Political

The new dividing line in British politics?

Here’s Nick Clegg, echoing a point Paddy Ashdown has long made and which post-referendum now looks to have another chance of coming true:

As I talked about last night at the Saffron Walden Liberal Democrats annual dinner, part of making that a reality is for the Liberal Democrats to be comfortable with the idea of being at one end of this new, emerging political spectrum – to carve out a place for the party there and to strengthen the public’s perception of the party as being at that end of the spectrum. That’s not the same as wanting to be a party for everyone, an admirable traditional instinct but one which also means the party loses focus in the eyes of the electorate.

We can’t just assume that this new political alignment will happen without us vigorously pushing for it. As I wrote when reviewing the excellent Revolt on the Right, it’s a dream often previously heralded but not yet realised:

For those interested in the Liberal Democrats, there’s another interesting implication of the book’s thesis. If UKIP is going to prosper as the party for those who don’t like the way British society is moving – those who are instinctively inward looking and resistant to change – then it suggests a political spectrum with UKIP at one end and the Liberal Democrats at the other. Drawbridge up versus drawbridge down, if you will. Is British politics really going to revolve around that axis, though? In some form it’s been the dream of many Lib Dem strategists for many years, but it’s not happened yet as other issues – especially the economy more generally – intrude to disrupt that becoming the way in which voters think about politics. That disruption may too happen to UKIP yet, making its ability to appeal to a core vote of those who feel left behind not the fulcrum on which it can overturn the party political system but rather a curiosity that comes and goes.

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