List of U.K. Prime Ministers 1945-2020

Churchill Retires in 1950
What if Winston Churchill retired after the 1945 Conservative defeat?

1945: Clement Attlee (Labour) [1]
1950: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [2]
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1957: Harold Macmillan (Conservative) [3]
1960: Nye Bevan (Labour) [4]
1961: Richard Crossman (Labour) [5]
1964: Richard Crossman (Labour) [6]
1966: George Brown (Labour) [7]
1969: Julian Amery (Conservative) [8]
1974: Julian Amery (Conservative) [9]
1977: William Whitelaw (Conservative) [10]
1980: Shirley Williams (Labour) [11]

1985: Shirley Williams (Lab-Lib coalition) [12]
1987: David Owen (Lab-Lib coalition) [13]
1990: David Owen (Lab-Lib-SNP-SDP coalition) [14]
1993: Jonathan Aitken (Conservative-UUP coalition) [15]

1997:
Jonathan Aitken (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [16]
1999: William Waldegrave (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [17]
2000:
Chris Huhne
(Liberal-SNP-Plaid Cymru-Yorkshire-Mebyon Kernow coalition) [18]
2003 (January): Sir Sean Connery ("Unity Liberal"-SNP-Plaid Cymru-Yorkshire-Mebyon Kernow-Ind. Labour coalition) [19]

[1]
The surprising victory of the Labour Party in the 1945 election would lead to the creation of the welfare state and the resignation of Winston Churchill as Conservative leader. His heir-apparent, Anthony Eden, became the Leader of the Opposition and agreed to uphold a general 'post-war consensus' in regards to the sweeping domestic changes across Britain. For the first time Labour held a full term in government, and Attlee led his party into a tightly-fought general election in February 1950.
[2] From the dark days of the winter of 1946/7 to the continuing austerity measures left over from the war, Attlee’s government faced the masterful haranguing of Eden and his Conservative colleagues. Intellectually revitalized and with a modernized party machine courtesy of Lord Woolton, the Tories went into the 1950 election with a spring in their step and unbridled optimism about their electoral prospects. Sadly for them, the election would not deliver the huge majority that many had expected and Labour managed a small turnaround toward the end of the campaign... which worked to turn Eden’s hypothetical 50-seat majority into an actual majority of just 11. Still, the charismatic new Prime Minister was undaunted as he prepared to implement his One Nation programme.
[3] Eden's premiership, to many, was little different from the Attlee ministry in terms of overall economic objectives and social policies. Much was done on the housing front with the rapid expansion of what Eden called the "property-owning democracy" which, to him, signified the centrist appeal of the Conservative Party. Eden also sought to improve Britain's international standing and browbeat the Egyptian government into withdrawing from the Suez Canal and was fundamental in overthrowing Nasser - something that greatly harmed relations with other regional Arab powers, not least the United States. His tenure was regarded as an era of renewed prosperity after the austere decade following WWII and was in office with record low unemployment. However, as his health deteriorated after a botched surgical operation while Eden struggled to chair cabinet and he decided it was best for the party should he resign as Prime Minister for the sake of his health (sources claim Douglas-Home and Macmillan encouraged him to resign). Over the following days, the tooing-and-throwing of the Conservative Party candidates left two obvious contenders - Rab Butler Lord Privy Seal and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Harold Macmillan. Macmillan stood and was eventually called upon by the Queen due to his wide popularity within the party.
[4] Macmillan inherited a healthy majority from Eden's victory at the 1955 general election, but the years between 1957 and 1960 proved far tougher than those that preceded it. Macmillan is remembered today as the Prime Minister of the Gulf War, as attempts to hold the Middle East firmly under London and Paris's thumb fell apart. As Soviet-backed Nasserite socialism spread to Jordan and Iraq, and bloody insurrection became the order of the day, Macmillan found himself cast as the stern defender of Empire a role which didn't suit him. National Service saw young working class men go to fight to defend Arab kings who quavered in their palaces, and return battered and broken - or dead. Initial patriotic support for the war faded, and was soon replaced by seemingly constant protests, which the government was ill-prepared to confront, resulting in heavy-handed suppression. The situation was not helped by the state of affairs within the Conservative party - while Macmillan was at heart a One Nation Tory, a new generation of MPs were unhappy at how wedded the party had become to socialist Labour policies, and wished to see them undone. The resignation of men like Peter Thorneycroft and Enoch Powell from Cabinet over the government's economic course only added to the bitter atmosphere. Needless to say, when the exhausted government came to election time, few were surprised when the firebrand face of the anti-Gulf protests secured victory.
[5] The Labour Party under the left-wing Aneurin Bevan had secured victory, but Bevan's victory was to be short-lived. With his strong election victory, he had consolidated his power against what was the growing divide with the right of the party, though they continued to be a strain for the socialist government. It had been clear that the leadership had to moderate some of their views as they did before the election. Positions such as nuclear disarmament that Bevan had once advocated were no longer official policy. However, Bevan was facing his own problems. The Prime Minister was charismatic, perhaps too charismatic, that was to be his downfall. It was no secret to those close to Bevan that he was facing some health issues during the election, but he didn't think much of it, he remained committed to fighting the campaign to focus on them. In office, his health would only take a turn for the worse, to the point he could no longer hide it. The official line from Downing Street acknowledged that the Prime Minister was seriously ill, but spoke no further. It was only within the next few months that Bevan himself confirmed it; he had been diagnosed with cancer. Facing an increasingly unpredictable international climate, in the Cold War and in Middle East with the Gulf withdrawal, the Prime Minister reluctantly decided he had to put his health first and ensure an orderly transition of leadership. He announced his intention to resign, with Labour Party Deputy Leader Richard Crossman subsequently elected his successor. Just over a year since the election, Britain had a new Prime Minister.
[6] The Crossman government was guided by philosophy - the NHS was (on paper at least) protected from future privatization by law, while a commitment to house-building played well with the electorate. Crossman was rewarded with a decent majority in an election finally called in 1964, although this victory then brought previously-settled issues back into contention. As economic recession struck the West Crossman came under pressure to readdress the issue of the nuclear deterrent, and as these arguments raged in Parliament decolonization continued in earnest. The Conservatives rallied, fighting against the perceived and very-deliberate decline of Britain as an interventionist global power (although in fact the debacle of the Gulf War had done far more in the eyes of the Americans). Divisions within the Labour Party also rose, with the Bevanites feuding with centrists and moderates willing to compromise on socialist dogma.
[7] The internal conflicts of the government were spilling out into open denunciations and cabinet meeting leaks, lapped up by the press and by the baying Conservative opposition. In the months following the ‘64 victory, Crossman’s strategy of appearing aloof and “rising above the fray” would no longer cut it any longer. In the autumn, he ruled out devaluation (which put the left back); in the spring of ‘65, he committed the government to fiscally restrictive measures by cutting unemployment benefits and raising fuel duties. In 1966, just after England’s ignominious loss to North Korea in the World Cup semi-final, Crossman and his Chancellor (Harold Wilson) went to the United States to ask for a substantial loan. When the press got wind of it, the left jumped into action and Barbara Castle took up the mantle to challenge her former ally for the leadership of the party. Persuaded to “get out of the game” by his right-wing allies, Crossman bowed out and stated he would serve any successor. In the event, colourful Foreign Secretary George Brown would enter the contest and win handily on an anti-unilateralist and pro-European platform against a quixotic left wing.
[8] Brown's working class charm would soon wear thin with the British public, as the occasional gaffe turned into a string of public embarrassments on the international stage. While the left continued to hound him, the initially defensive right was soon putting pressure on him to resign - which only added to the stress which the Prime Minister attempted to alleviate with alcohol. However, unlike Crossman attempts to remove him got nowhere as Brown jealously guarded his position and as the years dragged on the economy continued to flounder and the government was forced to go cap in hand to the United States, leading to the infamous Dreadful Bargain. The Romney Administration was all too willing to offer the British a lesser equivalent of the loan offered WWII, on the condition that the United Kingdom send 'advisors' into the quagmire of the New Banana Wars - which had begun with the initially successful invasion of Cuba and had now spread across much of Latin America. It was the final indignity for a Labour government initially elected on a campaign of peace and anti-imperialism. By 1969, the Conservatives achieved a comfortable majority, on a platform of reversing the long list of such indignities Britain had endured, from the decline of Empire to the influence of the United States, to the unrest on Britain's streets - helped along by many former Labour voters plumping for the Liberals or the resurgent ILP in protest at the government's involvement in America's wars.
[9] Amery quickly proved to be an able administrator, and did much to revitalize the reputation of the Conservative Party. Proving tough on civil unrest Amery held off Labour threats of a general strike and forced through union restrictions, leading to the partial privatization of key industries, and was a key member of the Atlantic Council held in 1972 that established Britain as an 'equal partner' of the new Western Alliance. (The Alliance replaced the myriad of non-aggression and defensive pacts that had lopsidedly established the United States as the only true superpower, and did much to restore the faith of her European allies. It came at a crucial time for the Americans given the sudden worsening of the Banana Wars and the need for further international support against Communism). Such successes portrayed Amery as a major international statesman with the ability to strengthen Britain and weaken her enemies - whom to many in the Conservative Party formed the entryist movements taking root in the Opposition. The Conservatives won a strong majority in 1974 on an ambitiously-named manifesto - The New Vision for Britain.
[10] Amery retired in 1977, for "personal reasons." After a heated battle to replace him, the Tories opted for William Whitelaw as the least offensive option. Whitelaw solidified his authority by calling an election in late 1977, where he led the Tories to a third term over the divided Labour.
[11] After a string of defeats over eleven years, the Labour needed a makeover; with their party bleeding more moderate supporters towards the Liberals, the party's 1978 leadership election came down to two women - the left's favorite (or more accurately, their second favorite) Barbara Castle was able to unite Foot and Benn supporters behind her while Shirley Williams ran on a more centrist, progressive platform. Ultimately Williams bested Castle, leaving many on the left wing of the Labour Party feeling disenchanted. Yet Whitelaw's austerity budget and partial privatization efforts resulted in Labour being propelled into office, with Williams becoming the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
[12] Plus: large changes to the industrial relations system, negotiating with trade unions to initiate the Prices and Incomes Accord (commonly called just 'The Accord') in 1982, an agreement whereby unions agreed to restrict wage demands and the government pledged to minimise inflation and promote an increased social wage. Seen as one of the most peaceful and stable times in Government-Worker relations. Minus: A poor relationship with American President George Bush with diplomatic bickering playing out on both sides of the Atlantic. Unknown: negotiated peace of the Falklands Conflict, with too many concessions seen as being given to the moribund Argentine junta. Result: the closest post-WWII election in British history, resulting in a coalition between the Labour and Liberal parties.
[13] The first Liberal ministerial presence in Westminster saw a growing conchord between that party and the centrist leadership of Labour - to the detriment of the sidelined left. The price of coalition was a referendum on a more proportional voting system - which was roundly rejected by the British electorate. Williams stepped aside in 1987, at the height of a seeming boom. But only a few months into Owen's term, the economy went into a downturn - and the breakaway of hardline MPs of the Socialist Campaign Group has cost the government its majority. While the SCP have refused to allow a 'Tory vote of confidence' the Owen government is effectively on life support going into 1989.
[14] David Owen's Labour-Liberal coalition seemed to be merely delaying the inevitable as the end of the 1980's rapidly approached. Limping on until February 1990, most polls predicted a repeat of the last February election 40 years earlier. However, the results would turn out to be even more surprising than that time. While the election would be endlessly debated, most analysts put the results down to two main events. First - with the move of the Labour Party towards the centre, the Conservative Party needed to help distinguish themselves and so dropped Francis Pym (longtime opposition leader and notable 'soft' Conservative) for John Nott (relatively more right-wing and leader of the 'hard' Conservative movement). Unfortunately, much of their revised policy platform (including a controversial introduction of a Value Added Tax) reminded voters of Whitelaw's austerity budget and played heavily into Labour's "Not Nott" advertising. Second - the 'Berlin Wall Massacre' discredited the hard-left and allowed Owen to position the Socialist Campaign Group as a rejected element of the party rather than as the breakaway element it was. Even so, the results were even closer than five years previously and The Sun had to famously pulp its "Nott Now! Nott Forever!" early morning issue predicated on a Conservative victory. To secure his numbers, Owen had to make deals with not only the Liberal Party, but also both the Scottish National Party and the Social Democratic Party of Northern Ireland (including promises of devolution referendums before the end of the year). While supporters dubbed it the 'Sunrise Coalition' after the warm complimentary colours of the respective parties, many turned this into the 'Sunset Coalition' due to its perceived instability. Only time would tell...
[15] Initially the 'Sunrise Coalition' was a triumph for the Westminster party system; despite leading a government formed by an eclectic mix of parties, Owen was able to secure some minor domestic successes and survived his first two years of government relatively easily. Proportional representation - a Liberal condition - passed by a comfortable margin in the Commons, while Owen again pledged his support for the progressive reform of the justice system and referenda on devolution. However, this opened a can of worms for the Labour Party. Although not a manifesto pledge in 1990, the formation of the coalition necessitated that devolution become a major issue across the Parliament. The Welsh embarrassed the government by narrowing turning it down, and while the Scots endorsed the formation of an assembly London was largely unwilling to grant independent tax powers to Edinburgh. Division in the coalition worsened when the IRA turned from peace talks and ignited a new series of offensives against British troops in Ulster, with many members believing the SDP partnership with Owen made him a biased broker. The Conservatives rallied against the 'Coalition of Catastrophe' and constantly lobbied for a general election. Ultimately, the SNP pulled the plug and hoped to make major gains at an election where the future of the controversial devolution experiment would be decided. The first election to be held under PR, the Conservatives surged as the Scots and Middle England deserted Owen in droves. Although majority government was unlikely under the new system, Aitken came close - and formed a formal coalition with the resurgent and hardliner UUP in Northern Ireland.
[16] After the turmoil of the Owen years, domestically the Aitken government presented an image of calmness and careful (Conservative) consideration. Internationally, they weren't much more adventurous, with the only major measures including participation in the historic "Paris-Ritz" agreement which designed the frame-work towards the eventual Unified German Confederation and more controversially, committing troops to the U.S.A. "incursion" into Colombia to topple General Escobar Gaviria, which most political commentators saw as President Romney merely trying to wrap up his father's unfinished business. Although many critics decried Aitken's government as 'do-nothing', they went to polls on May 1, 1997 (a year before their term was due to expire) to take advantage of polls which indicated that the public were wary of the 'overly close' working relationship between Labour leader Cherie Booth and Liberal leader Anthony Blair. The campaign slogan of "Trust the Tories" (brainchild of influential Minister Without Portfolio, Jeffrey Archer) while again light on detail seemed to manifest itself all over the country - with the notable exception of Scotland. With the exception of the Liberals in the far North, support in Scotland for mainstream parties had plunged since devolution. The SNP led by former professional footballer and Gulf War POW Sir Sean Connery took advantage of the election to rail again against the injustices from down south. Indeed the only serious opposition to the SNP came from recently re-titled SSP (Scottish Solidarity Party - formerly Scottish Socialist Party) led by Gordon Brown which replaced the Labour party as the 'go-to' party for left-leaning voters. The second election under the PR system saw the beginnings of a move towards an informal alliance system, roughly broken into the "Blue List" (Conservative Party/UUP/DUP), "Red List" (Labour/SSP/SDP) and "Alternate List" (Liberals/SNP/Plaid Cymru) - (Sinn Féin of course continued to follow a policy of abstentionism). When the final votes were counted, the results surprised nobody - a "Blue List" Aitken government was returned with a healthy majority.
[17] Although the Tory project of the mid-1990s had been rewarded with a decent coalition government in 1997 Aitken quickly ran into problems. Questions were raised over the conduct of numerous ministers regarding controversial arms deals with former Banana-War states, and Fleet Street turned on the Prime Minister for his subsequent attempts to reform the press and break up the newspaper conglomerates. The Conservative government was also strongly criticized for heavy-handed police action following the industrial strikes of 1998. Public opinion plummeted, and in early-1999 Aitken was challenged in a leadership contest by his Home Secretary, William Waldegrave. Ambitious, Waldegrave was able to court the moderate centre of the Blue List, and was elected as leader (and Prime Minister) in a narrow upset. Waldegrave restored the faith of the Northern Irish unionists, and his balanced leadership style brought many former Aitkenites back into the fold. Nevertheless, he called a general election the following winter - unfortunately the wettest since meteorological records began.
[18] While Waldegrave's election to the leadership softened relations with his coalition, it did little to soothe the misgivings of the British public. Support for devolution had risen drastically over the years, yet the Tories openly brought the experiment to a grinding halt. To make matters worse, while the heavy-handed suppression that brought down Aitken was kept to a minimum, Waldegrave oversaw the implementation of more subtle methods. Over the course of his short tenure, an intricate surveillance system was introduced. Of course, the Prime Minister assured in his characteristically academic and reasonable tone, this was in the interest of "public security". While it was true that support for the IRA had galvanised thanks to the SDP, the pre-emptive arrest of several prominent union leaders on suspicion of planning illegal strikes, did not go unnoticed. "Trust the Tories", once a masterwork of political campaigning, became a sarcastic rallying cry against a deceitful elite. Thus, when Tony Lloyds's excruciatingly cautious manifesto spawned even more vicious infighting within Labour, the charismatic Liberal leader Chris Huhne smelled blood. He released an unprecedented, ambitious plan centred on "restoring civil liberties" and "reclaiming the integrity of the nation". It included various devolution referenda, deregulation of the press and various industries and increased government transparency, especially in dealings with foreign nations. It even alluded to the development of a written constitution. Despite strongly expressed internal fears that the manifesto, dubbed the "Freedom Bill" was too radical for Britain to swallow, it proved to be exactly what was needed to peel away pro-union Labour voters and disaffected left-leaning Tories and to encourage support for regional parties. In December 2000 the Alternate List won a majority, and, under a drenched gazebo outside Number 10, it was Chris Huhne that adressed the people as Prime Minister.
[19] Chris Huhne’s premiership was almost two years and two months from the Shakespearean playbook. While inevitable that his “Alternative List” coalition couldn’t deliver everything on its optimistic manifesto, it managed key reforms including the 2001 Welsh Devolution and the 2002 Regional Council Act. Unfortunately, the Conservative and Labour parties continually stymied progress, using their combined numbers and knowledge of parliamentary procedure to delay or amend legislation. Enter the Independent Commission Against Corruption - idealists hailed it as a vehicle to clean up British politics, pragmatists pointed out its means for this new government to punch above its weight. What’s certain - without ICAC, “British Watergate” isn’t what would come to mind for the average person when asked about Huhne’s time in office. For most of late 2001 and early 2002, British news was full of ICAC revelations (with only a dip during September when reports of a foiled terror plot knocked them from the front pages). While various controversial arms deals with former Banana-War states were already public knowledge, the full nature of the transactions had been kept a secret. Now it became easy to believe that weapons on all sides of Colombia’s civil war had been procured through British agreements. (Exit Jeffrey Archer, given the epitaph “Minister for Fiction” such was his association with many of the contracts). Former PM Aitkin would have been expelled from the Conservatives if he had not already resigned to form the Christian Democrats (a party undeniably Christian but not evidently democratic) after his overthrow by Waldegrave and a millennium inspired religious awakening. However, it was time to exit PM Huhne when ICAC revealed that his wife’s environmental waste company was working for many of the same arms companies. Reminiscent of Mikhail Gorbachev’s new year’s resignation three years earlier, Huhne announced he would relinquish the Liberal Party leadership immediately and role of PM as soon as a replacement was chosen. Enter Sir Sean Connery, the man who would be PM, a man for whom re-entry into Westminster in 2000 was a move towards retirement. However, when it became clear that the level of scandal (both real and imagined) meant no Liberal candidate would be able to hold the government together, he agreed to do his duty for Queen and Country, and fulfill the role of PM until a permanent replacement could be found or an election called.
 
