Is now the time for David Miliband to rescue the politically homeless?
David Miliband Photo: PA / Ian West - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images
Britain's political heart is in the centre.
The majority of Brits are not hard lefties or ring-wing extremists.
The success of Tony Blair's New Labour and – to a lesser extent obviously – David Cameron's hoodie-hugging Conservatives prove the point.
But currently we have a Tory party being driven from the backseat by a rabble of EU-hating right-wingers – the European Research Group – and a Labour Party embroiled in a bitter internal row about anti-Semitism. It is a state of affairs unimaginable just a few years ago.
A recent survey by the National Centre for Social Research found more than 56pc of the British public did not feel any political party represented their views.
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So is now the time for a new centrist party? It would require proper funding and big hitters attached of course.
And would the Liberal Democrats be willing to join forces with this new political force? Leader Vince Cable is firmly of the belief it is the message rather than the medium that counts. Perhaps a merger would be an option?
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The party would, I'd imagine, be anti Brexit but it shouldn't be the sole purpose.
But who could give this party the impetus it would need? The obvious name is David Miliband.
He was hurt by the political fratricide that sent him dashing over the pond to International Rescue but surely those wounds have healed?
Would he be up to it? Difficult to tell. But who else could step up?
Miliband or not people would back a serious, centrist party. And even if it fizzled out much like the SDP did back in the 1980s a force in the centre might just tempt the other parties back in to the middle ground.
Is it likely? Sadly not. But in the current political climate anything could happen.
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