Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes V (Do Not Post Current Politics Here)
- Status
Like the British Empire, the Hapsburg Empire is an intercontinental empire connected by a shared history and imperial identity, with crownlands stretching across southern Europe, South America and Asia. Unlike the British Empire, the separate domains lack significant autonomy and are all ruled by the same monarch living in Vienna. The system was put under serious strain after the Great War, which saw the Hapsburg and much of Europe defeated by the British. Most of the smaller European states accepted British economic assistance, but the Hapsburg declined. The economy struggled and so did the people as they attempted to put everything back together. Africa was lost and so were most of Asia, though the Philippines would eventually return after a fashion, while South America seemed to be heading in that direction until the Ministry for State Security stepped in. The Stasi had been formed during the Great War to clamp down on dissent and British spies, and its powers grew after the war as it was tasked with helping to keep the Empire together. It tore down opposition groups from the inside, set up false fronts to discredit nationalist movements, conducted false flag operations, supported friendly local leaders and when all that failed, it simply disappeared dissidents by the hundreds. With South America back in the fold, the Stasi's tactics turned to Europe, first taking root in the Hapsburg Netherlands, which was surrounded on all sides by enemies, then the Spanish domains, Italy, Hungary, Poland and finally, Austria.
By the late 1980s, the Stasi had become one of the most important state organs in the Hapsburg Empire. Elections and government decisions were decided by the Stasi's leaders, with the decisions being handed on down. One in four Imperial citizens became informants for the secret police, and most phone calls (especially international calls) were tapped. The Imperial economy also recovered due to the central government's decision to intervene directly. One of the key aspects of the Hapsburg economy had been that it was dominated by smaller concerns, leading to economic inefficiencies. In the '80s and '90s, the government nationalized and consolidated into larger cartels. In 2004, following a series of unrest and riots in major cities, the Stasi became the government as the Minister for State Security, Agenor Maria von Jaroslaw, was named Chancellor. The tail was finally wagging the dog, and von Jaroslaw set about reforming the world stage, making allies with neighboring nations and ending Austria's decades-long isolation. In 2019, von Jaroslaw stepped down due to ill health, and was replaced with his hand-picked successor, Eugen Flegel Graf von Weiser. Von Weiser had started in the Austrian Border Troops in the '90s, patrolling the Bavarian border, eventually joining the Border Troops' special forces before shifting into a similar position with the Stasi. He rose quickly through the ranks with the Stasi, eventually becoming the head of their Central Operations Directorate, which over saw its clandestine and direct action operations. Foreign intelligence agencies believe that von Weiser was responsible for participating and/or organizing the hunting accident that killed Crown Prince Franz Leopold in 1998, faking the heart attack that killed Crown Prince Franz Eugen in 2019 and the plane crash that killed Emperor Franz Otto in 2022 (in addition to other suspicious deaths), all with the intent of creating a compliant monarchy.
With the sudden death of Franz Otto in 2022, the throne passed to his 9 year old granddaughter, Anna Victoria, who ascended the throne as the first female monarch in Hapsburg history. The Imperial Diet, now nothing more than a vestigial organ controlled by the Stasi, voted to dispense with a formal regency, instead naming the Imperial government her legal guardian and protector. Her grandfather/great-uncle (her parents, Franz Eugen and Ana Wilhelmine were first cousins), Franz Georg, is her heir presumptive and undertakes many Imperial duties of state on behalf of his granddaughter/great-niece. Franz Georg has long been rumoured to be a Stasi informant within the Hapsburg dynasty and is on friendly terms with von Weiser. If Anna Victoria proves to be uncontrollable (as the Hapsburg monarch still retains great power that has only begun to erode in the past 25 years), von Weiser could decide to very well remove Anna Victoria herself as he has with the past two Emperors. The Hapsburgs have weaponized the concept of social media and modern mass communication to an extent that no other monarchy has. A weekly reality show staring Empress Anna Victoria is the most popular television show in the Hapsburg Empire, and has something of a cult following in the British Empire (via internet piracy as it has not been licensed in any of the British domains). Furthermore, there is a longstanding rumor online that claims that the Hapsburg government is looking to create a reality dating show to find a suitable husband for Anna Victoria.
