WE have come over the years to think of the British party political structure as being pretty well established.

Since 1945, Labour stood for the “rights of the working man,” we Tories for “strong defence, a sound economy and a stable constitution”, the Liberals were somewhere in the middle of all of that blowing with the wind and seeking protest votes of all kinds.

That neat (if slightly caricatured) structure may be near its sell-by date.

Capitalism against socialism, which typified much of the 20th century, is pretty much history, leaving aside North Korea and Cuba.

That deprives both Labour and the Tories of their unique selling proposition. Single-issue groups and interests such as environment, poverty, business, military or pacifism cross traditional party lines.

The younger generation, in particular, is much influenced by Twitter and Facebook and less constrained by traditional political boundaries.

The old Gilbert and Sullivan line about “every boy and every gal [being] either a little Liberal or else a little Conservative” is truly a thing of the past.

Those shifting political tectonic plates are reflected in some real political changes in the last 12 months.

Who could have predicted the destruction of Labour in Scotland, the end of the Lib Dems in England, the Conservative overall majority, and perhaps most astonishing of all, the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party?

Politics as we have come to know it has changed beyond all recognition in a matter of months.

Traditional party structures seem likely to me to be ripe for further fundamental change. The size of the Corbyn landslide makes it hard to predict his early removal.

Yet it will be wholly unacceptable for many moderate Labour MPs to serve under him unless he trims his wilder ideas quite considerably).

Some kind of split in Labour seems likely, perhaps even defections to other parties. What will be their relationship with the Scottish Nationalists? Might Corbyn be the lifeline the Lib-Dems seek? Who can say?

Europe is another tectonic plate. The outcome of the referendum is, of itself of course, potentially extensive in its consequences. But, leaving aside the possibility of Brexit for a moment, even a 60/40 vote to stay in the EU could have devastating results for we Conservatives.

Forty per cent of people (20 million), many of them right of centre, will be devastated to have lost the referendum.

Forty per cent of the electorate would be quite enough to reap terrible consequences in the General Election which will follow closely behind.

Exciting times. My strong instinct is that the traditional party structures in the UK may be about to change for all time.