Skip to main content
Centrists and the NHS
So much for ‘middle of the road’ populist politics – Change UK is wedded to the deeply unpopular neoliberal extremism of privatising the NHS, writes SOLOMON HUGHES

THE ongoing link between centrist politics and NHS privatisation always resurfaces: journalist Joe Lo, working for the Left Foot Forward website, reports that the partners of Change UK have been appointed to top jobs at the new centrist party.

One detail caught my eye: Nicola Murphy, wife of ex-Labour MP Chris Leslie, has been made Change UK’s “nominating officer.”

She was previously a “special adviser” to Gordon Brown and she left government to become a lobbyist.

As Lo points out, Murphy worked from 2007-8 as head of government relations in Britain for US healthcare firm Humana.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You can read five articles for free every month,
but please consider supporting us by becoming a subscriber.
More from this author
Sabrina Carpenter performs during The BRIT Awards 2025 at London's O2 Arena, March 1, 2025
Features / 16 May 2025
16 May 2025

Labour’s pop-loving front bench have snaffled up even more music tickets worth thousands apiece, reports SOLOMON HUGHES

Channel Migrants
Features / 9 May 2025
9 May 2025

Secret consultation documents finally released after the Morning Star’s two-year freedom of information battle show the Home Office misrepresented public opinion, claiming support for policies that most respondents actually strongly criticised as dangerous and unfair, writes SOLOMON HUGHES

Scud_downed_by_Patriot_missiles
Media / 2 May 2025
2 May 2025

SOLOMON HUGHES highlights a 1995 Sunday Times story about the disappearance of ‘defecting Iraqi nuclear scientist.’ Even though the story was debunked, it was widely repeated across the mainstream press, creating the false – and deadly – narrative of Iraqi WMD that eventually led to war

LOCKED-IN OUTSOURCING: Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood during the official opening of HMP Millsike in Yorkshire, to be run by the notorious outsourcing firm Mitie
Features / 24 April 2025
24 April 2025

Despite Labour’s promises to bring things ‘in-house,’ the Justice Secretary has awarded notorious outsourcing outfit Mitie a £329 million contract to run a new prison — despite its track record of abuse and neglect in its migrant facilities, reports SOLOMON HUGHES

Similar stories
COSY CLUB: Akshata Murty has been appointed a trustee of the
Features / 11 April 2025
11 April 2025
Why is the Labour government so addicted to giving government jobs to Tories when it spent so long trying to oust them? In the hope the favour is returned the next time the Tories return to power, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
Cartoon: Lewis Marsden
Features / 13 February 2025
13 February 2025
What’s behind the sudden wave of centrist ‘understanding’ about the real nature of Starmerism and its deep unpopularity? SOLOMON HUGHES reckons he knows the reasons for this apparent epiphany
Taylor Swift performing on stage during her Eras Tour at the
Features / 7 February 2025
7 February 2025
They’re the problem it’s them: SOLOMON HUGHES on the freeloading flunkies of the Labour Party hoovering up VIP tickets to musical and sporting events
QUO VADIS? James Lyons He made friends with the Labour right
Features / 24 October 2024
24 October 2024
By hiring a former TikTok PR man as its new head of comms, Labour shows that corporate wheeling and dealing rather than principled politics will be the party’s priority, says SOLOMON HUGHES