Churchill Retires in 1950
What if Winston Churchill retired after the 1945 Conservative defeat?

1945: Clement Attlee (Labour) [1]
1950: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [2]
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1957: Harold Macmillan (Conservative) [3]
1960: Nye Bevan (Labour) [4]
1961: Richard Crossman (Labour) [5]
1964: Richard Crossman (Labour) [6]
1966: George Brown (Labour) [7]
1969: Julian Amery (Conservative) [8]
1974: Julian Amery (Conservative) [9]
1977: William Whitelaw (Conservative) [10]
1980: Shirley Williams (Labour) [11]

1985: Shirley Williams (Lab-Lib coalition) [12]
1987: David Owen (Lab-Lib coalition) [13]
1990: David Owen (Lab-Lib-SNP-SDP coalition) [14]
1993: Jonathan Aitken (Conservative-UUP coalition) [15]

1997:
Jonathan Aitken (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [16]
1999: William Waldegrave (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [17]
2000:
Chris Huhne
(Liberal-SNP-Plaid Cymru-Yorkshire-Mebyon Kernow coalition) [18]
2003 (January): Sir Sean Connery ("Unity Liberal"-SNP-Plaid Cymru-Yorkshire-Mebyon Kernow-Independent Labour coalition) [19]
2003 (October):
Virginia Bottomley (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [20]


[1]
The surprising victory of the Labour Party in the 1945 election would lead to the creation of the welfare state and the resignation of Winston Churchill as Conservative leader. His heir-apparent, Anthony Eden, became the Leader of the Opposition and agreed to uphold a general 'post-war consensus' in regards to the sweeping domestic changes across Britain. For the first time Labour held a full term in government, and Attlee led his party into a tightly-fought general election in February 1950.
[2] From the dark days of the winter of 1946/7 to the continuing austerity measures left over from the war, Attlee’s government faced the masterful haranguing of Eden and his Conservative colleagues. Intellectually revitalized and with a modernized party machine courtesy of Lord Woolton, the Tories went into the 1950 election with a spring in their step and unbridled optimism about their electoral prospects. Sadly for them, the election would not deliver the huge majority that many had expected and Labour managed a small turnaround toward the end of the campaign... which worked to turn Eden’s hypothetical 50-seat majority into an actual majority of just 11. Still, the charismatic new Prime Minister was undaunted as he prepared to implement his One Nation programme.
[3] Eden's premiership, to many, was little different from the Attlee ministry in terms of overall economic objectives and social policies. Much was done on the housing front with the rapid expansion of what Eden called the "property-owning democracy" which, to him, signified the centrist appeal of the Conservative Party. Eden also sought to improve Britain's international standing and browbeat the Egyptian government into withdrawing from the Suez Canal and was fundamental in overthrowing Nasser - something that greatly harmed relations with other regional Arab powers, not least the United States. His tenure was regarded as an era of renewed prosperity after the austere decade following WWII and was in office with record low unemployment. However, as his health deteriorated after a botched surgical operation while Eden struggled to chair cabinet and he decided it was best for the party should he resign as Prime Minister for the sake of his health (sources claim Douglas-Home and Macmillan encouraged him to resign). Over the following days, the tooing-and-throwing of the Conservative Party candidates left two obvious contenders - Rab Butler Lord Privy Seal and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Harold Macmillan. Macmillan stood and was eventually called upon by the Queen due to his wide popularity within the party.
[4] Macmillan inherited a healthy majority from Eden's victory at the 1955 general election, but the years between 1957 and 1960 proved far tougher than those that preceded it. Macmillan is remembered today as the Prime Minister of the Gulf War, as attempts to hold the Middle East firmly under London and Paris's thumb fell apart. As Soviet-backed Nasserite socialism spread to Jordan and Iraq, and bloody insurrection became the order of the day, Macmillan found himself cast as the stern defender of Empire a role which didn't suit him. National Service saw young working class men go to fight to defend Arab kings who quavered in their palaces, and return battered and broken - or dead. Initial patriotic support for the war faded, and was soon replaced by seemingly constant protests, which the government was ill-prepared to confront, resulting in heavy-handed suppression. The situation was not helped by the state of affairs within the Conservative party - while Macmillan was at heart a One Nation Tory, a new generation of MPs were unhappy at how wedded the party had become to socialist Labour policies, and wished to see them undone. The resignation of men like Peter Thorneycroft and Enoch Powell from Cabinet over the government's economic course only added to the bitter atmosphere. Needless to say, when the exhausted government came to election time, few were surprised when the firebrand face of the anti-Gulf protests secured victory.
[5] The Labour Party under the left-wing Aneurin Bevan had secured victory, but Bevan's victory was to be short-lived. With his strong election victory, he had consolidated his power against what was the growing divide with the right of the party, though they continued to be a strain for the socialist government. It had been clear that the leadership had to moderate some of their views as they did before the election. Positions such as nuclear disarmament that Bevan had once advocated were no longer official policy. However, Bevan was facing his own problems. The Prime Minister was charismatic, perhaps too charismatic, that was to be his downfall. It was no secret to those close to Bevan that he was facing some health issues during the election, but he didn't think much of it, he remained committed to fighting the campaign to focus on them. In office, his health would only take a turn for the worse, to the point he could no longer hide it. The official line from Downing Street acknowledged that the Prime Minister was seriously ill, but spoke no further. It was only within the next few months that Bevan himself confirmed it; he had been diagnosed with cancer. Facing an increasingly unpredictable international climate, in the Cold War and in Middle East with the Gulf withdrawal, the Prime Minister reluctantly decided he had to put his health first and ensure an orderly transition of leadership. He announced his intention to resign, with Labour Party Deputy Leader Richard Crossman subsequently elected his successor. Just over a year since the election, Britain had a new Prime Minister.
[6] The Crossman government was guided by philosophy - the NHS was (on paper at least) protected from future privatization by law, while a commitment to house-building played well with the electorate. Crossman was rewarded with a decent majority in an election finally called in 1964, although this victory then brought previously-settled issues back into contention. As economic recession struck the West Crossman came under pressure to readdress the issue of the nuclear deterrent, and as these arguments raged in Parliament decolonization continued in earnest. The Conservatives rallied, fighting against the perceived and very-deliberate decline of Britain as an interventionist global power (although in fact the debacle of the Gulf War had done far more in the eyes of the Americans). Divisions within the Labour Party also rose, with the Bevanites feuding with centrists and moderates willing to compromise on socialist dogma.
[7] The internal conflicts of the government were spilling out into open denunciations and cabinet meeting leaks, lapped up by the press and by the baying Conservative opposition. In the months following the ‘64 victory, Crossman’s strategy of appearing aloof and “rising above the fray” would no longer cut it any longer. In the autumn, he ruled out devaluation (which put the left back); in the spring of ‘65, he committed the government to fiscally restrictive measures by cutting unemployment benefits and raising fuel duties. In 1966, just after England’s ignominious loss to North Korea in the World Cup semi-final, Crossman and his Chancellor (Harold Wilson) went to the United States to ask for a substantial loan. When the press got wind of it, the left jumped into action and Barbara Castle took up the mantle to challenge her former ally for the leadership of the party. Persuaded to “get out of the game” by his right-wing allies, Crossman bowed out and stated he would serve any successor. In the event, colourful Foreign Secretary George Brown would enter the contest and win handily on an anti-unilateralist and pro-European platform against a quixotic left wing.
[8] Brown's working class charm would soon wear thin with the British public, as the occasional gaffe turned into a string of public embarrassments on the international stage. While the left continued to hound him, the initially defensive right was soon putting pressure on him to resign - which only added to the stress which the Prime Minister attempted to alleviate with alcohol. However, unlike Crossman attempts to remove him got nowhere as Brown jealously guarded his position and as the years dragged on the economy continued to flounder and the government was forced to go cap in hand to the United States, leading to the infamous Dreadful Bargain. The Romney Administration was all too willing to offer the British a lesser equivalent of the loan offered WWII, on the condition that the United Kingdom send 'advisors' into the quagmire of the New Banana Wars - which had begun with the initially successful invasion of Cuba and had now spread across much of Latin America. It was the final indignity for a Labour government initially elected on a campaign of peace and anti-imperialism. By 1969, the Conservatives achieved a comfortable majority, on a platform of reversing the long list of such indignities Britain had endured, from the decline of Empire to the influence of the United States, to the unrest on Britain's streets - helped along by many former Labour voters plumping for the Liberals or the resurgent ILP in protest at the government's involvement in America's wars.
[9] Amery quickly proved to be an able administrator, and did much to revitalize the reputation of the Conservative Party. Proving tough on civil unrest Amery held off Labour threats of a general strike and forced through union restrictions, leading to the partial privatization of key industries, and was a key member of the Atlantic Council held in 1972 that established Britain as an 'equal partner' of the new Western Alliance. (The Alliance replaced the myriad of non-aggression and defensive pacts that had lopsidedly established the United States as the only true superpower, and did much to restore the faith of her European allies. It came at a crucial time for the Americans given the sudden worsening of the Banana Wars and the need for further international support against Communism). Such successes portrayed Amery as a major international statesman with the ability to strengthen Britain and weaken her enemies - whom to many in the Conservative Party formed the entryist movements taking root in the Opposition. The Conservatives won a strong majority in 1974 on an ambitiously-named manifesto - The New Vision for Britain.
[10] Amery retired in 1977, for "personal reasons." After a heated battle to replace him, the Tories opted for William Whitelaw as the least offensive option. Whitelaw solidified his authority by calling an election in late 1977, where he led the Tories to a third term over the divided Labour.
[11] After a string of defeats over eleven years, the Labour needed a makeover; with their party bleeding more moderate supporters towards the Liberals, the party's 1978 leadership election came down to two women - the left's favorite (or more accurately, their second favorite) Barbara Castle was able to unite Foot and Benn supporters behind her while Shirley Williams ran on a more centrist, progressive platform. Ultimately Williams bested Castle, leaving many on the left wing of the Labour Party feeling disenchanted. Yet Whitelaw's austerity budget and partial privatization efforts resulted in Labour being propelled into office, with Williams becoming the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
[12] Plus: large changes to the industrial relations system, negotiating with trade unions to initiate the Prices and Incomes Accord (commonly called just 'The Accord') in 1982, an agreement whereby unions agreed to restrict wage demands and the government pledged to minimise inflation and promote an increased social wage. Seen as one of the most peaceful and stable times in Government-Worker relations. Minus: A poor relationship with American President George Bush with diplomatic bickering playing out on both sides of the Atlantic. Unknown: negotiated peace of the Falklands Conflict, with too many concessions seen as being given to the moribund Argentine junta. Result: the closest post-WWII election in British history, resulting in a coalition between the Labour and Liberal parties.
[13] The first Liberal ministerial presence in Westminster saw a growing conchord between that party and the centrist leadership of Labour - to the detriment of the sidelined left. The price of coalition was a referendum on a more proportional voting system - which was roundly rejected by the British electorate. Williams stepped aside in 1987, at the height of a seeming boom. But only a few months into Owen's term, the economy went into a downturn - and the breakaway of hardline MPs of the Socialist Campaign Group has cost the government its majority. While the SCP have refused to allow a 'Tory vote of confidence' the Owen government is effectively on life support going into 1989.
[14] David Owen's Labour-Liberal coalition seemed to be merely delaying the inevitable as the end of the 1980's rapidly approached. Limping on until February 1990, most polls predicted a repeat of the last February election 40 years earlier. However, the results would turn out to be even more surprising than that time. While the election would be endlessly debated, most analysts put the results down to two main events. First - with the move of the Labour Party towards the centre, the Conservative Party needed to help distinguish themselves and so dropped Francis Pym (longtime opposition leader and notable 'soft' Conservative) for John Nott (relatively more right-wing and leader of the 'hard' Conservative movement). Unfortunately, much of their revised policy platform (including a controversial introduction of a Value Added Tax) reminded voters of Whitelaw's austerity budget and played heavily into Labour's "Not Nott" advertising. Second - the 'Berlin Wall Massacre' discredited the hard-left and allowed Owen to position the Socialist Campaign Group as a rejected element of the party rather than as the breakaway element it was. Even so, the results were even closer than five years previously and The Sun had to famously pulp its "Nott Now! Nott Forever!" early morning issue predicated on a Conservative victory. To secure his numbers, Owen had to make deals with not only the Liberal Party, but also both the Scottish National Party and the Social Democratic Party of Northern Ireland (including promises of devolution referendums before the end of the year). While supporters dubbed it the 'Sunrise Coalition' after the warm complimentary colours of the respective parties, many turned this into the 'Sunset Coalition' due to its perceived instability. Only time would tell...
[15] Initially the 'Sunrise Coalition' was a triumph for the Westminster party system; despite leading a government formed by an eclectic mix of parties, Owen was able to secure some minor domestic successes and survived his first two years of government relatively easily. Proportional representation - a Liberal condition - passed by a comfortable margin in the Commons, while Owen again pledged his support for the progressive reform of the justice system and referenda on devolution. However, this opened a can of worms for the Labour Party. Although not a manifesto pledge in 1990, the formation of the coalition necessitated that devolution become a major issue across the Parliament. The Welsh embarrassed the government by narrowing turning it down, and while the Scots endorsed the formation of an assembly London was largely unwilling to grant independent tax powers to Edinburgh. Division in the coalition worsened when the IRA turned from peace talks and ignited a new series of offensives against British troops in Ulster, with many members believing the SDP partnership with Owen made him a biased broker. The Conservatives rallied against the 'Coalition of Catastrophe' and constantly lobbied for a general election. Ultimately, the SNP pulled the plug and hoped to make major gains at an election where the future of the controversial devolution experiment would be decided. The first election to be held under PR, the Conservatives surged as the Scots and Middle England deserted Owen in droves. Although majority government was unlikely under the new system, Aitken came close - and formed a formal coalition with the resurgent and hardliner UUP in Northern Ireland.
[16] After the turmoil of the Owen years, domestically the Aitken government presented an image of calmness and careful (Conservative) consideration. Internationally, they weren't much more adventurous, with the only major measures including participation in the historic "Paris-Ritz" agreement which designed the frame-work towards the eventual Unified German Confederation and more controversially, committing troops to the U.S.A. "incursion" into Colombia to topple General Escobar Gaviria, which most political commentators saw as President Romney merely trying to wrap up his father's unfinished business. Although many critics decried Aitken's government as 'do-nothing', they went to polls on May 1, 1997 (a year before their term was due to expire) to take advantage of polls which indicated that the public were wary of the 'overly close' working relationship between Labour leader Cherie Booth and Liberal leader Anthony Blair. The campaign slogan of "Trust the Tories" (brainchild of influential Minister Without Portfolio, Jeffrey Archer) while again light on detail seemed to manifest itself all over the country - with the notable exception of Scotland. With the exception of the Liberals in the far North, support in Scotland for mainstream parties had plunged since devolution. The SNP led by former professional footballer and Gulf War POW Sir Sean Connery took advantage of the election to rail again against the injustices from down south. Indeed the only serious opposition to the SNP came from recently re-titled SSP (Scottish Solidarity Party - formerly Scottish Socialist Party) led by Gordon Brown which replaced the Labour party as the 'go-to' party for left-leaning voters. The second election under the PR system saw the beginnings of a move towards an informal alliance system, roughly broken into the "Blue List" (Conservative Party/UUP/DUP), "Red List" (Labour/SSP/SDP) and "Alternate List" (Liberals/SNP/Plaid Cymru) - (Sinn Féin of course continued to follow a policy of abstentionism). When the final votes were counted, the results surprised nobody - a "Blue List" Aitken government was returned with a healthy majority.
[17] Although the Tory project of the mid-1990s had been rewarded with a decent coalition government in 1997 Aitken quickly ran into problems. Questions were raised over the conduct of numerous ministers regarding controversial arms deals with former Banana-War states, and Fleet Street turned on the Prime Minister for his subsequent attempts to reform the press and break up the newspaper conglomerates. The Conservative government was also strongly criticized for heavy-handed police action following the industrial strikes of 1998. Public opinion plummeted, and in early-1999 Aitken was challenged in a leadership contest by his Home Secretary, William Waldegrave. Ambitious, Waldegrave was able to court the moderate centre of the Blue List, and was elected as leader (and Prime Minister) in a narrow upset. Waldegrave restored the faith of the Northern Irish unionists, and his balanced leadership style brought many former Aitkenites back into the fold. Nevertheless, he called a general election the following winter - unfortunately the wettest since meteorological records began.
[18] While Waldegrave's election to the leadership softened relations with his coalition, it did little to soothe the misgivings of the British public. Support for devolution had risen drastically over the years, yet the Tories openly brought the experiment to a grinding halt. To make matters worse, while the heavy-handed suppression that brought down Aitken was kept to a minimum, Waldegrave oversaw the implementation of more subtle methods. Over the course of his short tenure, an intricate surveillance system was introduced. Of course, the Prime Minister assured in his characteristically academic and reasonable tone, this was in the interest of "public security". While it was true that support for the IRA had galvanised thanks to the SDP, the pre-emptive arrest of several prominent union leaders on suspicion of planning illegal strikes, did not go unnoticed. "Trust the Tories", once a masterwork of political campaigning, became a sarcastic rallying cry against a deceitful elite. Thus, when Tony Lloyds's excruciatingly cautious manifesto spawned even more vicious infighting within Labour, the charismatic Liberal leader Chris Huhne smelled blood. He released an unprecedented, ambitious plan centred on "restoring civil liberties" and "reclaiming the integrity of the nation". It included various devolution referenda, deregulation of the press and various industries and increased government transparency, especially in dealings with foreign nations. It even alluded to the development of a written constitution. Despite strongly expressed internal fears that the manifesto, dubbed the "Freedom Bill" was too radical for Britain to swallow, it proved to be exactly what was needed to peel away pro-union Labour voters and disaffected left-leaning Tories and to encourage support for regional parties. In December 2000 the Alternate List won a majority, and, under a drenched gazebo outside Number 10, it was Chris Huhne that adressed the people as Prime Minister.
[19] Chris Huhne’s premiership was almost two years and two months from the Shakespearean playbook. While inevitable that his “Alternative List” coalition couldn’t deliver everything on its optimistic manifesto, it managed key reforms including the 2001 Welsh Devolution and the 2002 Regional Council Act. Unfortunately, the Conservative and Labour parties continually stymied progress, using their combined numbers and knowledge of parliamentary procedure to delay or amend legislation. Enter the Independent Commission Against Corruption - idealists hailed it as a vehicle to clean up British politics, pragmatists pointed out its means for this new government to punch above its weight. What’s certain - without ICAC, “British Watergate” isn’t what would come to mind for the average person when asked about Huhne’s time in office. For most of late 2001 and early 2002, British news was full of ICAC revelations (with only a dip during September when reports of a foiled terror plot knocked them from the front pages). While various controversial arms deals with former Banana-War states were already public knowledge, the full nature of the transactions had been kept a secret. Now it became easy to believe that weapons on all sides of Colombia’s civil war had been procured through British agreements. (Exit Jeffrey Archer, given the epitaph “Minister for Fiction” such was his association with many of the contracts). Former PM Aitkin would have been expelled from the Conservatives if he had not already resigned to form the Christian Democrats (a party undeniably Christian but not evidently democratic) after his overthrow by Waldegrave and a millennium inspired religious awakening. However, it was time to exit PM Huhne when ICAC revealed that his wife’s environmental waste company was working for many of the same arms companies. Reminiscent of Mikhail Gorbachev’s new year’s resignation three years earlier, Huhne announced he would relinquish the Liberal Party leadership immediately and role of PM as soon as a replacement was chosen. Enter Sir Sean Connery, the man who would be PM, a man for whom re-entry into Westminster in 2000 was a move towards retirement. However, when it became clear that the level of scandal (both real and imagined) meant no Liberal candidate would be able to hold the government together, he agreed to do his duty for Queen and Country, and fulfill the role of PM until a permanent replacement could be found or an election called.
[20] The early-2000s had dashed the age-old British tradition of stable government against the rocks, and even Sir Sean Connery failed to keep the fractious 'Alternative List' in line. He remained as a caretaker until the October 2003 election, and the return of the Blues to government. Bottomley was seen as a no-nonsense and pragmatic leader, and decisively overturned the de-facto majority held by the nationalist parties (largely at their expense and Labour). Northern Ireland swung decisively to unionism, while the Cornish and Independent Labourites were wiped out completely. Bottomley had cleaned up the image of her party in record time, and had used the chaotic coalition governments to Huhne and Connery to discredit any further moves to decentralize political power. Although she held off from moving on the electoral system (despite many within the Conservatives calling for a return to FPTP), the ICAC was increasingly relegated to a powerless quango while smaller parties faced a dramatic increase in financial costs to place down deposits for respective candidates. A rise in economic productivity and a decline in Irish terrorism further strengthened the position of the government, and continued refusals from Westminster to allow an independence referendum in Scotland positioned the Conservatives once more as the natural party of government.
 
