One topic that's come up in the various 2010 UK election TLs has been the possibility of an election that delivers a Conservative or Labour majority and I've been thinking of a couple of scenarios that could deliver that, with the possibility of maybe doing one as a short TL.
The first scenario I'm thinking of is one with no debates. It always used to be the tradition in British elections that one party leader (usually the one behind in the polls) would call for a debate and the other wouldn't turn it down but would load their response with so many conditions, often around the participation of other parties, that nothing would ever happen. If we assume such an event happening in 2010 - probably through Cameron's advisers persuading him it's not a good idea - what happens then? There's no Cleggmania, and Bigotgate probably gets butterflied away, so we're likely to see a Lib Dem vote somewhat down on OTL with much attention being focused on the Cameron vs Brown battle.
IMO, short of Cameron having his own version of something like Bigotgate, Brown isn't going to win that one and the most likely outcome is Cameron getting his majority, though perhaps not a large one.
The other option I can think of is a Labour victory, but not a Brown one. Suppose that at some point in 2009 - perhaps someone else quits as well as Purnell after the June election, or his health is worse than OTL - Brown realises that he needs to hand over to someone else.So, he announces his resignation as Labour leader, and states that when the party has elected a new leader, he will ask the Queen to dissolve Parliament. He could also play the statesman card here and say that this will allow him more time to work on global economic matters without the distraction of having to fight an election.
There's no coronation as there was in 2007, as Labour realise that a contested (or seemingly contested) leadership election allows them to dominate the airwaves for the months leading up to the election, but this time David Miliband is elected. It'll be a hard-fought campaign - and the debates will be interesting - but IMO that strategy could deliver either a Labour majority or a situation where a Labour/Lib Dem coalition is workable, especially with Brown out of the way.
Thoughts?