List of Alternate Presidents and PMs II

[Uhura's Mazda]

Is a presidents list that does not have the butterfly effect OK?

No.

 

[KingCrawa]

There are butterflies screaming in agony out there, but I still had fun writing this.

Things Can Only Get Worse

Tony Blair (Labour): 1997 – 2007

Following Tony Blair’s mammoth win at the 1997 election, the Tory party had a lot of rebuilding to do. With the party reduced to a mere 165 seats there were not many contenders involved in the leadership contest with the final round coming down to Ken Clarke and William Hague. However, at the last minute, Clarke stepped aside for former Deputy PM, Michael Heseltine, whose experience over the relative newcomer Hague, trumped his Europhilia.

Heseltine set about slowly rebuilding the party and was able to hold onto the leadership after the 2001 election arguing “one election was never going to be enough”. By 2003 though his health was clearly not what it once was and he stepped aside in favour of his loyal lieutenant Ken Clarke. Clarke easily matched Blair in bombast and popularity, but his reputation within his own party was still suspect. While he was able to hold on for two years, when Labour returns to office in 2005, he saw the writing on the wall and resigned

The Tories hoping to portray themselves as “grown up and responsible” compared to the increasingly argumentative Labour party, elected Shadow Trade and Industry Secretary David Willetts to replace him.

Gordon Brown (Labour): 2007 – 2010

“Two Brains” Willetts might have been the perfect person to counter Blair’s media obsession, but when in 2007, Blair resigned and was replaced my Gordon Brown – who had seen off a leadership challenge from Alan Milburn – the Eurosceptic right started to get antsy. Willets attempts to move the party away from the legacy of Mrs Thatcher had unnerved them and with an election possible any time, “what was the point” they said “of winning if we aren’t going to govern like Conservatives”.

So shortly after Christmas 2008, at the behest of MP’s such as Peter Bone and Philip Davies, Shadow Defence Secretary Iain Duncan Smith – appointed to the Shadow Cabinet as a sop to the right – challenged Willets for the leadership, winning with the support of the right and those who felt a more muscular leadership strategy was needed. For a few months this worked, with the Quiet Man, demonstrating a control over his party that was notably absent where the increasingly fractured Labour party was concerned. Gradually the Tories numbers started to rise. Until that is the recession hit.

The recession affected both parties more or less equally. While for a time Brown was seen as a safe pair of hands, his numbers began dropping by late 2009, when it appeared things weren’t improving. IDS meanwhile was seen as economically sound, but his Thatcherite economic views set some people on edge. Come the 2010 election, most pundits reckoned the result could well be a hung parliament. Until that is, a week before the election, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne was caught on a live mic, admitting there was no money left.

Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative): 2010 – 2013

Some – mostly left wing – commentators believe that allowing a Monetarist acolyte of Mrs Thatcher to take over in the middle of a recession, was one of most catastrophic things to happen in British political history. Other – mainly right wing – commentators have pointed out that things wouldn’t have got so bad, if Labour had handled the economy slightly better (though one rather acerbic columnist for the Daily Mail maintains that things wouldn’t have got so bad “if Labour had never been allowed into government in the first place”). Either way, Iain Duncan Smith’s premiership is defiantly the marmite of 21st century British politics. You either love him or in most people’s cases, you strongly dislike him.

Duncan Smith’s followed a policy of extreme austerity, cutting everything but the military and oddly enough disability benefits. He also put in place a referendum on the European Union, which the Stay side, won all be it narrowly. This didn’t stop him lessening the UK’s participation with EU events however.

By three years in, the economy could not be seen to have recovered at least not sufficiently enough. Blaming his small majority, IDS went to the country again, hoping to increase it. Instead the Tories found themselves back on the opposition benches.

Alan Johnson (Labour): 2013 – Present

Johnson was elected leader in the belief that his working-class credentials would play well against Duncan Smith’s patrician background. Assembling a shadow cabinet from all wings of the party, Johnson set about demolishing Duncan Smith at PMQs bringing up regular examples of how the Government’s policies were affecting the lives of ordinary people. By 2013, his numbers were high enough that it appeared the electorate had forgotten the divisions of the Brown era.

Once in office Johnson spent the first few years of his premiership righting the economic ship, engaging in a policy of targeted investment, specifically in education and healthcare. With the numbers beginning to tick up, Johnson started focusing on rebuilding the UK’s relationship with Europe, and is now working on building up a good partnership with the newly elected President Biden.

The Tories meanwhile finally decided to exorcise the ghost of Mrs Thatcher by electing maverick blue sky thinker Michael Gove leader over former Home Secretary and IDS supporter Liam Fox.

 

[Aaaaasima]

