Write for us!Centre-left politics
The Electorate Fragments. What Does This Mean for the LibDems?
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There has been some soul searching in the party based on recent results. Before getting into that it is clear the electorate has fragmented, and in such a multi-party model the ceiling any party can reach will be lower than before. And the floor will also be lower as alternatives exist. Therefore, as a party, our expectations need to shift. Are our core values persuasive? But it feels like our party has no distinctive vision for change in the country. Our values include: Equality, Democracy, Community, Human Rights, Internationalism, Environmentalism. Many of those can be seen as the status quo,…
When Will the Party Give the Electorate a Reason to Vote for Us?
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Before the party gets too self-congratulatory (i.e. ‘eight years of gains’), a reminder. In the 48 years since the start of the Thatcher era there have been only eight in which the estimated national vote of the LibDems in local council elections has been lower than in 2026 (and that is if we accept the upper estimate of 16% rather than the lower one, 14%, in which case the number of years is four). Two of those years were 1979 (14%) and 1980 (13%). The worst run was between 2012 and 2016 when the estimated proportions of the national polls…
The Road not Taken
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In the autumn of 1986, Margaret Thatcher’s government abolished road service licensing for local bus services outside London (commonly called deregulation). The logic was market orthodoxy: competition would drive down costs, encourage innovation, and serve passengers better than the inefficiencies of public ownership ever had. Almost four decades later, the verdict is in, and it is damning. Bus journeys across England have fallen from 4.6 billion in 2009 to 3.6 billion in 2024. Outside London, bus mileage has collapsed by 29% compared to 2005. In the north of England, the decline is starker still: Transport for the North reports that…
Eyes right for the centre left
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For well over a century, centre-left politics has been the engine of progressive change in Britain – building the welfare state, championing civil liberties, advancing social equality, and managing the economy with both competence and compassion. Yet today, many who hold these values find themselves politically homeless, watching as the very ground beneath their feet shifts inexorably rightward. The centre has moved. And if you haven’t noticed, you might be standing further right than you think or indeed want. Consider where we are. The Labour Party, once the champion of social democracy, now operate within a narrower fiscal envelope than Gordon…