Black Friday Bombings / King-Emperor John II
Friedrich Wilhelm, Crown Prince of Prussia / Congress of Atomic Powers
Most-liked shouts
Parliament of the British Empire / Counsellors of State
Landgravine Guinevere of Pusan / Margrave Mordred II of Choseon
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Unless we're invading it to save them from the KGB's version of the Kardashians?
And all while pushing charter schools and playing celebrity basketball, it seems.
Jesus, that's horrifying. Like the Kensington System on acid.
What could be so bad about giving a reality show star access to a nuclear arsenal?
Sinner's Damnation of Satanistan General Election, 2000
That hope came from the two opposition party members named Douglas "Dr.Evil" Powers and Joseph Norman of the Cannibal Satanist and Military Satanist parties respectively. Within a week of it turning to the new millennium, attack ads were aired in districts thought to have incumbent Civilian Satanist Dark Lords that might be vulnerable in the coming election.
Because of the three party system that Satanistan operated from, there were chances for either coalition governments or one party rule from a majority of seats being bribed. As the political parties raised their respective war chests for the long campaign ahead,the Civilian Satanists scrambled to defend whatever seats they could bother with while also cutting their losses on seats which were seen as lost causes, such as Ohio-8 under incumbent Dark Lord Bob Ross. The Main issues were on solutions to the economic slump which had occurred, the costly Sand War (in terms of lives and financial resources) and the embezzling scandals which had occurred under the Rodgers Chancellorship.
Memorable Lines during the 18th Debate
Harold Rodgers:" I can firmly say and rebut my opponent's falsified claims of prolonging certain military engagements with the Brooklyn Dodgers in baseball games and whenever they picked up fire arms and shot at us throughout the days of the conflict. Those skirmishes, while important to our overall victory-"
Dr Evil: "What Victory? If my party manages to gain the needed seats in the House of the Dark Lords, I shall push for an immediate investigation into such matters and also fund a side project of sharks with fricken laser beams on their heads! Oh, and I may or may not clone myself into a smaller version, maybe call it lil evil, or wittle villian, the names still a work in progress!"
~
Joseph Norman: "The Armed forces were involved in these grand crusades, and our budgets are scrapping the bottom of our barrels, the short straws, whatever metaphors are needed to display my outrage at the situation on the ground!"
Dr. Evil: "Why don't we ask someone who was actually there? I have on my second line former Dark Lord-Chancellor Daffy Duck, who can correct the inaccuracies which my opponent is starting up."
Daffy Duck:"It wasn't that bad when I took part in the Sand Wars, but it was a hell of a lot worse in the wars of Eternal Damnation! I revile Norman's falsified statements just for political points! Of course, I was full of shit when I was a politician, eh? Now I need to strain my peas for consumption."
In the end, despite massive spending by all three sides, with an estimated 400 billion HellMarks (HMk) being misplaced, spent or stolen by corrupt politicians, the voters in Satanistan ultimately held the largest sway over money, politics and power, with a firm disapproval of the incumbent administration. On December 24th,2000, voters went to the polls and kicked out four hundred Civilian Satanist Dark Lords from the House, replacing them with the other two political parties. The election was another test in the stability of the semi-democratic system which had been in place since the mid 1900's. Within 24 hours, negotiations between all three parties resulted in the election of Dr Evil as Dark Lord-Chancellor upon the resignation of Harold Rodgers.
Harold Rodgers
Initially running on a platform of "No Salute", referring to a promise of repealing the policy put in place by the Daffy Chancellorship, Rodgers branched out to promise a multitude of things on the campaign trail, such as low taxes, economic opportunities and a staunch anti lawn mower stance, promising to ban the immigration of lawn mowers, stating that they drew in dust bunnies which would put a burden on the antiquated state welfare system which Satanistan operated with.
