This chapter studies the two major left-of-centre parties in the US and the UK. Both found themselves losing elections in the 1980s and their leaders came to the same conclusion: that the voters perceived the parties as having shifted too far to the left and so, if they wanted to win, they would have to move toward the centre. In America, Bill Clinton succeeded in winning the presidency in 1992 but after a series of policy disasters, the Democrats then lost Congress two years later. Labour followed a similar strategy with less success at first-unexpectedly losing the 1992 election-but then began a long run of government from 1997 to 2010. The article not only examines their strategies and the rhetoric that reflected them, making a close comparison between the two countries, but also compares and contrasts it to actual policy decisions.
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