Written by Vasavi Singhal
In a political landscape increasingly dominated by right-wing populist rhetoric and policy, where do centrists go? Last year, I spoke to Rt Hon Vince Cable, former leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017-2019, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 2010-2015, and a Visiting Professor in Practice at the LSE’s School of Public Policy.
Before choosing to profile him, I spoke to the LSESU’s Liberal Democrat Society about political polarisation.
What Does It Mean to Be a Liberal Democrat at LSE?
Speaking to Ileana Oprescu, a masters student and member of the LSESU Liberal Democrat society, she argued that what attracted her to the Lib Dems was their “centrism”, whilst “extremism has … not [been] in favour of the people [historically].”
Whilst “some [other] parties promote polarisation”, she argued that the Lib Dems are needed to “reinforce narratives of democracy” in British politics.
“For a stable governing system we need all parties to function together without alienation”. Nonetheless, at LSE, the Lib Dems are seen as “small” and not a “traditional” party, making it harder for them to gain popularity.
An “Alienated Younger Generation”: Why Has There Been a Rise in Populism?
Given his involvement in British politics over the last few decades, I was excited to ask Vince Cable his perspective on why we have seen a rise in populism.
He starts by referring back to “the 2008 financial crisis and then the failure of other successive governments to get the […] British economy moving again”, whilst Brexit made it “even more difficult to recover”.
“So we’re now [in a] zero-sum situation where if you do something to support one group of people […] you’re effectively taking resources from somewhere else.
“You then get this build-up of anger […] in the electorate and […] populist politics emerging.”
But economic decline is not new in British political history. For Cable, the lack of regulation of speech on social media and the ability of social media to “communicate anger quickly” have enabled the spread of “hate”.
He reflects on his personal experiences with hate: “I grew up in a very traditional British lower-middle class […] household with all the prejudices of the 1950s […]. And then I married my late wife, who was an East African Asian. We had a big […] schism in the family. My father refused to engage with us [and] her father kicked her out.”
It’s a sobering reminder of the social pains that emerge with the resurgence of the far-right: “It was actually [much] worse than now.”
“After about five years, both our families said, ‘this is ridiculous, come and stay with us’, and everybody lived happily ever after.”
What does this mean for us today? “One of the lessons we should have learned from the […] Enoch Powell era is that […] if you’re too permissive, hate does spread, and you’ve got to do a lot of positive things [to make] integration work.”
Meeting in the Middle: Where Are the Centrists?
This wider context — digital and economic — has heightened a sense of “disillusionment with the Labour government amongst its traditional supporters, who would normally have turned to the Tories.”
However, because “[the Tories are] so discredited and so divided”, he believes that “the Tory Party is actually disappearing […] they will either be replaced by or taken over by the Reform Party.”
“The Conservative Party are trying to save themselves by copying Reform’s ideas […] kicking people out of the country and cheap gimmicks around crime”, whilst the “old centre-right type of politicians” are “completely homeless”.
When it comes to governance, he emphasises how extremism breeds impracticality, leading to governance failures. When I ask him about student support, he brings up the tripling of tuition fees back in 2010. “The party leader promised […] things with student fees that were just not deliverable […] you had to let people down.”
So how does one push, as Cable puts it, “responsible” governance, especially where there is “polarisation to extremes”? Certainly, despite the unpopularity of the two traditionally centrist parties, the Lib Dems are performing well electorally: in 2024, they gained the “largest number of seats” since 1923.
Cable emphasises that the “Dems have a very strong position […] if you get to Hung Parliament, the Dems call the shots.” But he admits that it’s quite a difficult role to play”, as this isn’t enough to actively promote moderate policy.
He contrasts the UK’s polarisation and government instability with China, where “they’re very good at [sticking] to pursu[ing an] objective over 25 years.” It is this “sense of long-term construction and sense of purpose [that] is totally lost in Western societies.”
How Does One Bring Back This Sense of Purpose?
Cable provides a primarily economic solution: “I have a […] vision about how you create a society which is a bit better than we’ve got […], the Scandinavian model.”
He argues that economic and social problems are intertwined: “Public spending is […] a reflection of valuing the things we have in common, and that’s what binds societies together. And if they’re neglected […] the sense of the bonds that people have […] become weaker.”
“Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden … are more prosperous, have stronger public services [than the UK]”, and “have been much better at managing extreme right parties.” Although “they exist in all those countries to some degree […] they’ve been marginalised one way or another, in some cases co-opted or simply boycotted.”
“I think people want the kind of public provision that those societies provide, but they’re not willing to pay the taxes to support it.”
Ultimately, for him, it’s up to political parties to establish this direction: If the “rudderless” Labour Party “planted their flag very clearly and firmly in that territory, I think we would be in a better place”. It’s clear that the future of centrism lies, for Cable, in bringing the ‘policy’ of politics back into political discourse: emphasising long-term thinking, trade-offs on social cohesion, and honesty with the electorate about fiscal responsibility. Moderate politics inherently lacks the emotional appeal of extremism, but provides a clear sense of direction towards the future — a sense that Cable was likely used to interacting with during the coalition government, and has seen through his work on China, but may seem lost today. Whether some version of that vision can capture the imagination of what Cable calls an “alienated younger generation” remains the central question facing moderate politicians today.
