Where next? The challenge for centre-left politics

Article

Professor of Government and Public Policy at UCL and former Labour MP Tony Wright reviews the post-Coalition landscape for centre-left politics in Britain, covering the spectrum of policy issues from the local to the global.

'The principal test facing British centre-left politics today is whether it is still fit-for-purpose. Does its intellectual framework (with its corresponding policy instruments) offer an adequate response to the challenges facing the country today? Does it have a foundation in wider social movements on which to build its politics? Will it embrace a pluralist and reformist agenda rather than take a narrow oppositional stance? And can it once again generate genuine momentum for progressive change?'

Foreword by Nick Pearce, Lisa Harker and Carey Oppenheim

This essay provides the conclusion to IPPR's 2010 seminar series 'Where next for progressive politics?'.

Related items

  1. Achieving the 2030 child poverty target: The distance left to travel

    On 27 March, the Scottish government will announce whether Scotland’s 2023 child poverty target – no more than 18 per cent of children in poverty – was achieved. 

  2. Spring statement: A changed world calls for a changed course

    If there are decades where nothing happens and there are weeks where decades happen, the last few weeks feel seismic.  The prime minister was right to say the world has changed. Donald Trump’s re-election in November has unleashed a wave…

  3. 2030 and beyond: Great British Energy's role in the green transition

    The UK government created Great British Energy to help deliver secure, clean and affordable electricity.