The centre in British politics since 1906

Abstract

Abstract The modern British ideological centre has been neglected and its impact underestimated. This article highlights the persistence of the centre’s moderating influence and its progressive, indeed at times radical, contribution. This ideological dynamism emanated from centrists’ synthesis of objectives often considered to conflict. Notably, centrists sought social justice alongside individual aspiration, albeit that this cross-ideological marriage was partial and incomplete. The article also examines the relationship between the centre and the people – presently portrayed as one of popular disconnection from an aloof elite. Yet, centrists have received considerable electoral sustenance from voters, and in turn demonstrated an appreciation of the contradictory ‘mix’ in many people, conservatism and progressivism in complex co-existence. Centrist history points to the contemporary political challenge as being one of raising the sights of a collective national ‘us’, rather than demonizing a variously targeted ‘other’.