Alternate First Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

maverick

Banned
As we know, Robert Walpole became the first recognized Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1721, I think as a result of having to deal with some sort of financial crisis, and remained in that post until the poor handling of the War of Jenkins' Ear brought upon his downfall.

Now, my question is...who could have become the first Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1721, or some other time, had Walpole not risen politically or had he died just before the conditions that propelled him to the Premiership?

Could the Lord Halifax had become Prime Minister in the 1710s? Or the Earl Stanhope had it not been for the South Sea Bubble crisis?

I'm just randomly guessing, on one hand we can speculate about who could take Walpole's place in 1821 and on the other speculate about who before him could have become Prime Minister.
 

Thande

Donor
Difficult to say, not that knowledgeable about the period. I think you could definitely make the case that the creation of the (informal) prime ministerial position in OTL is actually a fluke due to the South Sea Bubble (the financial crisis you mention) and is not a historical inevitability. If true this point of view would obviously have radical repercussions for the history of the development of systems of government. We might maintain an arrangement whereby, while power still flows from the monarchy to the parliamentary cabinet, said cabinet remains a council of more-or-less equals with no single person exercising whatever executive power the monarch gives up.

Alternatively there might be a softer version of this, whereby the First Lord of the Treasury is first among equals (as was arguably already the case with many of the 17th century ministries) but nowhere near to the same extent as the OTL prime minister.
 

maverick

Banned
Difficult to say, not that knowledgeable about the period.

It's been so long since LTTW dealt with anything remotely close to the 1720s, after all.

Alright, let's reduce this to two simple questions then, for all Alternate History Aficionados out there:

1. Who else could have stepped in as Prime Minister as a consequence of the South Sea Bubble Scandal?

And slighterly more complex:

2. What other man could have become Prime Minister at another historical juncture/date, and what alternate set of circumstances could have put him in that position?
 

Thande

Donor
Thinking about this some more, I wonder what would happen if Walpole fell from grace only say five years into his reign. Under those circumstances, I wonder if we would revert to a more balanced government, as Walpole's rivals might not want to directly take over all the powers he had massed to himself; when Walpole did eventually fall, he had been in that position for so long that the idea of a PM was now 'normal', but prior to that his enemies might eschew taking that position themselves in order to paint him as a power-grubbing megalomaniac.

Although in contradiction with what I said before, the position of George I as a disinterested and non-anglophone monarch perhaps does favour one man to lead the country in his stead, and if not Walpole and not the South Sea Bubble as catalyst, someone and something else would take their places.
 

maverick

Banned
So Walpole's downfall in 1725 or 1726 could lead to a situation in which no man is Prime Minister again and the First Lord of the Admiralty is Primus Inter Pares in the British Government/Cabinet?

Although in contradiction with what I said before, the position of George I as a disinterested and non-anglophone monarch perhaps does favour one man to lead the country in his stead, and if not Walpole and not the South Sea Bubble as catalyst, someone and something else would take their places.

That was my thinking, and why I thought Halifax or Stanhope could become "Prime Ministers" given the right set of circumstances.
 

Thande

Donor
So Walpole's downfall in 1725 or 1726 could lead to a situation in which no man is Prime Minister again and the First Lord of the Admiralty is Primus Inter Pares in the British Government/Cabinet?
Treasury not Admiralty but yes.


That was my thinking, and why I thought Halifax or Stanhope could become "Prime Ministers" given the right set of circumstances.
Stanhope would be interesting because he had already been effective 'first among equals' chief minister earlier on, and might choose to give up Walpole's powers to revert to that position.

Halifax would I think be a much more establishment candidate than the other two, coming from a traditionally powerful family whereas the other two were only a couple of generations removed from elevated gentry (especially Walpole, who owed his family fortunes to his grandfather picking the right side in the Civil War).
 
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