Rodgers fears of establishing a coalition government were put to the back burner, as he immediately dealt with a hostage crisis by radical satanic cult members of Lion's Gate. He would utilize a soft spoken negotiating tactic, negotiating by himself to the cult members, who threatened to execute all 47 hostages if they were not given twenty train cars of soda and pop rocks.
After building a fire and inviting the leader of the hostages to a fancy five star restaurant,where negotiations began to stall. Remaining clam, he agreed to an altered demand of just two train cars and a third for their safe passage to a destination of Rodger's choice. He would choose the destination to be the Kingdom of Malay, where there was a warrant out for the cult member's arrests.
Heralded by both sides of the political aisle for his masterful negotiating tactics, a skill that would make even the legendary ambassador to the Romanov Family, Jean Luc Pointdexter, blush.
One of his more controversial decisions during his administration would be the planned implementation of a Gnome Tax. After not only noticing the large amounts of corruption within the government within his first few weeks on the job but also the excessive purchases in gnomes that one Dark Lord for North Colorado,Harry Potter, had been undertaking, Rodgers organized an investigative committee into the number of Gnomes each resident had, which totaled an average of 41.5 per household. He then saw an opportunity for the economy of Satanistan to rake in more funds by implementing a tax per Gnome. This original bill was a call back to the Chancellorship of Austin Powers before the 1964 election,in which each Gnome was taxed at 1/2 of the original price the owner paid for it in a monthly tax. He modified the tax to have a lesser impact of 1/4 the original price, but that was doubled for each Gnome the person owned. After it was passed by the House of the Dark Lords in 1993,the 1994 Fiscal year saw an increase of 213 billion HmKs in revenue collected. There also was vehement opposition from the Cannibal and Military Satanist opposition parties, who would actively boycott and attempt to block many legislative laws that Rodgers and the Civilian Satanists wanted to get through the House of the Dark Lords.
Another point of controversy for the Rodger's cabinet was the bloody ethnic cleansing occurring against the Iraqi people by Supreme Leader Elizabeth. A Coalition of troops was established, with the threat of invasion given to Elizabeth unless she would cease the ethnic cleansing and abdicate power. She responded by declaring she had "The most horrific weapons known to man and dog, and I give an utmost promise of their use by my forces if we are invaded by infidels." On January 23rd,1993, military force was authorized by the House of the Dark Lords and a declaration of war was passed 520 to 146.
Two days later, the first troops began to skirmish with the Iraqi military, with many battles being won against the Iraqi forces.
By February 18th, 1993, The Kingdom of Sand agreed to intervene on behalf of Elizabeth,expanding the conflict with the addition of Sand into the war. Bombing raids on Baghdad began against Elizabeth's numerous personal residences all over Iraq, which also struck her chemical weapons facilities, but not before two were launched and then shot down over Jordan and the Dead Sea respectively.
Airstrikes were announced on the 19th on the Kingdom of Sand,hitting several Sand military formations, infrastructure targets and areas of financial importance, such as banks and oil derricks. From January 20th to the 27th, a military drive managed to capture Baghdad. While it would be another two weeks before Supreme Leader Elizabeth would be arrested and executed via firing squad, the question turned to an occupation.
The Military Satanists decried a possible option for the immediate pull back and pushed for the installation of long time rebel fighter Saddam Hussein as a military dictator in Iraq. The Cannibal Satanists wanted to establish an eleven member Committee of Cannibalism in Iraq, or CCI to rule the nation. The Civilian Satanists pressured Dark Lord-Chancellor Rodgers to back the proposal of the Military Satanists, hoping it would backfire on them in the upcoming 1996 election. Rodgers was convinced of this proposal, and on July 4th,1993, after discussions with the ruling military governor, all political authority and national sovereignty was passed onto the Husseinite Republic of Iraq, ruled by Supreme Leader Saddam Hussein.