b0i

1974-1975: Gerald Ford/Nelson Rockefeller (Republican)
"Ouch!"
1975: Nelson Rockefeller/John Connally (Republican)
"We will crack down on the Manson family which killed President Ford in cold blood two days ago"
1975-1977: John Connally/Mark Hatfield (Republican)
"Rockefeller died of a brain aneurysm and that's final. No, I will not comment on any childish rumors which says he had sex with an aide and got a heart attack"
1977-1981: Gaylord Nelson/William Waller (Democratic)
"Why the Republicans insist on invading Iran instead of fixing the economy is beyond me."
1976: Ronald Reagan/John Tower (Republican), Charles Mathias/Bob Stafford (Independent)
1981: Mark Hatfield/Bob Kasten (Republican)
"See that weirdo over there? What in God's name is he holding?"
1980: Gaylord Nelson/William Waller (Democratic), Jesse Helms/Guy Gabaldon (Independent)
1981-1989: Bob Kasten/Dick Thornburgh (Republican)
"Our bill will reduce government spending which had given us the inflation of the 1970s, and will lower your taxes. Their bill will continue the 1970s malaise into the 1980s."
1984: Warren Hearnes/Bill Sheffield (Democratic)
1989-1997: Joseph Brennan/David Pryor (Democratic)
"Two hours ago, US troops, with the help of the Rwandan Patriotic Front and the French, had taken over Kigali and had overthrown the genocidal Rwandan government"
1988: Dick Thornburgh/Peter Wilson (Republican)
1992: Peter Wilson/Mack Mattingly (Republican), Clayton Williams/Trent Lott (Independent)
1997-2003: Jeremiah Denton/Slade Gorton (Republican)
"The people who planned this attack will face the might of the United States"
1996: David Boren/Tim Penny (Democratic)
2000: Dick Gephardt/Paul Wellstone (Democratic), Tim Penny/Dick Lamm (Independence)
2003-2005: Slade Gorton/Michael Parker (Republican)
"Denton aged considerably between the 2001 attacks and the day before he died"
2005-2013: Bob Menendez/John Garamendi (Democratic)
"Why can't I get anything done? I'll tell you why I can't get anything done. The Republican party, ever since they took over congress in 2006 has proven themselves to want nothing more than for my administration to fail, not even giving me a chance. I hope we vote them out in 2008"
2004: Slade Gorton/Michael Parker (Republican), Dick Lamm/Duncan Hunter (Protect our Borders coalition)
2008: Tom Ridge/Bill Frist (Republican), Roy Moore/Mary Fallin (Right to Life), Donald Trump/Angus King (Independence)
2013-2021: Darrell Issa/George LeMieux (Republican)
"I do believe that the Cuban government had something to do with the attacks in San Francisco."
2012: John Garamendi/John Baldacci (Democratic)
2016: William Cowan/Mary Landrieu (Democratic)
2021-2022: Ed Markey/Andrew Beshear (Democratic)
"I promise to withdraw from Cuba by 2022"
2020: George LeMiuex/Doug Burgum (Republican)
2022- : Andrew Beshear/William Cowan (Democratic)
"President Markey's assassination shows that for too long the threat of right-wing extremism has been underestimated"

Some notes:

• Gabaldon ran for the same seat he did in 1964 and lost, in 1978 and he won
• Wilson, being pro-choice, had to face an independent pro-life ticket in the form of TX governor Clayton Williams and Congressman Trent Lott (Lott became bitter after losing the Whip position election). It only got 5.3%. Could have gotten more if Williams hadn't compared rape to bad weather.
• Tim Penny did not support Lamm's 2004 campaign. Lamm was quiet on immigration in 2000.
• The San Francisco attacks were a series of bombings around San Francisco by left wing extremists on May 19th, 2015.
• Markey was assassinated by a deranged member of the Michigan militia who fought in the Cuban war before being discharged due to psychological reasons in 2017.
• Hatfield could have stopped the Republican's lurch to the right. Alas, a deranged man's bullet got him.
• Rockefeller did die of a heart attack while having sex with an aide. In 2022, everyone knows that, but the government insists it was a Brain Anuerysm.
• Needless to say, the war in Afghanistan took a toll on Denton.

 

[Zaffre]

Presidents of these United States: 1788-1865

1788-1795: George Washington (Nonpartisan-VA)
1788: Richard Montgomery (Nonpartisan-NY)
1795-1802: John Adams (Convention-MA)
1794: Thomas Jefferson (Federalist-VA)
1802-1807: William Christian (Federalist-VA)†
1801: John Marshall (Convention-VA)
1807-1809: John Thomas (Federalist-MA)
1809-1816: Samuel Dexter (Convention-MA)
1808: Abraham B. Venable (Federalist-VA)
1816-1823: Samuel Dana (Convention-MA)
1815: Aaron Burr (Federalist-NY)
1823-1830: Samuel Davis (Convention-MA)
1822: Aaron Burr (Independent-NY)
1830-1837: David Brydie Mitchell (Breton-GA)
1829: Richard H. Dana, Sr. (Convention-MA), Duncan McArthur (Convention-OH), Humphrey Marshall (Convention-KY), François Quirouet (Breton-QC)
1837-1840: Richard Elliott Parker (Breton-VA)†
1836: Solomon Southwick (Compact-NY), Joseph Lawrence (Convention-PA)
1840-1851: James Harper (Compact-NY)
1843: Edmund Burke (Breton-NH)
1851-1858: Charles Stewart Todd (Breton-KY)
1850: Samuel F. B. Morse (Compact-CT)
1858-1865: Charles Pettit McIlvaine (Compact-NJ)
1857: John T. Mason, Jr. (Breton-MD)
1865-: John Jay II (Breton-NY)
1864: Sydenham Moore (Gradualist-AL), Thomas Fluornoy (S. Compact-VA), Godlove S. Orth (N. Compact-IN)


This is all just a bit of a list to collect my thoughts (and give a little information), on what exactly happened in my vignette (which I recommend you read first). Constitutional butterflies included.

In 1775, Gen. Richard Montgomery seizes Ft. St. Jean several weeks faster with better artillery placement, captures Guy Carleton in a subsequent battle, and is able to seize a still almost-undefended Quebec City.

Let's cycle through the next few years of the Revolutionary War rather quickly - Britain ultimately makes retaking Quebec a lower priority; Burgoyne launches a campaign to retake Boston instead (and runs into an alternate form of Saratoga at the Battle of Barre) - Washington and Montgomery battle inconclusively with the British throughout Pennsylvania for several years; the southern campaign comes close to success but not quite, and ultimately with the aid of the French navy, Washington gets the forces in New York City to surrender in mid 1780, ending the war. Quebec is one of the 14 colonies to be set free.

The first years of the new nation are chaotic - no more so than in Quebec, where the franchise is extremely limited, there is pushback against the central government over those western land claims, and of course the whole 'emissaries of papist tyranny' thing. The few Quebec delegates eventually walk out, which the convention tries to ignore - Quebec Anti-Federalist forces easily defeat ratification.

So Quebec exists in a weird half-way house as the United States take the first steps towards democracy.

First there's the decisive clash between 'Washingtonians' and Montgomerists' - indeed who the first president was going to be was a matter of contention for quite some time, with two national heroes so equally placed. Montgomery and the Schuylers end up losing out narrowly - his foreign birth can't have helped, and the south has all those extra EVs from slaves. The Montgomery-Washington split ends up filtered down to future generations as a vaguely non-partisan, non-sectional clash over spoils, even if Adams and Jefferson do have drastically different foreign policy ideas.

