LEFT-WING political parties are “experiencing an existential crisis” and need to “offer voters a cause” if they are to win elections and rebuild trust in politics, according to a new report.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) claimed that progressive politicians need to give people a “stake in society” by asking more of them, including through compulsory voting.

The think tank argues progressives fail to answer the question of who and what they stand for in its What is the Left For? report.

The IPPR argued the answer is “reciprocism” — where the state should do more for people, while asking more of them in return such as “requiring them to vote, or to take an active part in community life, or policy-making.”

IPPR executive director Harry Quilter-Pinner said that reciprocism is how Prime Minister Andy Burnham can “take Manchesterism national.”

“Reciprocism is a political project capable of beating the new right, reforming the old status quo, and giving people a genuine stake in society,” he said.

“People do not just want politics to deliver things to them. They want power over the forces shaping their lives. They want a stake in the wealth they help create. 

“They want places where common life is possible. They want to belong to a country that asks something of them and gives something back.”

The IPPR also called for rebuilding spaces and institutions that bring people together, regulating social media, creating a citizens’ wealth fund, and imposing strict political donation caps.

Its report criticises other progressive organisations, including the Tony Blair Institute, for “flirting” with “oligarchs and undermining the left’s fight.”