- List of heads of state of Hungary (since 1920) in an alternate timeline where the country stayed out of World War II and remained neutral -
Alternate Wikipedia Infoboxes V (Do Not Post Current Politics Here)
- Status
It's taken me long enough, but here's the first Chinese National Congress election in the TL I've been doing.
*
The 1989 Chinese National Congress election was held on the 18th October, 1989, to elect 900 members to the National Congress of China, the unicameral national legislature. This election was the first ever held under universal suffrage in China, and the first in which multiple parties were permitted since before the Second World War. While the National Congress had existed prior to this, it only became a democratically elected assembly after the reforms passed by President Zhao Ziyang following the Tiananmen Square Revolution in June 1989.
Zhao declared that the first election to the 900-member strong chamber would be held by that October, a compromise agreed within the ruling Kuomintang with the (covert) intention of limiting the amount of ground they would likely lose to new parties by ensuring they had only four and a half months to organize. For similar reasons, it was decided the National Congress's seats would be apportioned to each province of China (plus the cities of Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai) by population and elected by first-past-the-post. Ahead of the campaign, the Kuomintang's membership voted to make Zhao ally Yan Jiaqi the Congress Chair-elect (the most senior position in the chamber, comparable to the Speaker of the House in the US more than prime ministers in other democratic countries since the President retains more power).
The four other parties to win a sizeable contingent of seats are all among the main parties still represented in the National Congress today. The largest of these parties, the Progressive Party, was also the quickest to form, mostly due to being the most centralized; much of its support was drawn from the Tiananmen protestors and voters sympathetic to them in lieu of the Kuomintang, and by the 20th July, its leader had been chosen, namely Chai Ling, one of the most high-profile student protest leaders and the first woman to lead a political party in modern China. While Chai worked to paint herself and her party as reformists who were more sincere about changing Chinese society for the better than the Kuomintang, they were seen from the start as the underdogs, mostly because of their limited experience and funding.
The other three parties all had more difficulty building up large support bases across the nation due to their more niche political philosophies. The Communists, which had for obvious reasons been one of the most aggressively repressed political groupings since the Kuomintang destroyed the original Communist army in 1934, selected as their leader Chen Yun, a senior political dissident who had been under house arrest prior to the revolution and was considered one of the most senior and (to the Chinese far left) popular figures available to them. At this point, the party supported reversing the neoliberal reforms of China conducted by Zhao and Moshan and making moves towards establishing a socialist economy instead of a free-market one. The setbacks caused by the loss of the Chinese civil war by the Communists, and the implications of their having gone to war with the Kuomintang, limited their success outside of extremely poor areas (like the part then covered by the 3rd district of Shanghai, where Chen was elected) and historically anti-Kuomintang areas in the north and west.
The Economic Liberal Party was probably the party closest ideologically to the Kuomintang, and it effectively sought to serve as a more libertarian alternative, pushing for tax cuts and more provincial authority. Their leader, Wan Li, was notable for being an active dissident from the Kuomintang government, but Zhao and Yan had managed to stymie the amount of support they bled to the Economic Liberals as a consequence by issuing a very civil statement on Wan's departure before criticizing the economic viability of his views. The phrase, 'How do we pay for that?', has been a derisive term towards Economic Liberal supporters ever since, and though they beat the Communists by almost three percentage points, their difficulty cutting into the Kuomintang vote nationally left them with one seat fewer.
The final party to establish itself in the 1989 election was the Loyalist Party. The last of the four large new parties to form, in August of 1989, and the one to win the fewest seats when the election came round, it was a reactionary grouping which praised the adoption of democracy but was critical of the Kuomintang's prioritization of modernizing industries rather than pumping funding into rural or underdeveloped areas. Its leader, Li Xiannian, came under fire for having been a prominent critic of the student protests that led to the Tiananmen Square Revolution, but ironically managed to win the district he stood for in Beijing, the rural 2nd district covering the northwestern area far from the city centre.
One thing that united the parties against the Kuomintang was a desire for electoral reform. The district boundaries had been hastily drawn up to ensure an election could be held by the end of the year, and it was felt that several of them were drawn to ensure support for certain parties was concentrated. All of the non-Kuomintang parties pushed for a switch to PR in some form, either by having a mixed system, PR districts or even a single national constituency; the Kuomintang merely pledged to ensure redistribution was handled by an independent committee for future elections. However, this pledge was enough for most voters, especially given the Kuomintang had been true to its word previously, and thus it managed to win a landslide majority of 402.
