Recent content by NickB

And if he doesn't stand again (or does and doesn't get re-elected) what happens to him then? He's been elected to serve as the Speaker, and I can't see him wanting to take back the whip of the party that's just stabbed him in the back.

This one needs a bunch of research, but the whole period intrigues me: Moving Molehills - PoD is James II dying in the early 1690s after his horse trips over a molehill. Mary still dies, and William II has no heir, but with James II out of the way, no one objects to the peace treaty in the Nine...

One I heard that would be interesting - after Genevieve Bujold quit Voyager, they considered going back to a male captain and were considering Nigel Havers for the role. Some British ones: Hugh Laurie as Harry Pearce in Spooks. Peter Davison as Boyd in Waking The Dead James McAvoy in the BBC's...

With regard to a 2009 GE, I can recall discussion at the time about the possibility. However, IIRC, somewhere in the Representation of the People Act is a prohibition against holding a certain number of elections on the same day. As the 2009 Europeans were already scheduled to be on the same day...

Really enjoying reading this TL, especially the basic idea that the near-collapse of the economy can all be traced back to Iain Duncan Smith. One minor point that occurred to me while reading the latest Grayling bit - RBS were the bankers to the Tory Party in the 90s, as I recall talk of how...

OK, just to sketch something out. The POD would be Paddy Ashdown not being in Parliament post-1987, either because he didn't win Yeovil originally in 1983 or lost the seat in 1987 (less likely, IMO). Things run pretty much as in OTL post the 1987 election with all the Steel/Owen feuding over the...

Ah, but is the party chairman actually in charge of running the party? As long as Grayling appoints some solid figures to work under him, then he can let Boris roam up and down the country, giving speeches to rally the faithful, doing what he does best. He'd be very much the figurehead, letting...

One thought occurs to me - Grayling was a member of the SDP in the 80s, and I suspect Team Cameron will find a way to bring that into the election campaign ('is he really one of us?') if they think their man's losing.

Have just discovered this thread and subscribed. Very interesting stuff, and I think the Brown sacking is plausible, however Gregg has a point. IIRC, there were rumblings in OTL around 2004/5 of Blair moving him to be Foreign Secretary and/or trying to get him a big international job, so you...

Richard Milhous Nixon (1913-1994) When one looks back at the career of 'Tricky Dick' Nixon, it seems odd to imagine him as a politician, yet until the Second World War intervened, that was where his career was most definitely headed. ... It was there, among the vast force of ships assembled for...

I like TheInfinteApe's idea, though I was idly wondering about a version where Lucas goes for a younger Anakin, around 12-13, and his friend Francis Ford Coppola suggests his nephew Nicolas for the role... In terms of the 'prequels' ending on a downer, I could see things being switched around...

One quibble about that - unless I missed something in the updates, you've got Colchester the wrong colour (red rather than gold). And Labour winning it in this scenario would be pretty ASBish.

Ah, the Prince of Darkness has stirred. At the moment, this isn't looking good for any of the leaders of the big three parties. I can see the Labour Government being paralysed by infighting like the Major years on steroids while Huhne's lost ground for the Lib Dems and there'll be a lot of...

And no football (or soccer, if you're that way inclined) either, so how about: June 30, 2002: Despite a spirited performance by David Beckham, Spain beat England 2-1 to win the World Cup. Spain had broken Korean hearts with a quarter-final victory on penalties, then easily beat a lacklustre...

Before the last election, I asked a few Tories what their position on electoral reform would be if they led in the popular vote but trailed in number of seats...and all of them said that obviously wouldn't happen, so their position wouldn't change. :) However, I can see that result being a bit...