Labour minimalists believe that England is a fundamentally conservative, right-leaning country, in which the party can only succeed electorally and in government by appearing as moderate and unthreatening to powerful interests as possible. In 1985, in his first act as a senior party figure, Mandelson commissioned a report by a fellow Labour minimalist, the political analyst Philip Gould. “Positive perceptions of the Labour party tend to be outweighed by negative concerns,” wrote Gould, “particularly [about] unacceptable ‘beyond the pale’ figures.” Provocative leftwing MPs, bold-sounding leftwing policies, fierce leftwing rhetoric: all should be pared back, marginalised or dropped altogether, the two men agreed, so that Labour could reposition itself advantageously on the centre ground.