alternatehistory.com

Let's say, that, as all the opinion polls suggested, John Major is vanquished in the 1992 General Election by Neil Kinnock. Why is entirely up to you; my PODs are that Major gains a severe sore throat, the Sun comes up with less witty anti-Labour headlines, and Kinnock never holds the Sheffield Rally. Either way, let's be generous to the Welsh Windbag, and go further than the predicted Hung Parliament; let's give Kinnock a little Labour majority of 12 seats, and unofficial pledges of support from the Liberal Democrats led by Paddy Ashdown.

Soon after entering office, Labour is going to have to deal with the E.R.M troubles that faced the Tories in OTL. Since the party had pledged that "To curb inflation. Labour will maintain the value of the pound within the European Exchange Rate Mechanism", there is little reason to suppose that a Black Wednesday analogue would never have occurred. So, when "Black Tuesday" rolls round (6 days later than OTL), the Labour party suffers national humiliation, eagerly jumped on by the Tories as proof of Labour's economic incompetence.

Still, this is Labour, and it has not been in power 13 years to earn the level of dislike that the Tories had done by OTL Black Wednesday. John Smith is considerably more sensitive and sensible than Norman Lamont when it comes to discussing Black Tuesday, so Labour is able to relatively effectively limit damage. Though the party is behind in the polls by Christmas of 1992, few in the Government are seriously worried, the Tories only have a lead of 5 or 6 points.

The Tories meanwhile, are disappointed, but not crushed by the result. John Major has done his expected job of minimising Conservative losses, and he stands down as Party Leader in September, shortly after the pleasure of gloating as Leader of the Opposition over Black Tuesday. Thereafter, the contest for the soul of the Conservative Party can begin in earnest. The Tories remain ITTL as split as ever, and the leadership election eventually boils down to three choices; the Europhiles, led by Michael Heseltine, and supported by Kenneth Clarke, the moderates, led by Douglas Hurd and supported by Malcolm Rifkind, and the Eurosceptics, led by Norman Lamont and supported by John Redwood. In the end, Douglas Hurd is appointed Leader of the Conservative Party.

Labour begins 1993 by implementing a series of reforms in the general direction of BR, hoping to turn the railway system into a glowing example of what a nationalised industry can be. The railways are pledged an extra £43m in yearly cash, to fund a new High Speed network running from the Channel Tunnel to Manchester. The Prime Minister and the Home Secretary, Tony Blair, cut the first sod of the new route.

Elsewhere, Labour busily begins the process of extending regional assemblies. The new Scottish Parliament has its first elections in 1994, which are, unsurprisingly, won by the Labour Party. The Tories, SNP, and Liberals vie for the other seats, but as yet, there is no clear "opposition" to Scottish Labour.

In 1994, the Chancellor, John Smith, steps down, to be replaced by the ambitious Gordon Brown, who is rumoured to have differences with Kinnock. Immediately, the Brown Treasury begins to implement a number of "stealth taxes" which are seized upon by the Conservative Shadow Chancellor, Michael Portillo, as evidence of Labour's "greed". Following Smith's resignation, the Government begins to slide in the opinion polls. The BSE crisis leads to heads rolling, and Labour's exciting plans for revitalising Britain's heavy industry come to naught, thanks to a determination on the part of several Labour rebels to establish a more populist, right wing, party to take on the resurgent Tories. The Chief Whip, Peter Mandelson, walks out of Government in May 1996, intending to cause a coup against the Prime Minister, but this is in vain. Kinnock holds on to the position as Prime Minister until the 1997 general election, which the Conservatives comfortably win with a majority of 48. Douglas Hurd becomes PM. Britain is a very different place.



Thoughts? This is an extremelly rough draft of a TL I may or may not come back to at some point. Still, ideas for what the Tories will do now, and much more fleshing out of Labour's actions in Government is desperately needed!
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