The Federalists however end up on the worse side of it - charismatic Virginian William Christian dies in office and per the rules of succession, Senate President John Thomas - in his eighties! - takes office. Thomas isn't up to doing much of anything, which is why Quebec (still only loosely associated), which still resents him for being an occupying general, ends up entering into an alliance with Constitutionalist France in 1808.

It's the last mistake they'll ever make - the Conventioneers are outraged and Samuel Dexter stokes up an anti-Catholic, anti-French panic which both wins the election and gives them a pretext to invade Quebec later that year. Britain has no wish to stop Dexter, and Narbonne-Lara is busy enough on the home front that he can't possibly send troops - Quebec capitulates, and pro-American forces form a provisional government and petition for admission as a state later that year. With a little tinkering to limit the rights of the priesthood, Dexter accepts - and off of the successful war and the booming economy, the Massachusetts Dynasty lasts for another 14 years after him. All the while the Federalists sink into irrelevance, curtailed to their base in Virginia and Georgia - even charismatic former Senator Aaron Burr can't stem their losses although he heads up the party twice.

Come 1829 however and everything goes to shit - the Convention caucus can't decide on a candidate (for good reason; people are sick and tired of presidents from New England), and everything splits to hell - with the long forgotten Federalists squeaking through in a radical new form. Nicknamed the 'Bretons' after Club Breton from the French Crisis [the faction that IOTL later became known as the Jacobins] - they believe in expanding suffrage, settling west, and ramping up immigration. And the southern ones tend to believe in slavery. The two Bretons - Mitchell and Quirouet - combine their electors to narrowly win; a victory for what is anecdotally termed the St. Lawrence-Savannah Axis.

The bitter Convention Party can't really handle competition - they stumble and fumble as Montreal swells with both immigrants and commerce; and Quebec successfully has the rights of both the priesthood and those with titles respected by the federal government.

General Parker of Virginia is elected in 1836 over the bitter and dispirited Convention Party - and over the Compact. Sometimes known as 'The Protestant Compact', more technically named after the 'Compact among the States' theory of the Constitution - for as Solomon Southwick puts it, 'the Romish can have no abhorrent rights which the other states of the union are forced to respect'. Mob violence, the bitterness of New Yorkers that are seeing their Great Lakes trade all but dry up, and free soil sentiment are a potent mix.

And when President Parker dies in 1840 - Senator Harper is catapulted to White House almost by chance. And the fact that the Compact caucus selected him as their leader - he's at the forefront of propaganda when it comes to 'publicizing' the many offenses of licentious priests and nuns in the hotspot of supposed sin that is Montreal. And when cholera strikes the city in late 1840, Harper is secretly pleased.

And the next year, with majorities in both houses of Congress, he makes a decision - the Compact can do more. Surprising to anyone who thought they were legitimately about small-government (and unsurprising to anyone who knows how power works) - Harper makes a decision. The Catholic church and it's offshoots are 'undemocratic' and 'antithetical to the spirit of the Consitution' and on top of that, concealing any multitude of licentiousness and sin. So he sends in the Army to keep peace. If a lot of Catholic farmers are unnecessarily beaten up, forced out of their homes - that's one thing. And if soldiers end up digging a lot of holes in the forest at night - that's another thing. Not one that the administration papers especially want to comment on. Or one that Harper talks about as he's narrowly elected to a full term. And when he offers a bipartisan bone to the Bretons in the form of war with Mexico - they focus on that instead.

If anything, Charles Todd goes down in history as the 'Gradual Emancipator' - California and Oregon are a bit too unruly to try and force slavery on them, and amidst the widespread slavery debates - well, he recalls soldiers from Quebec very quietly. Can't afford to piss moderate Compacters off.

And if Charles McIlvaine's remembered for anything, it's for being the last president of the Compact Party before it goes down in flames in the debate over the pace of emancipation. And for being very interested in what the historians are writing.

 

[Utgard96]

That's fantastic.

 

[Zaffre]

That's fantastic.

Thanks.

I feel obliged to point out the vignette that goes with it.

I guess the two big things that keep coming up that I wanted to deconstruct were:

a) America can integrate Quebec (or really, anywhere reasonably white) with relative ease, and Quebec is just going to be wildly happy to join them.

b) The idea that conquering more southern territory is the only clear benchmark of a *bad* U.S. and vice versa - it's like, aside from the issue of slavery, ATL USAs are on invisible tracks guiding them so that they can't do anything that good or that bad. Which I think is pretty clear is not the case.


(and c) something changes in the Revolutionary War and somehow the Constitution is exactly the same)

 

[Utgard96]

Thanks.

I feel obliged to point out the vignette that goes with it.

I guess the two big things that keep coming up that I wanted to deconstruct were:

a) America can integrate Quebec (or really, anywhere reasonably white) with relative ease, and Quebec is just going to be wildly happy to join them.

b) The idea that conquering more southern territory is the only clear benchmark of a *bad* U.S. and vice versa - it's like aside from the issue of slavery, ATL USAs are all on invisible tracks guiding them so that they can't do anything that good or that bad. Which I think is pretty clear is not the case.

We need more "the early US but it's wracked with instability" TLs, they're far more interesting than what you describe in point B for a start.

 

[Mumby]

Look To The East

The premise being the ludicrous one that Cripps manages to negotiate a deal of sorts with the INC, India becomes a united, federal Dominion on conclusion of the war, but more importantly, Morrison is appointed Viceroy by an irritable Attlee. With Morrison out of the way, and nationalisation carried out somewhat differently (and British prestige more intact thanks to India remaining in the Empire), Attlee steps down earlier and allows Bevan to take command.

