THE Liberal Democrats will not contest the seat currently held by Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas. 

The local party members in Brighton Pavilion decided to back the Greens in the seat in an effort to fight Brexit and the Tories.

In further co-operation between parties, the Greens have announced they will not Brighton Kemptown where Conservative minister Simon Kirby is defending a majority of 690. 

The move has been welcomed by Momentum in the city who have said they will focus all their efforts into winning back the seat Labour lost in 2010.

In a statement, the Corbyn supporting group said: "Momentum Brighton and Hove is urging its 2,500 members and supporters to do everything possible to ensure Jeremy Corbyn is the United Kingdom’s next prime minister, supported by as many loyal Labour MPs as possible.

"As part of the fight to kick Simon Kirby out of Brighton Kemptown, we called on the Green Party last week not to stand a candidate in the constituency on June 8. We applaud the decision of Green Party members in our city to withdraw their candidate Davy Jones from the ballot to help rid us of this terrible Conservative government.

At the same time, Momentum Brighton and Hove has committed to concentrating all its efforts on winning the Kemptown seat, which Labour lost to the Conservatives by only 690 votes in 2015 — when the fourth-placed Green Party candidate secured more than 3,000 votes.

"We believe our members and supporters, regardless of which constituency they live in, should prioritise victory in Brighton Kemptown, to make a crucial difference in the campaign for progressive politics in our city — and a democratic socialist prime minister in Downing Street."

Lib Dem president Baroness Brinton said a "limited number" of local parties were considering similar electoral deals on June 8.

The Lib Dems finished fifth in the seat in 2015, with a 2.8% vote share.

Ms Lucas had 41.8% of the vote and a majority of almost 8,000 over her Labour rival, with the Tories close behind in third.

Ms Lucas said: "In Brighton something amazing is happening. People are putting aside party allegiances and working together so we have the best possible chance of delivering a fairer voting system and beating the Tories at the next election.

"Greens will be standing for election across this country and putting across our unique vision, but in a handful of places members of local parties are taking brave decisions for the common good.

"It's now up to the Lib Dem and Labour leaderships to sit down for talks about how we can make this movement for electoral alliances work. Let's not condemn this country to five more years of Tory rule."