Hawkeye
Emerging from the weak leadership of Austin Powers and outright gaining the backing of the military for a coup, he decided against launching the coup and instead defeated Powers in the 1964 elections before moving in the military to key political positions as thanks for their support.
He promised a brutal and tyrannical rule, which often resulted in several tragedies to incur under his rule. During a visit to the DMZ in Korea, he was nearly shot at with artillery, and so in retaliation and with the assistance of Dark Lord Goldwater, he proceeded to nuke everything north of the DMZ, leaving an irradiated wasteland with millions of deaths. He also would have to deal with several failed coups from former MASH members that wanted top political positions that he had to refuse from.The harsh repercussions from these coups and the establishment of the Hawk-Eye secret police instilled terror in the people of Satanistan, with large purging of the cannibal faction of the Military Satanist party, who would eventually break off and form an illegal party, which was forced underground during his more lucid episodes, such as when he ordered the atomic bombing of SpringfieldWestValleyDaleistania because of the funny name. After several close calls and a string of bad health, Hawkeye would be hooked up to a medical machine, which he warned his opponents falsely controlled the weapons of mass destruction, and upon his death, they would target the nearest countries. However, he seemed to be alright with leaving office on both occasions when he was kicked out from the Chancellorship and as a Member of the House of Dark Lords following the 1996 election.
a
Daffy Duck
He also had an issue in his first time as a Dark Lord, while being off fighting in the 1st War of Eternal Damnation agaisnt the French Empire under King Pepé Le Pew I, he also was still a member of the House of the Dark Lords, as it was uncommon for an active combat zone military official to also still retain his position as a politician, it was the noble thing for an active politician to resign and to serve his country until the end of the conflict. He broke this tradition by still answering phone calls from constituents, mailing in his votes to sessions of the House of the Dark Lords, and even beating his imaginary friend Dumbo in the 1932 election by a margin of 567 to 102 all while fighting in the battle of Champagne (January 15th, 1932-December 2nd, 1932)
While he had learned from small mistakes he made in the combat zone, such as accidentally getting captured by french soldiers in an attempt to meet the opposition at a fundraising event, he would be celebrated for his unconventional way of campaigning,and be one of the most popular politicians in all of Satanistan.
The Dark Lord-Chancellorship of Daffy Duck commenced on December 25th,1936, after the resignation of Bugs Bunny, the former holder of the office.
His Administration would see him enlist as a general in the Army of Hell, actively being engaged in the North African Campaign against a resurgent and furious King Pepé Le Pew, who had reformed the French Empire with the assistance of Muriel and Eustace Bagges of the Kingdom of Scotland. After several furious engagements with the opposing forces, the combined French and Scottish forces fell back, pursued from North Africa towards the mainland of France, where King Le Pew refused to surrender and defeated operation after operation launched agaisnt him regarding a landing on the island of Corsica. In mid 1943, General Daffy moved an army instead from Corsica to Normandy, where the french were caught off guard and fell back to Paris, where General Bagges began to loot Paris for all it's worth, including using a massive magnet to attempt to steal the Eiffel Tower, which failed, only destroying the national monument. Shocked by the destruction of the city of love, King Le Pew surrendered. General Duck then maneuvered the army to the small beachhead available on England and forced the destruction of King Bagge's main army, forcing Muriel to surrender after a two year long guerrilla campaign in 1945.
With the conclusion of the war, Daffy Duck was celebrated as a national hero for his propagandist accomplishments during the war, and was easily re-elected in 1948 with 100% of the vote.
He then got to work singing several large aid bills to the defeated french in an attempt to boost them up, along with granting a full pardon to Muriel, who continued to rule Scotland until her assassination by a cowardly dog named courage in 1971.
He would then involve the nation in a massive nuclear arms buildup for the rest of his years, relying heavily on the advice of Dark Lord for Arizona-1 Barry Goldwater, eventually naming several cacti species after him and allowing him to meet Marvin the Martian as his last wish before his death in 1997.