1945-1952: Clement Attlee (Labour)
1945 (Majority) def. Winston Churchill (Conservative), Archibald Sinclair (Liberal), Ernest Brown (National Liberal)
1950 (Majority) def. Winston Churchill (Conservative), John Maclay (National Liberal)
1951 (Majority) def. Winston Churchill (Conservative), John Maclay (National Liberal)
1952-1956: Nye Bevan (Labour majority)
1956-1957: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1956 (Coalition with National Liberals and Liberals) def. Nye Bevan (Labour), John Maclay (National Liberal)
1957-1960: Anthony Eden (National Conservative)
1958 (National Government with Labour, National Liberals and Liberals) def. Herbert Morrison (Labour), Winston Churchill ('Independent' Conservative), James Duncan (National Liberal)
1960-1965: Herbert Morrison (Labour)
1962 (Coalition with National-Liberal-Unionists) def. Randolph Churchill (New Constitutionalist), Anthony Eden (National-Liberal-Unionist)
1965-1967: Edward Shackleton (Labour majority)

 

[Cevolian]

> Run 'Mumby_Pls.exe'


1945-1949: Winston Churchill (Conservative)
1945: (National Government with Labour, National Liberals, Liberals and National Labour) def - Herbert Morison (National Coupon - Labour), Ernest Brown (National Coupon - National Liberal), Charles Smith (Common Wealth), Archibald Sinclair (National Coupon - Liberal), Stafford Cripps (ILP), Non-Coupon (Labour), Harry Pollitt (Communist), Malcolm MacDonald (National Coupon - National Labour)
1949-1951: Herbert Morison (Labour)
1949: (Minority with Liberal, ILP and Communist Confidence and Supply) def - Winston Churchill (National Coupon - Conservative), Charles Smith (Common Wealth), Archibald Sinclair (Liberal), Ernest Brown (National Coupon - National Liberal), Annie Maxton (ILP), Harry Pollitt (Communist), Malcolm MacDonald (National Coupon - National Labour)
1951-1955: John Anderson (Union)
1951: (Coalition with Liberals and National Labour) def - Ernest Millington (Popular Front - Common Wealth), Herbert Morison (Labour), Nye Bevan (Popular Front - ILP), Archibald Sinclair (Liberal), Harry Pollitt (Popular Front - Communist), Malcolm MacDonald (National Labour), Oswald Mosley (Union Movement)
1955-0000: Sir Richard Acland (Common Wealth)
1955: (National Government with Liberals, Socialist Labour, National Labour and National Conservatives) def - Randolph Churchill (Union), Hugh Gaitskell (Labour), Megan Lloyd George (Liberal), Oswald Mosley (UM), Oliver Baldwin (Socialist Labour), Malcolm MacDonald (National Labour), Bob Boothby (National Conservative)

 

[Mumby]

1861-1863: Abraham Lincoln (Republican)

1862-1863: Jefferson Davis (Non-Partisan)

1863-1864: vacant (Soldier's Councils)
1864-1873: Winfield Scott Hancock (Non-Partisan)
1873-1877: David B. Birney ('Bluecoat')
1877-1885: Robert H. Anderson ('Graycoat')
1885-1897: Frank Crawford Armstrong (Non-Partisan)

 

[Nofix]

Prime Ministers of the Dominion of Ireland

1887-1891: Charles Parnell (Irish Parliamentary Party/Democratic)
1887: Edward Saunderson (Conservative and Liberal Unionist), Edward Blake (Anti-Parnell faction of the Irish Parliamentary Party), others (Independent)
1891-1892: Edward Blake (National)
1891: Charles Parnell (Democratic), Edward Saunderson (Loyalist)
1892-1899: Charles Parnell (Democratic)
*1899-1902: John Redmond (Democratic)
1892: Edward Saunderson (Loyalist), Edward Blake (National) Tim Healy (Reform)
1897: Tim Healy (Reform), Otto Jaffe (Loyalist), William Walker (Labour)
1902-1911: Douglas Hyde (Reform)
1902: John Redmond (Democratic), James McCarron (Labour), James Craig (remnant Loyalists)
1906: Kevin O'Higgins (Democratic), James McCarron (Labour)
1910: Edward Kent (Democratic), Thomas Foron (Labour)
1911-1913: Horace Plunkett (Democratic)
1911: Douglas Hyde (Reform), John O'Farrell (Labour)

It's more of a proof of concept for "Home Rule in 1885-1886" then anything serious. The Irish Democrats are supposed to be basically the majority of the Irish Parlimentary Party, or, as they say, "The Party That Won Independence," with actual policies varying over the years. They're more Anglophobe then the other parties, but not to the degree of de Valera was OTL. The flow of American money and American support is what keeps them afloat during those long periods where they don't know what they exactly stand for.

National was early IPP, but who don't quite like Parnell (not sure if his career-destroying scandal will happen ITTL, but probably not, or at least a bit later). With a weak minority in 1891, and the Loyalists unwilling to play ball, the Nationals break and their reason for existing quickly fades.

Loyalist are, obviously, the remnant Liberal Unionists, Conservatives, and other Unionists. Derided as just "the party of the North," they mostly parallel the Republicans in the early NI Parliament. Most of the members who want to positively contribute to Ireland, like Otto Jaffe, jump ship to the Reform Party. The remnants survive one more election, but are wiped out as most of their former supporters migrate to Reform.

Reform, while seemingly another National Party, is more serious and has significant platform differences from the Democrats. Mostly in regards to Land Reform, Britain, and anti-corruption. They are a bit of an unwieldy coalition of former-IPP, Unionist, and Labour party members. Kind of like the First Inter-Party Government, but were more capable and better lead by Hyde. They ate up a lot of their former enemies, and may seek support with the Labour Party to combat the resurgent Democrats.

Labour is a labour party. They have support in the cities. Their attempts to reach out to farmers are stymied as most of them are attached to the Democrats. May seek an alliance with Reform, may not.

 

[Gonzo]

SNIPITY SNIP

Interesting, Tim Healy doing better and actually being somewhat important in the political arena is certainly an interesting idea.

 

[Gorrister]

A somewhat unrealistic list based on the prospect of a successful powersharing period. Trimble remains in the anti-Assembly portion of Vanguard which ends up merging with the DUP, which is why he's there after Paisley. Biggest change here (aside from all the other ones) is the non-existence (well, de facto) of Provisional Sinn Féin, which does slightly better than IOTL's Workers Party.

