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Other Centrism westminster

“Centrism” has become the Rorschach test of British politics—no wonder we can’t have a straightforward conversation about it

One of the reasons recent debates about centrism have become so heated is because people haven’t realised they’re talking about two different things

By Nick Barlow  
August 21, 2017

Both David Cameron and Tony Blair have been criticised for their "centrism". But what is a centrist? Photo: PA

Right now, centrism is the Rorschach test of British politics. Almost everyone agrees that it exists, but what they see when they look at it varies wildly. In the eyes of some, it’s what British politics needs a lot more of to solve the political and economic crises of Brexit—while to others, it’s something that Britain has already had far too much of and is the root cause of those…

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Nick Barlow

Nick Barlow is researching a PhD on centre parties and centrism at Queen Mary, University of London

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