One of his more infamous attempts during his Dark Lord-Chancellorship was the 1947 infamous buttered toast debacle in Yougoslowia, over arguments if toast would be served butter side up or down. While initially agreeing to act as an international arbiter on behalf of the Sinner's Damnation of Satanistan, he eventually gave in to greed and robbed the nation of all it's butter before forcing them at gunpoint to an annexation. The resulting economic cold that the remaining nations because of the shortage of butter forced several imitations to flood the marketplace, ultimately raising an entire generation of children on imitation butter and margarine, not knowing the real McCoy that was butter because of his actions.
In an interview with Duck shortly before his death in 2002, he said this regarding his time in the office:
"It was the best and worst time of my life. Sure I'm sure Buggs had it hard on occasion, hell I know I got difficult situations almost frequently, I would spend long nights looking out on the beach, wondering if I was going to die. I would calm down about my inevitable doom, then I knew that god had it out for me for my sins, but it appeared he was taking his time. It was a sign from him, you know? It had all the bells and whistles of supernatural occurrences, so I just rolled with it. That's why I did what I did from 1940 onward, getting us involved in that long war, and that other war, and that other war, and that other war. It was all part of my sign. Either that or I was insane. I'm not going to admit to a test."
Dorozhand
Banned
The current Emperor of Great Qīng is the grandson of Emperor Dézōng and son of the Yōngdào Emperor; born to concubine Yúnhuā near the end of that emperor's life in 1952. Yúnhuā, pregnant at the time of his death, was made an honorary second empress (posthumously as Empress Xiàoyínshèng, in life as Empress Zhengxing) in the dying emperor's will and final edicts; the first Empress Xiàoníngruì having died in 1946. The son of the Yōngdào Emperor by Empress Xiàoníngruì ascended the throne with the era of Xiánggòng. They abdicated in 1958 after a scandal, the proximate cause of which was the discovery of an affair between the emperor and a Russian mistress. The emperor, however, also had personal business contacts with Russian Nationalist oligarchs, who were illegally exploiting petroleum that had been recently discovered in Mongolia. After the abdication, he was placed under house arrest in Shěnyáng, and "committed suicide" in 1960 after the One Union Party took power in the Grand Council.
The three year old son of the Xiánggòng Emperor succeeded as the Tóngwén Emperor and the country was ruled by a regency council made up of prominent members of the Grand Council and Imperial Family who successfully implemented further democratic and administrative reforms during this time, while also involving the country in bloody colonial conflicts in Việt Nam, Central Asia, and Ryukyu under a policy of bringing more peoples closer to the multicultural imperial union that represented their interests. Upon reaching majority, the emperor was largely content with being a figurehead and mainly participated in publicity missions and certain diplomatic activities while a series of One Union governments held onto control of the Grand Council. Rumors spread that the emperor was infertile as he failed to produce an heir before dying in an automobile accident in 1979.
This time, the imperial family was outmaneuvered by the Hàn nationalist New Life faction/religious movement of the Grand Council and aging Field Marshal Dù Yùmíng was able to set up a young war hero and part-Hàn member of the imperial family on the throne as the Shùnpíng Emperor. The Emperor was, however, quite sick of the martial policies of the old generals that had led China into numerous colonial wars during the 50s and 60s of which he himself had seen the consequences. Upon attaining power with the deaths of the old New Life elite and the rise of the Decolonization Movement in China, he was able to re-centralize some functions of the state under imperial control and develop a cult of personality as a champion of the common people of all countries and bringer of self-determination, changing his era name to Fēngdé during this time. He presided over a major house-cleaning of the imperial bureaucracy and invited numerous reformers and students into his cabinet and sponsored their elections into the Grand Council. His New Central Bank and support of rapid industrialization and social services spurred him to change his era name for a second time to Zhuàngyè, or "Strong Industry", taking the second character from an era name of Emperor Yáng of Suí, a personal hero of the Zhuangye Emperor who sought to clear his predecessor's bad name and contributed to scholarship of the Suí Empire's great industrial projects. Emperor Yáng had a new posthumous name bestowed by the imperial house, who has since 1996 been referred to in official histories as Emperor Chéng of Suí.
