US Center-Left Views British Election Results as a Learning Opportunity

A center-left group in the U.S. sees a valuable lesson in the landslide victory of Britain’s Labour Party after nearly 15 years in the political wilderness.

The centrist Democrat think tank Third Way argues in a memo obtained Friday by POLITICO that Labour’s sweeping win shows that “centrism wins elections” and can undercut right-wing populism by appealing to the broadest segment of the population with a credible platform.

“The Labour Party’s victory in last week’s parliamentary election in the United Kingdom proves the potency of bold, pragmatic centrism focused on addressing the nation’s critical needs,” Third Way’s Josh Freed wrote in the memo.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer took office Friday after the Labour Party wiped away a 14-year era of Conservative rule. The victory came amid widespread anger with the Tories over their handling of the economy, health care, Brexit, a series of scandals, and immigration.

Third Way — which has an active working relationship with the Labour Party and offered advice during the campaign — says Starmer steered his party away from extremism by “kicking out anti-Semites and left-wing extremists” while moving to the center on issues such as the economy, security and the environment.

Labour’s win has parallels to Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign and the successful Polish Civic Platform coalition last year, Freed said.

“The consistency across all three elections validates the role of centrism and mainstream politics at a moment when it is under assault by radical domestic populists in the UK, in the United States, and across much of Europe,” Freed said.

At the same time, he argues, the dismal results for the Conservatives showed the need to jettison the far-right elements from within the ranks of the Tories.

“Labour now has the much more difficult task of delivering for the British public,” he said. “It should stay true to the pragmatic manifesto that helped secure such enormous margins on 4 July.”