Moderates being driven out of toxic party politics

Schism between left and right creating a vacuum that will be filled by hardliners

Boris Johnson: as he prepares to lead the Tories into an election, dozens of moderate ‘One Nation’ Conservatives have announced that they will not stand on December 12 Pic: PA

The political centre ground is under pressure. Across the developed world, moderates are increasingly finding their pragmatic approach to political problem-solving to be redundant. The rise of the hard left and hard right makes politics more divided and polarised than ever. The result is unedifying.

Political ideology is necessary. Different ideals and ideas keep democracies healthy. They offer choice to voters and allow for deep debate and scrutiny of the complex issues that ...