Here’s why a new party of the centre-ground is doomed to fail

Votes are gushing to the political fringes because since the financial crash, establishment politicians have failed to come up with any meaningful solutions to the problems that ordinary working people face every single day

By focusing on ousting Corbyn before starting a new party, even the centrists have shown a lack of faith in their own idea (Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

Amid speculation swirling around Westminster that senior Labour and Conservative figures have already been in informal discussions regarding the formation of a new centrist party. By ‘centrist party’, it is not inconceivable that they mean a party which supports the damaged establishment consensus. In that instance, they should not hedge their bets on it having any success.

To some extent, it is clear to see that they lack confidence in the idea themselves. It is why those trying to depose Jeremy Corbyn are acting with such fervour and urgency – gaining control of the Labour Party and its branding is a far more promising avenue electorally than any new party would be. Moreover, Andrea Leadsom’s stunning withdrawal from the Conservative leadership race makes any support from senior Conservatives incredibly unlikely.

The consequences of this are that if Jeremy Corbyn maintains control of the Labour Party, those looking to form a new centrist party within the Labour movement are on their own, besides potential support from the Liberal Democrats – who were thumped into near irrelevance by the electorate only last year. What the pipedream of a new party of the centre-ground also neglects is that our first past the post electoral system will put them at an immediate disadvantage. Nightmares of the SDP Liberal Alliance will come back to haunt a new centrist party, who in 1983 received 25.4 per cent of the vote but only 4.5 per cent of seats in Parliament.

Furthermore, this concept neglects the fact that since the financial crisis in 2008, people have been fleeing the centre-ground across the Western political system and the political establishment are yet to confront this with any real, substantive solutions. Whether it is Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump in America, Jeremy Corbyn and the historic Brexit vote or the rise of the far-right in Europe – more and more people are fleeing an intellectually and morally bankrupt centre-ground.

Votes are gushing to the political fringes because since the financial crash, establishment politicians have failed to come up with any meaningful solutions to the problems that ordinary working people face every single day. Politicians on both the centre-left and the centre-right across the West have failed to make neoliberalism and globalisation work for the masses.

The centre-left’s lack of backbone in confronting the failed ideology of austerity paved the way for the rise of Podemos, Syriza, and closer to home, Jeremy Corbyn. Trust in establishment politicians and ‘expert’ opinion is dangerously low, and the plan to ignore the problem and plough ahead with same failed policies and false promises unveils a political elite who are simply out of ideas.

The arrogance flaunted by those who posit the idea a new pro EU, centrist party will suddenly save the day without any new, coherent solutions is a clear example of their delusion. Their backwards and absurd belief in the institutions and policies that have failed ordinary people for the last three decades will not put a halt to the boom in radical politics – but add to its prominence. Whether you like it or not, there is an unprecedented thirst for change. Until establishment politicians accept that – a new centrist party propped up by them would be doomed to fail.