Workingman wrote: In order to avoid an exodus to the extreme left and right the centrist parties have to realign themselves and start listening to, and engaging with, core voters.
That would be nice but I can't see it happening. They are far more likely to be thinking about how to lie to us more convincingly. The word "populism" didn't become an insult by accident.
In terms of representative democracy we've actually gone backwards. In the 1800's it was likely that the local MP would be the Lord of the Manor, who wasn't exactly representative of his tenants.
Then we had the rise of the Trades Unions and round here at least, your local MP was likely to be a local man who was well up in the local Labour party and NUM.
Then the decline of the unions and the rise of the "parachuted" MP which increased in the Blair years. Yvette Cooper, Mary Creagh, Hilary Benn, Ed Miliband, David Miliband, Ed Balls, Peter Mandelson, Luciana Berger, Tristram Hunt etc etc etc.
All members of the London political set dropped into safe Labour seats in the provinces.
And like the Lord of the Manor of old, having very little in common with their constituents.
I think (as the weathermen say) the forecast is unsettled. Going on much as we are but with the ocassional sharp spike in support for a UKIP type party.
After the next ten years it won't matter so much, because the rate of immigration into the country will diminish the chances of any right wing group gaining power or influence, as they are unlikely to vote for any anti-immigrant party - a fact that Mrs Merkel is doubtless counting on in Germany for instance.
