Consensus Politics in the UK, Then & Now [30min]

Jonathan Freedland sets out for the political centre ground, comparing past and present and looking back to the post-war consensus. Back in the early 50s they called the politics of the centre ground ‘Butskellism’ as the policies of the Conservatives' Rab Butler and Labour’s Hugh Gaitskell seemed to move closer and closer together. Today it’s been described by some commentators as ‘Blameron’ -- a new form of centre ground politics, merging the policies of Tony Blair and David Cameron. Jonathan and his guests tell the story of 1951, the year the Conservatives won back power from Labour, with a manifesto which made more than a few concessions to Labour’s introduction of the welfare state and its commitment to the mixed economy. He explores what the move to the centre really meant fifty years ago and asking whether Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats are, once again, battling for the centre ground today.