DBWI: Churchill Stays On?

Hey everyone,

Here's another British political Wi for you guys. In OTL, Churchill resigned as leader of the Conservative party after his defeat at the hands of Labour, under Clem Atlee.

Now what if Churchill decided to remain? First of all, is this even possible, given his party had lost so heavily?

Secondly, as Leader Of The Opposition, is he generally supportive of Atlee's reforms, or does he fight tooth and nale against all of them?

With Churchill at the helm, is the conservative victory in 1950 greater or less than it was under Eaden in reality? Do the conservatives even win that election, or could we actually see Labour returned (either in a Hung Parliament, or with a reduced majority)?

Assuming Winny becomes PM again around 1950, how long does he last? Is Eaden his successor in the end anyway?

Finally, we all know Churchill for his leadership of the War-time coalition, but what's he like as a Peacetime Prime Minister of an all Tory government?
 
Well when you consider just how ruined the British Economy was by 1947, a Conservative Victory in 1950 was almost inevitable. Just think about it. A debt default - the first and last in British History - an 11 quarter recession, collapse in living standards. It's no wonder they won 5 Consecutive General Elections with 17 years in Government.

Under Churchill? They would have likely still won in 1950, though how he would fare as a peacetime Prime Minister is very much an open question. Perhaps not as well as his time as PM during the dark days of the Second World War.
 
Hey everyone,

Here's another British political Wi for you guys. In OTL, Churchill resigned as leader of the Conservative party after his defeat at the hands of Labour, under Clem Atlee.
No he didn't. He remained leader of the Conservative Party until 1955
 
Well when you consider just how ruined the British Economy was by 1947, a Conservative Victory in 1950 was almost inevitable. Just think about it. A debt default - the first and last in British History - an 11 quarter recession, collapse in living standards. It's no wonder they won 5 Consecutive General Elections with 17 years in Government. .
The Labour party actually received more votes in the 1951 election than the Conservative party did, it was only the 'first past the post' system which gave the Conservatives the election
 
The war years had taken a large toll on his health, wouldn't it be likely that he'd suffer some sort of major health crissis, a stroke or heart attack? Surely the voters would be asking themselves if we have Winnie back as PM now who will it be in a year?
 
Eden...

Of course, there were plenty of problems with Eden, both in terms of health and temperament. He had been able to deal with the latter through being in the shadow of WSC but the former were never far from the surface though not generally known.

Most historians argue that Eden was still in a state of shock following the loss of his eldest son, Simon, in Burma in June 1945 and the subsequent break-up of his first marriage.

While there was great public sympathy for Eden initially, it's now clear he suffered some form of nervous breakdown brought on by the family tragedy and the pressure of leadership and indeed was a hugely ineffecxtive leader of the Opposition before he stood down in 1948 and retired from politics.

Oliver Stanley led the party for less than two years before he too succumbed to ill-health though he did much during that time to make the Conservatives electable and won a tiny majority in 1950, soon after which he was forced to retire due to failing health (he died in December 1950).

Rab Butler took over as Conservative leader and led the party to victory in the 1953 "Coronation" election ushering in a long period of Conservative rule under his leadership.
 
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The big question for most of us here (and I suppose for Lammy's reds in office today) would be whether or not this butterflies away Josephism. Would a different handling of the post-war and disastrous nationalisations have made the 'tough medicine' less necessary? Sir Keith was a hero no doubt, but a hero we would have been better off not needing.
 
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