We are Centre Think Tank, a non-profit foundation and the UK’s leading centrist, cross-party think tank.
Our model of centrism looks primarily to the Nordic countries, which have successfully combined high-quality public services with strong economies. We support pragmatic, evidence-based policies that encourage moderate, balanced, and constructive changes to improve and reform existing systems. We are also one of the most transparent UK think tanks, releasing all of our funding sources and expenditure.
The core of our work involves facilitating new conversations through events and interviews, generating policy ideas, and publishing papers and articles. We then build consensus, influence public opinion, and collaborate with policymakers to drive real policy change.
Some of the papers we have published include:
- “Devolution Revolution“: This paper, supported by Lord Kinnock, examines the current devolution settlement in the UK, highlighting its shortcomings. It proposes a new funding system from Westminster that would expand devolution nationwide, with funds allocated to devolved governments based on their specific needs. The paper also includes polling co-commissioned by Centre Think Tank and Millbank Think Tank through Deltapoll.
- “The Australian Model“: commissioned by the Campaign for Dignity in Dying, this paper explores the Australian model for assisted dying. It highlights more than a hundred safeguards in place to protect users, provides an in-depth analysis of the Australian system, and draws on extensive interviews with practitioners who have seen the system firsthand and loved ones who have experienced it firsthand.
- “Following the Money.” This paper examines the state of think tank transparency in the UK, based on an assessment of over 100 think tanks. It also draws on polling co-commissioned by Centre Think Tank and Millbank Think Tank through Deltapoll. The paper offers practical recommendations for improving transparency in the sector and making compliance easier for organisations.
You can access all the papers published by us by clicking here, and our wider work can be found under the “Our Vision” section of our menu.
We have supporters from all across the political spectrum, too, including:
- Lord Kinnock, a Member of the House of Lords, former leader of the Labour Party and leader of the Opposition.
- Lord Roberts, Liberal Democrat Member of the House of Lords and former President of the Welsh Liberal Democrats.
- Stephen Hammond, former Conservative Member of Parliament.
- Suzy Davies, former Conservative Member of the Senedd.
- Stephen Lloyd, former Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament.
- Julian Huppert, former Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament.
In the words of Lord Taverne ⎼ a Centre supporter, former Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and Liberal Democrat Member of the House of Lords ⎼ “I think that Centre Think Tank is where a lot of us should be. After all, Social Democrats and Liberals meet in the Centre, but we also welcome those from other parties. I think it is a very good idea to have a centrist think tank.”
If you would like to find out more about us, then you can click the link here. If you are interested in joining, click the link here.
* Centre Think Tank is the UK's leading centrist cross-party think tank. We collaborate with individuals from across the political spectrum and from all parts of the UK. Our networks include academics, politicians, and legal experts.
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9 Comments
“Our model of centrism looks primarily to the Nordic countries”
Sounds like it should be called the “Identity crisis think tank”
This is a weird phenomenon I keep noticing in the lib Dems, lots of people with economically left wing views who are convinced that they are centrists.
“Social Democrats and Liberals meet in the Centre” – The delusion continues; ‘social democracy’ is a left wing ideology, the only form of liberalism it overlaps with is ‘social liberalism’ which is also economically left wing ideology (and is essentially just a combination of social democratic economics with liberal ideas on rights/freedoms, decentralisation, political reform etc).
Strange that Neil Kinnock’s CV omits his 5 years as a Vice-President of the European Commission.
I’m a little concerned about the quality of work produced by this think tank. I just had a read of the Devolution revolution paper and, in particular the chapter about broadcasting. It quotes polling evidence 65% of people in Scotland want power over broadcasting moved from Westminster to Holyrood…and in the very next paragraph concludes that there is no demand for the devolution of broadcasting!!!
In response to Ian Sanderson:
“Strange that Neil Kinnock’s CV omits his 5 years as a Vice-President of the European Commission” – the good news is that position alongside his time as an MP is mentioned on our website supporters page alongside the various other roles our supporters have had.
In response to Brenda Will:
The summary section includes our support for broadcasting powers which should be devolved to areas of the UK. That sentence should have been “there is now” so apologies for that!
A million billion years ago as a callow youth I wrote an MA dissertation on the relationship between liberalism and the centre (for which I interviewed Paddy Ashdown and Lord Beith). My conclusion was ‘it depends’, including on how people use the terms ‘liberal’ and ‘centre’, and on how left and right are contemporaneously understood. I think that remains basically true. I think as a party we have one foot in the centre and one on the left, but that’s not by a priori determination, its a result of applying our mix of traditions (classical liberalism, radical liberalism, social democracy, liberal communitarianism and internationalism) to the country and the world in an enabling and – in the proper sense of the word – progressive way, where there is absolute philosophical continuity of purpose between pushing international human rights and fixing a pothole. What I fear is the advance of a new hard centre that combines the controlling qualities old left state apparatus with the wilful neglect and punitive viciousness of blame-thy-neighbour right wing social policy. A lot of people live, or think they live, in the centre, and if we don’t have at least something to say in that space, the migrant-hating, service-slashing, face-scanning, identity-delegitimising bolus of Starmer, Badenoch and Farage will define it for themselves.
*controlling qualities of old left state
I shouldn’t post before caffeine intake….
Very interesting. Lib Dems are the only Party not to have any think tanks coming up with ideas and while this is not affiliated with the Party hopefully we can use some of their ideas.
I hoped you’d include a commitment to involving the people more in their governance in your list. I can’t speak for the Nordik people but building a concensus around important issues by involving them more is an essential part of the centre ground. By a more open discussion around important issues involving the media, universities, think tanks and civil society we can create a more cohesive narrative of what our country stands for.