Once broad churches, both the Tory and Labour parties have become increasingly sectarian. Breakaways will be the result.. When pollsters ask who would make best prime minister, Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are regularly beaten into second and third place by 'Neither.’

Op-ed by Andrew Rawnsley @ TheGuardian.com, Feb. 10

[....] Are they fit for the purpose of representing and reconciling the diversity of opinions in a modern and complex country? And for offering it a choice of decent governments? A growing number of us have been saying not and for a long time.

Even before Brexit split both parties and scrambled voter allegiances, much of the electorate was expressing its dissatisfaction with the big two. The Tories have not won a solid parliamentary majority since 1987. The last Labour leader who was not called Tony Blair to secure a healthy Commons majority was Harold Wilson in 1966.

The number of voters who enthusiastically identify as red or blue has been in long-term decline. Party membership has also been shrivelling [....]