1973-1976: Brian Faulkner (Pro Assembly UUP-SDLP-Alliance-Pro Assembly Vanguard coalition)
1976-1976: Gerry Fitt (Pro Assembly UUP-SDLP-Alliance-Pro Assembly Vanguard coalition)
1976-1977: Brian Faulkner (Pro Assembly UUP-SDLP-Alliance-Pro Assembly Vanguard coalition)
1977-1978: Merlyn Rees (NI Secretary - Direct Rule)
1978-1984: James Kilfedder (UUP-SDLP coalition)
1984-1984: John Taylor (UUP-SDLP coalition)
1984-1986: James Kilfedder (UUP-SDLP coalition)
1978 Def: Gerry Fitt (SDLP), Ian Paisley (DUP), Oliver Napier (Alliance), Bernadette Devlin (Irish Republican Socialist), Robert Bradford (United Vanguard), William Craig (Independent Vanguard), Eddie McAteer (Nationalist)
1982 Def: Gerry Fitt (SDLP), Ian Paisley (DUP-Vanguard), Oliver Napier (Alliance), Bernadette Devlin (Irish Republican Socialist), Cathal Goulding (Official Sinn Féin)
1986-1988: John Nott (NI Secretary - Direct Rule)
1986 'Def': James Kilfedder (UUP), Gerry Fitt (SDLP), Ian Paisley (DUP), Bernadette Devlin (Irish Republican Socialist-Official Sinn Féin), Oliver Napier (Alliance), Thomas McMahon (Republican Sinn Féin), Jenny Jones (PEOPLE)
1988-1989: John Moore (NI Secretary - Direct Rule)
1989-1990: Gordon Brown (NI Secretary - Direct Rule)
1990-1992: Paddy Ashdown (NI Secretary - Direct Rule)
1992-1994: Austin Ardill (UUP-United Irish Peoples Front coalition)
1992 def: Dáithí Ó Conaill (United Irish Peoples Front), Jim Allister (DUP), Eddie McGrady (SDLP), Eillen Bell (Alliance), Jenny Jones (PEOPLE), Thomas McMahon (Irish Democratic and Republican Party)
1994-1996: Harold McCusker (UUP-UIPF coalition)
1996-: David Trimble (DUP-PEOPLE coalition)
1996 def: Jenny Jones (PEOPLE), Harold McCusker (UUP), Eddie McGrady (SDLP), Dáithí Ó Conaill (UIPF), Brian Wilson (Alliance), Francie Brolly (IDRP)

 

[Uhura's Mazda]

Revolution

Prime Ministers of New Zealand
1975-1981: Robert Muldoon (National)
1975 def: Bill Rowling (Labour)
1978 def: Bill Rowling (Labour), Bruce Beetham (Social Credit)
1981-1984: Robert Muldoon (National-Social Credit coalition)
1981 def: David Lange (Labour), Bruce Beetham (Social Credit)
1984-1987: Jim Anderton (Labour)
1984 def: Robert Muldoon (National), Bruce Beetham (Social Credit), Bob Jones (New Zealand Party)
1987-1993: Bob Jones (New Zealand Party-National coalition)
1987 def: Jim Anderton (Labour), Robert Muldoon (National)
1990 def: Annette King (Labour), George Gair (National)
1993-1996: Bob Jones (New Zealand Party)
1993 def: Bryan Gould (Labour), Winston Peters (Liberal)

 

[Nofix]

National-Social

[Howls at the moon]

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Here's something a little experimental from me...

Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, über alles in der Welt...

The war that ended many lives were thankfully over. For Germany it was a day of celebration as they won decisively. France and Britain was now at its mercy. A division into two puppet monarchies seemed fit for France, but what about Britain? What should Germany do with it? A letter from Éamon de Valera of the Irish organisation Sinn Féin provided an idea. But Ireland alone? Surely that would be too weak against the English lion in the future?

And then the Kaiser had a masterstroke: Secede all of the "Celtic" nations into one big country and then divide England into two, same as with France. Surely the "Celts" would be grateful and be a strong ally of Germany!

Well...

Is bean-taighe 'n luchag air a taigh fhèin...

Of course, one of the problems with such an "Celtic Federation" was that only Ireland [not even all of it!] really desired independence from the United Kingdom. Scotland and Wales might have had serious grievances with the UK government due to the way The War was handled, but they were relatively Unionist. And Brittany, thrown in at the last minute, mostly spoke French, not English. Could there really be a federation of all Celts when they couldn't even agree on independence and easily communicate with one another? And what even is a "Celt" anyway? Is it just "not English and not French"? Is it a language group? Is it even really anything?

Upon on being told that Germany wouldn't accept an independent Ireland, but would a federated Celtic nation, Sinn Féin split into "independent Ireland only" and "we can make it work". The Ireland-only side lost in the subsequent civil war and vowed to keep on fighting for an independent Ireland.

Germany offered to provide a King to unite the Celtic peoples, but received a polite turning-down from the proto-government. The convention held in 1924 to agree on a system of government was filled with such figures as those in the Labour parties or the SFIO who wanted to craft a socialist republic, nationalists seeking to get the best deal for their nation and unionists only there because their homes were lumped in and mostly tried to undermine the entire thing. It's a miracle something came out of it.

Deuparth gwaith yw ei ddechrau...

Yes, something came out of it. The resulting Constitution of the United Federation of Celtic Nations was a mess, but somehow it worked. It at least allowed a proper election to the Assembly [each nation has their own special language-word for it, but the US Ambassador decided to just call it "Assembly" and that stuck in global discourse] and the Council of Presidents [a four-person council, what a genius idea that will definitely work].

Election of 1925
Presidents
Ireland: W. T. Cosgrave (Cumann na nGaedheal)
Scotland: Ramsay MacDonald (Labour)
Wales: David Lloyd George (Independent Liberal)
Brittany: Théodore Botrel (Strollad Breizh)

Assembly: Cumann na nGaedheal-Scottish-Independent Liberal-Strollad Breizh coalition

As the resulting government formed, it became clear that it was a right-wing one and very much primarily-Irish, even though it did include parties from all of the main four nations [Cornwall and the Isle of Mann was seen as too "small" to justify being called main]. Labour's disorganisation [they ran as four separate parties this election] was blamed for their poor performance and so the work of building a real Celtic labour party began.

