Cameron was elected Mayor of London in 2008, although I shan't say anymore, as the next Chapter will include the London Mayoral Election of 2012 (along with the EU membership referendum and several by-elections).
It's DD For Me - a British Politics Timeline
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Cameron was elected Mayor of London in 2008, although I shan't say anymore, as the next Chapter will include the London Mayoral Election of 2012 (along with the EU membership referendum and several by-elections).
Given IOTL Brine was selected as Conservative candidate for Winchester in November 2006, he would contest Winchester at the 2007 GE and lose (narrowly) to the incumbent Liberal Democrat MP. However, because the result was a close one, Brine was subsequently re-selected and won the seat for the Tories in 2011, with the Conservative and Liberal Democrat shares of the vote resembling OTL's 2015 result (given the early Lib Dem collapse ITTL) rather than OTL's 2010.
Oh and, on another note, does anyone know if there is a map of the proposed 2013 boundary changes available (preferably MS Paint editable)? My thinking is that, with the Conservatives holding a majority ITTL, it would pass through and so I'd probably need it if I want to do a map for TTL's 2015 General Election.
I've been searching for it as well, as it happens. The best I could find is this from the Guardian at the time. There are probably ways of getting rid of the transparency, and if the larger borders are an issue, I guess you could zoom in, take screenshots, then piece them together later. Depends how committed you are I suppose. If you find a better map out there, let me know, as I might look to use it for something I've been planning myself.
Yes - it only came out after the 2007 GE ITTL.
Thanks for the link - I'll have a look at that map.
Chapter V: The 2012 London Mayoral Election and the European Union Membership Referendum
David Cameron had entered the office of Mayor of London in 2008, defeating incumbent Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone as the Conservative candidate. Since then, Cameron had presided largely over preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, set to be held in the city as well as the implementation of a scheme which Cameron declared would create a ‘Green London’, which involved the increasing of congestion charges and the protection of park land around the Greater London Authority from urbanisation. A further decision taken by Cameron would relate to his own political allegiance – the London Mayor had abandoned the Commons for City Hall largely due to the fact that his hopes for ‘modernisation’ (moving towards the centre) of the Conservatives had failed. Davis' strong performance at the 2007 General Election, followed by his subsequent election victory in 2011, meant that the Conservatives remained a firmly right-of-centre party, , and so Cameron’s strand of Conservatism remained out of line with Party policy. Therefore, in order to allow himself to emphasise his centre-right views and act independently of the national Conservatives, Cameron met with Davis and other senior Conservatives and proposed that the London Conservatives should cease to be a branch of the Conservative and Unionist Party and instead become an independent organisation (although affiliated to the Conservatives at the national level). Such a proposal was not radical – prior to 1946, Conservatives operating on the local level in London had belonged to a separate party, Municipal Reform, while Murdo Fraser’s failed bid for the leadership of the Scottish Conservatives had been based on a similar pledge to separate from the national Party. Therefore, Davis accepted Cameron’s proposal and so, in October 2011, the London Mayor announced the formation of the Reform Party, which would contest elections for the London Mayoralty and London Assembly, although not for London’s local councils nor London’s Parliamentary constituencies (which would still be contested by the Conservatives who, from then onwards, announced that they would not contest the London Mayoralty or London Assembly elections). Reforms’ political position was significantly to the left of the Conservatives, and emphasised Cameron’s slogan of ‘Big Society’ and one-nation conservatism. Cameron would subsequently, running as the candidate for Reform, win the 2012 London Mayoral Election, defeating Livingstone (once again nominated by Labour).
As previously mentioned, shortly after forming his new Government, Davis had passed the necessary legislation through Parliament which arranged for a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU to be held on October the 25th 2012, with the referendum question being: ‘Should the United Kingdom leave the European Union?’.
The campaign would commence in September 2012, after Britain had enjoyed a summer of sports as a result of London’s hosting of the Summer Olympics and Paralympics (which saw Team GB secure its best ever result since the 1908 Olympics, also held in London). Davis would give a speech outside of Downing Street, urging the British people to 'reclaim their sovereignty' and vote ‘Yes’ (that the Prime Minister endorsed leaving the EU was no surprise to many, not least following Davis’ decision in December 2011 to veto a proposed EU treaty change), while the two organisations ratified by the Electoral Commission to campaign for the referendum, ‘Yes to Britain’ and ‘No Thanks!’, launched their separate campaigns the following day. Throughout the campaign, the two sides would argue from different angles – the ‘Yes’ campaign would emphasise the fact that the EU corroded British sovereignty and prevented the UK from making its own laws, determining its immigration policy and signing its own trade deals, while the ‘No’ campaign would emphasise economic benefits brought by the EU, as well as the ‘unknown’ factor of leaving the EU and the uncertainty in the financial markets which would result from a ‘Yes’ vote.