The Rise Of The Democratic Central Party

Harold Wilson 1974-1976
Jim Callaghan 1976-1979

Margaret Thatcher 1979-1983
Denis Healey (Minority with Liberal Support) 1983-1985
Enoch Powell 1985-1988
Michael Heseltine
(Minority) 1988-1991
John Smith 1991-1994
Bryan Gould 1994-2000
Tony Blair 2000-2005
David Milliband 2005-2008

William Hague 2008-2013 (1) Minority with UUP Support
William Hague 2008-2010 (2)
Michael Gove 2010-2014
Jeremy Hunt 2014-????


During and after the EEC referendum in 1975 moderates from Labour, Liberal and Conservatives maintained a low-level series of discussions over matters of mutual interest
Over the next 15 years or so through the loss of the Falklands War and increasing dismay over the ideological hardening of both main parties. MP's from the Labour right and tory left as well as the Liberals form the DCP in 1989 under John Smith as leader.
 

KirkSolo

Banned
Churchill Retires in 1950
What if Winston Churchill retired after the 1945 Conservative defeat?

1945: Clement Attlee (Labour) [1]
1950: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [2]
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1957: Harold Macmillan (Conservative) [3]
1960: Nye Bevan (Labour) [4]
1961: Richard Crossman (Labour) [5]
1964: Richard Crossman (Labour) [6]
1966: George Brown (Labour) [7]
1969: Julian Amery (Conservative) [8]
1974: Julian Amery (Conservative) [9]
1977: William Whitelaw (Conservative) [10]
1980: Shirley Williams (Labour) [11]

1985: Shirley Williams (Lab-Lib coalition) [12]
1987: David Owen (Lab-Lib coalition) [13]
1990: David Owen (Lab-Lib-SNP-SDP coalition) [14]
1993: Jonathan Aitken (Conservative-UUP coalition) [15]