Despite the Kuomintang winning fairly handily, the other parties consoled themselves with the knowledge that they had a democratic foothold they could hold on to, one which the Kuomintang had no authority to repress and was going to have to relinquish the opportunity to do so when independent redistricting took force at the next election. On top of that, China had gotten a huge amount of positive press worldwide for holding the biggest democratic election in world history up to that point, with over 739 million votes cast.
(Apologies for not including a map btw, drawing 900 constituencies from scratch isn't an easy project
)
*
The 1989 Chinese National Congress election was held on the 18th October, 1989, to elect 900 members to the National Congress of China, the unicameral national legislature. This election was the first ever held under universal suffrage in China, and the first in which multiple parties were permitted since before the Second World War. While the National Congress had existed prior to this, it only became a democratically elected assembly after the reforms passed by President Zhao Ziyang following the Tiananmen Square Revolution in June 1989.
Zhao declared that the first election to the 900-member strong chamber would be held by that October, a compromise agreed within the ruling Kuomintang with the (covert) intention of limiting the amount of ground they would likely lose to new parties by ensuring they had only four and a half months to organize. For similar reasons, it was decided the National Congress's seats would be apportioned to each province of China (plus the cities of Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai) by population and elected by first-past-the-post. Ahead of the campaign, the Kuomintang's membership voted to make Zhao ally Yan Jiaqi the Congress Chair-elect (the most senior position in the chamber, comparable to the Speaker of the House in the US more than prime ministers in other democratic countries since the President retains more power).
The four other parties to win a sizeable contingent of seats are all among the main parties still represented in the National Congress today. The largest of these parties, the Progressive Party, was also the quickest to form, mostly due to being the most centralized; much of its support was drawn from the Tiananmen protestors and voters sympathetic to them in lieu of the Kuomintang, and by the 20th July, its leader had been chosen, namely Chai Ling, one of the most high-profile student protest leaders and the first woman to lead a political party in modern China. While Chai worked to paint herself and her party as reformists who were more sincere about changing Chinese society for the better than the Kuomintang, they were seen from the start as the underdogs, mostly because of their limited experience and funding.
The other three parties all had more difficulty building up large support bases across the nation due to their more niche political philosophies. The Communists, which had for obvious reasons been one of the most aggressively repressed political groupings since the Kuomintang destroyed the original Communist army in 1934, selected as their leader Chen Yun, a senior political dissident who had been under house arrest prior to the revolution and was considered one of the most senior and (to the Chinese far left) popular figures available to them. At this point, the party supported reversing the neoliberal reforms of China conducted by Zhao and Moshan and making moves towards establishing a socialist economy instead of a free-market one. The setbacks caused by the loss of the Chinese civil war by the Communists, and the implications of their having gone to war with the Kuomintang, limited their success outside of extremely poor areas (like the part then covered by the 3rd district of Shanghai, where Chen was elected) and historically anti-Kuomintang areas in the north and west.
The Economic Liberal Party was probably the party closest ideologically to the Kuomintang, and it effectively sought to serve as a more libertarian alternative, pushing for tax cuts and more provincial authority. Their leader, Wan Li, was notable for being an active dissident from the Kuomintang government, but Zhao and Yan had managed to stymie the amount of support they bled to the Economic Liberals as a consequence by issuing a very civil statement on Wan's departure before criticizing the economic viability of his views. The phrase, 'How do we pay for that?', has been a derisive term towards Economic Liberal supporters ever since, and though they beat the Communists by almost three percentage points, their difficulty cutting into the Kuomintang vote nationally left them with one seat fewer.
The final party to establish itself in the 1989 election was the Loyalist Party. The last of the four large new parties to form, in August of 1989, and the one to win the fewest seats when the election came round, it was a reactionary grouping which praised the adoption of democracy but was critical of the Kuomintang's prioritization of modernizing industries rather than pumping funding into rural or underdeveloped areas. Its leader, Li Xiannian, came under fire for having been a prominent critic of the student protests that led to the Tiananmen Square Revolution, but ironically managed to win the district he stood for in Beijing, the rural 2nd district covering the northwestern area far from the city centre.
