Filling His Shoes: A British PM History

[Nezza 001]

1.Winston Churchill (Conservative) May to July 1940

"The stupid old fool didn't listen". That would made a suitable inscription on his gravestone. The shortest governing Prime Minister up until that time, Churchill was killed as he stood on the rooftop of 10 Downing Street during the Battle of Britain and was hit by a bomb which sent him falling though the roof. His death was kept secret for 2 days whilst procedures hurriedly took place to put his successor in power. The tories wanted Eden to take over but effectively that decision had been taken out of their hands.

 

[Nezza 001]

2. Clement Atlee (Labour) July 1940 to July 1945
"He won't be able to cope" How wrong they were. As Deputy PM Atlee automatically took over at Downing Street. His clipped almost reticent manner grated with many of his colleagues yet his mastery of the government's business was absolute. Victory in 1945 led to an election. Atlee was confident, perhaps too confident...

 

[Joseph890]

I don’t know if you want people to comment but Clement Atlee has a pretty good chance of staying in power, because in real life after World War II, Winston Churchill lost power not because people hated him but because they wanted a drastic change After what they went through. In this scenario, I think Atlee has an extremely good chance of victory, because not only did he Britain to victory. His party was always pushing for the most comprehensive changes to British society, which will be extremely popular.

 

[Nezza 001]

I don’t know if you want people to comment but Clement Atlee has a pretty good chance of staying in power, because in real life after World War II, Winston Churchill lost power not because people hated him but because they wanted a drastic change After what they went through. In this scenario, I think Atlee has an extremely good chance of victory, because not only did he Britain to victory. His party was always pushing for the most comprehensive changes to British society, which will be extremely popular.

All comments are welcome. Attlee was in my opinion one of the greatest PM's we've had and this TL will reflect that.

 

[Coulsdon Eagle]

2. Clement Atlee (Labour) July 1940 to July 1945
"He won't be able to cope" How wrong they were. As Deputy PM Atlee automatically took over at Downing Street. His clipped almost reticent manner grated with many of his colleagues yet his mastery of the government's business was absolute. Victory in 1945 led to an election. Atlee was confident, perhaps too confident...

IIRC Anthony Eden was earmarked as Churchill's successor, although possibly not in the summer of 1940. Much as I admire Attlee (glad you picked up it's not "Atlee") as one of my political heroes, I don't see him or any Labour member taking over from Churchill. The numbers in the House of Commons did not add up, with the National Government (basically the Tory Party + some Labour "traitors" + a handful of National Liberals) overwhelmingly in control. Note the Norway debate which unseated Chamberlain - the Government actually had a majority in the vote of 80, with dozens of their supporters abstaining or even voting for the motion moved by Labour - the notional majority over Labour & other opposition parties was 213!). Chamberlain remained leader of the Conservative Party after Churchill was appointed PM. In the crisis in May 1940 Attlee & Labour did not consider any claim to the premiership; they agreed they could not serve under Chamberlain, but were prepared to under Churchill or Halifax (it was this that really convinced Chamberlain to go).

More importantly, Attlee was not appointed Deputy Prime Minister until 1942, until then he was Lord Privy Seal ( a largely ceremonial role, much as Deputy PM was - neither post had any departmental power but it allowed Attlee to have free hands in the War Cabinet).

I would expect Halifax to be the front-runner as a Conservative PM & already being member of Churchill's War Cabinet, with rules bent to allow him to appear in front of the Commons. Less likely (but more so than Attlee) were Sam Hoare, Kingsley Wood & Sir John Anderson. Eden didn't have his second wartime spell as Foreign Secretary to bolster his chances.

All comments are welcome. Attlee was in my opinion one of the greatest PM's we've had and this TL will reflect that.

No objection to any timeline that gives Attlee & Bevin more time in power!

 

[Nezza 001]

IIRC Anthony Eden was earmarked as Churchill's successor, although possibly not in the summer of 1940. Much as I admire Attlee (glad you picked up it's not "Atlee") as one of my political heroes, I don't see him or any Labour member taking over from Churchill. The numbers in the House of Commons did not add up, with the National Government (basically the Tory Party + some Labour "traitors" + a handful of National Liberals) overwhelmingly in control. Note the Norway debate which unseated Chamberlain - the Government actually had a majority in the vote of 80, with dozens of their supporters abstaining or even voting for the motion moved by Labour - the notional majority over Labour & other opposition parties was 213!). Chamberlain remained leader of the Conservative Party after Churchill was appointed PM. In the crisis in May 1940 Attlee & Labour did not consider any claim to the premiership; they agreed they could not serve under Chamberlain, but were prepared to under Churchill or Halifax (it was this that really convinced Chamberlain to go).

