Core ideology is dying, perhaps already dead, due to the centralisation of British politics. When you vote in the UK, you are supposed to be voting for the person you think will represent your area, the constituency you live in, the best. However, each prospective MP must be a member of one of the major political parties to stand any reasonable chance of success in winning the seat.

But being a member of the party brings the MP obligations, through the use of the whip system. An MP is not free to vote how he chooses, even if it is to the detriment of his constituency. So when you vote you are, in effect, voting for the next Prime Minister, hence such a focus on the party leaders by the media. The party machines know this, and thus the drive to the centre ground, in an effort to make their leader appeal to as wide a range of voters as possible, or at least to alienate as few as they can.

Ideology becomes a burden - the need to gain or retain power is the driving force for political parties. Politicians of all parties have always wanted power, it is their raison d'etre, what has changed is the need to hold on to it at all costs. Hence the need for popularity, hence the need to sit on the centre ground. Margaret Thatcher took power in 1979 because the preceding Labour government had failed. However, during the Thatcher years, the government took the actions they thought were necessary, not popular. Whether they were right or wrong is a different debate. When Tony Blair took power in 1997, it was not because New Labour' had a core ideological message. It was because they knew what to say and do to make themselves more popular than the government of the day.

A return to some core ideology in politics would be welcomed; not least it may kick-start the current moribund political debate in the UK. But it can only happen when there is some decentralisation of power; and a good starting place would be to allow MP's the freedom to speak and vote based on the interests of their constituents, not their party. This may allow the Mother of all Parliaments' the voice to really speak for the people, and allow the country at least make a start on tackling some of the real issues that beset it.

Learn more about this author, Christopher Hounslow.
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