[The Guardian] A year on, did Change UK change anything?

A year on, did Change UK change anything?

The breakaway party of MPs said they would ‘fix politics’. Now, those at the heart of the rebellion reveal why they failed

Hard as it is to imagine now, in the early part of last year there was a belief – somewhat desperately expressed – that a new politics might be possible in Britain. One not based on the two “legacy” parties, but that might be open to compromise, a certain fluidity of structure, pragmatism. The idea coalesced around a slogan, “politics is broken”. The question was, how to fix it.

One solution was proposed by a breakaway group of MPs, eight from Labour, three from the Conservatives, whose new party – the cumbersomely named Independent Group for Change or Change UK – was accepted by the Electoral Commission 12 months ago this week. Both of the main parties were in disarray, propping up leaders for whom there was no love in parliament. The government had recently suffered the biggest defeat in parliamentary history on the “first meaningful vote” on Theresa May’s doomed Brexit deal. If there was consensus on anything, it was that something had to give.

Continue reading...
Source: A year on, did Change UK change anything?

Feeds culled from https://www.theguardian.com/uk/rss