More importantly, Attlee was not appointed Deputy Prime Minister until 1942, until then he was Lord Privy Seal ( a largely ceremonial role, much as Deputy PM was - neither post had any departmental power but it allowed Attlee to have free hands in the War Cabinet).

I would expect Halifax to be the front-runner as a Conservative PM & already being member of Churchill's War Cabinet, with rules bent to allow him to appear in front of the Commons. Less likely (but more so than Attlee) were Sam Hoare, Kingsley Wood & Sir John Anderson. Eden didn't have his second wartime spell as Foreign Secretary to bolster his chances.


No objection to any timeline that gives Attlee & Bevin more time in power!

Good to hear that.

3.Clement Attlee (Labour) July 1945 to March 1947

"It was a damned close run thing" Attlee won a narrow majority of 4 in 1945. Many of the Tory old guard chafed at what they were calling 'socialism through the back door while we were fighting the Nazis at the front' and rallied around Halifax who had donned the mantle of Churchill and who had controlled the party from the Lords with Eden as Commons Leader.

Attlee may have won the war but he struggled with the peace. The financial crisis that hit the UK led to humiliation on the world stage and internecine fighting within Labour damaged his credibility and his health suffered leading to a serious heart attack. Yes he had overseen the creation of the NHS and the Welfare state but it counted for naught as he tendered his resignation to the King in hospital.

 

[Domrémy-Scorniçesti Axis]

1.Winston Churchill (Conservative) May to July 1940

"The stupid old fool didn't listen". That would made a suitable inscription on his gravestone. The shortest governing Prime Minister up until that time, Churchill was killed as he stood on the rooftop of 10 Downing Street during the Battle of Britain and was hit by a bomb which sent him falling though the roof. His death was kept secret for 2 days whilst procedures hurriedly took place to put his successor in power. The tories wanted Eden to take over but effectively that decision had been taken out of their hands.

Liking this

 

[Nezza 001]

4. Sir Stafford Cripps (Labour) March to October 1947
"Keeping the seat warm for the Tories" Cripps was a man of contradictions. A talented lawyer but with a very old world manner. Ill at ease on television he struggled with the demands of modern politics as well as the fracturing of the party. He found himself having to call an election because he was fed up of the antics of the likes of Heath Secretary Nye Bevan and his acolyte Michael Foot as well as the relentless pressure from Eden. It was a foregone conclusion...

 

[Nezza 001]

5. Lord Halifax (Conservatives) October 1947 to May 1949
"A return to sanity". Many on the left and some constitutional historians howled at the notion of a peer as PM again but Halifax was the unanimous choice to take over after Churchill's death. In many ways though Halifax was a figurehead, Eden was Foreign Secretary, Deputy PM and the de facto leader in the Commons mirroring the situation between Asquith and Lloyd George.

Halifax's high point was the UK joining NATO but he was unsuited to the rigours of post war, post imperial politics. A minor stroke in 1949 gave him the chance to step down. Eden was next.

 

[Nezza 001]

6. Anthony Eden (Conservatives) May 1949 to February 1957

"All over a bloody canal" That would have been a suitable epitaph. Eden's ascension promised so much and for a while it seemed he could do no wrong. Things started to go wrong in 1954 when Eden's health stated to affect him. A botched gall bladder operation led to mood swings and dithering. The Suez Canal crisis was the last straw. The UK's withdrawal and humiliation sealed Eden's fate.

 

[TimTurner]

I wonder who takes over ITTL. Maybe not Supermac...

 

[Nezza 001]

I wonder who takes over ITTL. Maybe not Supermac...

Hmm...

7.Rab Butler (Conservative and Conservative/Liberal) February 1957 to October 1964

"Sneaky devil". Butler was very much the Elastoplast Prime Minister. Untouched by Eden's machinations Rab was called upon to heal the wounds in the Tories but he know by the early 60's that a resurgent Labour Party under Gaitskell was a threat. Gambling on a snap election in June 1963the Tories fell short of a majority but was able to form a weak coalition with Jo Grimond's Liberals but again the internal struggles that bedevilled the party as well as griping among the Liberal caused Rab to go the country again less that 2 years later. The rest was close but not close enough.


------------------------------------
LIST OF ELECTIONS
July 1945 Labour Win
October 1947 Conservative Win
June 1952 Conservative Win
June 1957 Conservative Win
June 1963 Hung Parliament

 

[Nezza 001]

8.Hugh Gaitskell (Labour) (October 1964 to July 1967)
"The National Sermoniser" Gaitskell led the country as a priest would lead a congregation. He was in many ways a "little Britisher" in that he opposed the UK's entry to the EEC in opposition to many in Labour. His sudden death from Lupus convulsed the nation leading many to weep openly in the streets. His successor would be very different.

