What if British politics were more like This week's edition of The Economist covers the revival of classical liberalism among Britain's young. Our leader, which welcomes the development, notes that this philosophy (long championed by this newspaper) has not proven much of a vote-winner over the years. It mentions a few British political figures who appear sympathetic to it: Nick Clegg (a Liberal Democrat), George Osborne and Boris Johnson (both Conservatives; the latter reportedly flirted with the Social Democratic Party, itself a splinter from the Labour Party). We could have added some figures within the Labour Party - certain "Blairites" arguably fit the description - and perhaps, if we were being really provocative, on the libertarian wing of the UK Independence Party. What all this shows is that Britain's political parties do not precisely reflect clusters of opinion - in the country or in Westminster. Behind closed doors, MPs of all stripes confess to being closer to parts of other parties than to parts of their own. Some Conservative backbenchers look longingly at UKIP, other Tories (including David Cameron) get on well with free-market Lib Dems like David Laws. Other Lib Dems, the social democrats, openly acknowledge their proximity to liberal-minded Labour types.

One senior Clegg ally recalls a dinner party in 2012 also attended by equally prominent Conservative and Labour figures. The assembled company agreed that they had more in common with each other than with some members of their own parties. Pondering why they were in different camps, they put it down to differences of personal background and culture rather than fundamental political ideology. The atheist internationalist had ended up a Lib Dem, the religious, suburban family-man a Tory and the progressive urbanite a Labour figure. (Keen Westminster-watchers may hazard guesses at the identities in question; your correspondent could not possibly comment further).

But what if British politics were reorganised, from the ground up, to reflect genuine differences of outlook and political constituency? What if, like our northern European neighbours, Britain had a proportional electoral system generating coalitions of relatively small parties, each representing a distinct interest group? Fans of the Danish political drama "Borgen" will recognise the description: the programme's fictional prime minister, Birgitte Nyborg, leads a intricate coalition of her centrist Moderate Party, the leftist Social Democrats, the Greens and the far-left Solidarity Party. Opposing her are the centre-right Liberal Party, the right-wing Conservative People's Party and the far-right Freedom Party. Improbably enough, the programme makes compelling television out of the battles to balance and reconcile different interests.

Below is your correspondent's approximation of a British equivalent. It draws on personal experience, voting records, demographic studies and polling figures to imagine what the parties would look like, who would vote for them, and which politicians might gravitate to each. Some readers may vehemently disagree with its assumptions; they may be right. Such an exercise is doomed to be imprecise. One can never entirely detach personal background and culture from ideology, much as the guests at that dinner party belly-ached about fellow members of their respective tribes. So readers should treat it as an opening bid, not a concrete assertion. If they disagree, they are welcome to suggest tweaks, or entire alternatives, to your correspondent's tentative suggestions.

Christian Democrats (c.30% support)

Core agenda: Pro-business, institutional conservatism, support for families

Voters: Middle- and upper-classes in suburban and rural areas

Would draw on: Conservatives, Lib Dems

Foreign corollaries: CDU (Germany), Moderates (Sweden)

Possible leaders: David Cameron, Ken Clarke, Jesse Norman

Social Democratic Party(c.30% support)

Core agenda: Progressive taxation, industrial activism, vocational training

Voters: Working- and middle-classes in urban and suburban areas

Would draw on: Labour, Lib Dems

Foreign corollaries: SPD (Germany), Social Democrats (Sweden), NDP (Canada)

Possible leaders: Ed Miliband, Andrew Adonis, Vince Cable

Free Liberals (c.15% support)

Core agenda: Cutting taxes, pro-immigration, social liberalism

Voters: Younger, urban, middle- and upper-class voters

Would draw on: Lib Dems, Conservatives, Labour

Foreign corollaries: FDP (Germany), VVD (Netherlands)

Possible leaders: George Osborne, Nick Clegg, Peter Mandelson

People's Party (c.15% support)

Core agenda: Living costs, curbing immigration, social conservatism

Voters: Older working- and lower-middle-class voters in post-industrial areas

Would draw on: Labour, Conservatives, UKIP

Foreign corollaries: Die Linke (Germany), Socialist People's Party (Denmark)

Possible leaders: Jon Cruddas, Robert Halfon

National Party (c.10% support)