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That seems to be the suggestion. So far as I can gather they didn't do any campaigning and this will be reciprocated in a few weeks.
No idea why they still fielded a candidate.
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I have no direct experience of Labour Party by-election protocols,
but I would suspect there are a couple of reasons for running a candidate;
a) There may be some dyed in the wool Socialists who will never switch allegiance,
b) To avoid giving the Tory press the opportunity to claim the Labour Party are 'no longer a National force',
c) A presence can be organised by the local Labour Party, without HQ being involved,
d) A candidate gets to experience the (heightened) atmosphere of a campaign, and their performance can be monitored,
e) force the incumbent party to defend their performance across the whole spectrum of local and National policies rather than just rubbishing the Progressive Alliance.Others can, no doubt, add more.
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No, Labour don't stand aside for other parties. We didn't under Corbyn and we're not doing it under Starmer. In one way I understand it - as the largest party across the UK we have the most to lose - but I also wish we'd be a bit more flexible sometimes. I'm no LDs fan but I'd much rather see them win than the Tories.
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@Lebowski
Sorry I wasn't following that by-election, did Labour stand aside? But they still fielded a candidate?