This year, the UK will have a general election. So far, it seems that the Labour Party is favoured to win this election even if they may do so more because the electorate is tired of the Conservative Party, which has been in power for 14 years, rather than because of Labour’s transformational leadership.

Recently, I reread an article by UK former prime minister Tony Blair written in The Guardian in 2015 following the defeat of the Labour Party in that year’s general election. Blair made the Labour Party more electable when he shifted its strategy from hard-line left-wing ideology to political pragmatism, aiming to serve a broad spectrum of society beyond the working class. The gist of Blair’s arguments was that the Labour Party had to move to the centre.

Most politicians today admit that the time of ideologies is over. They know that to get elected, they must appeal to the ‘middle classes’. But how does one define the middle class? The Washington Post journalist Philip Bump has the correct answer: it is vague.

Most economists would probably consider the middle class a ‘function of income’. Various surveys have shown that many consider themselves middle class simply because they ‘are not poor’. The rich who do not want to flaunt their wealth also like the middle-class label because it helps them fit in well with the rest of society.

Blair’s article provided some of the missing details on the middle ground in society. For Blair, the middle ground is about ‘ambition and aspiration as well as compassion and care’. He listed three strategic objectives for his party to become once again electable. “Hard-working families don’t just want us to celebrate their hard work; they want to know that by hard work and effort, they can do well, rise, and achieve. They want to be better off, and they need to know we don’t just tolerate that; we support it.”

The key words in this statement are ‘hard-working families’. We need to ask ourselves whether our political parties encourage a sense of dependence rather than self-reliance. Political patronage, a sense of entitlement, and a disregard for civic values erode society’s chances of excelling in socio-economic progress.  

Economics and social class are far more complicated than digits on a pay cheque

Blair went further. “We must fashion a role for government that is strategic and empowering of individuals; which understands that today people will not trust or want the state to do everything for them, but who do want to know the government is at their side, ready and, as important, effective enough to deliver for them when they need it.” Lest this be misunderstood, Blair was not promoting the role of politicians as the ‘rescuers’ of those with an excessive sense of entitlement who see themselves as ‘victims’ of various sorts of discrimination.

Political ideology no longer has any meaning in modern politics, even if we keep using the terminology of the time when the left and the right fought aggressively to win people’s hearts.

“The centre ground is as much a state of mind as a set of policies. It means we appreciate that in today’s world, many solutions will cross traditional left and right boundaries. The centre is not where you split the difference between progressive and conservative politics. It is where progressive politics gets the breadth of territory to allow it to win the future.”

This time, Blair avoided mentioning the importance of education in middle-class values. This is possible because in 2015, 20 years after his election, Britain, like many other Western countries, was and still is struggling with an often-dysfunctional education system. But Blair’s winning slogan, ‘Education, Education, Education,’ is still the Holy Grail of all who want to promote socio-economic well-being for all.

The lack of skills and assets puts most people at a disadvantage: “no higher education, no savings, starting life in a low-

income family”. The mission of every politician should be to provide the essential tools for people to earn more, advance their education and skills and work hard to save for their future prosperity.

Many ordinary people’s suppressed anger at how their leaders function is palpable and fuelling dangerous discontent with democratic politics. The rise of populism indicates that traditional parties are failing to address the real concerns of most families.

Economics and social class “are far more complicated than digits on a pay cheque”. When politicians fail to understand this, they lose sight of what the middle class means.