AHC: Labour victory in 1987/88

With a PoD of September 1983, your challenge is to have Labour gain a majority in 1987 or at least be the largest party in a hung parliament. Bonus points if it's a large majority.
 

Thande

Donor
Pretty ASB with those conditions, though I think Labour would have won in 1987/8 if the SDP had never left, even if the Falklands War still happened.

I don't know, maybe something like Grenada but on steroids happens closer to the election and Thatcher's foreign policy is made to look mad. But I think despite Kinnock's best efforts, voters were still too wary of the skeletons in Labour's closet at this point.
 
Pretty ASB with those conditions, though I think Labour would have won in 1987/8 if the SDP had never left, even if the Falklands War still happened.

I don't know, maybe something like Grenada but on steroids happens closer to the election and Thatcher's foreign policy is made to look mad. But I think despite Kinnock's best efforts, voters were still too wary of the skeletons in Labour's closet at this point.

How about a Hung Parliament with the Tories as the largest party?
 

Thande

Donor
How about a Hung Parliament with the Tories as the largest party?

That's more possible, but the electoral arithmetic can make it tricky--FPTP can produce some unexpected results. I suspect the best way to get that would be to have an Alliance surge (Tory vote goes down and Labour blast through via spoiler effect), but I think their novelty was played out by 1987 and they needed some big new idea to catch the public imagination. In 1987 it seemed more of a soap opera about whether David Owen could stop them merging the parties or not.
 

Thande

Donor
There's also the possibility of Thatcher being killed in the 1984 assassination attempt; while there would be a sympathy vote, that would largely be forgotten by 1987 and I think Heseltine or whoever would struggle to draw the same vote Thatcher did.
 
Perhaps a different Westland affair? If anyone but Kinnock had made the opening speech in the House then Maggie might have been wounded - and perhaps forced to resign.
 
There's also the possibility of Thatcher being killed in the 1984 assassination attempt; while there would be a sympathy vote, that would largely be forgotten by 1987 and I think Heseltine or whoever would struggle to draw the same vote Thatcher did.

Similar to FtSoaS? I suppose it's doable, Kinnock really needs to capture around 80/90 seats for things to actually draw near to the Conservatives. Although I suppose the Alliance could have done better as well.
 
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