Why occupying the center ground of politics is a tricky business!

Posted 7 Nov 2011 by Walaa Idris

Hung Parliament 2

First, it is becoming too crowded and over populated by politicians of all hues and flavors. Many on either side of politics fiercely fight to occupy and represent it but come election time, they equally insist they are different! Meanwhile to the voting public they seem too similar, offering the same politics with different colour rosettes, separated with maybe one or two issues here and there.

The second problem with the center is that it’s vague. It reminds me with the saying “Jack of All Trades – Master of None” because it’s a place where the similarities outnumber the differences. It’s where overlaps are common place and uniqueness is hardly there. It’s where politicians can go as close as possible to the other side without having to crossover. Modernizers regard it as “inclusive and progressive” but to the non-politicos ordinary folk; it’s plain confusing and even messy.

Having said that, once in a while, a politician succeeds in occupying and capitalizing on it! Recently, Tony Blair did just that in the 90s and managed three consecutive wins. However, a decade later when Cameron took the Tories to the center ground and although it appeared modern and ‘progressive’, electorally it cost him and his party a 20 point lead. At a time when Blair’s Labour was on its knees and Brown was a sitting duck Prime Minster! The centre ground that gave Blair three consecutive wins and his historic two landslides backfired in 2010 and delivered a hung parliament resulting in the historic Coalition between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats!

Why?

During the Sky TV Debates, and before Brown and Cameron began to agree with Nick, the public saw three leaders representing three different parties, with very little difference between them. They saw clearly what some suspected and many commentators tried to communicate – that our politics today is so similar there is little to disagree about!

That’s the problem with the centre ground today – instead of being the middle ground where politics meet for a compromise and conflict resolution – it is now the home of all political parties, where all election will result in a hung parliament and the country is governed by coalitions.

Categories: ,

Commenting is closed for this article.