Since opinion polling of whether or not Britain should leave the EU had begun in earnest (shortly after Davis’ announcement that the Conservatives would hold such a referendum), leaving the EU (and, after the referendum question was announced, the ‘Yes’ side) held a clear majority, both with and without Undecided voters included, both due to the Euroscepticism of the British electorate and frustration at the status quo following the Financial Crisis. Such a lead would continue as the campaign began, with ‘Yes’ holding an average of 54% in opinion polls during the first week of the campaign, although a narrowing did take place as canvasing and hustings commenced in earnest. However, such a narrowing would halt during the second week of the campaign, when a televised debate (the first of its kind in Britain) took place, jointly hosted by the BBC and ITV. Several candidates were considered for both sides - 'Yes for Britain' considered figures in their ranks such as UKIP leader Nigel Farage (an effective orator who had also appeared on a Question Time special during the referendum campaign) and Labour MP Kate Hoey (who would appeal to left-wing voters and demonstrate that the 'Yes' side was not dominated by the Conservatives and UKIP), yet eventually it was decided that Davis, as the most high-profile politician on the 'Yes' side, would represent their cause at the debate. Meanwhile, 'No Thanks!' also went through several potential candidates - Labour leader David Miliband (who was eventually ruled out due to being a divisive figure amongst the electorate following his premiership), Lord Alan Sugar (who held economic expertise as a businessman) and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg (whose political views had consistently been pro-EU). Eventually, Clegg was selected by 'No Thanks!' and so the debate between Davis and Clegg would go ahead in front of almost ten million viewers watching the event. Davis was deemed to have won the debate convincingly according to subsequent opinion polls, and this led to a surge in support for ‘Yes’ in the days following the debate, with 61% of voters declaring their intention to vote ‘Yes’ in one YouGov poll. Such a surge would gradually wear off in the dying days of the campaign, yet, in the final opinion poll average prior to polling day, 56% of respondents continued to support ‘Yes’.
When the referendum took place and the ballots were cast, the two campaigns held their breathe - had the numerous calls for Britain to leave the EU since the signing of the Maastricht Treaty finally paid off? Or had the electorate endorsed the EU and agreed to continue Britain's membership of the bloc? Eventually, the results would become known - as the first local authorities announced how the vote had swung in their respective areas, the 'Yes' campaign would take an initial lead, holding such a position throughout the night, with the final result (declared the following morning) being, on a turnout of 67.8%, a landslide victory for 'Yes', which secured 61.2% of the vote to 38.8% for ‘No’, largely as a result of a coalition of working-class voters in the former industrial cities of Northern England and rural voters in East Anglia and other agricultural regions assembling to signal their support for leaving the EU, while ‘No’ received its support from Greater London, South-East England and Scotland. In the headquarters of ‘Yes to Britain’, there was jubilance as senior figures in the campaign celebrated their victory – the United Kingdom would be leaving the European Union.
***
As previously mentioned, shortly after forming his new Government, Davis had passed the necessary legislation through Parliament which arranged for a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU to be held on October the 25th 2012, with the referendum question being: ‘Should the United Kingdom leave the European Union?’.
The campaign would commence in September 2012, after Britain had enjoyed a summer of sports as a result of London’s hosting of the Summer Olympics and Paralympics (which saw Team GB secure its best ever result since the 1908 Olympics, also held in London). Davis would give a speech outside of Downing Street, urging the British people to 'reclaim their sovereignty' and vote ‘Yes’ (that the Prime Minister endorsed leaving the EU was no surprise to many, not least following Davis’ decision in December 2011 to veto a proposed EU treaty change), while the two organisations ratified by the Electoral Commission to campaign for the referendum, ‘Yes to Britain’ and ‘No Thanks!’, launched their separate campaigns the following day. Throughout the campaign, the two sides would argue from different angles – the ‘Yes’ campaign would emphasise the fact that the EU corroded British sovereignty and prevented the UK from making its own laws, determining its immigration policy and signing its own trade deals, while the ‘No’ campaign would emphasise economic benefits brought by the EU, as well as the ‘unknown’ factor of leaving the EU and the uncertainty in the financial markets which would result from a ‘Yes’ vote.
