Ideology in the age of the coalition: the strange rebirth of British centrism

Abstract

The financial crisis of 2007–2008 severely disrupted the hegemony of neoliberalism. This article argues that since the establishment of the Coalition Government in 2010, a trend has become discernible within public opinion towards a new consensus on the size of the state, the role of markets and the function of civil society. This consensus constitutes a distinctive British centrist ideology, termed New Centrism. The article examines the methodological and ideological backdrop to New Centrism, considering the particular features of British party competition, rival critiques of the crisis and an ontology of the old neoliberal settlement. The article also assesses consensus in contemporary British politics and situates the rebirth of centrism in Britain in a comparison with the ideological heritage of centrism in European polities, drawing out a substantive characterization of the New Centrist ideological position as Britain's direct equivalent.