{"id":701,"date":"2026-06-09T16:41:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T16:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/left-of-centre-parties-like-labour-face-challenges-from-both-right-and-left-heres-what-they-can-do-about-it\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T16:41:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T16:41:43","slug":"left-of-centre-parties-like-labour-face-challenges-from-both-right-and-left-heres-what-they-can-do-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/06\/09\/left-of-centre-parties-like-labour-face-challenges-from-both-right-and-left-heres-what-they-can-do-about-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Left-of-centre parties like Labour face challenges from both right and left \u2013 here\u2019s what they can do about it"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span> Dave Colman\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These are tough times for social democratic parties. Defined by their support for a strong welfare state within a capitalist economy, these parties have seen their traditional voter bases erode in recent years. And in government, they appear to many to have abandoned any last signs of a radical reformist outlook. It has even led some to speculate that the social democratic era may be over.<\/p>\n

There remains a large variation in the electoral success<\/a> of social democratic parties. The dismal performance<\/a> of the French Socialist party recently stands in contrast to the more successful trajectory of progressive parties in Australia<\/a> and Spain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the UK, Labour won a landslide in the 2024 general election, albeit one that was magnified by the British electoral system. But since then, it has suffered a collapse in devolved elections and in local polls.<\/p>\n

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\n Read more:
\n From landslide to leadership crisis: where did it all go wrong for Keir Starmer?<\/a>
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\n <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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In our book, Practical Social Democracy<\/a>, we suggest that a new approach to social democracy is needed. As a political movement, social democratic reformism is often understood as an abstract construct \u2013 for example, a model based around high public spending and high taxation in a \u201cmixed economy\u201d<\/a>. At other times it is seen more as an ideology to be followed. Both of these perspectives can be inflexible.<\/p>\n

We emphasise the practical nature<\/a> of social democracy \u2013 activities that are shaped by the context within which governments find themselves. This includes the policy legacies they inherit (the state of the economy, for example) and the political norms that guide decision-making.<\/p>\n

Of course there are competing demands on political parties. They need to govern across diverse policy areas with whatever resources they can generate. In a democracy, they also need to win office, often either building coalitions of voters or developing alliances with other parties. They need an activist base (and in the case of social democratic organisations some sort of link to trade unions). And they need to pay for the things they want to do.<\/p>\n

\u2018What matters is what works\u2019<\/h2>\n

In governing, social democratic parties must be able to react to their circumstances, to learn, adapt and evolve. In other words, governing is messy and involves compromise, adjustment and trade-offs.<\/p>\n

In the UK\u2019s case, the consequences of focusing on practical social democracy are clear. The Labour party has resisted adopting long-term goals that might define what a socialist society should look like. Instead it has concentrated on immediate results: \u201cWhat matters,\u201d former Labour prime minister Tony Blair<\/a> used to say, \u201cis what works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labour\u2019s current programme is shaped by the legacies of the previous Conservative government, including tax cuts and the emerging discourse about tax burdens (for example, the feasibility of continuing the \u201ctriple lock\u201d<\/a> that sees state pensions increase by inflation, average wage rises or 2.5% \u2013 whichever is highest).<\/p>\n

The practical character of Keir Starmer\u2019s party is manifest in its electoral prospects. Labour now faces multiple challenges: from Reform UK on the right; from Green voters committed to environmental readjustment; and from Liberal Democrats tracking a moderate model of the welfare state. <\/p>\n

Some of Labour\u2019s policy choices \u2013 restricting winter fuel payments<\/a> most obviously \u2013 have angered the party\u2019s membership and its affiliated trade unions. Welding these electoral and political demands into a single position can result in instability.<\/p>\n

In contrast, in the 1960s the Swedish Social Democrats began implementing an ideologically driven welfare state. However, in spite of its popularity with voters, the economic foundations started to wobble in the 1970s amid criticism of the high taxes needed to sustain the project.<\/p>\n

The party leadership was forced to adjust taxes. But it struggled to reduce the tax burden for those on lower wages without cutting it for those on higher salaries too. This triggered outcry from key activist groups such as influential trade unions. It also limited how far the welfare state could go. <\/p>\n

The party\u2019s key ideological project lost steam from the 1990s. Whether there may have been an alternative route is difficult to tell, but the practical nature of handling conflicting demands is key to understanding why the party lost both its ideological thread and its voters.<\/p>\n

But focusing on practical social democracy is not an excuse to grow complacent. It challenges neither the electoral difficulties nor the economic constraints that some progressive parties have struggled with. Clearly the social democratic prospect is under pressure.<\/p>\n

Looking at the different practices of social democratic parties, however, provides insights into the nature of reformism \u2013 and of the potential difficulties and opportunities. Social democracy, we suggest, is at its heart a practical phenomenon rather than an ideological one. Its ability to negotiate the challenges in its path will have important consequences for the movement\u2019s ultimate success or failure.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Mark Wickham-Jones is a member of the Labour Party: he has attended most Labour Party annual conferences since 1988; he has attended two local party meetings since 1988. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Jonas Hinnfors and Magnus Feldmann do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dave Colman\/Shutterstock These are tough times for social democratic parties. Defined by their support for a strong welfare state within a capitalist economy, these parties have seen their traditional voter bases erode in recent years. And in government, they appear to many to have abandoned any last signs of a radical reformist outlook. It has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}