1997:
Jonathan Aitken (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [16]
1999: William Waldegrave (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [17]
2000:
Chris Huhne
(Liberal-SNP-Plaid Cymru-Yorkshire-Mebyon Kernow coalition) [18]
2003 (January): Sir Sean Connery ("Unity Liberal"-SNP-Plaid Cymru-Yorkshire-Mebyon Kernow-Independent Labour coalition) [19]
2003 (October):
Virginia Bottomley (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [20]
2008: Virginia Bottomley (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [21]
[1]
The surprising victory of the Labour Party in the 1945 election would lead to the creation of the welfare state and the resignation of Winston Churchill as Conservative leader. His heir-apparent, Anthony Eden, became the Leader of the Opposition and agreed to uphold a general 'post-war consensus' in regards to the sweeping domestic changes across Britain. For the first time Labour held a full term in government, and Attlee led his party into a tightly-fought general election in February 1950.
[2] From the dark days of the winter of 1946/7 to the continuing austerity measures left over from the war, Attlee’s government faced the masterful haranguing of Eden and his Conservative colleagues. Intellectually revitalized and with a modernized party machine courtesy of Lord Woolton, the Tories went into the 1950 election with a spring in their step and unbridled optimism about their electoral prospects. Sadly for them, the election would not deliver the huge majority that many had expected and Labour managed a small turnaround toward the end of the campaign... which worked to turn Eden’s hypothetical 50-seat majority into an actual majority of just 11. Still, the charismatic new Prime Minister was undaunted as he prepared to implement his One Nation programme.
[3] Eden's premiership, to many, was little different from the Attlee ministry in terms of overall economic objectives and social policies. Much was done on the housing front with the rapid expansion of what Eden called the "property-owning democracy" which, to him, signified the centrist appeal of the Conservative Party. Eden also sought to improve Britain's international standing and browbeat the Egyptian government into withdrawing from the Suez Canal and was fundamental in overthrowing Nasser - something that greatly harmed relations with other regional Arab powers, not least the United States. His tenure was regarded as an era of renewed prosperity after the austere decade following WWII and was in office with record low unemployment. However, as his health deteriorated after a botched surgical operation while Eden struggled to chair cabinet and he decided it was best for the party should he resign as Prime Minister for the sake of his health (sources claim Douglas-Home and Macmillan encouraged him to resign). Over the following days, the tooing-and-throwing of the Conservative Party candidates left two obvious contenders - Rab Butler Lord Privy Seal and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Harold Macmillan. Macmillan stood and was eventually called upon by the Queen due to his wide popularity within the party.
[4] Macmillan inherited a healthy majority from Eden's victory at the 1955 general election, but the years between 1957 and 1960 proved far tougher than those that preceded it. Macmillan is remembered today as the Prime Minister of the Gulf War, as attempts to hold the Middle East firmly under London and Paris's thumb fell apart. As Soviet-backed Nasserite socialism spread to Jordan and Iraq, and bloody insurrection became the order of the day, Macmillan found himself cast as the stern defender of Empire a role which didn't suit him. National Service saw young working class men go to fight to defend Arab kings who quavered in their palaces, and return battered and broken - or dead. Initial patriotic support for the war faded, and was soon replaced by seemingly constant protests, which the government was ill-prepared to confront, resulting in heavy-handed suppression. The situation was not helped by the state of affairs within the Conservative party - while Macmillan was at heart a One Nation Tory, a new generation of MPs were unhappy at how wedded the party had become to socialist Labour policies, and wished to see them undone. The resignation of men like Peter Thorneycroft and Enoch Powell from Cabinet over the government's economic course only added to the bitter atmosphere. Needless to say, when the exhausted government came to election time, few were surprised when the firebrand face of the anti-Gulf protests secured victory.
[5] The Labour Party under the left-wing Aneurin Bevan had secured victory, but Bevan's victory was to be short-lived. With his strong election victory, he had consolidated his power against what was the growing divide with the right of the party, though they continued to be a strain for the socialist government. It had been clear that the leadership had to moderate some of their views as they did before the election. Positions such as nuclear disarmament that Bevan had once advocated were no longer official policy. However, Bevan was facing his own problems. The Prime Minister was charismatic, perhaps too charismatic, that was to be his downfall. It was no secret to those close to Bevan that he was facing some health issues during the election, but he didn't think much of it, he remained committed to fighting the campaign to focus on them. In office, his health would only take a turn for the worse, to the point he could no longer hide it. The official line from Downing Street acknowledged that the Prime Minister was seriously ill, but spoke no further. It was only within the next few months that Bevan himself confirmed it; he had been diagnosed with cancer. Facing an increasingly unpredictable international climate, in the Cold War and in Middle East with the Gulf withdrawal, the Prime Minister reluctantly decided he had to put his health first and ensure an orderly transition of leadership. He announced his intention to resign, with Labour Party Deputy Leader Richard Crossman subsequently elected his successor. Just over a year since the election, Britain had a new Prime Minister.
[6] The Crossman government was guided by philosophy - the NHS was (on paper at least) protected from future privatization by law, while a commitment to house-building played well with the electorate. Crossman was rewarded with a decent majority in an election finally called in 1964, although this victory then brought previously-settled issues back into contention. As economic recession struck the West Crossman came under pressure to readdress the issue of the nuclear deterrent, and as these arguments raged in Parliament decolonization continued in earnest. The Conservatives rallied, fighting against the perceived and very-deliberate decline of Britain as an interventionist global power (although in fact the debacle of the Gulf War had done far more in the eyes of the Americans). Divisions within the Labour Party also rose, with the Bevanites feuding with centrists and moderates willing to compromise on socialist dogma.
[7] The internal conflicts of the government were spilling out into open denunciations and cabinet meeting leaks, lapped up by the press and by the baying Conservative opposition. In the months following the ‘64 victory, Crossman’s strategy of appearing aloof and “rising above the fray” would no longer cut it any longer. In the autumn, he ruled out devaluation (which put the left back); in the spring of ‘65, he committed the government to fiscally restrictive measures by cutting unemployment benefits and raising fuel duties. In 1966, just after England’s ignominious loss to North Korea in the World Cup semi-final, Crossman and his Chancellor (Harold Wilson) went to the United States to ask for a substantial loan. When the press got wind of it, the left jumped into action and Barbara Castle took up the mantle to challenge her former ally for the leadership of the party. Persuaded to “get out of the game” by his right-wing allies, Crossman bowed out and stated he would serve any successor. In the event, colourful Foreign Secretary George Brown would enter the contest and win handily on an anti-unilateralist and pro-European platform against a quixotic left wing.
[8] Brown's working class charm would soon wear thin with the British public, as the occasional gaffe turned into a string of public embarrassments on the international stage. While the left continued to hound him, the initially defensive right was soon putting pressure on him to resign - which only added to the stress which the Prime Minister attempted to alleviate with alcohol. However, unlike Crossman attempts to remove him got nowhere as Brown jealously guarded his position and as the years dragged on the economy continued to flounder and the government was forced to go cap in hand to the United States, leading to the infamous Dreadful Bargain. The Romney Administration was all too willing to offer the British a lesser equivalent of the loan offered WWII, on the condition that the United Kingdom send 'advisors' into the quagmire of the New Banana Wars - which had begun with the initially successful invasion of Cuba and had now spread across much of Latin America. It was the final indignity for a Labour government initially elected on a campaign of peace and anti-imperialism. By 1969, the Conservatives achieved a comfortable majority, on a platform of reversing the long list of such indignities Britain had endured, from the decline of Empire to the influence of the United States, to the unrest on Britain's streets - helped along by many former Labour voters plumping for the Liberals or the resurgent ILP in protest at the government's involvement in America's wars.
[9] Amery quickly proved to be an able administrator, and did much to revitalize the reputation of the Conservative Party. Proving tough on civil unrest Amery held off Labour threats of a general strike and forced through union restrictions, leading to the partial privatization of key industries, and was a key member of the Atlantic Council held in 1972 that established Britain as an 'equal partner' of the new Western Alliance. (The Alliance replaced the myriad of non-aggression and defensive pacts that had lopsidedly established the United States as the only true superpower, and did much to restore the faith of her European allies. It came at a crucial time for the Americans given the sudden worsening of the Banana Wars and the need for further international support against Communism). Such successes portrayed Amery as a major international statesman with the ability to strengthen Britain and weaken her enemies - whom to many in the Conservative Party formed the entryist movements taking root in the Opposition. The Conservatives won a strong majority in 1974 on an ambitiously-named manifesto - The New Vision for Britain.
[10] Amery retired in 1977, for "personal reasons." After a heated battle to replace him, the Tories opted for William Whitelaw as the least offensive option. Whitelaw solidified his authority by calling an election in late 1977, where he led the Tories to a third term over the divided Labour.
[11] After a string of defeats over eleven years, the Labour needed a makeover; with their party bleeding more moderate supporters towards the Liberals, the party's 1978 leadership election came down to two women - the left's favorite (or more accurately, their second favorite) Barbara Castle was able to unite Foot and Benn supporters behind her while Shirley Williams ran on a more centrist, progressive platform. Ultimately Williams bested Castle, leaving many on the left wing of the Labour Party feeling disenchanted. Yet Whitelaw's austerity budget and partial privatization efforts resulted in Labour being propelled into office, with Williams becoming the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
[12] Plus: large changes to the industrial relations system, negotiating with trade unions to initiate the Prices and Incomes Accord (commonly called just 'The Accord') in 1982, an agreement whereby unions agreed to restrict wage demands and the government pledged to minimise inflation and promote an increased social wage. Seen as one of the most peaceful and stable times in Government-Worker relations. Minus: A poor relationship with American President George Bush with diplomatic bickering playing out on both sides of the Atlantic. Unknown: negotiated peace of the Falklands Conflict, with too many concessions seen as being given to the moribund Argentine junta. Result: the closest post-WWII election in British history, resulting in a coalition between the Labour and Liberal parties.
[13] The first Liberal ministerial presence in Westminster saw a growing conchord between that party and the centrist leadership of Labour - to the detriment of the sidelined left. The price of coalition was a referendum on a more proportional voting system - which was roundly rejected by the British electorate. Williams stepped aside in 1987, at the height of a seeming boom. But only a few months into Owen's term, the economy went into a downturn - and the breakaway of hardline MPs of the Socialist Campaign Group has cost the government its majority. While the SCP have refused to allow a 'Tory vote of confidence' the Owen government is effectively on life support going into 1989.
[14] David Owen's Labour-Liberal coalition seemed to be merely delaying the inevitable as the end of the 1980's rapidly approached. Limping on until February 1990, most polls predicted a repeat of the last February election 40 years earlier. However, the results would turn out to be even more surprising than that time. While the election would be endlessly debated, most analysts put the results down to two main events. First - with the move of the Labour Party towards the centre, the Conservative Party needed to help distinguish themselves and so dropped Francis Pym (longtime opposition leader and notable 'soft' Conservative) for John Nott (relatively more right-wing and leader of the 'hard' Conservative movement). Unfortunately, much of their revised policy platform (including a controversial introduction of a Value Added Tax) reminded voters of Whitelaw's austerity budget and played heavily into Labour's "Not Nott" advertising. Second - the 'Berlin Wall Massacre' discredited the hard-left and allowed Owen to position the Socialist Campaign Group as a rejected element of the party rather than as the breakaway element it was. Even so, the results were even closer than five years previously and The Sun had to famously pulp its "Nott Now! Nott Forever!" early morning issue predicated on a Conservative victory. To secure his numbers, Owen had to make deals with not only the Liberal Party, but also both the Scottish National Party and the Social Democratic Party of Northern Ireland (including promises of devolution referendums before the end of the year). While supporters dubbed it the 'Sunrise Coalition' after the warm complimentary colours of the respective parties, many turned this into the 'Sunset Coalition' due to its perceived instability. Only time would tell...
[15] Initially the 'Sunrise Coalition' was a triumph for the Westminster party system; despite leading a government formed by an eclectic mix of parties, Owen was able to secure some minor domestic successes and survived his first two years of government relatively easily. Proportional representation - a Liberal condition - passed by a comfortable margin in the Commons, while Owen again pledged his support for the progressive reform of the justice system and referenda on devolution. However, this opened a can of worms for the Labour Party. Although not a manifesto pledge in 1990, the formation of the coalition necessitated that devolution become a major issue across the Parliament. The Welsh embarrassed the government by narrowing turning it down, and while the Scots endorsed the formation of an assembly London was largely unwilling to grant independent tax powers to Edinburgh. Division in the coalition worsened when the IRA turned from peace talks and ignited a new series of offensives against British troops in Ulster, with many members believing the SDP partnership with Owen made him a biased broker. The Conservatives rallied against the 'Coalition of Catastrophe' and constantly lobbied for a general election. Ultimately, the SNP pulled the plug and hoped to make major gains at an election where the future of the controversial devolution experiment would be decided. The first election to be held under PR, the Conservatives surged as the Scots and Middle England deserted Owen in droves. Although majority government was unlikely under the new system, Aitken came close - and formed a formal coalition with the resurgent and hardliner UUP in Northern Ireland.
[16] After the turmoil of the Owen years, domestically the Aitken government presented an image of calmness and careful (Conservative) consideration. Internationally, they weren't much more adventurous, with the only major measures including participation in the historic "Paris-Ritz" agreement which designed the frame-work towards the eventual Unified German Confederation and more controversially, committing troops to the U.S.A. "incursion" into Colombia to topple General Escobar Gaviria, which most political commentators saw as President Romney merely trying to wrap up his father's unfinished business. Although many critics decried Aitken's government as 'do-nothing', they went to polls on May 1, 1997 (a year before their term was due to expire) to take advantage of polls which indicated that the public were wary of the 'overly close' working relationship between Labour leader Cherie Booth and Liberal leader Anthony Blair. The campaign slogan of "Trust the Tories" (brainchild of influential Minister Without Portfolio, Jeffrey Archer) while again light on detail seemed to manifest itself all over the country - with the notable exception of Scotland. With the exception of the Liberals in the far North, support in Scotland for mainstream parties had plunged since devolution. The SNP led by former professional footballer and Gulf War POW Sir Sean Connery took advantage of the election to rail again against the injustices from down south. Indeed the only serious opposition to the SNP came from recently re-titled SSP (Scottish Solidarity Party - formerly Scottish Socialist Party) led by Gordon Brown which replaced the Labour party as the 'go-to' party for left-leaning voters. The second election under the PR system saw the beginnings of a move towards an informal alliance system, roughly broken into the "Blue List" (Conservative Party/UUP/DUP), "Red List" (Labour/SSP/SDP) and "Alternate List" (Liberals/SNP/Plaid Cymru) - (Sinn Féin of course continued to follow a policy of abstentionism). When the final votes were counted, the results surprised nobody - a "Blue List" Aitken government was returned with a healthy majority.
[17] Although the Tory project of the mid-1990s had been rewarded with a decent coalition government in 1997 Aitken quickly ran into problems. Questions were raised over the conduct of numerous ministers regarding controversial arms deals with former Banana-War states, and Fleet Street turned on the Prime Minister for his subsequent attempts to reform the press and break up the newspaper conglomerates. The Conservative government was also strongly criticized for heavy-handed police action following the industrial strikes of 1998. Public opinion plummeted, and in early-1999 Aitken was challenged in a leadership contest by his Home Secretary, William Waldegrave. Ambitious, Waldegrave was able to court the moderate centre of the Blue List, and was elected as leader (and Prime Minister) in a narrow upset. Waldegrave restored the faith of the Northern Irish unionists, and his balanced leadership style brought many former Aitkenites back into the fold. Nevertheless, he called a general election the following winter - unfortunately the wettest since meteorological records began.
[18] While Waldegrave's election to the leadership softened relations with his coalition, it did little to soothe the misgivings of the British public. Support for devolution had risen drastically over the years, yet the Tories openly brought the experiment to a grinding halt. To make matters worse, while the heavy-handed suppression that brought down Aitken was kept to a minimum, Waldegrave oversaw the implementation of more subtle methods. Over the course of his short tenure, an intricate surveillance system was introduced. Of course, the Prime Minister assured in his characteristically academic and reasonable tone, this was in the interest of "public security". While it was true that support for the IRA had galvanised thanks to the SDP, the pre-emptive arrest of several prominent union leaders on suspicion of planning illegal strikes, did not go unnoticed. "Trust the Tories", once a masterwork of political campaigning, became a sarcastic rallying cry against a deceitful elite. Thus, when Tony Lloyds's excruciatingly cautious manifesto spawned even more vicious infighting within Labour, the charismatic Liberal leader Chris Huhne smelled blood. He released an unprecedented, ambitious plan centred on "restoring civil liberties" and "reclaiming the integrity of the nation". It included various devolution referenda, deregulation of the press and various industries and increased government transparency, especially in dealings with foreign nations. It even alluded to the development of a written constitution. Despite strongly expressed internal fears that the manifesto, dubbed the "Freedom Bill" was too radical for Britain to swallow, it proved to be exactly what was needed to peel away pro-union Labour voters and disaffected left-leaning Tories and to encourage support for regional parties. In December 2000 the Alternate List won a majority, and, under a drenched gazebo outside Number 10, it was Chris Huhne that adressed the people as Prime Minister.
[19] Chris Huhne’s premiership was almost two years and two months from the Shakespearean playbook. While inevitable that his “Alternative List” coalition couldn’t deliver everything on its optimistic manifesto, it managed key reforms including the 2001 Welsh Devolution and the 2002 Regional Council Act. Unfortunately, the Conservative and Labour parties continually stymied progress, using their combined numbers and knowledge of parliamentary procedure to delay or amend legislation. Enter the Independent Commission Against Corruption - idealists hailed it as a vehicle to clean up British politics, pragmatists pointed out its means for this new government to punch above its weight. What’s certain - without ICAC, “British Watergate” isn’t what would come to mind for the average person when asked about Huhne’s time in office. For most of late 2001 and early 2002, British news was full of ICAC revelations (with only a dip during September when reports of a foiled terror plot knocked them from the front pages). While various controversial arms deals with former Banana-War states were already public knowledge, the full nature of the transactions had been kept a secret. Now it became easy to believe that weapons on all sides of Colombia’s civil war had been procured through British agreements. (Exit Jeffrey Archer, given the epitaph “Minister for Fiction” such was his association with many of the contracts). Former PM Aitkin would have been expelled from the Conservatives if he had not already resigned to form the Christian Democrats (a party undeniably Christian but not evidently democratic) after his overthrow by Waldegrave and a millennium inspired religious awakening. However, it was time to exit PM Huhne when ICAC revealed that his wife’s environmental waste company was working for many of the same arms companies. Reminiscent of Mikhail Gorbachev’s new year’s resignation three years earlier, Huhne announced he would relinquish the Liberal Party leadership immediately and role of PM as soon as a replacement was chosen. Enter Sir Sean Connery, the man who would be PM, a man for whom re-entry into Westminster in 2000 was a move towards retirement. However, when it became clear that the level of scandal (both real and imagined) meant no Liberal candidate would be able to hold the government together, he agreed to do his duty for Queen and Country, and fulfill the role of PM until a permanent replacement could be found or an election called.
[20] The early-2000s had dashed the age-old British tradition of stable government against the rocks, and even Sir Sean Connery failed to keep the fractious 'Alternative List' in line. He remained as a caretaker until the October 2003 election, and the return of the Blues to government. Bottomley was seen as a no-nonsense and pragmatic leader, and decisively overturned the de-facto majority held by the nationalist parties (largely at their expense and Labour). Northern Ireland swung decisively to unionism, while the Cornish and Independent Labourites were wiped out completely. Bottomley had cleaned up the image of her party in record time, and had used the chaotic coalition governments to Huhne and Connery to discredit any further moves to decentralize political power. Although she held off from moving on the electoral system (despite many within the Conservatives calling for a return to FPTP), the ICAC was increasingly relegated to a powerless quango while smaller parties faced a dramatic increase in financial costs to place down deposits for respective candidates. A rise in economic productivity and a decline in Irish terrorism further strengthened the position of the government, and continued refusals from Westminster to allow an independence referendum in Scotland positioned the Conservatives once more as the natural party of government.
[21] Virginia Bottomley's first ministry was generally considered stable and competent, especially when compared to the chaos of the "Liberal Experiment". Tax breaks and subsidies for new businesses allowed the economy to thrive and productivity to rise. However, while Education and the arts enjoyed increased subsidies, funding for health and social care was cut drastically. As well as this, critics complained of a curtailment of gay rights. Section 28, the legislation preventing homosexuality to be "promoted" was reinstated after being repealed by the Liberals. Additionally, calls for gay, lesbian and bisexual people to be allowed to enter into civil partnerships, perform IVF or adopt children were explicitly denied by Bottomley. Despite this, many were happy with the economic environment and stabilty of Bottomley's premiership. This, coupled with weak opposition, a further increase in the price of election deposits and ambiguous election rules set out by ICAC meant that in 2008, Virginia Bottomley returned to Number 10, but with a decreased majority.
 
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The following is a rough draft of up to 2000.

Trying to figure how to account for post-war splits from both Conservative (e.g. National Liberal aka Left Conservatives / Red Tories) and Labour (e.g. Socialist / Socialist Labour, ATL Liberal Democrats distant from ATL Liberals) Parties.

Another would be an ATL Liberal Party that somehow manages to remain a competitive force in UK politics from the 1945 UK elections up to the present day with at least over 100 seats or at other times more than 26% of the vote, partly supplemented by right-leaning ex-Labour members or former left-leaning Conservatives / National Liberal members yet so far not quite gaining power (except possibly via collation in ATL 1996 Election) though not sure which ATL Liberal candidates would be capable of becoming PM (aside from possibly Harold Macmillan, Michael Heseltine, etc).

Envision the West Lothian Question being resolved either pre-war or post-war with the UK getting a devolved English Parliament either based in Leeds, Manchester, York or Winchester as well as an English First minister, which could serve to partly explain both post-war Conservative dominance in ATL post-war UK Elections where they still potentially dominate England even despite losing UK Elections outside of party splits / breakaways. etc.

And lastly wondering which Party candidates would potentially succeed Margaret Beckett at Labour and John Redwood or Michael Howard under the Tories as leaders / potential PM candidates from 2000 onwards up to the present. Particularly after a candidate or few to lead the UK towards adopting proportional representation voting system for elections by way of Single Transferable Vote aka STV via Condorcet Method (as well as proportional representation divided by sex) in place of the then existing first-past-the-post voting system and Voter ID Law (plus raising voting age to 25 and the abolition of Postal Voting except for severely disabled residents, the sick and armed forces only) as well as implementing the 6 demands of the Harrogate Agenda, a movement aimed at making the citizens of the UK legally sovereign over both Parliament and the Crown as well as embracing a federal system for all home nations with each having its own devolved parliament / assembly as well as a written constitution along with Swiss-style Semi-Direct/Direct Democracy.


1945: Clement Attlee (Labour) [1]

1946: Winston Churchill (Conservative)

1951: Winston Churchill (Conservative)

1955: Rab Butler (Conservative) [2]

1959: Rab Butler (Conservative)

1964: Hugh Gaitskell (Labour) [3]

1967: Harold Wilson (Labour) [5] [6]

1970: Enoch Powell (National Liberal) [7]

1974: James Callaghan (Labour)

1979: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative)

1983: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative)

1987: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative)

1992: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative) [8]

1993: Michael Portillo (Conservative)

1996: Margaret Beckett (Labour) [9]

2000: John Redwood or Michael Howard (Conservative) [10]



[1] – ATL 1945 UK Election was similar to OTL 1950 UK Election with Attlee winning by a narrow majority in 1945, the instability of the Attlee Premiership and knowledge it was unlikely to last more than a year before being replaced by Winston Churchill prompted the US to provide post-war UK with significantly more Marshal Plan aid compared to real-life under the OTL Attlee government with a landslide majority.

