Old centrists do not die, or fade away. They are forever rising from the grave, seemingly unaltered since they were last in public view. After incanting the defunct slogans of a previous age, they return to the dim afterlife of politics whence they came.
Tony Blair’s plan for a “future of Britain” conference at the end of June is only the latest in a succession of such visitations. In September 2021, the anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller announced a new project, the True and Fair Party, aiming to achieve “greater transparency, accountability and competency” than existing parties. When the launch was held in January of this year it attracted 13 attendees, all of whom seemed to be journalists. (A spokesperson blamed Covid restrictions.) An earlier centrist vehicle – the pro-EU Independent Group for Change, later Change UK – was founded in February 2019, only to be disbanded less than a year later after each of its candidates lost their seats in the general election.
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