Franks - pictured at the Sundance Film Festival - spearheaded the movement

Donors and entrepreneurs have been secretly developing plans for a new political party frustrated with polarisation and grabbing for the centre ground.

Up to £50million has been pumped into the project with a former Labour benefactor at the helm hoping to 'break the Westminster mould'.

The movement believes in borrowing from the left and right for its policies and was set up by multi-millionaire LoveFilm founder Simon Franks, who says he is frustrated with political division in light of the Brexit vote.

He has had full-time staff on the project for about year, The Observer revealed today, after starting initial discussion in 2016.

His company - Project One Movement for the UK - is said to be a probable vehicle for the scheme, which has the support of a number of former Tory donors.

There is still some debate as to whether the group will fund community activism of be a formal party.

But there is reportedly consensus that candidates will run in the 2022 General Election if the movement decides the current system is defunct.

Either way, a party of some sort is expected to launch later this year after the Liberal Democrats failed to fill the space between Jeremy Corbyn's hard-left Labour Party and the Conservative government.

The movement is aiming to take back the centre ground as Jeremy Corbyn, pictured, takes the party in a left-wing direction and Theresa May, right, leads the Tory government

The platform is mainly aimed at centre-left voters with its plans to tax the rich more and release more funding for the NHS.

But one source said Brexit supporters are involved in the group and tighter immigration controls are on the agenda.

It is thought the party would attempt to reach out to MPs who are deemed to meet its non-partisan stance as opposed to trying to convince them to defect.

In attempt to break the political mould, potential candidates would sign strict term limits to stop MPs remaining in safe seats for decades.

David Owen (pictured) and the Social Democratic Party of the 1980s took just 23 seats despite winning 2.8million votes in the 1983 General Election

The identities of those involved remain secret, other than Franks, but a source said they are ready to challenge 'our current crop or professional politicians'.

But another person familiar with the scheme said: 'They have the resources, but I'm not sure they have a viable plan.'

Politicians who have made successful centrist snatches include French president Emmanuel Macron, whose En Marche! movement delivered a majority in the national assembly last year.

Critics of Franks' project point to the Social Democratic Party of the 1980s, when four senior Labour politicians formed a liberal alliance that took only 23 seats despite netting 7.8million votes in 1983's General Election.