[2] – Rab Butler succeeds Winston Churchill in place of both Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan, his premiership also being notable for successfully implementing Operation ROBOT economic policy (as well as like OTL Harold Macmillan encouraging Fedden Motors - composite of VW, Renault and BL resulting in a role during UK equivalent of Years of Lead, most Light-Automobile Class carmakers - think UK sub-Mini analogue of Japan's Kei Cars and others to build new factories in depressed enterprise areas while unlike OTL Harold Macmillan allowing established carmakers to continue expanding existing factories).

[3] – A surviving Hugh Gaitskell wins 1964 UK Election on a Pro-Nuclear Anti-Nationalisation Anti-EEC platform after the UK’s entry to the EEC was approved in 1963 (partly a result of Charles de Gaulle being assassinated in 1961 when his car was hit by a bomb near the village of Crancey in the Pont-sur-Seine district). The UK under Gaitskell would also end up getting involved in the Vietnam War in a limited form by sending a token force to Vietnam as a result of President Johnson offering to pay Billions (more than the cost of any British military force) in the form additional assistance for the £ Pound Sterling, with large sums being transferred to the UK allowing it to pay off the Anglo-American loan to the US much earlier, reduce the UK national debt to being almost debt-free as well as initiate various infrastructure projects and cultivate various industries.

[4] – Hugh Gaitskell managing to revoke Clause IV of the Labour Constitution on the grounds of it being a political liability in the face of public opposition responsible for Labour's 1959 Election loss, led to the revived British Socialist Party (later renamed Socialist Labour) which was formerly led by the likes of Tony Benn, Michael Foot, Neil Kinnock and others who were previously part of the Left wing of Labour known as the Bevanites that left the party after the 1959 UK general election. Socialist Labour was once the 4th largest party in the UK partly due to militant union backing before declining into total irrelevance as a major political force. It would be followed by another exodus a decade later (with an additional breakaway party from the basis of the alternate Liberal Democrats) when Barbara Castle’s 1968-1969 “In place of Strife” White Paper was passed into law causing the Right wing of the Labour party known as the Gaitskellites / Blue Labour / Co-operative party to dominate (despite persistent entryism and attempts by returning ex-Labour members of the British Socialist Party later renamed Socialist Labour to make the Gaitskellite dominated Labour party unelectable especially after the arrest of former temporary Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1974).

[5] – Harold Wilson became temporary Prime Minister upon Gaiskell’s sudden death in 1967 ahead of a then cancelled crucial vote on whether or not to leave the EEC. He would continue to be the centre of allegations of being a Soviet agent as well as claims Hugh Gaitskell was assassinated by the KGB to Wilson’s benefit, leading to him later being arrested during the 1974 UK Election by MI5.

[6] Years (or Decade) of Strife – Best described as a UK version of Italy’s Years of Lead, it was a period of social and political turmoil in the UK that lasted from the late 1960s until the late 1970s, marked by a wave of both left-wing and right-wing incidents of political terrorism both domestically as well as outside of the UK (targeting UK interests). The Years (or Decade) of Strife are often considered to have begun with the strikes at the Government and Co-Op owned Fedden Motors starting in 1969 as a result of Barbara Castle’s “In Place of Strife” white paper being approved, which unleashed a violent reaction by militant trade unions / workforce and other communist subversives with incidents including the assassinations of Fedden’s CEO as well as of former foreign secretary Anthony Eden and an Aldo Moro-like kidnapping/assassination attempt of former Prime Minister Harold Wilson (ostensibly for passing Barbara Castle’s 1968-1969 “In place of Strife” White Paper with terrorists intending to demand the release of imprisoned Left-wing terrorists in exchange for Wilson’s freedom), prior to a crackdown by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and culminating in the raid / arrest / imprisonment of prominent communist trade union officials and others (including Derek Robinson aka Red Robbo, Alan Thornett, Bobby Fryer, etc) being caught in a drug sting operation with others fleeting to France during the 1980s under the Mitterrand doctrine (that soured relations between the UK and France).

[7] – Outsider Enoch Powell defeated both the Conservatives under Edward Heath and Labour under Harold Wilson in the 1970 UK Election as leader of the National Liberal Party, the latter was revived by the left wing of the Conservatives / Red Tories who broke away from the original mainstream Conservative Party sometime after the UK joined the EEC / European Economic Community in 1963 and successfully managed to tap into public sentiment during the early years of what became known as the “Years (or Decade) of Strife”. However the party would decline after Enoch Powell was unexpectedly defeated in 1974 by Labour under James Callaghan, with a number of MPs switching to other parties. Otherwise unsure what a Premiership under Enoch Powell was resemble in such a scenario.

[8] Margaret Thatcher manages to survive the 1990 leadership challenge as well as win the 1992 UK elections (thanks to her skilled handling of the 1990s recession and defying the European Community to keep interest rates low enough by drastically cutting it by 5% to keep the economy more or less stable as well as the old “Falklands Factor”, where she threw the Patriotic bone at the public at the right time), prior to later leaving the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) and rejecting the Maastricht Treaty followed by Denmark and France (leading to the dissolution of the EEC and the European Free Trade Association / EFTA effectively becoming the single largest trade bloc in Europe by default) with Michael Portillo shortly succeeding her as Prime Minister from early 1993 onwards.

Inspired by SadSprinter's Thatcher Survives thread

[9] – Possibly with Tony Blair and John Prescott being First Ministers of Scotland and Wales respectively as a result of the West Lothian question being resolved (either recently or decades earlier unsure who could be Labour First Minister of England though or whether Conservatives manage to retain England during Election)

[10] - The alternate Fuel Protests in 2000 (along with proposed Ultra Low Emissions Zone laws that would have effectively banned diesel and petrol-powered private cars from the city centre as well as in outer London beyond the North and South circular roads on the same boundary as the current truck/bus Low Emission Zone, raising the cost of motoring while driving millions of working and middle class people off of the roads) served as one of number of catalyses that brought down the premiership of Margaret Beckett and Labour, after Labour attempted to increase the Fuel Duty from 62.5% to 90%. With Beckett being replaced by a minority Conservative government under either John Redwood or Michael Howard.
 
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The Rise Of The Democratic Central Party

The following is a rough draft of up to 2000.

Trying to figure how to account for post-war splits from both Conservative (e.g. National Liberal aka Left Conservatives / Red Tories) and Labour (e.g. Socialist / Socialist Labour, ATL Liberal Democrats distant from ATL Liberals) Parties.

While I like the imagination shown in both your lists, I think this thread is purely for an interactive thread where members take it in turns to contribute to a list of U.K. Prime Ministers (rules explained in first post).
 
Churchill Retires in 1950
What if Winston Churchill retired after the 1945 Conservative defeat?

1945: Clement Attlee (Labour) [1]
1950: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [2]
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1957: Harold Macmillan (Conservative) [3]
1960: Nye Bevan (Labour) [4]
1961: Richard Crossman (Labour) [5]
1964: Richard Crossman (Labour) [6]
1966: George Brown (Labour) [7]
1969: Julian Amery (Conservative) [8]
1974: Julian Amery (Conservative) [9]
1977: William Whitelaw (Conservative)
1977:William Whitelaw (Conservative) [10]
1980: Shirley Williams (Labour) [11]
1985: Shirley Williams (Lab-Lib coalition) [12]
1987: David Owen (Lab-Lib coalition) [13]
1990: David Owen (Lab-Lib-SNP-SDP coalition) [14]
1993: Jonathan Aitken (Conservative-UUP coalition) [15]
1997:
Jonathan Aitken (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [16]
1999: William Waldegrave (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [17]
2000:
Chris Huhne (Liberal-SNP-Plaid Cymru-Yorkshire-Mebyon Kernow coalition) [18]
2003 (January): Sir Sean Connery ("Unity Liberal"-SNP-Plaid Cymru-Yorkshire-Mebyon Kernow-Independent Labour coalition) [19]
2003 (October): Virginia Bottomley (Conservative-
UUP-DUP coalition) [20]
2008:
Virginia Bottomley (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [21]
2009: Winston Spencer-Churchill (Conservative-DUUP coalition) [22]