One thing that united the parties against the Kuomintang was a desire for electoral reform. The district boundaries had been hastily drawn up to ensure an election could be held by the end of the year, and it was felt that several of them were drawn to ensure support for certain parties was concentrated. All of the non-Kuomintang parties pushed for a switch to PR in some form, either by having a mixed system, PR districts or even a single national constituency; the Kuomintang merely pledged to ensure redistribution was handled by an independent committee for future elections. However, this pledge was enough for most voters, especially given the Kuomintang had been true to its word previously, and thus it managed to win a landslide majority of 402.
Despite the Kuomintang winning fairly handily, the other parties consoled themselves with the knowledge that they had a democratic foothold they could hold on to, one which the Kuomintang had no authority to repress and was going to have to relinquish the opportunity to do so when independent redistricting took force at the next election. On top of that, China had gotten a huge amount of positive press worldwide for holding the biggest democratic election in world history up to that point, with over 739 million votes cast.
(Apologies for not including a map btw, drawing 900 constituencies from scratch isn't an easy project
)
Last edited:
KISS SAVES SANTA
(it's not too early in the month for this, right?)
[pic: https://imgur.com/RWcLZfH.png ] (please note: that should read "1999 VHS release," not "1979 VHS release")
(it's not too early in the month for this, right?)
[pic: https://imgur.com/RWcLZfH.png ] (please note: that should read "1999 VHS release," not "1979 VHS release")
I reeeeeeeealy hope this movie's tagline is, "We Wish You a Merry Kissmas!"
Nazi Space Spy
Banned
“It’ll be on next Christmas? Who the hell knows when that’ll be?”KISS SAVES SANTA
(it's not too early in the month for this, right?)
[pic: https://imgur.com/RWcLZfH.png ] (please note: that should read "1999 VHS release," not "1979 VHS release")
From Desire the Right:
Marc Arthur Lapierre, born Joseph Clément Marc Arthur Lapierre, is a Canadian-born Patagonian politician who has served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Patagonia since 2019 and has been leader of the Conservative Party since 2016. Lapierre is the first openly gay Patagonian prime minister; he is also the first to be born in neither Patagonia nor the British Isles.
Lapierre was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. His father, Antonio, was a Quebec provincial politician of French-Canadian descent who briefly served as Premier of Quebec from 1996 to 1997. His mother, Madeleine, a granddaughter of former Canadian prime minister Sir Chester A. Arthur, is of French-Canadian, Scottish, Scotch-Irish, English, and Welsh descent. Lapierre attended McGill University in Montreal from 1985 to 1989, and then moved to Patagonia to attend Joseph Chamberlain University in Victoria from 1990 to 1994. During his time at Chamberlain, he made the decision to permanently move to Patagonia. He became a lawyer, and was officially naturalized as a Patagonian citizen in 1997. He was elected to the Patagonian Parliament in 2002 as a Conservative to the riding of New Aberystwyth, replacing the retiring incumbent Bill Howells. After 12 years as a backbencher, he was appointed Shadow Minister of Justice in 2014 by Conservative leader Gavin Short. Short resigned as Conservative leader a little over a year later, and Lapierre won the leadership election to replace him. In the 2019 federal election, Lapierre was elected as prime minister, defeating incumbent Theresa Boshnyak of the Labour Party in a landslide.
Marc Arthur Lapierre, born Joseph Clément Marc Arthur Lapierre, is a Canadian-born Patagonian politician who has served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Patagonia since 2019 and has been leader of the Conservative Party since 2016. Lapierre is the first openly gay Patagonian prime minister; he is also the first to be born in neither Patagonia nor the British Isles.
Lapierre was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. His father, Antonio, was a Quebec provincial politician of French-Canadian descent who briefly served as Premier of Quebec from 1996 to 1997. His mother, Madeleine, a granddaughter of former Canadian prime minister Sir Chester A. Arthur, is of French-Canadian, Scottish, Scotch-Irish, English, and Welsh descent. Lapierre attended McGill University in Montreal from 1985 to 1989, and then moved to Patagonia to attend Joseph Chamberlain University in Victoria from 1990 to 1994. During his time at Chamberlain, he made the decision to permanently move to Patagonia. He became a lawyer, and was officially naturalized as a Patagonian citizen in 1997. He was elected to the Patagonian Parliament in 2002 as a Conservative to the riding of New Aberystwyth, replacing the retiring incumbent Bill Howells. After 12 years as a backbencher, he was appointed Shadow Minister of Justice in 2014 by Conservative leader Gavin Short. Short resigned as Conservative leader a little over a year later, and Lapierre won the leadership election to replace him. In the 2019 federal election, Lapierre was elected as prime minister, defeating incumbent Theresa Boshnyak of the Labour Party in a landslide.