Of course, the divided nations of England and France wished to reassert authority on their lost lands, so the shadow was looming...

The 1925 election had a quite good success for the Welsh Unionists, performing better than expected and showing people that Wales was not just Liberal [OK, Independent Liberal] or Labour or Saunders Lewis' peculiar little group. In comparison with the other nations, Wales was one of the most unionist and when the Kingdom of South England started pressuring on it, this was a deep concern with the rest of the Celtic Union. If Wales could fall, what would the fate of the others be? This proved one of the dominating concerns of the late 1920s.

This affected the formation of the Celtic Labour Party, as it was immediately asked to stand on a prickly question. A few of its AMs were once members of the UK Parliament and tacked unionist when the Celtic Federation was still up in the air, but now it was becoming somewhat difficult to stand for unionism when most people were becoming accustomed to living under the slightly-odd UFCN flag. In the end, the party shifted tack and argued for strengthening the Celtic Federation's international links to guarantee its independence.

Of course, this led to a split forming an unionist left-wing party [the Patriotic Socialists], but in retrospect this shift ensured Labour would remain a strong force. This could clearly be seen at the next election.

Election of 1929
Presidents
Ireland: W. T. Cosgrave (Cumann na nGaedheal)
Scotland: Ramsay MacDonald (Labour)
Wales: Robert Richards (Labour)
Brittany: Théodore Botrel (Strollad Breizh)

Assembly: Labour-Scottish Prohibition-Christian Pacifist-Independent Labour coalition

Labour performed exceptionally well in Scotland, kicking the Scottish Party down a peg and managed to defeat Lloyd George in his bid for re-election. And in the Assembly, they came close to a majority, but had to make deals with various independent Labour AMs and two Christian-leftist parties [Edwin Scrymgeour's Scottish Prohibition party in Scotland and George Davies' Christian Pacifist party in Wales] to achieve a majority.

Finally, Celtic Socialism was here!

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men, gang aft agley...

Black Friday in February 1930 hit the world economy badly, creating the Great Depression. President Jardine of the USA was heavily criticised by Democrats for the Depression and thus they made big gains and won the Presidency in 1932 with a canny newspaper publisher. But we're not talking about them here, we're talking about the UFCN.

Labour was caught somewhat flat-footed by Black Friday, truth be said. Their fragile majority, once seen as an achievement, was now a liability as Labour itself couldn't come to an agreement on what to do. President MacDonald advocated reaching out to CnaG, the Scottish Party and Ind Libs to form a government of national unity, but others strongly disagreed with that notion. In the end, an early election was called when Labour couldn't carry the confidence of the Assembly. Labour went into the election hoping that their losses wouldn't be too severe.

Election of 1931
Assembly: Cumann na nGaedheal-Scottish-National Centre-Independent Liberal-Strollad Breizh-National Labour coalition

The outcome was inevitable, the people punished Labour for the Depression and for its incoherency on what to do with it. In fact Ireland, Prime Minister Johnson's own nation, pushed them down to third behind the rising Irish-republican Fianna Fáil led by Éamon de Valera, which created concern amongst Cumann na nGaedheal's members on the coming 1933 presidential election's outcome.

Kevin O'Higgins, the new Prime Minister of the UFCN, strick a more right-wing direction. Seen as a strong man, he forced through policies that he saw as necessary for "Celtica" to survive and thrive. This, along with the fact that all the Prime Ministers so far were Irish and the rise of the radical-republican Fianna Fáil created national tensions between Ireland and the other three Big Nations.

The NCP set itself up as a conservative agrarian party mainly based in Ireland, but with some success in Scotland and was often seen as the most right-wing party in the Celtic government. The early election meant that for the first time, presidential and parliamentary elections would be on different years.

Election of 1933
Presidents
Ireland: Éamon de Valera (Fianna Fáil)
Scotland: John McDowall (Scottish)
Wales: Gwilym Lloyd George (Independent Liberal)
Brittany: Roparz Hemon (Strollad Breizh)

For the first time, the UFCN had a totally-right-wing Presidency, as Labour was totally shut out with the defeat of Presidents MacDonald and Richards. But even more concerning was the success of De Valera's Fianna Fáil at electing him to the Presidency [defeating two-term President Cosgrave] on a tide of dissent on how slow the recovery from the Depression was under Cumann na nGaedheal and an "anti-establishment" sentiment overall. This created alarm as people feared that Ireland would withdraw and leave the others [bordering the now reuniting England and the increasingly-belligerent North France] to their enemies.

Gortosit an nos ewid lavared eo bet kàer an deiz...

The invasion was clearly coming. The English and North French were now allied and a referendum for re-unification was going on in South France. And where was the UFCN's protector, Germany? Seemingly uninterested, or just bored of keeping France and England down. As the election approached in 1935, this fear grew and grew. National Centre shifted from just a rural conservative party to a hardline defensist party, and this led to success.

Election of 1935
Assembly: National Centre-National Liberal-Strollad Breizh coalition

National Centre surged, tapping in an atmosphere of fear and dread to upset the cabbage cart of Celtic politics. James Dillon, charismatic demagogue, became the first PM not from Labour or Cumann na nGaedheal [indeed, both were in Opposition for the first time]. O'Higgins' Cumann na nGaedheal, De Valera's Fianna Fáil and Graham's Scottish Party took a hit as the NCP surged in Ireland and Scotland.

The coalition too, was unusual. Not for its participants for the Nat Libs [formerly Ind Libs] and Strollad Breizh participated in previous right-wing coalitions, but for its simplicity, being only three parties. Seemingly gone was the era of unstable many-party coalitions, replaced by simple, stable coalitions between two or three parties.