Since opinion polling of whether or not Britain should leave the EU had begun in earnest (shortly after Davis’ announcement that the Conservatives would hold such a referendum), leaving the EU (and, after the referendum question was announced, the ‘Yes’ side) held a clear majority, both with and without Undecided voters included, both due to the Euroscepticism of the British electorate and frustration at the status quo following the Financial Crisis. Such a lead would continue as the campaign began, with ‘Yes’ holding an average of 54% in opinion polls during the first week of the campaign, although a narrowing did take place as canvasing and hustings commenced in earnest. However, such a narrowing would halt during the second week of the campaign, when a televised debate (the first of its kind in Britain) took place, jointly hosted by the BBC and ITV. Several candidates were considered for both sides - 'Yes for Britain' considered figures in their ranks such as UKIP leader Nigel Farage (an effective orator who had also appeared on a Question Time special during the referendum campaign) and Labour MP Kate Hoey (who would appeal to left-wing voters and demonstrate that the 'Yes' side was not dominated by the Conservatives and UKIP), yet eventually it was decided that Davis, as the most high-profile politician on the 'Yes' side, would represent their cause at the debate. Meanwhile, 'No Thanks!' also went through several potential candidates - Labour leader David Miliband (who was eventually ruled out due to being a divisive figure amongst the electorate following his premiership), Lord Alan Sugar (who held economic expertise as a businessman) and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg (whose political views had consistently been pro-EU). Eventually, Clegg was selected by 'No Thanks!' and so the debate between Davis and Clegg would go ahead in front of almost ten million viewers watching the event. Davis was deemed to have won the debate convincingly according to subsequent opinion polls, and this led to a surge in support for ‘Yes’ in the days following the debate, with 61% of voters declaring their intention to vote ‘Yes’ in one YouGov poll. Such a surge would gradually wear off in the dying days of the campaign, yet, in the final opinion poll average prior to polling day, 56% of respondents continued to support ‘Yes’.
When the referendum took place and the ballots were cast, the two campaigns held their breathe - had the numerous calls for Britain to leave the EU since the signing of the Maastricht Treaty finally paid off? Or had the electorate endorsed the EU and agreed to continue Britain's membership of the bloc? Eventually, the results would become known - as the first local authorities announced how the vote had swung in their respective areas, the 'Yes' campaign would take an initial lead, holding such a position throughout the night, with the final result (declared the following morning) being, on a turnout of 67.8%, a landslide victory for 'Yes', which secured 61.2% of the vote to 38.8% for ‘No’, largely as a result of a coalition of working-class voters in the former industrial cities of Northern England and rural voters in East Anglia and other agricultural regions assembling to signal their support for leaving the EU, while ‘No’ received its support from Greater London, South-East England and Scotland. In the headquarters of ‘Yes to Britain’, there was jubilance as senior figures in the campaign celebrated their victory – the United Kingdom would be leaving the European Union.
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While I'm very much enjoying this so far, why do I feel like a hammer or should I say, invisible hand, is about to come crashing down?
I'm not sure why the debates would be between Clegg and Farage in this alternate referendum- Clegg is barely known (is even Lib Dems leader in this situation?) and Farage is a toxic figure without the appeal to win over a majority of voters, that's why Vote Leave avoided him like the plague IOTL. In this scenario, the Leave side has a PM, and presumably a larger portion of the Tory party on side. Surely they could find someone better than Farage?
would the leave side not have the PM representing it at the debate and if so would the No Thanks side have the leader of the opposition? I can understand the leave side not having the PM just as remain side didnt have Cameron in our TL but surely they would be represented by someone high up in the cabinet instead?
Points taken. I'll have Davis represent 'Yes' in the debate instead.
And, in response to @Politibrit 's question on Clegg in particular, yes he is leader of the Liberal Democrats ITTL (following Cable's resignation in 2011).
To tell you the truth, I haven't considered international politics when writing this timeline thus far.
Would anyone like to see some Chapters focused on the politics of countries other than Britain?
Your wiki box for the London Mayor still has reference to Boris Johnson in the bottom text.