Bogdanoff
Banned
So now all the fun stuff will go there and this thread will be just endless US presidential elections?
Hey now, there are some people who try to post other serious things here
We unironically need a separate Alternate American Election Infoboxes (non current politics) thread.
I wholly disagree with that, because then about half the audience creators in this thread will leave and we'll just have a trio of sparsely-populated Wikibox threads. Creating a shitpost Wikibox thread was even a bad idea, I think.
How is that a problem? It's not like they will leave the forum or even the sub forum, they'll just be in another thread.
It'll be much easier to search infoboxes and follow new infoboxes both for people who prefer American election ones and those who don't, and those who like both ofc.
Honestly the real problem is that AH.com's search function is absolutely terrible but right, before that is fixed i think it would help.
I would tend to agree that a thread just for infobox shitpost is a bad idea, a lot of joke Infobox perfectly fit here, and actual shitpost one could just be put on the shitpost map thread, or just kept here.
Comrade TruthTeller
Gone Fishin'
******************************
THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO
HAROLD WILSON
1916-1995
BRITAIN'S BEST PRIME MINISTER
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THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO
HAROLD WILSON
1916-1995
BRITAIN'S BEST PRIME MINISTER
******************************
Harold Wilson once thought of resigning in 1976, he was sixty years old, and he thought he was too tired for the job. Jim Callaghan was preparing to take over the reins, after he heard the news that old Harry was thinking of retiring. But then he decided to go to the doctors first. If the doctors said that he should slow down, then he would resign. So, he reached the doctor's office, and it looked like Harold might have some memory loss. From the doctor's analysis, however, it just looked like he needed some sleep. Wilson had feared it was dementia. With that out of the way, Wilson continued being Prime Minister.
...All the way to 1979. Thatcher had wanted to call a no-confidence vote, but she decided against it, thinking that she would not get the numbers to bring down the government. So, the election was held on October 3rd, as was expected. Harold Wilson lost, and lost handily. Thatcher became Britain's first woman Prime Minister. Most in the Labour Party thought that now, at age 63, that Harold Wilson would call time on his premiership of the party. Wilson did not; he announced that he would form the opposition and lead the party into the next election. Many were outraged, and many threatened to leave the party. This all came to a head when, in 1980, Shadow Chancellor James Callaghan challenged Wilson for the leadership. In a tight run contest, Harold Wilson won with 54% to Callaghan's 46%. The Labour Party thundered on with Wilson.
As we all know, Thatcher's first term was not very popular. Wilson was ahead of the polls, and many believed that he would become Prime Minister for the third time by the time that Thatcher called the next election, nineteen years after he first went into Number ten. But then, the Falklands happened. Thatcher became a war-time Prime Minister, and opinions surged. Thatcher called an election relatively shortly after the Falklands War, and Harold Wilson lost even worse than he did four years prior. Once again, there were calls for him to relinquish the leadership of the party. But once again, Wilson refused. Wilson now was 68 years old and would probably be in his early seventies when the next election was called. Regardless, Wilson stayed determined to return to power, no matter what. His shadow cabinet included people like Shirley Williams; after he caught murmurings of a possible split in the party, he made sure to keep them relatively on side. Unlike 1980, this time there was no leadership challenge against him.
As the years went on, Labour under Harold Wilson had a fluctuating position in the polls. However, this was mostly under the Tories. Sometimes the Labour Party would be close behind the Tories, and sometimes they would be far behind. Wilson was beginning to get irritated with the many things that Thatcher was doing that he did not agree with. Mass privatisation, for example. Good god, Wilson thought. Privatisation wasn't the only thing, of course, that he disagreed with Thatcher on. There was a whole multitude of issues that he fundamentally disagreed with Thatcher on. With that in mind, when Wilson voiced these disagreements in the House of Commons, Wilson usually trumped over Thatcher at the dispatch box. He had done so originally from 75 to 79 when she was leading the opposition and he was leading the government, and he was doing it now that he was leading the opposition. Again. For the third time. This didn't deter, Wilson, however. Either way, he could quit now. Thatcher had just called another election, four years after the last. Labour, unfortunately for Wilson, was not able to win back power, but it did look like they were going to be able to win a good number of seats.
