The European Parliamentary elections were the first time in decades we saw a crowded field of small centrist parties. The Liberal Democrats, Change UK The Independent Group (TIG) and to a lesser extent Renew were all in play, until Renew folded to support TIG. The Libderal Democrats were the huge winners of course, getting 20% of the vote compated to TIGs 3%. Yet splitting votes between them cost the anti-Brexit vote MEPs, and it was the reason many were calling for a ‘Remain Alliance’ prior to the vote. So there is still a question as to whether centerist parties should cooperate or merge. In asking it some have assumed that the Libdems and TIG are interchangeable on all issues of substance, and that a future alliance could be easy. That is not the case, but it needs some explanation.
Outside of party circles most don’t appreciate the coalition that makes up the Liberal Democrats. They can’t be blamed. The party presented itself at the 2015 election (when I was Deputy Head of Policy) as a simple counterbalance in the centre to Labour and the Conservatives. We used the slogan “add a heart to a Conservative Goverment and a brain to a Labour one" (think wizard of Oz) in reference to a possible coalition at the 2015 Manifesto launch. In 2017 it was simply an anti-Brexit party. Yet centrism or a mainstream pro-European views says little about what most Libdem activists identify with. The thread that runs through the party is a passion for ‘liberal’ issues – human rights, devolution, House of Lords reform, Proportional Representation, drug liberalisation, the plight of refugees and so on. These beliefs hold together a hugely broad church on bread and butter economic issues. The largest group are centre left social democrats, following the history of the merger of the Social Democrat Party and the Liberal Party. But there are many ‘Social Liberals’ (think socialists liberals) that are not far from Corbyn left, and on the right ‘Orange Bookers’ who are strongly pro-market. (David Laws was one of the key authors of the Orange Book).
What of the identity of TIG? Of course it is too early to say. They are an equally broad church on economic issues; from left of centre ex-Labour MPs to vocal supporters of austerity like Anna Soubry. Outside of Brexit and a firm belief that Jeremy Corbyn should not be Prime Minister no other ideological strand has emerged. Perhaps the most likely thing to hold them together is a fear that Britain is being torn apart by our divisive politics, and a hope that a centrist answer can put it back together. In this sense they may well be a moderate party – the kind of middle of the road, split the difference centrists that I have explained the Libdems are not.
This is more than mere semantics. Those who talk of a merger of centrist parties are wrong to assume that TIG and the Libdems are the same thing in all but name. One is a liberal party, the other the looks as if it is a moderate party. This means firstly, and practically, that any pact or merger could well be difficult, even if electoral logic suggests it is desirable. The Libdems in particular may fight for their liberal identify. It also means that in theory at least, in a pluralistic system of many parties, there could be ideological space, and maybe even in the long run electoral space, for both.