[1]
The surprising victory of the Labour Party in the 1945 election would lead to the creation of the welfare state and the resignation of Winston Churchill as Conservative leader. His heir-apparent, Anthony Eden, became the Leader of the Opposition and agreed to uphold a general 'post-war consensus' in regards to the sweeping domestic changes across Britain. For the first time Labour held a full term in government, and Attlee led his party into a tightly-fought general election in February 1950.
[2] From the dark days of the winter of 1946/7 to the continuing austerity measures left over from the war, Attlee’s government faced the masterful haranguing of Eden and his Conservative colleagues. Intellectually revitalized and with a modernized party machine courtesy of Lord Woolton, the Tories went into the 1950 election with a spring in their step and unbridled optimism about their electoral prospects. Sadly for them, the election would not deliver the huge majority that many had expected and Labour managed a small turnaround toward the end of the campaign... which worked to turn Eden’s hypothetical 50-seat majority into an actual majority of just 11. Still, the charismatic new Prime Minister was undaunted as he prepared to implement his One Nation programme.
[3] Eden's premiership, to many, was little different from the Attlee ministry in terms of overall economic objectives and social policies. Much was done on the housing front with the rapid expansion of what Eden called the "property-owning democracy" which, to him, signified the centrist appeal of the Conservative Party. Eden also sought to improve Britain's international standing and browbeat the Egyptian government into withdrawing from the Suez Canal and was fundamental in overthrowing Nasser - something that greatly harmed relations with other regional Arab powers, not least the United States. His tenure was regarded as an era of renewed prosperity after the austere decade following WWII and was in office with record low unemployment. However, as his health deteriorated after a botched surgical operation while Eden struggled to chair cabinet and he decided it was best for the party should he resign as Prime Minister for the sake of his health (sources claim Douglas-Home and Macmillan encouraged him to resign). Over the following days, the tooing-and-throwing of the Conservative Party candidates left two obvious contenders - Rab Butler Lord Privy Seal and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Harold Macmillan. Macmillan stood and was eventually called upon by the Queen due to his wide popularity within the party.
[4] Macmillan inherited a healthy majority from Eden's victory at the 1955 general election, but the years between 1957 and 1960 proved far tougher than those that preceded it. Macmillan is remembered today as the Prime Minister of the Gulf War, as attempts to hold the Middle East firmly under London and Paris's thumb fell apart. As Soviet-backed Nasserite socialism spread to Jordan and Iraq, and bloody insurrection became the order of the day, Macmillan found himself cast as the stern defender of Empire a role which didn't suit him. National Service saw young working class men go to fight to defend Arab kings who quavered in their palaces, and return battered and broken - or dead. Initial patriotic support for the war faded, and was soon replaced by seemingly constant protests, which the government was ill-prepared to confront, resulting in heavy-handed suppression. The situation was not helped by the state of affairs within the Conservative party - while Macmillan was at heart a One Nation Tory, a new generation of MPs were unhappy at how wedded the party had become to socialist Labour policies, and wished to see them undone. The resignation of men like Peter Thorneycroft and Enoch Powell from Cabinet over the government's economic course only added to the bitter atmosphere. Needless to say, when the exhausted government came to election time, few were surprised when the firebrand face of the anti-Gulf protests secured victory.
[5] The Labour Party under the left-wing Aneurin Bevan had secured victory, but Bevan's victory was to be short-lived. With his strong election victory, he had consolidated his power against what was the growing divide with the right of the party, though they continued to be a strain for the socialist government. It had been clear that the leadership had to moderate some of their views as they did before the election. Positions such as nuclear disarmament that Bevan had once advocated were no longer official policy. However, Bevan was facing his own problems. The Prime Minister was charismatic, perhaps too charismatic, that was to be his downfall. It was no secret to those close to Bevan that he was facing some health issues during the election, but he didn't think much of it, he remained committed to fighting the campaign to focus on them. In office, his health would only take a turn for the worse, to the point he could no longer hide it. The official line from Downing Street acknowledged that the Prime Minister was seriously ill, but spoke no further. It was only within the next few months that Bevan himself confirmed it; he had been diagnosed with cancer. Facing an increasingly unpredictable international climate, in the Cold War and in Middle East with the Gulf withdrawal, the Prime Minister reluctantly decided he had to put his health first and ensure an orderly transition of leadership. He announced his intention to resign, with Labour Party Deputy Leader Richard Crossman subsequently elected his successor. Just over a year since the election, Britain had a new Prime Minister.
[6] The Crossman government was guided by philosophy - the NHS was (on paper at least) protected from future privatization by law, while a commitment to house-building played well with the electorate. Crossman was rewarded with a decent majority in an election finally called in 1964, although this victory then brought previously-settled issues back into contention. As economic recession struck the West Crossman came under pressure to readdress the issue of the nuclear deterrent, and as these arguments raged in Parliament decolonization continued in earnest. The Conservatives rallied, fighting against the perceived and very-deliberate decline of Britain as an interventionist global power (although in fact the debacle of the Gulf War had done far more in the eyes of the Americans). Divisions within the Labour Party also rose, with the Bevanites feuding with centrists and moderates willing to compromise on socialist dogma.
[7] The internal conflicts of the government were spilling out into open denunciations and cabinet meeting leaks, lapped up by the press and by the baying Conservative opposition. In the months following the ‘64 victory, Crossman’s strategy of appearing aloof and “rising above the fray” would no longer cut it any longer. In the autumn, he ruled out devaluation (which put the left back); in the spring of ‘65, he committed the government to fiscally restrictive measures by cutting unemployment benefits and raising fuel duties. In 1966, just after England’s ignominious loss to North Korea in the World Cup semi-final, Crossman and his Chancellor (Harold Wilson) went to the United States to ask for a substantial loan. When the press got wind of it, the left jumped into action and Barbara Castle took up the mantle to challenge her former ally for the leadership of the party. Persuaded to “get out of the game” by his right-wing allies, Crossman bowed out and stated he would serve any successor. In the event, colourful Foreign Secretary George Brown would enter the contest and win handily on an anti-unilateralist and pro-European platform against a quixotic left wing.
[8] Brown's working class charm would soon wear thin with the British public, as the occasional gaffe turned into a string of public embarrassments on the international stage. While the left continued to hound him, the initially defensive right was soon putting pressure on him to resign - which only added to the stress which the Prime Minister attempted to alleviate with alcohol. However, unlike Crossman attempts to remove him got nowhere as Brown jealously guarded his position and as the years dragged on the economy continued to flounder and the government was forced to go cap in hand to the United States, leading to the infamous Dreadful Bargain. The Romney Administration was all too willing to offer the British a lesser equivalent of the loan offered WWII, on the condition that the United Kingdom send 'advisors' into the quagmire of the New Banana Wars - which had begun with the initially successful invasion of Cuba and had now spread across much of Latin America. It was the final indignity for a Labour government initially elected on a campaign of peace and anti-imperialism. By 1969, the Conservatives achieved a comfortable majority, on a platform of reversing the long list of such indignities Britain had endured, from the decline of Empire to the influence of the United States, to the unrest on Britain's streets - helped along by many former Labour voters plumping for the Liberals or the resurgent ILP in protest at the government's involvement in America's wars.
[9] Amery quickly proved to be an able administrator, and did much to revitalize the reputation of the Conservative Party. Proving tough on civil unrest Amery held off Labour threats of a general strike and forced through union restrictions, leading to the partial privatization of key industries, and was a key member of the Atlantic Council held in 1972 that established Britain as an 'equal partner' of the new Western Alliance. (The Alliance replaced the myriad of non-aggression and defensive pacts that had lopsidedly established the United States as the only true superpower, and did much to restore the faith of her European allies. It came at a crucial time for the Americans given the sudden worsening of the Banana Wars and the need for further international support against Communism). Such successes portrayed Amery as a major international statesman with the ability to strengthen Britain and weaken her enemies - whom to many in the Conservative Party formed the entryist movements taking root in the Opposition. The Conservatives won a strong majority in 1974 on an ambitiously-named manifesto - The New Vision for Britain.
[10] Amery retired in 1977, for "personal reasons." After a heated battle to replace him, the Tories opted for William Whitelaw as the least offensive option. Whitelaw solidified his authority by calling an election in late 1977, where he led the Tories to a third term over the divided Labour.
[11] After a string of defeats over eleven years, the Labour needed a makeover; with their party bleeding more moderate supporters towards the Liberals, the party's 1978 leadership election came down to two women - the left's favorite (or more accurately, their second favorite) Barbara Castle was able to unite Foot and Benn supporters behind her while Shirley Williams ran on a more centrist, progressive platform. Ultimately Williams bested Castle, leaving many on the left wing of the Labour Party feeling disenchanted. Yet Whitelaw's austerity budget and partial privatization efforts resulted in Labour being propelled into office, with Williams becoming the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
[12] Plus: large changes to the industrial relations system, negotiating with trade unions to initiate the Prices and Incomes Accord (commonly called just 'The Accord') in 1982, an agreement whereby unions agreed to restrict wage demands and the government pledged to minimise inflation and promote an increased social wage. Seen as one of the most peaceful and stable times in Government-Worker relations. Minus: A poor relationship with American President George Bush with diplomatic bickering playing out on both sides of the Atlantic. Unknown: negotiated peace of the Falklands Conflict, with too many concessions seen as being given to the moribund Argentine junta. Result: the closest post-WWII election in British history, resulting in a coalition between the Labour and Liberal parties.
[13] The first Liberal ministerial presence in Westminster saw a growing conchord between that party and the centrist leadership of Labour - to the detriment of the sidelined left. The price of coalition was a referendum on a more proportional voting system - which was roundly rejected by the British electorate. Williams stepped aside in 1987, at the height of a seeming boom. But only a few months into Owen's term, the economy went into a downturn - and the breakaway of hardline MPs of the Socialist Campaign Group has cost the government its majority. While the SCP have refused to allow a 'Tory vote of confidence' the Owen government is effectively on life support going into 1989.
[14] David Owen's Labour-Liberal coalition seemed to be merely delaying the inevitable as the end of the 1980's rapidly approached. Limping on until February 1990, most polls predicted a repeat of the last February election 40 years earlier. However, the results would turn out to be even more surprising than that time. While the election would be endlessly debated, most analysts put the results down to two main events. First - with the move of the Labour Party towards the centre, the Conservative Party needed to help distinguish themselves and so dropped Francis Pym (longtime opposition leader and notable 'soft' Conservative) for John Nott (relatively more right-wing and leader of the 'hard' Conservative movement). Unfortunately, much of their revised policy platform (including a controversial introduction of a Value Added Tax) reminded voters of Whitelaw's austerity budget and played heavily into Labour's "Not Nott" advertising. Second - the 'Berlin Wall Massacre' discredited the hard-left and allowed Owen to position the Socialist Campaign Group as a rejected element of the party rather than as the breakaway element it was. Even so, the results were even closer than five years previously and The Sun had to famously pulp its "Nott Now! Nott Forever!" early morning issue predicated on a Conservative victory. To secure his numbers, Owen had to make deals with not only the Liberal Party, but also both the Scottish National Party and the Social Democratic Party of Northern Ireland (including promises of devolution referendums before the end of the year). While supporters dubbed it the 'Sunrise Coalition' after the warm complimentary colours of the respective parties, many turned this into the 'Sunset Coalition' due to its perceived instability. Only time would tell...
[15] Initially the 'Sunrise Coalition' was a triumph for the Westminster party system; despite leading a government formed by an eclectic mix of parties, Owen was able to secure some minor domestic successes and survived his first two years of government relatively easily. Proportional representation - a Liberal condition - passed by a comfortable margin in the Commons, while Owen again pledged his support for the progressive reform of the justice system and referenda on devolution. However, this opened a can of worms for the Labour Party. Although not a manifesto pledge in 1990, the formation of the coalition necessitated that devolution become a major issue across the Parliament. The Welsh embarrassed the government by narrowing turning it down, and while the Scots endorsed the formation of an assembly London was largely unwilling to grant independent tax powers to Edinburgh. Division in the coalition worsened when the IRA turned from peace talks and ignited a new series of offensives against British troops in Ulster, with many members believing the SDP partnership with Owen made him a biased broker. The Conservatives rallied against the 'Coalition of Catastrophe' and constantly lobbied for a general election. Ultimately, the SNP pulled the plug and hoped to make major gains at an election where the future of the controversial devolution experiment would be decided. The first election to be held under PR, the Conservatives surged as the Scots and Middle England deserted Owen in droves. Although majority government was unlikely under the new system, Aitken came close - and formed a formal coalition with the resurgent and hardliner UUP in Northern Ireland.
[16] After the turmoil of the Owen years, domestically the Aitken government presented an image of calmness and careful (Conservative) consideration. Internationally, they weren't much more adventurous, with the only major measures including participation in the historic "Paris-Ritz" agreement which designed the frame-work towards the eventual Unified German Confederation and more controversially, committing troops to the U.S.A. "incursion" into Colombia to topple General Escobar Gaviria, which most political commentators saw as President Romney merely trying to wrap up his father's unfinished business. Although many critics decried Aitken's government as 'do-nothing', they went to polls on May 1, 1997 (a year before their term was due to expire) to take advantage of polls which indicated that the public were wary of the 'overly close' working relationship between Labour leader Cherie Booth and Liberal leader Anthony Blair. The campaign slogan of "Trust the Tories" (brainchild of influential Minister Without Portfolio, Jeffrey Archer) while again light on detail seemed to manifest itself all over the country - with the notable exception of Scotland. With the exception of the Liberals in the far North, support in Scotland for mainstream parties had plunged since devolution. The SNP led by former professional footballer and Gulf War POW Sir Sean Connery took advantage of the election to rail again against the injustices from down south. Indeed the only serious opposition to the SNP came from recently re-titled SSP (Scottish Solidarity Party - formerly Scottish Socialist Party) led by Gordon Brown which replaced the Labour party as the 'go-to' party for left-leaning voters. The second election under the PR system saw the beginnings of a move towards an informal alliance system, roughly broken into the "Blue List" (Conservative Party/UUP/DUP), "Red List" (Labour/SSP/SDP) and "Alternate List" (Liberals/SNP/Plaid Cymru) - (Sinn Féin of course continued to follow a policy of abstentionism). When the final votes were counted, the results surprised nobody - a "Blue List" Aitken government was returned with a healthy majority.
[17] Although the Tory project of the mid-1990s had been rewarded with a decent coalition government in 1997 Aitken quickly ran into problems. Questions were raised over the conduct of numerous ministers regarding controversial arms deals with former Banana-War states, and Fleet Street turned on the Prime Minister for his subsequent attempts to reform the press and break up the newspaper conglomerates. The Conservative government was also strongly criticized for heavy-handed police action following the industrial strikes of 1998. Public opinion plummeted, and in early-1999 Aitken was challenged in a leadership contest by his Home Secretary, William Waldegrave. Ambitious, Waldegrave was able to court the moderate centre of the Blue List, and was elected as leader (and Prime Minister) in a narrow upset. Waldegrave restored the faith of the Northern Irish unionists, and his balanced leadership style brought many former Aitkenites back into the fold. Nevertheless, he called a general election the following winter - unfortunately the wettest since meteorological records began.
[18] While Waldegrave's election to the leadership softened relations with his coalition, it did little to soothe the misgivings of the British public. Support for devolution had risen drastically over the years, yet the Tories openly brought the experiment to a grinding halt. To make matters worse, while the heavy-handed suppression that brought down Aitken was kept to a minimum, Waldegrave oversaw the implementation of more subtle methods. Over the course of his short tenure, an intricate surveillance system was introduced. Of course, the Prime Minister assured in his characteristically academic and reasonable tone, this was in the interest of "public security". While it was true that support for the IRA had galvanised thanks to the SDP, the pre-emptive arrest of several prominent union leaders on suspicion of planning illegal strikes, did not go unnoticed. "Trust the Tories", once a masterwork of political campaigning, became a sarcastic rallying cry against a deceitful elite. Thus, when Tony Lloyds's excruciatingly cautious manifesto spawned even more vicious infighting within Labour, the charismatic Liberal leader Chris Huhne smelled blood. He released an unprecedented, ambitious plan centred on "restoring civil liberties" and "reclaiming the integrity of the nation". It included various devolution referenda, deregulation of the press and various industries and increased government transparency, especially in dealings with foreign nations. It even alluded to the development of a written constitution. Despite strongly expressed internal fears that the manifesto, dubbed the "Freedom Bill" was too radical for Britain to swallow, it proved to be exactly what was needed to peel away pro-union Labour voters and disaffected left-leaning Tories and to encourage support for regional parties. In December 2000 the Alternate List won a majority, and, under a drenched gazebo outside Number 10, it was Chris Huhne that adressed the people as Prime Minister.
[19] Chris Huhne’s premiership was almost two years and two months from the Shakespearean playbook. While inevitable that his “Alternative List” coalition couldn’t deliver everything on its optimistic manifesto, it managed key reforms including the 2001 Welsh Devolution and the 2002 Regional Council Act. Unfortunately, the Conservative and Labour parties continually stymied progress, using their combined numbers and knowledge of parliamentary procedure to delay or amend legislation. Enter the Independent Commission Against Corruption - idealists hailed it as a vehicle to clean up British politics, pragmatists pointed out its means for this new government to punch above its weight. What’s certain - without ICAC, “British Watergate” isn’t what would come to mind for the average person when asked about Huhne’s time in office. For most of late 2001 and early 2002, British news was full of ICAC revelations (with only a dip during September when reports of a foiled terror plot knocked them from the front pages). While various controversial arms deals with former Banana-War states were already public knowledge, the full nature of the transactions had been kept a secret. Now it became easy to believe that weapons on all sides of Colombia’s civil war had been procured through British agreements. (Exit Jeffrey Archer, given the epitaph “Minister for Fiction” such was his association with many of the contracts). Former PM Aitkin would have been expelled from the Conservatives if he had not already resigned to form the Christian Democrats (a party undeniably Christian but not evidently democratic) after his overthrow by Waldegrave and a millennium inspired religious awakening. However, it was time to exit PM Huhne when ICAC revealed that his wife’s environmental waste company was working for many of the same arms companies. Reminiscent of Mikhail Gorbachev’s new year’s resignation three years earlier, Huhne announced he would relinquish the Liberal Party leadership immediately and role of PM as soon as a replacement was chosen. Enter Sir Sean Connery, the man who would be PM, a man for whom re-entry into Westminster in 2000 was a move towards retirement. However, when it became clear that the level of scandal (both real and imagined) meant no Liberal candidate would be able to hold the government together, he agreed to do his duty for Queen and Country, and fulfill the role of PM until a permanent replacement could be found or an election called.
[20] The early-2000s had dashed the age-old British tradition of stable government against the rocks, and even Sir Sean Connery failed to keep the fractious 'Alternative List' in line. He remained as a caretaker until the October 2003 election, and the return of the Blues to government. Bottomley was seen as a no-nonsense and pragmatic leader, and decisively overturned the de-facto majority held by the nationalist parties (largely at their expense and Labour). Northern Ireland swung decisively to unionism, while the Cornish and Independent Labourites were wiped out completely. Bottomley had cleaned up the image of her party in record time, and had used the chaotic coalition governments to Huhne and Connery to discredit any further moves to decentralize political power. Although she held off from moving on the electoral system (despite many within the Conservatives calling for a return to FPTP), the ICAC was increasingly relegated to a powerless quango while smaller parties faced a dramatic increase in financial costs to place down deposits for respective candidates. A rise in economic productivity and a decline in Irish terrorism further strengthened the position of the government, and continued refusals from Westminster to allow an independence referendum in Scotland positioned the Conservatives once more as the natural party of government.
[21] Virginia Bottomley's first ministry was generally considered stable and competent, especially when compared to the chaos of the "Liberal Experiment". Tax breaks and subsidies for new businesses allowed the economy to thrive and productivity to rise. However, while Education and the arts enjoyed increased subsidies, funding for health and social care was cut drastically. As well as this, critics complained of a curtailment of gay rights. Section 28, the legislation preventing homosexuality to be "promoted" was reinstated after being repealed by the Liberals. Additionally, calls for gay, lesbian and bisexual people to be allowed to enter into civil partnerships, perform IVF or adopt children were explicitly denied by Bottomley. Despite this, many were happy with the economic environment and stabilty of Bottomley's premiership. This, coupled with weak opposition, a further increase in the price of election deposits and ambiguous election rules set out by ICAC meant that in 2008, Virginia Bottomley returned to Number 10, but with a decreased majority.
[22]
The 2009 Conservative Leadership challenge (also known as the Battle of the Churchill’s) was primarily between Winston Spencer-Churchill and A. N. Winston Soames. Preempted by the 2008-2009 financial crash, it brought the strong economic management of Bottomley’s first term in office into stark rebut. While the crisis originated in the United States, brought about by the “New Democrats” hands-off approach to regulation, it quickly impacted the European banking system. While no direct links to Bottomley’s management could be made, her relatively long tenure by modern British standards and lingering public doubts around Conservative trustworthiness saw her support plummet. A no-confidence motion was put forward after coalition partners UUP and DUP announced they would be formally merging to create the DUUP and would no longer support Bottomley as PM (rumours swirled that this was in response to Bottomley planning to cut troop numbers in Northern Ireland as an economic measure). Two main candidates quickly emerged; A. N. Winston Soames, Minister of Defence and Winston Spencer-Churchill, Minster for Regional U.K., both playing on the legend of their grandfather who led the country through a time of acute crisis and then retired when the job was done. While early support was behind Soames, the final ballots gave leadership to Spencer-Churchill (popular accounts point to his name-recognition, insider accounts point to his greater support for Ulster Unionism). Recent reports indicate that Soames knew of Spencer-Churchill’s ill-health during the ballot but declined to publicise the fact out of respect for his cousin.
 
Understand, will look to set up a non-interactive version (possibly from 1900-2020).

Churchill Retires in 1950
What if Winston Churchill retired after the 1945 Conservative defeat?

1945: Clement Attlee (Labour) [1]
1950: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [2]
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1957: Harold Macmillan (Conservative) [3]
1960: Nye Bevan (Labour) [4]
1961: Richard Crossman (Labour) [5]
1964: Richard Crossman (Labour) [6]
1966: George Brown (Labour) [7]
1969: Julian Amery (Conservative) [8]
1974: Julian Amery (Conservative) [9]
1977: William Whitelaw (Conservative)
1977:William Whitelaw (Conservative) [10]
1980: Shirley Williams (Labour) [11]
1985: Shirley Williams (Lab-Lib coalition) [12]
1987: David Owen (Lab-Lib coalition) [13]
1990: David Owen (Lab-Lib-SNP-SDP coalition) [14]
1993: Jonathan Aitken (Conservative-UUP coalition) [15]
1997:
Jonathan Aitken (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [16]
1999: William Waldegrave (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [17]
2000:
Chris Huhne (Liberal-SNP-Plaid Cymru-Yorkshire-Mebyon Kernow coalition) [18]
2003 (January): Sir Sean Connery ("Unity Liberal"-SNP-Plaid Cymru-Yorkshire-Mebyon Kernow-Independent Labour coalition) [19]
2003 (October): Virginia Bottomley (Conservative-
UUP-DUP coalition) [20]
2008:
Virginia Bottomley (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [21]
2009: Winston Spencer-Churchill (Conservative-DUUP coalition) [22]
2011: Linda McAvan (Labour/Liberal Alliance-Yorkshire coalition) [23]