And so, they did. Harold Wilson slashed Thatcher's majority in half. With one fell swoop. Of course, everyone expected the Conservative's Majority to take a thumping, but it was a bit of a surprise that Harold Wilson managed to cut it down to size that much. 1987 was a surprising year. Once again, after yet another failure to win the General Election, Harold Wilson, who was now 71, faced calls to resign. Once again, he did not. And, for the second time, he faced a challenge to his leadership. This time, it came from the right of the party, in the form of little-known Labour backbencher Charles Kennedy. He had expressed interest in the possible breakaway party that Roy Jenkins and others had threatened. Wilson had now led his party for twenty-four years, and Kennedy had expected Wilson to be long gone by this point. However, due to the impressive recovery in opposition from the Labour Party, people were at this stage loyal to Wilson. Wilson wins with a supermajority of 68%, to Kennedy's 32%. Kennedy isn't bitter and returns to the Labour backbenches. Time passes, and it is now November 1990. Geoffrey Howe has just resigned from the cabinet, and Michael Heseltine has challenged Margaret Thatcher for the leadership of the Tory party. Thatcher announces that she is going to go to the second ballot, and then she doesn't. Then, after eleven years, Margaret Thatcher leaves Downing Street. John Major is in.
John Major proves to be a bit more of a challenge for Harold Wilson in PMQs. He was himself amazed that he had lasted so long in this job. He was 74 now, certainly getting on in years. He had led his party for nigh-on 30 years, he had become the Father of the House after his former Chancellor and Shadow Chancellor retired for the House of Lords, and if he were to become the Prime Minister again at some point, he would be the first to be concurrently Father of the House during his premiership since Campbell Bannerman. He could only hope that he didn't die a few months after he left office. And speaking of Wilson possibly being back in Downing Street, things were looking incredibly up. Labour was beginning to run ahead of the Conservatives in the polls, but this lead was not consistent. Polls disagreed on whether Labour or the Conservatives could win the most votes, but several predicted a hung parliament. Eventually, the election arrived, and Wilson was hoping to form a government for the first time in 13 years. But, no. The Conservatives were the largest party once again. However, he had forced a hung parliament. The Conservatives were short 7 a majority, and they needed a bit of help from their friends. Sadly, for Wilson, he would once again be shut out of government, with the Tories getting Confidence and Supply from the Ulster Unionists. Once again, Harold Wilson had been locked out of government. And at this point Wilson began to doubt his future in the leadership of the Party. 29 years leading the party; almost double the time Attlee spent. Could he really find it in himself to lead the party into another election?
Well, apparently his wife of 52 years thought so. Mary Wilson, whom he had married in 1940, persuaded him to stay on for one more election, and that if he didn't win that, then he would resign. This pledge to resign if the Labour Party didn't win the next election quelled any possible leadership challenges to the 76-year-old Harold Wilson. He was worried that he may not get the chance to lead another government; he thought that due to his leading the party for twenty-nine years would quell anything that the Tories might do until 1997...and that's when Black Wednesday happened. Just some months after the election, and the Tories had made an almighty cockup. And with that, the Tories were screwed. Labour were, from that point on, always ahead in the polls. The man who had led his party for nigh-on three decades was leading the Government-in-waiting. His cabinet had completely changed around him since 1964, when he became only the third Labour Prime Minister. When he started out as leader, his deputy was George Brown, born in 1914, and now, his deputy leader was Tony Blair, born in 1953. That is not to say that he would be his right-hand man. That would have to be Barry Sheerman, the Shadow First Secretary of State. In fact, Wilson had privately indicated that his anointed successor would eventually be Sheerman. Eventually, John Major called an election for 1 May 1997. The opinion polls continued to predict a hefty Labour majority. The 81-year-old Harold Wilson was determined to not be complacent, and finally get returned to power after 17 and a half years waiting. Harold Wilson, in his Knowsley South constituency, tuned into the BBC, and began watching the Election coverage by David Dimbleby. The exit poll last time correctly predicted the Tory plurality Hung Parliament. And then, Big Ben struck 10.
