Why did Change UK end up splitting? Well, there were the personality clashes. And then there was the failure to attract more MPs who were supposed to break off from their existing parties to join the quest to change politics. But the biggest reason the party ended up in this mess was that simply it became a party.
When it started off as the Independent Group, its members seemed keen to cast their new caucus as something loose and exploratory, rather than a formal political party. In fact, I understand that three of the MPs – Gavin Shuker, Angela Smith and Luciana Berger – who announced they were leaving today were very resistant to the idea that the group should register as a political party. But in the end they were overruled, particularly by Chris Leslie. As a compromise, the group agreed to elect an interim leader rather than a permanent one, but the choice of Allen led to clashes with her former Conservative colleague Soubry, who felt she had insufficient experience to be heading up a party.
The problem with creating a political party is that you need to have some unity around your values.
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