What is the future for centre-left politics? Its traditionally dominant force, the Labour Party, cannot win on its own, yet seems incapable of working with others who can. This week the Fabian Society, historically the midwife of the party, effectively pronounced its last rites, estimating that the party could be reduced to as few as 150 MPs after the next election.

Labour now seems institutionally incapable of moving back to the centre ground, as it did under Tony Blair. Thus they leave the field open for the Conservative Party to command the stage for at least the next two general elections, if not more.

Such a prospect may delight many Telegraph readers. They would, however, be well-advised to temper their glee. This is not the 1980s. Then the battle was defined along the lines of ideology. Identity politics was confined to Scotland and Wales, and even there it sat at the margins.