Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

A party that’s in the centre is a party that stands for nothing

Not this again. How many new parties have been proposed now? Andrew Rawnsley says 34 have registered with the Electoral Commission since January. A political party is for life, not just for a twitterstorm. Still, the Tories’ annexation by Ukip and Labour’s transformation into some hideous fusion of CND and the BNP has left those of us who mosey around the centre ground electorally homeless. Why shouldn’t we have a party that articulates our worldview?

That seems to be the thinking behind a new group touted on the front page of the Observer. In the works since 2016 (and still there, since there are no plans beyond a few meetings and some WhatsApp threads), the ‘Centre Party’ is said to have access to £50 million from wealthy benefactors. That should cover a lot of lost deposits.

The arguments against are well rehearsed:

1) The SDP already tried it.

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