I think V-J is probably right in that Powell was so inflexible a politician that he would be unable to make the compromises inherent in leading a successful and long-lived government. A Powell-led government is plausible but there's also a good chance that it's not going to end prettily, even if that end isn't an Army mutiny/General Strike combo.
It would be interesting to see a timeline with a Powellite/right wing Tory government in the late 60s to mid seventies, even if it wasn't led by Powell himself. This is pretty difficult as Powell more or less alone on the Conservative right had the kind of popular appeal that would make a right wing Tory Party electable, but I wouldn't have thought it impossible by any means. The only name that springs to mind immediately is Angus Maude. He may seem an unlikely leader from our timeline but the Tory Party has a habit of electing people who were completely unknown a few months before. Perhaps a job for EdT?
A military coup isn't exactly ASB but things would have to go very far wrong for one to occur. You'd have to see a government completely lose the ability to maintain public order and provide basic services, probably combined with loony leftist defence and foreign policies - but such a government would surely have been removed long before we reached such a stage. Far more likely would be a more run-of-the-mill political coup whereby moderate figures in the Labour Party, maybe with the assistance of the security services, remove Foot or Benn or whoever is in charge. In extremis one could even see the Queen using her reserve powers to form a government of national unity, but I doubt she would take this step unless, like her grandfather, she had a very strong political and popular consensus behind her.
It would be interesting to see a timeline with a Powellite/right wing Tory government in the late 60s to mid seventies, even if it wasn't led by Powell himself. This is pretty difficult as Powell more or less alone on the Conservative right had the kind of popular appeal that would make a right wing Tory Party electable, but I wouldn't have thought it impossible by any means. The only name that springs to mind immediately is Angus Maude. He may seem an unlikely leader from our timeline but the Tory Party has a habit of electing people who were completely unknown a few months before. Perhaps a job for EdT?
A military coup isn't exactly ASB but things would have to go very far wrong for one to occur. You'd have to see a government completely lose the ability to maintain public order and provide basic services, probably combined with loony leftist defence and foreign policies - but such a government would surely have been removed long before we reached such a stage. Far more likely would be a more run-of-the-mill political coup whereby moderate figures in the Labour Party, maybe with the assistance of the security services, remove Foot or Benn or whoever is in charge. In extremis one could even see the Queen using her reserve powers to form a government of national unity, but I doubt she would take this step unless, like her grandfather, she had a very strong political and popular consensus behind her.