The three year old son of the Xiánggòng Emperor succeeded as the Tóngwén Emperor and the country was ruled by a regency council made up of prominent members of the Grand Council and Imperial Family who successfully implemented further democratic and administrative reforms during this time, while also involving the country in bloody colonial conflicts in Việt Nam, Central Asia, and Ryukyu under a policy of bringing more peoples closer to the multicultural imperial union that represented their interests. Upon reaching majority, the emperor was largely content with being a figurehead and mainly participated in publicity missions and certain diplomatic activities while a series of One Union governments held onto control of the Grand Council. Rumors spread that the emperor was infertile as he failed to produce an heir before dying in an automobile accident in 1979.
This time, the imperial family was outmaneuvered by the Hàn nationalist New Life faction/religious movement of the Grand Council and aging Field Marshal Dù Yùmíng was able to set up a young war hero and part-Hàn member of the imperial family on the throne as the Shùnpíng Emperor. The Emperor was, however, quite sick of the martial policies of the old generals that had led China into numerous colonial wars during the 50s and 60s of which he himself had seen the consequences. Upon attaining power with the deaths of the old New Life elite and the rise of the Decolonization Movement in China, he was able to re-centralize some functions of the state under imperial control and develop a cult of personality as a champion of the common people of all countries and bringer of self-determination, changing his era name to Fēngdé during this time. He presided over a major house-cleaning of the imperial bureaucracy and invited numerous reformers and students into his cabinet and sponsored their elections into the Grand Council. His New Central Bank and support of rapid industrialization and social services spurred him to change his era name for a second time to Zhuàngyè, or "Strong Industry", taking the second character from an era name of Emperor Yáng of Suí, a personal hero of the Zhuangye Emperor who sought to clear his predecessor's bad name and contributed to scholarship of the Suí Empire's great industrial projects. Emperor Yáng had a new posthumous name bestowed by the imperial house, who has since 1996 been referred to in official histories as Emperor Chéng of Suí.
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are the radicals socially conservative and economically liberal or vis versa.
Deleted member 4898
The Radicals are social liberals – i.e. they see a role for both the free market and the government in providing political and civil rights and addressing economic inequalities. This is the European usage, remember.
Ah, the dizzying variation from slightly left of centre to slightly right of centre. incredibly radical
1990 Labour Party leadership election
Despite defeat in the 1987 general election, Neil Kinnock was allowed to remain Leader of the Labour Party, by virtue of a) having saved the party from tearing itself apart from infighting and b) done reasonably well enough, considering the difficult years the party had suffered between 1983 and 1987. It was expected that another five years of leadership under Kinnock would allow the party to develop a fleshed-out, popular policy platform and maintain some much-needed stability. That almost came under threat after less than a year when rumours began to circle that Tony Benn, the left-wing critic of Kinnock, would challenge him for the leadership – a challenge that would almost certainly be defeated, given that Kinnock had the backing of the vast majority of party MPs, unions and constituency parties. Instead, Benn would support the challenge of Deputy Leader Roy Hattersley by his ally, Eric Heffer, which wasted a summer of campaigning for the party. Heffer was defeated, with Hattersley winning 70.1% of the electoral college, and privately Benn admitted that there was little point to continually challenge the leadership, despite being encouraged to do so by some of his supporters.