 

[Nezza 001]

9. George Brown (Labour) (October 1967 to May 1971)
" It was a toss up as to which Brown we were going to get" Brown was mercurial and maddening. A passionate speaker and magnetic personality was ruined by his alcohol-fuelled rages. Assuming the mantle of his friend Gaitskell Brown sought to take more financial control away from the Treasury and his rival Harold Wilson by creating the Department of Economic Affairs under Tony Benn.Leading the UK into the EEC in 1970 he sought a snap election the following year only to lose both power and his own seat of Belper

 

[Nezza 001]

10. Reginald Maudling (Conservative) (May 1971 to March 1974)
"From one pisshead to another". Maudling was the first elected Tory leader and its rumoured many who voted for him wondered why. An understandable feeling given what happened. Reggie was a clever chap but like Brown before him was fond of the old sauce. His indolence and arrogance angered many. He was of the school that thought that the workers should know their place but the miners scotched that. The three day week and power cuts caused outrage across the nation and many felt it was only a matter of time before Maudling was out. They were right but not in the way they thought.

On the 15th of March 1974 a bomb exploded under Maudling's car in the House of Commons car park killing him his driver and security guard instantly. No one ever admitted responsibility but it was though Irish Republicans were responsible. His successor had a hell of a job to do.

 

[Nezza 001]

11. William Whitelaw (Conservative) (March 1974 to March 1975)
"The Elastoplast PM" Whitelaw was pretty much pushed into Number 10. His in tray was dominated by the industrial strife and Northern Ireland. He and NI Secretary Francis Pym were able somehow to bring the moderates in Ulster together and form a power sharing executive. The nationalist wanted a "Dublin element" in the form of a cross border council but Whitelaw and Pym were able to kick that into the political long grass on the basis that "Ulster needed calm".

The Industrial issue was the one that did for Whitelaw. He alongside Industry Secretary Norman Tebbit and Chancellor Margaret Thatcher tried to run through "In Place Of Strife" to restrict industrial power but the unions weren't having it. Exhausted Whitelaw was forced to call an election in March 1975.

 

[Anarch King of Dipsodes]

1.Winston Churchill (Conservative) May to July 1940

"The stupid old fool didn't listen". That would made a suitable inscription on his gravestone. The shortest governing Prime Minister up until that time, Churchill was killed as he stood on the rooftop of 10 Downing Street during the Battle of Britain...

Which didn't start in earnest until 13 August (Adler Tag), and the first attack on central London was on 25/26 August.

 

[Nezza 001]

Which didn't start in earnest until 13 August (Adler Tag), and the first attack on central London was on 25/26 August.

Creative licence

 

[Nezza 001]

11. Denis Healey (Labour) March 1975 to February 1979 (1)
"The bastard is in" Healey revelled in being "The Iron Prime Minister" His abrasiveness and arrogance coupled with his considerable intellectual skills made him a formidable premier. His willingness to push through stringent economic cuts as opposed to the humiliation of an IMF loan made the mid to late 70's a testing time. His majority never got higher than 9 and many of his backbenchers were tired, old men who were fond of a few drinks. Some of them were thorns in his side. Many debates and votes were knife edge affairs which had the whips conducting a potent mix of mathematical somersaults and implicit threats.

Despite this it wasn't until late 1978 until Healey's luck ran out. Going against advice he refused to call an election even though his grip on power was slipping. That coupled with his intransigence over wage increases set the scene for events that no-one imagined would have happened in the UK...

 

[Nezza 001]

12. Lord Mountbatten (Military Dictatorship) February to March 1979
"What the fuck is going on" were the words of the doorman at 10 Downing Street as the tanks appeared at both ends of the road. Maudling's death in 1971 started a chain reaction of events. Many right wingers especially those on the fascist far right were outraged that not only a Prime Minister was killed but also (in their eyes) that the UK was falling to the Communists and that a 'commie" in Healey was in charge, indeed Healey had been a communist in his youth due to his fear of fascism.

Sharing that view were some in the military including Mountbatten who had a sense of bitterness that he wasn't running the country. Mountbatten along with Sir Walter Walker and several others concocted a plan called "Operation Saviour" where Heathrow airport, the BBC and Downing Street would be surrounded and controlled. In the cold February morning it happened.

Healey was in Leeds when the coup happened and was quickly surrounded by an armed protection squad. Tony Benn who was Transport Secretary was also secreted away for his safety.

A nervous BBC crew with rifles at their backs recorded a live address by Mountbatten at 6 o clock that night saying he could no longer stand by and see the country he loved being humiliated . He called for the people of the UK to rise up and 'take back our homeland'

The people did rise up...