The Labour Party has changed out of all recognition.
Last time Labour was in power, it created the minimum wage in the face of opposition from Conservatives and many big businesses. It increased funding for the NHS, raised teachers’ pay and redistributed money from the rich to the poor, particularly to poor families with children, through tax credits.
But supporters of the last Labour government are today condemned as “Blairites” or “centrists” - which are meant as criticisms - by supporters of the current leader, Jeremy Corbyn.
And it seems that the majority of Labour members are happy with this. Mr Corbyn has always presented himself as offering a break with the past, and he’s won clear victories both times he’s stood in Labour leadership elections.
The reason there’s now talk of the Labour Party splitting, with so-called centrist MPs considering starting something new, is because they’ve come to realise that they may never get their party back.
Even when Mr Corbyn goes, he’ll probably be replaced by someone with a similar outlook.
Labour has changed. Now, some people are trying to do something similar to the Conservative Party.
They know that the Conservatives are likely to hold a leadership election soon - probably at some point between Brexit taking place, currently set for March 29 2019, and the next general election, which must be held by May 5, 2022.
And they think that if they can flood the Conservative Party with new members then they can ensure a right-wing, hardline Brexiteer is elected, and change the face of the Tory Party.
The person behind the plan is businessman Arron Banks, who in the past has made donations to UKIP and to Leave.EU, the unofficial “leave” campaign in the EU referendum.
While the official campaign argued that the UK should “take back control” of its laws and spend more on the NHS, Leave.EU focused on cutting immigration.
He has called on supporters of Leave.EU to join the Conservative Party so they can vote in the next leadership election.
And he’s attempted to join the party himself. He even dropped hints on Twitter that former UKIP leader Nigel Farage was set to join, in an attempt to encourage Mr Farage’s fans to do the same.
The Tories are on to him. They’ve told him he’s not welcome as a member because he’s “likely to bring the party into disrepute”.
They have no way of knowing where other new members have come from, or why they chose to join. But despite their current divisions and air of incompetence, the Conservatives may see off this attempted takeover.
