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KingCrawa - If Not for an Elbow
This couldn't be more Brute Forced and ASB if I tried, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
If Not for an Elbow
William Hague (Conservative-Lib Dem Coalition): 2010 – 2011
The Tories came out of the 2010 election with the most seats, but unfortunately just short of a minority. Another blow would come on the 8th of May when while crossing Parliament square, on his way to a strategy meeting, David Cameron was knocked into the road, by a tourist and fell under the wheels of a passing tourist bus.
Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague took the reins of the party and having negotiated a coalition deal with the Lib Dems, took office as PM, winning the subsequent leadership election unopposed. However, the wheels quickly came off the wagon. Hague did not cultivate the good relationship with Nick Clegg that Cameron had had and therefore the Lib Dem leader was less willing to bend over backwards for the larger party. Having already abstained on the tuition fees vote, when they took a clobbering at the 2011 local elections, Clegg – under pressure from the parties’ senior figures – pulled the plug on the coalition.
William Hague (Conservative Minority): 2011 – 2012
Free of the Lib Dem’s Hague set about implementing a proper conservative manifesto and austerity proper. However, it soon became clear that if the disparate parties on the Opposition benches could agree on one thing, it was their opposition to any major form of austerity. When the 2012 budget only passed by the skin of Chancellor Hammond’s teeth, Hague decided to put the government out of its misery and called an election.
Ed Miliband (Labour-Lib Dem-SNP Supply and Confidence): 2012-2013
Fearful of Labour falling into infighting, - or worse electing one of Blair’s acolytes – Gordon Brown intervened in the Labour leadership election of 2010 as soon as he found out that both Ed Miliband and Ed Balls would be standing. He persuaded Balls to step aside to avoid vote splitting in exchange for which he would get to be Shadow Chancellor. This allowed Miliband to win by a much wider margin and while some still accused him of “stealing his brothers job” the margin was wide enough in all three houses for both brothers to hold onto their dignity – though David still refused to serve in the Shadow Cabinet – and Ed went into his leadership much more comfortable in himself and in his positions. Then the Tories fell apart in front of him.
It seemed that the electorate had long memories though, as come 2012, while they weren’t willing to vote for the Tories they weren’t willing to trust Labour with the Treasury again either. Cobbling together a brief anti-austerity supply and confidence deal with the Lib Dems and the SNP, Labour set about reversing Hague’s policies. After a year righting the economic ship, Miliband in accordance with his agreement with Robertson and Cable, called an election.
Ed Miliband (Labour Majority): 2013 – Present
Miliband probably wouldn’t have won if it hadn’t been for a set of promising economic numbers and more importantly backbench Tory MP Peter Bone, being caught on a live mic calling Conservative leader George Osborne “no better than one of the bloody Liberals.” With the split in the Conservatives obvious, and electorate perhaps fearful of a fourth election in three years, Labour sailed to a small twenty seat majority, and Ed Miliband set about having a large hunk of granite placed in the Downing Street Rose Garden.
Osborne’s resignation meanwhile trigged the second Conservative leadership contest in a year. The Eurosceptic right, tired of being forced into the shadows, mustered all their strength and got the MP for Shipley onto the ballot.
The rest as they say, is history
If Not for an Elbow
William Hague (Conservative-Lib Dem Coalition): 2010 – 2011
The Tories came out of the 2010 election with the most seats, but unfortunately just short of a minority. Another blow would come on the 8th of May when while crossing Parliament square, on his way to a strategy meeting, David Cameron was knocked into the road, by a tourist and fell under the wheels of a passing tourist bus.
Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague took the reins of the party and having negotiated a coalition deal with the Lib Dems, took office as PM, winning the subsequent leadership election unopposed. However, the wheels quickly came off the wagon. Hague did not cultivate the good relationship with Nick Clegg that Cameron had had and therefore the Lib Dem leader was less willing to bend over backwards for the larger party. Having already abstained on the tuition fees vote, when they took a clobbering at the 2011 local elections, Clegg – under pressure from the parties’ senior figures – pulled the plug on the coalition.
William Hague (Conservative Minority): 2011 – 2012
Free of the Lib Dem’s Hague set about implementing a proper conservative manifesto and austerity proper. However, it soon became clear that if the disparate parties on the Opposition benches could agree on one thing, it was their opposition to any major form of austerity. When the 2012 budget only passed by the skin of Chancellor Hammond’s teeth, Hague decided to put the government out of its misery and called an election.
Ed Miliband (Labour-Lib Dem-SNP Supply and Confidence): 2012-2013
Fearful of Labour falling into infighting, - or worse electing one of Blair’s acolytes – Gordon Brown intervened in the Labour leadership election of 2010 as soon as he found out that both Ed Miliband and Ed Balls would be standing. He persuaded Balls to step aside to avoid vote splitting in exchange for which he would get to be Shadow Chancellor. This allowed Miliband to win by a much wider margin and while some still accused him of “stealing his brothers job” the margin was wide enough in all three houses for both brothers to hold onto their dignity – though David still refused to serve in the Shadow Cabinet – and Ed went into his leadership much more comfortable in himself and in his positions. Then the Tories fell apart in front of him.
It seemed that the electorate had long memories though, as come 2012, while they weren’t willing to vote for the Tories they weren’t willing to trust Labour with the Treasury again either. Cobbling together a brief anti-austerity supply and confidence deal with the Lib Dems and the SNP, Labour set about reversing Hague’s policies. After a year righting the economic ship, Miliband in accordance with his agreement with Robertson and Cable, called an election.
Ed Miliband (Labour Majority): 2013 – Present
Miliband probably wouldn’t have won if it hadn’t been for a set of promising economic numbers and more importantly backbench Tory MP Peter Bone, being caught on a live mic calling Conservative leader George Osborne “no better than one of the bloody Liberals.” With the split in the Conservatives obvious, and electorate perhaps fearful of a fourth election in three years, Labour sailed to a small twenty seat majority, and Ed Miliband set about having a large hunk of granite placed in the Downing Street Rose Garden.
Osborne’s resignation meanwhile trigged the second Conservative leadership contest in a year. The Eurosceptic right, tired of being forced into the shadows, mustered all their strength and got the MP for Shipley onto the ballot.
The rest as they say, is history
- KingCrawa
- Word Count: 630