"And we are saying Harold Wilson is to be Prime Minister and a landslide... is likely." Rapturous cheering was heard in the Labour buildings. Harold Wilson was, surely, going to be the Prime Minister for the third time. Wilson, at eighty-one years old, would be the second-oldest Prime Minister in history, and the oldest elected Prime Minister. He would be one year older than Winston Churchill was after his final retirement. Boy, did it feel good. Harold Wilson tensely waited for the Sunderland South count, and, sure enough, it was a 11% swing. It was in the bag now. At 3AM, Harold Wilson's Labour Party secured enough seats to win a majority, and Major soon conceded defeat. In total, the Labour Party managed a landslide majority of 201 seats, the biggest in its history. Harold Wilson was first elected in the first Labour landslide of 52 years prior, when the Labour Party was led by Clement Attlee. The Prime Minister made one final speech in front of Downing Street, before heading to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation to the Queen, and recommended that she send for Harold Wilson to form a third government; 18 years after his last one ended, and 33 years after his first one started. Before long, the Queen greeted Harold Wilson in Buckingham Palace, and invited Harold Wilson to form a government, which, of course, he accepted. The Queen remarked on his longevity and his tenacity to win and commended him for that. The Prime Minister thanked her for her remarks, and then went on his way to Downing Street. It was surprising that he was in such good health, that much is for certain. He greeted the crowds that surrounded Downing Street, shook their hands, and then started a speech. He thanked the crowds for putting their trust in him again, for the first time in 24 years. He promised that he would govern in their interests and would not let them down and thanked his wife of 57 years for all the support that she has given in the campaign. He then walked into Downing Street, for the first time in almost 20 years.
The new Prime Minister, after writing his letters of last resort, begins appointing his cabinet. Tony Blair is Deputy Prime Minister, while Barry Sheerman is First Secretary of State, and Harold Wilson's real Deputy. In the foreign office was Ann Clwyd, member for Cynon Valley, the first female holder of a Great Office of State other than Margaret Thatcher. In the Home Office was Gordon Brown, the Member for Dunfermline East. Finally, for the Great Offices of State, in the Exchequer, the Prime Minister appointed John Smith, one of the few cabinet members to also have served in the Wilson Government of '74 to '79. Additionally, to give Blair a place in the cabinet, he was made Minister for the Cabinet Office. Meanwhile, the Conservative leadership had been relinquished by John Major in the aftermath of his landslide defeat, and the contest to succeed him had begun. Ken Clarke, the former Chancellor, announced his bid for the Leadership, and was regarded as the frontrunner. William Hague opted not to stand, citing his relative inexperience. John Redwood also stood for the leadership. Peter Lilley wanted to stand, but he didn't make his mind up before the nominations closed. In a two-horse race between Redwood and Clarke, Clarke was victorious, getting over 100 votes, over two thirds of remaining MPs in the House. The new Leader of the Opposition was chosen, and John Major was relegated to the backbenches. Before long, he announced his intention to stand down from parliament at the next election, whenever that was. Many reforms were passed by the Wilson government, and almost all of Thatcher's policies were reversed, to the chagrin of the Conservatives, including Thatcher herself of course. British Rail returned, and certain changes were made to make sure that mass privatisation could not occur in the future. Before long, the year was 2001, and Wilson chose to hold an election after four years. He was now 85 years old, and the oldest Prime Minister in history. The 58-year-old Ken Clarke wished to take advantage of their age difference to try to win the election. Sadly, for Ken Clarke this would not work. The Conservatives lost seats, losing a net of 10, with Labour also losing some seats; both losing seats to the Liberal Party.
