Lord Wolfson, the boss of retail giant Next, has called for a “renewed centre right” which champions the free markets’ importance in raising living standards.
Wolfson, a Conservative life peer and prominent supporter of Brexit, argued a “commitment to liberty” should form the basis of the right-wing movement in the UK.
“This classical liberalism stands in sharp contrast to the so-called liberalism of the progressive left, which uses state power to impose social change from above,” he said.
The businessman has been fiercely critical of Labour’s handling of the UK economy, attacking hikes to National Insurance and Angela Raynor’s Employment Rights Bill, which he has described as a “wrecking ball” for part-time work.
His comments come as part of a wider policy initiative led by Policy Exchange, which is pushing for the right to chart a new course as it tackles ideological battles ranging from economic stagnation to “lawfare,” immigration and ending the small boat crisis.
The think tank on Saturday published a set of essays from key right-wing figures including Lord Wolfson, Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, the former head of the Australian Liberal Party Alexander Downer, and controversial academic Matt Goodwin.
“Where political power compels, economic power persuades — offering something others value more than what they give in return. In short, reciprocity,” Wolfson wrote.
“Wealth creation – the process of generating things that people value – happens most effectively when there is free, fair and voluntary exchange. Markets work because they allow millions of individual bargains to guide production and trade.”
Wolfson also railed against the top-down approach of the political class, arguing for a greater reliance on principles to guide decision making. He argued a “popularity-seeking drift” in political discourse had eroded public trust, with parties around the world too often embracing the “science of followership.”
Paul Goodman, the former Conservative MP and senior Policy Exchange fellow leading the initiative, said: “Labour has won a landslide a year ago. But in many comparable countries, the Right has been forming governments.”
“The Right is persuading voters in these countries and elsewhere that it will deal better than the Left with a crisis of trust… we are a low trust country… The effects of mistrust ripple out…Taxes rise higher, growth slows and investors quit. Older voters mourn a more neighbourly cohesive past.”
