Amid speculation swirling around Westminster that senior Labour and Conservative figures have already been in informal discussions regarding the formation of a new centrist party. By ‘centrist party’, it is not inconceivable that they mean a party which supports the damaged establishment consensus. In that instance, they should not hedge their bets on it having any success.

To some extent, it is clear to see that they lack confidence in the idea themselves. It is why those trying to depose Jeremy Corbyn are acting with such fervour and urgency – gaining control of the Labour Party and its branding is a far more promising avenue electorally than any new party would be. Moreover, Andrea Leadsom’s stunning withdrawal from the Conservative leadership race makes any support from senior Conservatives incredibly unlikely.

Leadsom quits Tory race

The consequences of this are that if Jeremy Corbyn maintains control of the Labour Party, those looking to form a new centrist party within the Labour movement are on their own, besides potential support from the Liberal Democrats – who were thumped into near irrelevance by the electorate only last year. What the pipedream of a new party of the centre-ground also neglects is that our first past the post electoral system will put them at an immediate disadvantage. Nightmares of the SDP Liberal Alliance will come back to haunt a new centrist party, who in 1983 received 25.4 per cent of the vote but only 4.5 per cent of seats in Parliament.

Furthermore, this concept neglects the fact that since the financial crisis in 2008, people have been fleeing the centre-ground across the Western political system and the political establishment are yet to confront this with any real, substantive solutions. Whether it is Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump in America, Jeremy Corbyn and the historic Brexit vote or the rise of the far-right in Europe – more and more people are fleeing an intellectually and morally bankrupt centre-ground.

The 6 most important issues Theresa May needs to address Show all 6 1 /6 The 6 most important issues Theresa May needs to address The 6 most important issues Theresa May needs to address Brexit The big one. Theresa May has spoken publicly three times since declaring her intent to stand in the Tory Leadership race, and each time she has said, ‘Brexit means Brexit.’ It sounds resolute, but it is helpful to her that Brexit is a made up word with no real meaning. She has said there will be ‘no second referendum’ and no re-entry in to the EU via the back door. But she, like the Leave campaign of which she was not a member, has pointedly not said with any precision what she thinks Brexit means Reuters The 6 most important issues Theresa May needs to address General election This is very much one to keep off the to do list. She said last week there would be ‘no general election’ at this time of great instability. But there have already been calls for one from opposition parties. The Fixed Term Parliaments Act of 2010 makes it far more difficult to call a snap general election, a difficulty she will be in no rush to overcome. In the event of a victory for Leadsom, who was not popular with her own parliamentary colleagues, an election might have been required, but May has the overwhelming backing of the parliamentary party Getty The 6 most important issues Theresa May needs to address HS2 Macbeth has been quoted far too much in recent weeks, but it will be up to May to decide whether, with regard to the new high speed train link between London, Birmingham, the East Midlands and the north, ‘returning were as tedious as go o’er.’ Billions have already been spent. But the £55bn it will cost, at a bare minimum, must now be considered against the grim reality of significantly diminished public finances in the short to medium term at least. It is not scheduled to be completed until 2033, by which point it is not completely unreasonable to imagine a massive, driverless car-led transport revolution having rendered it redundant EPA The 6 most important issues Theresa May needs to address Heathrow expansion Or indeed Gatwick expansion. Or Boris Island, though that option is seems as finished as the man himself. The decision on where to expand aviation capacity in the south east has been delayed to the point of becoming a national embarrassment. A final decision was due in autumn. Whatever is decided, there will be vast opprobrium PA The 6 most important issues Theresa May needs to address Trident renewal David Cameron indicated two days ago that there will be a Commons vote on renewing Britain’s nuclear deterrent on July 18th, by which point we now know, Ms May will be Prime Minister. The Labour Party is, to put it mildly, divided on the issue. This will be an early opportunity to maximise their embarrassment, and return to Tory business as usual EPA The 6 most important issues Theresa May needs to address Scottish Independence Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP are in no doubt that the Brexit vote provides the opportunity for a second independence referendum, in which they can emerge victorious. The Scottish Parliament at Holyrood has the authority to call a second referendum, but Ms May and the British Parliament are by no means automatically compelled to accept the result. She could argue it was settled in 2014 AFP/Getty

Votes are gushing to the political fringes because since the financial crash, establishment politicians have failed to come up with any meaningful solutions to the problems that ordinary working people face every single day. Politicians on both the centre-left and the centre-right across the West have failed to make neoliberalism and globalisation work for the masses.

The centre-left’s lack of backbone in confronting the failed ideology of austerity paved the way for the rise of Podemos, Syriza, and closer to home, Jeremy Corbyn. Trust in establishment politicians and ‘expert’ opinion is dangerously low, and the plan to ignore the problem and plough ahead with same failed policies and false promises unveils a political elite who are simply out of ideas.