Harold Wilson had been returned to power with a hefty majority of 181, the second highest in history, second only to the 1997 result. John Smith retired at this election, being elevated to the House of Lords, due to health issues, including a minor heart attack. He was created The Lord Smith of Argyll, and Lord Smith's health dramatically improved after retiring from frontline politics. Anne Clwyd was made the new Chancellor, with Charles Kennedy, an Under-Secretary for former Home Secretary Clwyd, succeeding her in the Home Office. Ken Clarke, who had only just survived the 2001 election by a whimper, did not hesitate to announce his coming resignation as Tory leader when the results became clear. The Tory Party had, in recent times, changed their election system for their leaders. The parliamentary party would decide on two candidates, the two who get the most votes, and these two candidates would go to the Tory membership. William Hague, who now thought he had what it took, decided to stand for the Leadership. Then followed Michael Howard, then John Redwood again. As there were only just over a hundred seats left for the Tories, those were all the candidates that stood. John Redwood came dead last, meaning that Michael Howard and William Hague would go to the membership vote. This took just over a month to get done, and when the result was announced, William Hague was anointed the new Leader of the Conservatives. Michael Howard was kept on in the Shadow Cabinet, as a powerful Shadow Chancellor. Wilson continued implementing reforms until one day in May 2003. The eighty-seven-year-old Prime Minister Harold Wilson was talking to his wife of 63 years, Mary. He was mentioning how tired he was in this job now, and how he could barely fulfil its capabilities, when he realised; it was high time to retire. On the Second of May 2003, Harold Wilson shockingly announced his resignation as Leader of the Labour Party, citing his growing age and tiredness. After forty years of leading the leading the party, he'd had enough. Barry Sheerman was elected unopposed to be his replacement on June 11th, and Harold Wilson's last day in office was June 12th, when he attended the House of Commons for the last time and answered questions for the last time. After this, Harold Wilson headed to the palace, and tendered his resignation as Prime Minister.
However, Her Majesty had a surprise for him. First, he was going to have dinner with her and the Royal Family. Second, the Cabinet secretly coerced with the Palace, and they were going to bestow an honour that had not been seen for almost seventy years. Harold Wilson was going to be elevated to the House of Lords, as a new Marquess. This had not happened since the brief reign of Edward VIII, when Freeman Freeman-Thomas (yes, real name) was named Marquess of Wilmington. This was the highest honour that both the Cabinet and the Palace could think to give the man who had served his country, and in the case of the cabinet, his party, for so long. The soon-to-be former Prime Minister was unbelievably touched and didn't expect anything like this. He was so grateful for this; he was tearing up when he heard from Her Majesty about these secret plans. Her Majesty told him to cheer up, as he was going to dine with her and the family. Harold Wilson, the Royal Family, and senior members of the cabinet including the new Labour Party leader Barry Sheerman dined together, in commemoration for Harold Wilson's extremely long service. This was an honour only bestowed to Winston Churchill before him, who dined with her Majesty just after his final retirement in 1955. After this was done, Harold Wilson advised Her Majesty to see Barry Sheerman. No fetching would be required as he was already at the Palace. Harold Wilson, at last, had his resignation as Prime Minister accepted, and he went back home, before being sworn into the House of Lords the next day, as the 1st Marquess of Rievaulx. Barry Sheerman was, indeed, asked to form a government, and he accepted. The new Prime Minister then went straight to Downing Street, where he made his first speech. He paid enormous tribute to Harold Wilson, one of the longest serving Prime Ministers of modern times, and by far the longest serving main party leader ever. Forty years leading the Labour Party. A triumphant success after 18 years of opposition under himself. Barry Sheerman would serve as Prime Minister for the next eight years, before losing to John Redwood, who became Tory leader on his fourth attempt. He attended the funeral of Margaret Thatcher in 2013 at the age of 97, looking remarkably frail, yet at the same time strong. Finally, though, on the 30th of December 2017, Lord Wilson died at the age of 101. The longest-lived Prime Minister in history. Massive outpourings of grief were received from around the world to an elder statesman, and a political legend. PM Redwood led these tributes.
Lord and Lady Wilson were married for 77 years, one of the longest married couples in the world. Lady Wilson died the year after. The Queen attended the funeral of the Marquess of Rievaulx, something she has only done for Thatcher and Churchill before him. Lord Wilson's legacy can be seen everywhere today. A statue of him is in the Leader of the Opposition Charles Kennedy's office. Charles Kennedy is favourite to win the next election, currently slated for 2021. Harold Wilson is dearly missed.
(I have spent so many hours on this one. Mainly on the story, though. Feedback, as always, will be appreciated.)
At first I confused him with Marc Lepine and thought “this is the most cursed PM ever”.
- Status