With the foundation of The Independent Group talk of a new movement in the centre of British politics moved up the agenda. But ‘TIG’ isn’t the first attempt to do so in recent years. So let’s assess the state of play for efforts to renew centrism in Britain:
The Independent Group: Last week’s events were undoubtably the most significant so far. The first time since the 1980s - and the formation of the SDP - that Labour centrists have split. Add to that the three Tory defectors and we are in somewhat uncharted territory. TIG now has 11 MPs, and a nascent membership and fundraising operation. On one poll it would already get 14% of the vote. It is not a major force yet, but the country is at least watching.
United for Change: Simon Franks, Founder of Lovefilm and a former Labour donor, has long been rumoured to be planning a new centrist party called United for Change. It remains a rumour other than a website and newsletter sign up. It says of itself it hasn’t launched yet. Business Insider reported that United for Change lacked a clear strategy or vision with early preparations suggesting the project is “doomed to fail”. Indeed it is unclear whether United for Change is to be an anti-Brexit party or a (UKIP like) anti-politics party. Things don’t look promising.
Renew: As yet the only official new party on this list. It was founded in 2017 by people outside of politics - a mental health worker, an accountant and a consultant to be precise. The policy platform seems to be best summed up by anti-Brexit and pro Universal Basic Income. A wider range of policies is set out on the website but they amount to platitudes. Renew has seemingly had precious little cut through so far and it is hard to see how that will change. That said, they are now fielding candidates in elections - and have done so in London and the North East.
A Libdem rebrand: Since 2015 and perhaps before there has been an appreciation among Liberal Democrats that the brand was tarnished by the Coalition Government. That was confirmed by the disappointing gains in the 2017 General Election. As yet we have not seen serious talk of a change in identity, but the move to allow non-MPs to become party leader could be a significant step in doing that. Despite struggling for cut thought the Libdems do have one thing that the others on this list do not - a significant electoral machinery. It might be in collaboration with a new brand or personality in the centre of British politics that they are able help to renew the centre ground.
Despite some years of chatter it is still early stages for each of these possibilities of centrist renewal. They all face major challenges in achieving electoral success with our first-past-the-post system and a media environment in which it is hard for smaller parties to get attention. What might be yet more significant is that each is yet to really articulate a vision for what centrism means in 2019. Leftists and populists will define each movement as a defence of the status quo - whether these new movements are such a defence or a statement of something else is for me the most interesting question each faces.