AFAIK left is pretty relative. Being liberal is being considered as "lefty" under non-democratic-at-all regimes. Then lets suppose you talk from nowadays USA: Despite the whole spectrum being so tilted right ward, the notion of freedom is that anchored in the mentalities that "authoritarian dictateurship" is inconceivable and get refered to as "liberal but corrupt". That fun gotcha makes some pretty centrist party be refered to as "lefty" and that's limiting every one's imagination.