alternatehistory.com
Bolt451 - Gordon Pulls it off '92
Gordon Pulls it off '92
1990-1997: John Major (Conservatives)
Def: 1992: Neil Kinnock (Labour) Paddy Ashdown (Lib Dem)
1997-2009: Gordon Brown (Labour) (1)
Def 1997: John Major (Conservatives) Paddy Ashdown (Lib Dem) (2)
Def 2001: Michael Portillo (Conservatives) Charles Kennedy (Lib Dem)
Def 2005: Ian Duncan Smith (Conservatives) Charles Kennedy (Lib Dem)
2009-2010: David Milliband (Labour) (3)
2010-2015: David Davis (Conservative) (4)
Def: David Milliband (Labour) Chris Huhne (Lib Dem)
2015- Present: Yvette Cooper (Labour) (5)
Def: David Davis (Conservative) Vince cable (Lib Dem)
(1) No one expected Gordon Brown to throw his hat in the ring for Labour leader, much less beat John Smith by the narrowest of margins. Some figured Labour wanted a newer face after failing to win in '92. Smith would serve as Shadow Chancellor with Tony Blair as Foreign secretary
(2) Labour secured a very comfortable victory over the Tories in 1997 which surprised no one. Brown was seen as a safe pair of hands for the country. Some would criticise Brown's speaking style sometimes as reserved and as the years went on he built up a reputation for a strong temper and surrounding himself with cronys and supporters. Brown also had a bit of a reputation of sticking his finger into the Chancellor of the Exchequer's work wether it was Smith, Blair, Darling or (Andrew) Smith. Still Labour's moderate centre-left message remained quite popular, leading to three terms in power, despite some calls for Brown to step down after his third victory.
(3) It wasn't until the onset of the banking crisis that cracks really showed in Brown's long reign. Bailing out the banks increase the national debt greatly (though it was generally seen as a neccesity) which gave the Tories under David Davis a point of attack at PMQs. Davis had set himself up as "the anti-Brown" with a line of civil Liberties and economic freedoms. Voter and Prime Ministerial fatigue affected Brown's image in the polls and an incident where he snapped violently a Chancellor Andrew Smith lead to a vote of no confidence in Brown with centrist David Milliband winning the leadership election.
(4) Milliband was doomed from the start. Since 2007 the Tories had been polling above Labour. David Davis's government came in with a program of reducing business taxes, cutting "unnecesary" public spending
(5) 2015 was a narrow election with Labour attacking the Tories on the lack of economic growth and their percieved bias towards big business. Labour secured an eleven seat majority in the end and as such have built up a reasonable relationship with the Lib Dems. Will Cooper's program of investment and "targeted austerity" work?
1990-1997: John Major (Conservatives)
Def: 1992: Neil Kinnock (Labour) Paddy Ashdown (Lib Dem)
1997-2009: Gordon Brown (Labour) (1)
Def 1997: John Major (Conservatives) Paddy Ashdown (Lib Dem) (2)
Def 2001: Michael Portillo (Conservatives) Charles Kennedy (Lib Dem)
Def 2005: Ian Duncan Smith (Conservatives) Charles Kennedy (Lib Dem)
2009-2010: David Milliband (Labour) (3)
2010-2015: David Davis (Conservative) (4)
Def: David Milliband (Labour) Chris Huhne (Lib Dem)
2015- Present: Yvette Cooper (Labour) (5)
Def: David Davis (Conservative) Vince cable (Lib Dem)
(1) No one expected Gordon Brown to throw his hat in the ring for Labour leader, much less beat John Smith by the narrowest of margins. Some figured Labour wanted a newer face after failing to win in '92. Smith would serve as Shadow Chancellor with Tony Blair as Foreign secretary
(2) Labour secured a very comfortable victory over the Tories in 1997 which surprised no one. Brown was seen as a safe pair of hands for the country. Some would criticise Brown's speaking style sometimes as reserved and as the years went on he built up a reputation for a strong temper and surrounding himself with cronys and supporters. Brown also had a bit of a reputation of sticking his finger into the Chancellor of the Exchequer's work wether it was Smith, Blair, Darling or (Andrew) Smith. Still Labour's moderate centre-left message remained quite popular, leading to three terms in power, despite some calls for Brown to step down after his third victory.
(3) It wasn't until the onset of the banking crisis that cracks really showed in Brown's long reign. Bailing out the banks increase the national debt greatly (though it was generally seen as a neccesity) which gave the Tories under David Davis a point of attack at PMQs. Davis had set himself up as "the anti-Brown" with a line of civil Liberties and economic freedoms. Voter and Prime Ministerial fatigue affected Brown's image in the polls and an incident where he snapped violently a Chancellor Andrew Smith lead to a vote of no confidence in Brown with centrist David Milliband winning the leadership election.
(4) Milliband was doomed from the start. Since 2007 the Tories had been polling above Labour. David Davis's government came in with a program of reducing business taxes, cutting "unnecesary" public spending
(5) 2015 was a narrow election with Labour attacking the Tories on the lack of economic growth and their percieved bias towards big business. Labour secured an eleven seat majority in the end and as such have built up a reasonable relationship with the Lib Dems. Will Cooper's program of investment and "targeted austerity" work?
- Bolt451
- Word Count: 450