and-shut: the SNP and Plaid Cymru are pro-independence parties while Change is a unionist party, or at least all 11 of its current MPs are. The Green party is an explicitly ecological party while Change UK is not.