Election of 1937
Presidents
Ireland: Éamon de Valera (Fianna Fáil)
Scotland: John Buchan (National Centre)
Wales: Gwilym Lloyd George (National Liberal)
Brittany: Roparz Hemon (Strollad Breizh)

The Dillon government would be the last government of the first UFCN as despite all his preparations, everything but Ireland fell to the English and French troops which overwhelmed prepared defenses with their storming tactics. "The Celtic people's natural position is under the English heel" - Director John Beckett of the Kingdom of England.

And Ireland itself would see Dillon backstabbed by President De Valera who announced a Republic of Ireland and successfully took control of the island.

Cha d'dhùin doras nach d'fhosgail doras...

Of course, that's not the end of the story. Not by any stretch. England and France was eventually defeated by Germany and America. But the main question was "Should the Celtic Federation be revived?". With De Valera in jail and the Irish Republic forcibly dismantled, the survivors of totalitarianism could now look at what went wrong and how they could redo it, make it better, make it less unstable.

One of the problems with the first Celtic Federation was that parties were explicitly national-based apart from Labour and National Centre. Cumann na nGaedheal and Fianna Fáil were Irish, the Scottish Party was Scottish, etcetera. There was no federal demos, no real understanding between the nations, just a hodge-podge fudge-up between nations forced to be together.

As Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Brittany, the Isle of Mann and Cornwall returned to the table to hash out a more coherent deal, one of the first things agreed was no more Presidential Council. That allowed De Valera to backstab Dillon and kill off the first Federation. There must be one head of state. That created controversy, but the final agreement was a rotation system [Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany] and a sub-"council" of vice-presidents, so to speak. The Assembly was granted more powers than in the first agreement, centralising the country more than in the 1924 Constitution. "Federation-building" was the watch-word for the new writers.

The 1946 Constitution, in comparison with the 1924 one, centralised the country and decreased the power allocated to the national governments, did away with the presidential council and decreased the power of the now-unitary head of state in favour of the Assembly. And there was an informal agreement to create "federation parties" so to move beyond the national-based parties of the past.

Calling the election for President and Parliament for a nice day in May 1947, interim President John Buchan hoped it all would go well.

Election of 1947
President: William Norton (Labour)
Assembly: Labour majority

Buchan, albeit disappointed his Federalist Party didn't win, congratulated Norton and Labour on their victory and stepped down.

President Norton's first speech promised "a modern Celtic Federation, one for the future." Time will tell if his vision is realised.

Adfyd a ddwg wybodaeth, a gwybodaeth ddoethineb...

Spoiler: Actual Lists

Prime Ministers of the United Federation of Celtic Nations
Thomas Westropp Bennett (Cumann na nGaedheal-Scottish-Independent Liberal-Strollad Breizh coalition) 1925-1929
Thomas Johnson (Labour-Scottish Prohibition-Christian Pacifist-Independent Labour coalition) 1929-1931
Kevin O'Higgins (Cumann na nGaedheal-Scottish-National Centre-Independent Liberal-Strollad Breizh-National Labour coalition) 1931-1935
James Dillon (National Centre-National Liberal-Strollad Breizh coalition) 1935-1939
English and French occupation and De Valera declares Republic of Ireland: 1939-1945
Alec Douglas-Home (Federalist-led transitional council) 1945-1947
Aneurin Bevan (Labour majority) 1947-

Presidents of Ireland (pre-1946 Constitution)
W. T. Cosgrave (Cumann na nGaedheal) 1925-1933
Éamon de Valera (Fianna Fáil) 1933-1939
Declaration of Republic of Ireland: 1939

Presidents of Scotland (pre-1946 Constitution)
Ramsay MacDonald (Labour) 1925-1933
John MacDowell (Scottish) 1933-1937
John Buchan (National Centre) 1937-1939
Scotland occupied by English forces: 1939

Presidents of Wales (pre-1946 Constitution)
David Lloyd George (Independent Liberal) 1925-1929
Robert Richards (Labour) 1929-1933
Gwilym Lloyd George (Independent Liberal/National Liberal) 1933-1938
Wales occupied by English forces: 1938

Presidents of Brittany (pre-1946 Constitution)
Théodore Botrel (Strollad Breizh) 1925-1933
Roparz Hemon (Strollad Breizh) 1933-1938
Brittany occupied by French forces: 1938

Presidents of the United Federation of Celtic Nations (1946 Constitution)
John Buchan (Federalist) 1945-1947 [1945-1946 informally]
William Norton (Labour) 1947-195? - Ireland

 

[fashbasher]

Here's the list of current presidents/kings and PMs (where applicable) for the powers on this map. I'm excluding the minors like Bolivia, the small Eastern Caribbean and Pacific islands, Northwestern Ireland, and Ethiopia.

Commonwealth: King Errol IV | PM Rosaline Torres
Pacific Union: President Misty Gutierrez | PM Edmund Kim
Pax Pacifica: President Yasuri Yamileth Nicastro | PM Elvis Zhang Zuo-xiong
The Lowlands: Queen Beatrix II | PM DonCarlos Nicolas Glück
Progressive Latin Coalition / Federal Alliance of Revolutionary Communities: Collective presidency of Escarlet Cruz, Antonio Rossi, and President Ronnie Székely | PM Ibrahim Mustafa Mariam
Holy Federal Caliphates: Head (Hanafi) Caliph Michel-Desmond Khan | PM (Twelver Shiite) Caliph Mohammad Reza Mohammadpour
Desi Union: President Emile "Ram" Madiga | PM Vikram Tilak
Venezuela: President Caudillo Jesus Diego deJesus
Gran Colombia: President Alain Florez | PM Maria Stroessner (distant relative of the Paraguayan president)
Black Block: Collective presidency led by Vladimir Ortega Hechavarria and Francisco Ncube
Union de L'Ouest: President Kelvin Dorvil Jeanty | PM Pierre Suassuna Timochenco
United States: President Todd Martín | VP Chloe Sirleaf

 