[1]
The surprising victory of the Labour Party in the 1945 election would lead to the creation of the welfare state and the resignation of Winston Churchill as Conservative leader. His heir-apparent, Anthony Eden, became the Leader of the Opposition and agreed to uphold a general 'post-war consensus' in regards to the sweeping domestic changes across Britain. For the first time Labour held a full term in government, and Attlee led his party into a tightly-fought general election in February 1950.
[2] From the dark days of the winter of 1946/7 to the continuing austerity measures left over from the war, Attlee’s government faced the masterful haranguing of Eden and his Conservative colleagues. Intellectually revitalized and with a modernized party machine courtesy of Lord Woolton, the Tories went into the 1950 election with a spring in their step and unbridled optimism about their electoral prospects. Sadly for them, the election would not deliver the huge majority that many had expected and Labour managed a small turnaround toward the end of the campaign... which worked to turn Eden’s hypothetical 50-seat majority into an actual majority of just 11. Still, the charismatic new Prime Minister was undaunted as he prepared to implement his One Nation programme.
[3] Eden's premiership, to many, was little different from the Attlee ministry in terms of overall economic objectives and social policies. Much was done on the housing front with the rapid expansion of what Eden called the "property-owning democracy" which, to him, signified the centrist appeal of the Conservative Party. Eden also sought to improve Britain's international standing and browbeat the Egyptian government into withdrawing from the Suez Canal and was fundamental in overthrowing Nasser - something that greatly harmed relations with other regional Arab powers, not least the United States. His tenure was regarded as an era of renewed prosperity after the austere decade following WWII and was in office with record low unemployment. However, as his health deteriorated after a botched surgical operation while Eden struggled to chair cabinet and he decided it was best for the party should he resign as Prime Minister for the sake of his health (sources claim Douglas-Home and Macmillan encouraged him to resign). Over the following days, the tooing-and-throwing of the Conservative Party candidates left two obvious contenders - Rab Butler Lord Privy Seal and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Harold Macmillan. Macmillan stood and was eventually called upon by the Queen due to his wide popularity within the party.
[4] Macmillan inherited a healthy majority from Eden's victory at the 1955 general election, but the years between 1957 and 1960 proved far tougher than those that preceded it. Macmillan is remembered today as the Prime Minister of the Gulf War, as attempts to hold the Middle East firmly under London and Paris's thumb fell apart. As Soviet-backed Nasserite socialism spread to Jordan and Iraq, and bloody insurrection became the order of the day, Macmillan found himself cast as the stern defender of Empire a role which didn't suit him. National Service saw young working class men go to fight to defend Arab kings who quavered in their palaces, and return battered and broken - or dead. Initial patriotic support for the war faded, and was soon replaced by seemingly constant protests, which the government was ill-prepared to confront, resulting in heavy-handed suppression. The situation was not helped by the state of affairs within the Conservative party - while Macmillan was at heart a One Nation Tory, a new generation of MPs were unhappy at how wedded the party had become to socialist Labour policies, and wished to see them undone. The resignation of men like Peter Thorneycroft and Enoch Powell from Cabinet over the government's economic course only added to the bitter atmosphere. Needless to say, when the exhausted government came to election time, few were surprised when the firebrand face of the anti-Gulf protests secured victory.
[5] The Labour Party under the left-wing Aneurin Bevan had secured victory, but Bevan's victory was to be short-lived. With his strong election victory, he had consolidated his power against what was the growing divide with the right of the party, though they continued to be a strain for the socialist government. It had been clear that the leadership had to moderate some of their views as they did before the election. Positions such as nuclear disarmament that Bevan had once advocated were no longer official policy. However, Bevan was facing his own problems. The Prime Minister was charismatic, perhaps too charismatic, that was to be his downfall. It was no secret to those close to Bevan that he was facing some health issues during the election, but he didn't think much of it, he remained committed to fighting the campaign to focus on them. In office, his health would only take a turn for the worse, to the point he could no longer hide it. The official line from Downing Street acknowledged that the Prime Minister was seriously ill, but spoke no further. It was only within the next few months that Bevan himself confirmed it; he had been diagnosed with cancer. Facing an increasingly unpredictable international climate, in the Cold War and in Middle East with the Gulf withdrawal, the Prime Minister reluctantly decided he had to put his health first and ensure an orderly transition of leadership. He announced his intention to resign, with Labour Party Deputy Leader Richard Crossman subsequently elected his successor. Just over a year since the election, Britain had a new Prime Minister.
[6] The Crossman government was guided by philosophy - the NHS was (on paper at least) protected from future privatization by law, while a commitment to house-building played well with the electorate. Crossman was rewarded with a decent majority in an election finally called in 1964, although this victory then brought previously-settled issues back into contention. As economic recession struck the West Crossman came under pressure to readdress the issue of the nuclear deterrent, and as these arguments raged in Parliament decolonization continued in earnest. The Conservatives rallied, fighting against the perceived and very-deliberate decline of Britain as an interventionist global power (although in fact the debacle of the Gulf War had done far more in the eyes of the Americans). Divisions within the Labour Party also rose, with the Bevanites feuding with centrists and moderates willing to compromise on socialist dogma.
[7] The internal conflicts of the government were spilling out into open denunciations and cabinet meeting leaks, lapped up by the press and by the baying Conservative opposition. In the months following the ‘64 victory, Crossman’s strategy of appearing aloof and “rising above the fray” would no longer cut it any longer. In the autumn, he ruled out devaluation (which put the left back); in the spring of ‘65, he committed the government to fiscally restrictive measures by cutting unemployment benefits and raising fuel duties. In 1966, just after England’s ignominious loss to North Korea in the World Cup semi-final, Crossman and his Chancellor (Harold Wilson) went to the United States to ask for a substantial loan. When the press got wind of it, the left jumped into action and Barbara Castle took up the mantle to challenge her former ally for the leadership of the party. Persuaded to “get out of the game” by his right-wing allies, Crossman bowed out and stated he would serve any successor. In the event, colourful Foreign Secretary George Brown would enter the contest and win handily on an anti-unilateralist and pro-European platform against a quixotic left wing.
[8] Brown's working class charm would soon wear thin with the British public, as the occasional gaffe turned into a string of public embarrassments on the international stage. While the left continued to hound him, the initially defensive right was soon putting pressure on him to resign - which only added to the stress which the Prime Minister attempted to alleviate with alcohol. However, unlike Crossman attempts to remove him got nowhere as Brown jealously guarded his position and as the years dragged on the economy continued to flounder and the government was forced to go cap in hand to the United States, leading to the infamous Dreadful Bargain. The Romney Administration was all too willing to offer the British a lesser equivalent of the loan offered WWII, on the condition that the United Kingdom send 'advisors' into the quagmire of the New Banana Wars - which had begun with the initially successful invasion of Cuba and had now spread across much of Latin America. It was the final indignity for a Labour government initially elected on a campaign of peace and anti-imperialism. By 1969, the Conservatives achieved a comfortable majority, on a platform of reversing the long list of such indignities Britain had endured, from the decline of Empire to the influence of the United States, to the unrest on Britain's streets - helped along by many former Labour voters plumping for the Liberals or the resurgent ILP in protest at the government's involvement in America's wars.
[9] Amery quickly proved to be an able administrator, and did much to revitalize the reputation of the Conservative Party. Proving tough on civil unrest Amery held off Labour threats of a general strike and forced through union restrictions, leading to the partial privatization of key industries, and was a key member of the Atlantic Council held in 1972 that established Britain as an 'equal partner' of the new Western Alliance. (The Alliance replaced the myriad of non-aggression and defensive pacts that had lopsidedly established the United States as the only true superpower, and did much to restore the faith of her European allies. It came at a crucial time for the Americans given the sudden worsening of the Banana Wars and the need for further international support against Communism). Such successes portrayed Amery as a major international statesman with the ability to strengthen Britain and weaken her enemies - whom to many in the Conservative Party formed the entryist movements taking root in the Opposition. The Conservatives won a strong majority in 1974 on an ambitiously-named manifesto - The New Vision for Britain.
[10] Amery retired in 1977, for "personal reasons." After a heated battle to replace him, the Tories opted for William Whitelaw as the least offensive option. Whitelaw solidified his authority by calling an election in late 1977, where he led the Tories to a third term over the divided Labour.
[11] After a string of defeats over eleven years, the Labour needed a makeover; with their party bleeding more moderate supporters towards the Liberals, the party's 1978 leadership election came down to two women - the left's favorite (or more accurately, their second favorite) Barbara Castle was able to unite Foot and Benn supporters behind her while Shirley Williams ran on a more centrist, progressive platform. Ultimately Williams bested Castle, leaving many on the left wing of the Labour Party feeling disenchanted. Yet Whitelaw's austerity budget and partial privatization efforts resulted in Labour being propelled into office, with Williams becoming the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
[12] Plus: large changes to the industrial relations system, negotiating with trade unions to initiate the Prices and Incomes Accord (commonly called just 'The Accord') in 1982, an agreement whereby unions agreed to restrict wage demands and the government pledged to minimise inflation and promote an increased social wage. Seen as one of the most peaceful and stable times in Government-Worker relations. Minus: A poor relationship with American President George Bush with diplomatic bickering playing out on both sides of the Atlantic. Unknown: negotiated peace of the Falklands Conflict, with too many concessions seen as being given to the moribund Argentine junta. Result: the closest post-WWII election in British history, resulting in a coalition between the Labour and Liberal parties.
[13] The first Liberal ministerial presence in Westminster saw a growing conchord between that party and the centrist leadership of Labour - to the detriment of the sidelined left. The price of coalition was a referendum on a more proportional voting system - which was roundly rejected by the British electorate. Williams stepped aside in 1987, at the height of a seeming boom. But only a few months into Owen's term, the economy went into a downturn - and the breakaway of hardline MPs of the Socialist Campaign Group has cost the government its majority. While the SCP have refused to allow a 'Tory vote of confidence' the Owen government is effectively on life support going into 1989.
[14] David Owen's Labour-Liberal coalition seemed to be merely delaying the inevitable as the end of the 1980's rapidly approached. Limping on until February 1990, most polls predicted a repeat of the last February election 40 years earlier. However, the results would turn out to be even more surprising than that time. While the election would be endlessly debated, most analysts put the results down to two main events. First - with the move of the Labour Party towards the centre, the Conservative Party needed to help distinguish themselves and so dropped Francis Pym (longtime opposition leader and notable 'soft' Conservative) for John Nott (relatively more right-wing and leader of the 'hard' Conservative movement). Unfortunately, much of their revised policy platform (including a controversial introduction of a Value Added Tax) reminded voters of Whitelaw's austerity budget and played heavily into Labour's "Not Nott" advertising. Second - the 'Berlin Wall Massacre' discredited the hard-left and allowed Owen to position the Socialist Campaign Group as a rejected element of the party rather than as the breakaway element it was. Even so, the results were even closer than five years previously and The Sun had to famously pulp its "Nott Now! Nott Forever!" early morning issue predicated on a Conservative victory. To secure his numbers, Owen had to make deals with not only the Liberal Party, but also both the Scottish National Party and the Social Democratic Party of Northern Ireland (including promises of devolution referendums before the end of the year). While supporters dubbed it the 'Sunrise Coalition' after the warm complimentary colours of the respective parties, many turned this into the 'Sunset Coalition' due to its perceived instability. Only time would tell...
[15] Initially the 'Sunrise Coalition' was a triumph for the Westminster party system; despite leading a government formed by an eclectic mix of parties, Owen was able to secure some minor domestic successes and survived his first two years of government relatively easily. Proportional representation - a Liberal condition - passed by a comfortable margin in the Commons, while Owen again pledged his support for the progressive reform of the justice system and referenda on devolution. However, this opened a can of worms for the Labour Party. Although not a manifesto pledge in 1990, the formation of the coalition necessitated that devolution become a major issue across the Parliament. The Welsh embarrassed the government by narrowing turning it down, and while the Scots endorsed the formation of an assembly London was largely unwilling to grant independent tax powers to Edinburgh. Division in the coalition worsened when the IRA turned from peace talks and ignited a new series of offensives against British troops in Ulster, with many members believing the SDP partnership with Owen made him a biased broker. The Conservatives rallied against the 'Coalition of Catastrophe' and constantly lobbied for a general election. Ultimately, the SNP pulled the plug and hoped to make major gains at an election where the future of the controversial devolution experiment would be decided. The first election to be held under PR, the Conservatives surged as the Scots and Middle England deserted Owen in droves. Although majority government was unlikely under the new system, Aitken came close - and formed a formal coalition with the resurgent and hardliner UUP in Northern Ireland.
[16] After the turmoil of the Owen years, domestically the Aitken government presented an image of calmness and careful (Conservative) consideration. Internationally, they weren't much more adventurous, with the only major measures including participation in the historic "Paris-Ritz" agreement which designed the frame-work towards the eventual Unified German Confederation and more controversially, committing troops to the U.S.A. "incursion" into Colombia to topple General Escobar Gaviria, which most political commentators saw as President Romney merely trying to wrap up his father's unfinished business. Although many critics decried Aitken's government as 'do-nothing', they went to polls on May 1, 1997 (a year before their term was due to expire) to take advantage of polls which indicated that the public were wary of the 'overly close' working relationship between Labour leader Cherie Booth and Liberal leader Anthony Blair. The campaign slogan of "Trust the Tories" (brainchild of influential Minister Without Portfolio, Jeffrey Archer) while again light on detail seemed to manifest itself all over the country - with the notable exception of Scotland. With the exception of the Liberals in the far North, support in Scotland for mainstream parties had plunged since devolution. The SNP led by former professional footballer and Gulf War POW Sir Sean Connery took advantage of the election to rail again against the injustices from down south. Indeed the only serious opposition to the SNP came from recently re-titled SSP (Scottish Solidarity Party - formerly Scottish Socialist Party) led by Gordon Brown which replaced the Labour party as the 'go-to' party for left-leaning voters. The second election under the PR system saw the beginnings of a move towards an informal alliance system, roughly broken into the "Blue List" (Conservative Party/UUP/DUP), "Red List" (Labour/SSP/SDP) and "Alternate List" (Liberals/SNP/Plaid Cymru) - (Sinn Féin of course continued to follow a policy of abstentionism). When the final votes were counted, the results surprised nobody - a "Blue List" Aitken government was returned with a healthy majority.
[17] Although the Tory project of the mid-1990s had been rewarded with a decent coalition government in 1997 Aitken quickly ran into problems. Questions were raised over the conduct of numerous ministers regarding controversial arms deals with former Banana-War states, and Fleet Street turned on the Prime Minister for his subsequent attempts to reform the press and break up the newspaper conglomerates. The Conservative government was also strongly criticized for heavy-handed police action following the industrial strikes of 1998. Public opinion plummeted, and in early-1999 Aitken was challenged in a leadership contest by his Home Secretary, William Waldegrave. Ambitious, Waldegrave was able to court the moderate centre of the Blue List, and was elected as leader (and Prime Minister) in a narrow upset. Waldegrave restored the faith of the Northern Irish unionists, and his balanced leadership style brought many former Aitkenites back into the fold. Nevertheless, he called a general election the following winter - unfortunately the wettest since meteorological records began.
[18] While Waldegrave's election to the leadership softened relations with his coalition, it did little to soothe the misgivings of the British public. Support for devolution had risen drastically over the years, yet the Tories openly brought the experiment to a grinding halt. To make matters worse, while the heavy-handed suppression that brought down Aitken was kept to a minimum, Waldegrave oversaw the implementation of more subtle methods. Over the course of his short tenure, an intricate surveillance system was introduced. Of course, the Prime Minister assured in his characteristically academic and reasonable tone, this was in the interest of "public security". While it was true that support for the IRA had galvanised thanks to the SDP, the pre-emptive arrest of several prominent union leaders on suspicion of planning illegal strikes, did not go unnoticed. "Trust the Tories", once a masterwork of political campaigning, became a sarcastic rallying cry against a deceitful elite. Thus, when Tony Lloyds's excruciatingly cautious manifesto spawned even more vicious infighting within Labour, the charismatic Liberal leader Chris Huhne smelled blood. He released an unprecedented, ambitious plan centred on "restoring civil liberties" and "reclaiming the integrity of the nation". It included various devolution referenda, deregulation of the press and various industries and increased government transparency, especially in dealings with foreign nations. It even alluded to the development of a written constitution. Despite strongly expressed internal fears that the manifesto, dubbed the "Freedom Bill" was too radical for Britain to swallow, it proved to be exactly what was needed to peel away pro-union Labour voters and disaffected left-leaning Tories and to encourage support for regional parties. In December 2000 the Alternate List won a majority, and, under a drenched gazebo outside Number 10, it was Chris Huhne that adressed the people as Prime Minister.
[19] Chris Huhne’s premiership was almost two years and two months from the Shakespearean playbook. While inevitable that his “Alternative List” coalition couldn’t deliver everything on its optimistic manifesto, it managed key reforms including the 2001 Welsh Devolution and the 2002 Regional Council Act. Unfortunately, the Conservative and Labour parties continually stymied progress, using their combined numbers and knowledge of parliamentary procedure to delay or amend legislation. Enter the Independent Commission Against Corruption - idealists hailed it as a vehicle to clean up British politics, pragmatists pointed out its means for this new government to punch above its weight. What’s certain - without ICAC, “British Watergate” isn’t what would come to mind for the average person when asked about Huhne’s time in office. For most of late 2001 and early 2002, British news was full of ICAC revelations (with only a dip during September when reports of a foiled terror plot knocked them from the front pages). While various controversial arms deals with former Banana-War states were already public knowledge, the full nature of the transactions had been kept a secret. Now it became easy to believe that weapons on all sides of Colombia’s civil war had been procured through British agreements. (Exit Jeffrey Archer, given the epitaph “Minister for Fiction” such was his association with many of the contracts). Former PM Aitkin would have been expelled from the Conservatives if he had not already resigned to form the Christian Democrats (a party undeniably Christian but not evidently democratic) after his overthrow by Waldegrave and a millennium inspired religious awakening. However, it was time to exit PM Huhne when ICAC revealed that his wife’s environmental waste company was working for many of the same arms companies. Reminiscent of Mikhail Gorbachev’s new year’s resignation three years earlier, Huhne announced he would relinquish the Liberal Party leadership immediately and role of PM as soon as a replacement was chosen. Enter Sir Sean Connery, the man who would be PM, a man for whom re-entry into Westminster in 2000 was a move towards retirement. However, when it became clear that the level of scandal (both real and imagined) meant no Liberal candidate would be able to hold the government together, he agreed to do his duty for Queen and Country, and fulfill the role of PM until a permanent replacement could be found or an election called.
[20] The early-2000s had dashed the age-old British tradition of stable government against the rocks, and even Sir Sean Connery failed to keep the fractious 'Alternative List' in line. He remained as a caretaker until the October 2003 election, and the return of the Blues to government. Bottomley was seen as a no-nonsense and pragmatic leader, and decisively overturned the de-facto majority held by the nationalist parties (largely at their expense and Labour). Northern Ireland swung decisively to unionism, while the Cornish and Independent Labourites were wiped out completely. Bottomley had cleaned up the image of her party in record time, and had used the chaotic coalition governments to Huhne and Connery to discredit any further moves to decentralize political power. Although she held off from moving on the electoral system (despite many within the Conservatives calling for a return to FPTP), the ICAC was increasingly relegated to a powerless quango while smaller parties faced a dramatic increase in financial costs to place down deposits for respective candidates. A rise in economic productivity and a decline in Irish terrorism further strengthened the position of the government, and continued refusals from Westminster to allow an independence referendum in Scotland positioned the Conservatives once more as the natural party of government.
[21] Virginia Bottomley's first ministry was generally considered stable and competent, especially when compared to the chaos of the "Liberal Experiment". Tax breaks and subsidies for new businesses allowed the economy to thrive and productivity to rise. However, while Education and the arts enjoyed increased subsidies, funding for health and social care was cut drastically. As well as this, critics complained of a curtailment of gay rights. Section 28, the legislation preventing homosexuality to be "promoted" was reinstated after being repealed by the Liberals. Additionally, calls for gay, lesbian and bisexual people to be allowed to enter into civil partnerships, perform IVF or adopt children were explicitly denied by Bottomley. Despite this, many were happy with the economic environment and stabilty of Bottomley's premiership. This, coupled with weak opposition, a further increase in the price of election deposits and ambiguous election rules set out by ICAC meant that in 2008, Virginia Bottomley returned to Number 10, but with a decreased majority.
[22]
The 2009 Conservative Leadership challenge (also known as the Battle of the Churchill’s) was primarily between Winston Spencer-Churchill and A. N. Winston Soames. Preempted by the 2008-2009 financial crash, it brought the strong economic management of Bottomley’s first term in office into stark rebut. While the crisis originated in the United States, brought about by the “New Democrats” hands-off approach to regulation, it quickly impacted the European banking system. While no direct links to Bottomley’s management could be made, her relatively long tenure by modern British standards and lingering public doubts around Conservative trustworthiness saw her support plummet. A no-confidence motion was put forward after coalition partners UUP and DUP announced they would be formally merging to create the DUUP and would no longer support Bottomley as PM (rumours swirled that this was in response to Bottomley planning to cut troop numbers in Northern Ireland as an economic measure). Two main candidates quickly emerged; A. N. Winston Soames, Minister of Defence and Winston Spencer-Churchill, Minster for Regional U.K., both playing on the legend of their grandfather who led the country through a time of acute crisis and then retired when the job was done. While early support was behind Soames, the final ballots gave leadership to Spencer-Churchill (popular accounts point to his name-recognition, insider accounts point to his greater support for Ulster Unionism). Recent reports indicate that Soames knew of Spencer-Churchill’s ill-health during the ballot but declined to publicise the fact out of respect for his cousin.
[23] It is believed by many that the successful co-operation between the Labour and Liberal parties prevented a continuing stretch of Conservative government going into the 2010s; Spencer-Churchill was indeed in ill-health, but agreed to an early election in 2011 in a bid to head-off the Alliance before they gathered steam. Beleaguered and ailed by his cancer, Spencer-Churchill left much of the campaigning to his ministers and was notably absent from the first leaders' debate on television. A week before the polls opened he announced he would stand down following a Conservative victory - derailing the Blue List campaign despite his good intentions, as the 'young blood' of Tories began their own pushes for leadership. McAvan, however, ran a tightship after becoming the formative leader of the Alliance in 2010. The Alliance swept to a strong victory in 2011, as many Scottish and Welsh constituencies returned Labour MPs for the first time since the 1980s. Although the SNP retained their narrow majority in Holyrood McAvan was able to form a 12-seat majority at Westminster, with the broad Alliance only allying with the Yorkshire Party (probably the greatest success of the devolved parties). From the start the government was controversial with many as it did not require backing from a 'national minority' of the UK, but McAvan pledged her ministry to sweeping and popular changes to the struggling welfare state, and authorized the Scots to hold a local referendum on the future of the deterrent in 2013. (This move led to the removal of nuclear weapons from Scotland and their redeployment to Plymouth).
 

