Geoffrey Howe as Prime Minister in 1989?

[Basileus Giorgios]

Just some thoughts on this.

Margaret Thatcher is somehow compelled to step down as Prime Minister in the early autumn of 1989, let's say shortly before Nigel Lawson's OTL resignation. Not killed or maimed, but out of high office. She is succeeded by Howe as Conservative leader. Is this plausible?

More questions.

How much more pro-European will Howe's government be over the period 1989-92 compared to the OTL governments of Thatcher and Major?

Is it plausible to have Lawson moved by Howe to the Foreign Office, to make room at the Treasury for Major?

Does Michael Heseltine make a return to the Government?

How will Labour respond to all of this?

And, long term, what sort of impact on the Conservative Party does no 1990 coup have? The splits are still there over Europe, but here, Thatcher's deposition hasn't introduced the real poison to the system. Thoughts?

[Thande]

I don't think it's plausible for Howe to succeed Thatcher the way it's described. Howe might succeed Thatcher as a neutral safe pair of hands choice if she went with acrimony and it was a few years earlier than OTL (before they fell out). However if she went of her own accord...Howe was the last member of the first cabinet from 1979 besides Thatcher herself, so it would not send the message of new leadership, and he was also old.

[Thande]

Originally Posted by Basileus Giorgios

Is it plausible to have Lawson moved by Howe to the Foreign Office, to make room at the Treasury for Major?

There was some speculation in the mid-eighties that Lawson might go to the Foreign Office as part of another reshuffle, and Francis Maude said he didn't think Lawson could be Foreign Secretary because he was a Jew. Granted that's mostly because Maude is a racist toerag, but I think it was based on the idea that a Jewish Foreign Secretary could alienate Arab and Muslim states due to Israel.

[Basileus Giorgios]

Originally Posted by Thande

There was some speculation in the mid-eighties that Lawson might go to the Foreign Office as part of another reshuffle, and Francis Maude said he didn't think Lawson could be Foreign Secretary because he was a Jew. Granted that's mostly because Maude is a racist toerag, but I think it was based on the idea that a Jewish Foreign Secretary could alienate Arab and Muslim states due to Israel.

Quite an interesting anecdote there. Thank you...

[Devolved]

Originally Posted by Basileus Giorgios

Just some thoughts on this.

Margaret Thatcher is somehow compelled to step down as Prime Minister in the early autumn of 1989, let's say shortly before Nigel Lawson's OTL resignation. Not killed or maimed, but out of high office. She is succeeded by Howe as Conservative leader. Is this plausible?

More questions.

How much more pro-European will Howe's government be over the period 1989-92 compared to the OTL governments of Thatcher and Major?

Is it plausible to have Lawson moved by Howe to the Foreign Office, to make room at the Treasury for Major?

Does Michael Heseltine make a return to the Government?

How will Labour respond to all of this?

And, long term, what sort of impact on the Conservative Party does no 1990 coup have? The splits are still there over Europe, but here, Thatcher's deposition hasn't introduced the real poison to the system. Thoughts?

Howe had no support in the country and was seen as a mindless Thatcherite automaton at that time.

Later we found out he was just a pro European mindless Thatcherite automaton.

If Thatcher is somehow forced out it would be because the Tories were afraid of losing the next General Election and wanted a newer face to placate the electorate. Geoffrey Howe was a very old face associated with monetarist budgets and famous for being anonymous at the foreign office. He had zero chance of winning anything.

[Arachnid]

As Devolved said prior to his very public change of heart on Thatcher he was seen as too close to her to be a change and too grey to be an improvement. Very unlikely, though if she goes under a bus he could sneak in in the immediate aftermath of Heseltine resigning.