[Aaaaasima]

people in thneedville don't want to die but i do

1969-1975: Hubert Humphrey/Edmund Muskie (Democratic)
"The United States today has began a process of withdrawing from Vietnam"
1968: Ronald Reagan/Richard Poff (Republican), George Wallace/Marvin Green (American Independent)
1972: Daniel Evans/Robert Ray (Republican), Louise Day Hicks/Lester Maddox (American Independent)
1975-1977: Edmund Muskie/Terry Sanford (Democratic)
"President Humphrey lost his battle against bladder cancer today"
1977-1981: Howard Baker/John Tower (Republican)
"The Right-Wing of my party would have us get into a costly war against Iran while we are already in a costly war against Panama. In fact, the Panamanian War is their fault entirely"
1976: Edmund Muskie/Terry Sanford (Democratic)
1981-1982: Terry Sanford/George McGovern (Democratic)
"Fuck! My back!"
1980: Howard Baker/John Tower (Republican)
1982-1985: George McGovern/Robert Byrd (Democratic)
"While we had ended the war, we still have yet to solve the economic problem"
1985-1993: Mack Mattingly/Lee Dreyfus (Republican)
"George McGovern's McGoverning led to us losing a war against a country a 1000 times smaller than us! George McGovern's McGoverning did not fix the economy!
1984: George McGovern/Robert Byrd (Democratic), John Connally/Various (1 George Wallace, 1 Harry Byrd, Jr.) (TX Faithless Electors)
1988: Robert Byrd/Paul Simon (Democratic)
1993-2001: Douglas La Follette/Mark White (Democratic)
"Now, we will return to prosperity"
1992: Lee Dreyfus/Bill Clements (Republican)
1996: Jeff Sessions/Joe Biden (Republican)
2001: Mark White/Fred Thompson (Democratic/Republican)
"I do have a fear of some nutjob shooting me claiming I stole the election"
2000: Joe Biden/ (Republican), /Chuck Robb (Democratic), Tom Tancredo/Duncan Hunter (Courage)
2001-2005: Fred Thompson/Tommy Thompson (Republican)
"The current political situation is messy, compared to the cleanliness of the '90s"
2005-2013: Tommy Thompson/George Allen (Republican)
"It appears that the United States needs to intervene in the Sahara War"
2004: Chuck Robb/Ron Wyden (Democratic)
2008: Mary Landrieu/Jesse Jackson, Jr. (Democratic), Cynthia McKinney/Malik Rahim (Wake Up America!)
2013-2021: Carolyn Kirlpatrick/Gary Locke (Democratic)
"Forward, America!"
2012: George Allen/Dennis Kucinich (Republican)
2016: Jeff Fitzgerald/Dino Rossi (Republican)
2021- : Billy Mays/Hugh Rice, Jr. (Republican)
"This notion of me being the "as seen on TV guy" and not anything else is stupid. I have been Governor of Pennsylvania for the past 5 years and I have made the Pennsylvania Republicans stronger than they were 10 or 20 years ago. I can do the same for Republicans nationally"
2020: Gary Locke/Mary Burke (Democratic)

 

[Wolfram]

Presidents of the Small Screen: NBC's Saturday Night Presidential Impersonators

1974-1980: John Belushi (as John Connally)
"I'm formin' a new political movement, and I'd like to ask which of these names appeal most to you. Connallyite Party. Connally for America. Connallysian Coalition. The Connally Cubs..."
1980-1981: John Goodman (as John Connally)
"I tell you what, we've gotta get some rootin'-tootin'-shootin' Texas Rangers down to Iran! Yee-haw!"
1981-1985: Jane Curtin (as Dixy Lee Ray)
"Wrong!"
1985-1989: Rich Hall (as Gary Hart)
"Hey, kids! I'm not like those other politicians. I'm cool. I play the Ataris, and I know all the cheat codes. Just ask my wife."
1989-1991: A. Whitney Brown (as Dick Cheney)
"I'd like to promise the American people that, as President, I will not be influenced by Big Oil... Oh, hey, George."
1991-1997: Tim Meadows (as Clarence Thomas)
"...No comment."
1997-2001: Darrell Hammond (as Dick Gephardt)
"I have two words for you. U. Nions."
2001-2006: Hiatus
2006-2009: Rob Riggle (as Rick Santorum)
"I'd really like to tell you how I feel about the gays, but first, tell me this..."
2009-2013: Bobby Moynihan (as Tim Kaine)
"Are you there, God? It's me, Timmy. I'm kind of in a pickle, here, and I could really use your advice."
2013-????: Aziz Ansari (as Bobby Jindal)
"This campaign is really about three things. One is keeping the proper respect for life. Another is keeping taxes low. The last is making Moscow a glowing pit, woo-hoo!"

 

[Aaaaasima]

Presidents of the Small Screen: NBC's Saturday Night Presidential Impersonators

1974-1980: John Belushi (as John Connally)
"I'm formin' a new political movement, and I'd like to ask which of these names appeal most to you. Connallyite Party. Connally for America. Connallysian Coalition. The Connally Cubs..."
1980-1981: John Goodman (as John Connally)
"I tell you what, we've gotta get some rootin'-tootin'-shootin' Texas Rangers down to Iran! Yee-haw!"
1981-1985: Jane Curtin (as Dixy Lee Ray)
"Wrong!"
1985-1989: Rich Hall (as Gary Hart)
"Hey, kids! I'm not like those other politicians. I'm cool. I play the Ataris, and I know all the cheat codes. Just ask my wife."
1989-1991: A. Whitney Brown (as Dick Cheney)
"I'd like to promise the American people that, as President, I will not be influenced by Big Oil... Oh, hey, George."
1991-1997: Tim Meadows (as Clarence Thomas)
"...No comment."
1997-2001: Darrell Hammond (as Dick Gephardt)
"I have two words for you. U. Nions."
2001-2006: Hiatus
2006-2009: Rob Riggle (as Rick Santorum)
"I'd really like to tell you how I feel about the gays, but first, tell me this..."
2009-2013: Bobby Moynihan (as Tim Kaine)
"Are you there, God? It's me, Timmy. I'm kind of in a pickle, here, and I could really use your advice."
2013-????: Aziz Ansari (as Bobby Jindal)
"This campaign is really about three things. One is keeping the proper respect for life. Another is keeping taxes low. The last is making Moscow a glowing pit, woo-hoo!"

this needs to be a new trend