Sharpe's Opinion

Ideology Is Death

Charlotte Gore has said what I have been – in a far more flustered and pompous manner than she achieves – trying to get down in writing for a week or so now: that ideologies are distracting and fly in the face of sensible thinking.

In this respect the more pure a party is, the more single minded it becomes, the more likely it is that it will fail. During our last leadership election, I argued that single minded obsession with Lib Dem favourite subjects was causing us to attract likeminded people, but alientated those beyond the borders of Libdemmery.

It’s ironic that I’ve now found myself in a situation where I have talked myself into a similar corner. In truth the need to compromise and adapt is an absolute requirement for a modern, mainstream political party. You must start where people are and take them where you want to go. That’s what New Labour did. It’s what the Conservatives are desperately trying to do. Is it what we’re doing?

Well no, because we’re proud to be trying to ‘take people’ to where we want them to be without first going to where they are.

Of course, I was planning on pointing out the it’s the Conservative Party which, like our country, has no written constitution nor codified ideology.