Yet in 1990, with the Conservatives struggling in the polls and a recession looming, the Labour Party would be thrown into chaos when Kinnock, speaking at a trade union event in Birmingham, would collapse on stage. Caught live on camera, Kinnock would be rushed to hospital, where it would be determined he suffered from a stress-induced 'heart attack'. After receiving medical advice from doctors, and consulting with family and friends, Kinnock made the agonising decision to resign as Leader of the Labour Party. Immediately rumours began to circle as to who would replace him but it was little surprise that most people went back to the Shadow Chancellor and Kinnock's number two, John Smith. Smith, slightly to the left of his leader, was amenable to both wings of the party and was well supported by both MPs and trade unions. It was generally expected, given that only Smith had announced his candidacy three days before the nomination deadline, that he would be elected uncontested, but there was a last minute challenge from Michael Meacher, the Bennite shadow cabinet minister, who put his name forward, asking MPs to nominate him to ensure a contest and debate about the future of the party. Smith, relatively confident of victory, agreed to lend some supporters to Meacher to allow him on the ballot. Meacher pledged to democratise the party if elected leader, declaring that the Labour Party needed to reform if it would be in a position to adequately take power, and promised to give more power to members by introducing one-man-one-vote elections. Smith's platform was essentially one of continuity, making a passionate speech at a hustings in Liverpool by saying: "Power is so close, government is so close we can almost taste it. We are inches away from being the future."
Smith was elected leader resoundingly with 82.8% of the electoral college, easily winning every category. He would form his shadow cabinet the week following his election, where he would surprisingly shuffle Meacher onto the backbenches. The first poll after Smith's election as leader saw Labour reach 43%, with the Conservatives on 35%, and many believed it would not be long, as he had said in the hustings, before he would be in power.
Despite defeat in the 1987 general election, Neil Kinnock was allowed to remain Leader of the Labour Party, by virtue of a) having saved the party from tearing itself apart from infighting and b) done reasonably well enough, considering the difficult years the party had suffered between 1983 and 1987. It was expected that another five years of leadership under Kinnock would allow the party to develop a fleshed-out, popular policy platform and maintain some much-needed stability. That almost came under threat after less than a year when rumours began to circle that Tony Benn, the left-wing critic of Kinnock, would challenge him for the leadership – a challenge that would almost certainly be defeated, given that Kinnock had the backing of the vast majority of party MPs, unions and constituency parties. Instead, Benn would support the challenge of Deputy Leader Roy Hattersley by his ally, Eric Heffer, which wasted a summer of campaigning for the party. Heffer was defeated, with Hattersley winning 70.1% of the electoral college, and privately Benn admitted that there was little point to continually challenge the leadership, despite being encouraged to do so by some of his supporters.
Yet in 1990, with the Conservatives struggling in the polls and a recession looming, the Labour Party would be thrown into chaos when Kinnock, speaking at a trade union event in Birmingham, would collapse on stage. Caught live on camera, Kinnock would be rushed to hospital, where it would be determined he suffered from a stress-induced 'heart attack'. After receiving medical advice from doctors, and consulting with family and friends, Kinnock made the agonising decision to resign as Leader of the Labour Party. Immediately rumours began to circle as to who would replace him but it was little surprise that most people went back to the Shadow Chancellor and Kinnock's number two, John Smith. Smith, slightly to the left of his leader, was amenable to both wings of the party and was well supported by both MPs and trade unions. It was generally expected, given that only Smith had announced his candidacy three days before the nomination deadline, that he would be elected uncontested, but there was a last minute challenge from Michael Meacher, the Bennite shadow cabinet minister, who put his name forward, asking MPs to nominate him to ensure a contest and debate about the future of the party. Smith, relatively confident of victory, agreed to lend some supporters to Meacher to allow him on the ballot. Meacher pledged to democratise the party if elected leader, declaring that the Labour Party needed to reform if it would be in a position to adequately take power, and promised to give more power to members by introducing one-man-one-vote elections. Smith's platform was essentially one of continuity, making a passionate speech at a hustings in Liverpool by saying: "Power is so close, government is so close we can almost taste it. We are inches away from being the future."
Smith was elected leader resoundingly with 82.8% of the electoral college, easily winning every category. He would form his shadow cabinet the week following his election, where he would surprisingly shuffle Meacher onto the backbenches. The first poll after Smith's election as leader saw Labour reach 43%, with the Conservatives on 35%, and many believed it would not be long, as he had said in the hustings, before he would be in power.
I have a Mac, so I think it has something to do with retina display.
- Status