KirkSolo

Banned
Churchill Retires in 1950
What if Winston Churchill retired after the 1945 Conservative defeat?

1945: Clement Attlee (Labour) [1]
1950: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [2]
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1957: Harold Macmillan (Conservative) [3]
1960: Nye Bevan (Labour) [4]
1961: Richard Crossman (Labour) [5]
1964: Richard Crossman (Labour) [6]
1966: George Brown (Labour) [7]
1969: Julian Amery (Conservative) [8]
1974: Julian Amery (Conservative) [9]
1977: William Whitelaw (Conservative)
1977:William Whitelaw (Conservative) [10]
1980: Shirley Williams (Labour) [11]
1985: Shirley Williams (Lab-Lib coalition) [12]
1987: David Owen (Lab-Lib coalition) [13]
1990: David Owen (Lab-Lib-SNP-SDP coalition) [14]
1993: Jonathan Aitken (Conservative-UUP coalition) [15]
1997:
Jonathan Aitken (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [16]
1999: William Waldegrave (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [17]
2000:
Chris Huhne (Liberal-SNP-Plaid Cymru-Yorkshire-Mebyon Kernow coalition) [18]
2003 (January): Sir Sean Connery ("Unity Liberal"-SNP-Plaid Cymru-Yorkshire-Mebyon Kernow-Independent Labour coalition) [19]
2003 (October): Virginia Bottomley (Conservative-
UUP-DUP coalition) [20]
2008:
Virginia Bottomley (Conservative-UUP-DUP coalition) [21]
2009: Winston Spencer-Churchill (Conservative-DUUP coalition) [22]
2011: Linda McAvan (Labour/Liberal Alliance-Yorkshire coalition) [23]
2016: Linda McAvan (Labour/Liberal Alliance) [24]


[24]
Linda McAvan's extensive reforms were met with shrieks of terror from Blue economists. Large sums of money were injected into a reorganised welfare system and industry. Moreover, the health service saw a huge increase in funding, and was reinvigorated. Section 28 was obliterated in parliament, early in her first term and marriage was legalised between lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Despite the SNP's steady climb in the polls, calls for a referendum on Scottish independence were met with a cold stone wall from McAvan. Especially after her campaigning in the 2013 deterrent referendum fell on deaf ears and produced a 69-31 result against her. Ultimately, McAvan's increases in funding saw evident results on the ground, and, after a steady increase in public opinion since the Liberal government, most rejoiced when rights for the LGBT community were expanded, producing an image of an incredibly strong and competent government. Come the election, Leader of the Opposition Charles Walker's friendly, honest and charismatic personality and moderate manifesto urging restraint for the sake of the economy, were not enough to overcome an incumbent Prime Minister, who many considered to be one of the most impactful in recent memory. Linda McAvan was returned to number 10 with a majority of 53, with no need for Yorkshire Party support.
 
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Deleted member 140587

Triumph in the Suez
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1960: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [1]


[1] Following the successful drive to Port Said, Nasser was overthrown and Egypt was forced to seek terms with Tripartite forces. The Suez Company was restored and the Israelis took control of the Sinai Peninsula. Eden had triumphed. Following this victory, Eden did what he could to maintain stability and British dominance in the Middle East, expanding the Baghdad Pact to Lebanon, Jordan, and the now-Naguib led Egypt by privately promising the Arab states that Britain would 'keep Israel on a leash'. He also increased his foreign policy standing by working with U.S. President Richard Nixon to denounce the successful Anti-Party Coup in the Soviet Union. At home, Eden pursued his major domestic policy initiative of making Britain into a 'property-owning democracy' introducing a right-to-buy scheme that was immensely popular with working people. In 1960, Eden increased his majority by ten seats.
 
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Triumph in the Suez
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1960: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [1]
1962: Rab Butler (Conservative) [2]


[2] Despite his successes, Eden's health failed in the early months of 1962 - his reliance on prescription medication confining him to bedrest. The circumstances of his illness were carefully concealed, and the Conservative Magic Circle convened to quickly select a successor. This would be the first time that the young Queen would be directly involved in the selection of her Prime Minister - on the advice of grandees she plumped for the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rab Butler. Butler had been a public defender of the then-controversial decision to go into Suez and earned the laurels of victory as much as the Prime Minister.
 

Deleted member 140587

Triumph in the Suez
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1960: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [1]
1962: Rab Butler (Conservative) [2]
1964: Rab Butler (Conservative) [3]


[3] In terms of domestic events, Butler continued Eden's right-to-buy scheme but pushed the Conservative Party further to the left, co-opting a lot his opponent Hugh Gaitskell's dirigiste economic policies. On the foreign policy front, Butler and his colonial secretary, Duncan Sandys, worked to ensure a slow and gradual decolonization on the continent of Africa, creating new federative states (such as the Central African Federation and East African Federation) with plans to give most of Britain's African holdings independence by the early 1970s. Butler also succeeded in ensuring the TSR-2 and the CVA01 (HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Duke of Edinburgh) would enter into service by the end of the decade. In addition to these and a good working relationship with US President John Kennedy, Butler was favored to get back into Downing Street. However, Butler received a formidable opponent in the form of the new Labour leader, Harold Wilson, who managed to reduce the Conservative majority from thirty-nine to a meagre five in the 1964 Election.
 
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Triumph in the Suez
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1960: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [1]
1962: Rab Butler (Conservative) [2]
1964: Rab Butler (Conservative) [3]
1968:
Edward Heath (Conservative) [4]



[4] Despite his narrow win in the 1964 election Butler largely implemented his One Nation vision for Britain however, by early 1968, his health was beginning to fail and an increasing chorus of back-bench MP's wanted their own man to counter Wilson at the dispatch box - Butler's often stuffy speech often enabled Wilson to run laps around him in debate. Thus, with support withering, Butler decided to resign with the country in good condition for his successor. At first, it seemed that Maudling would be crowned as Tory leader but the decision of several other candidates to stand split the vote enough for another unlikely successor - Edward Heath - who had gradually built some credibility as Foreign Secretary after the death of Iain MacLeod in 1965 (some suggested this was by conspiracy of the South African government) and had vigorously sought British admission into the EEC, only to be rebuffed in 1966 and 1967. Regardless, he became one of the youngest Tory PM's in decades, and received something of the polling boost, with Conservative Party support increasing from 41% in August 1968 to 43% in September (just 3% behind Labour). With this in hand he felt it necessary to hold an election, at the urging of many in his cabinet who feared his dry personalty would erode support overtime, feeling that Tory support could only go down after so many years in power. The election campaign was a rather dull affair and Wilson had lost some of the charm he was credited with in 1964, the Tories remained behind in most polls until election day (with both at 44% respectively) and many expected a hung parliament. However, as election night went on, it seemed that the Tories were increasing their majority and by the end it had one an additional six seats at Labour's expense. Heath had an election triumph whilst Labour had suffered another consecutive defeat; Labour once again resolved their wounds and sought to project a new image. Heath for his part would find success when he finally got British EEC membership in March 1970 and largely continued the post-war consensus of heavy government involvement, high taxes, an ever expansive welfare state, and vigorous house building. Despite this, the increasingly influential 'Selsdon Group' of free market Tories who wanted a radical shift in economic and social policy would become important in the years to come. Three conflicting factions were emerging within the parliamentary party; the One Nation (or No Nation as anti-EEC candidates denounced them as), Selsdon Group (headed by Keith Joseph), and the Monday Club (led by Secretary of State for Defence Julian Amery and Enoch Powell).
 
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Triumph in the Suez
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1960: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [1]
1962: Rab Butler (Conservative) [2]
1964: Rab Butler (Conservative) [3]
1968:
Edward Heath (Conservative) [4]
1973:
Michael Foot (Labour) [5]


[5] As the 60s came to close, so did the post-war boom. The economy had begun to overheat, leading to inflation which in turn led to strikes as initially generous pay packets bought less and less. Heath took an unorthodox course of action as Butskellist dirigisme failed. The 'Night of the Long Knives' of 1970 saw his Cabinet carved, making way for a fresh generation of Conservative MPs who had increasingly sat uneasy with the alignment with the economic centre-left which had predominated since the 1950s. Keith Joseph went to the Exchequer, Margaret Thatcher to the Home Office, Enoch Powell to Defence. Privatisation, the first since Churchill privatised the steel industry, became the new panacea for the economic malaise. A brief economic boom, spurred by the speculation on the newly privatised industries, was followed by a further stirring of industrial discontent. However, in 1972, it appeared that the Conservatives were on course for another majority or at least status a minority government propped up by the socially conservative Scottish Nationalists. But that year saw a double whammy - a backbench rebellion over Heath's pursuit of membership of the European Communities along with Powell's resignation over the matter led to him calling for a referendum, confident the British people would endorse his decision. They would not, and the failure of what had been a flagship policy sent Number 10 into crisis mode. This was short followed by Israel slipping Britain's 'leash'. The last months of Heath's premiership were dominate by the disastrous Arab-Israeli War, in which the theoretically outmanned and outgunned Israel outclassed her opposition with unconventional tactics (and clandestine Soviet aid). The anti-war movement blossomed in the UK, aligning with the existent trade union outrage - and the combined street movement had its apotheosis in Michael Foot. The Conservatives were swept out of power for the first time in over twenty years. With similar social forces bringing the McGovern Administration to office in Washington, change was afoot.
 
Triumph in the Suez
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1960: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [1]
1962: Rab Butler (Conservative) [2]
1964: Rab Butler (Conservative) [3]
1968:
Edward Heath (Conservative) [4]
1973:
Michael Foot (Labour) [5]
1976:
Hugh Fraser (Conservative) [6]


[6] Despite assuming office and defeating the Tories handily, Labour faced deteriorating economic circumstances. The Arab-Israeli War had precipitated an oil embargo by OPEC and added to the heavy spending promises Labour implemented with their safe majority. Taxes on the wealthy increased from 75% to 83% and public spending rapidly increased, particularly on supporting failing industries that struggled after privatisation, debt also increased as a result. By August 1975 the inflation rate had ballooned to 15% on average while wage negotiations with unions often resulted in strike action, as a result of the Labour Relations Act of 1974 which repealed the "draconian" Tory legislation (Industrial Relations Act) passed in 1969. Currency crisis ensued as investors pulled out British investments and the Pound fell alarmingly. Chancellor Richard Crossman announced that Sterling would be devalued relative to other international currencies with the result of Labour falling disastrously in polling to an all time low of 31% in December 1975. Foot stood fast in avoiding spending cuts, but confidence continued it's downward trajectory. An effort to reform the House of Lords also came under fire and was later largely abandoned or watered down. After being informed that some MP's were threatening to force him out of office he begrudgingly agreed to cut some programs but did little to reign in inflation that was now nearer 20% at the start of the year. By election disasters, defections, and battles within cabinet further eroded support for Labour. Even the pro-Labour newspaper the Sun ran the headline 'Enough is Enough' which summarised the feeling across Britain; with his majority all but lost thanks to the loss of twenty MP's to the Democratic Labour Party (from 340 seats in 1973 to 319 in 1976) Michael Foot's position was precarious. In an effort to regain control Foot decided to go to the country and call another election for February 1976 which pitted him against the Tories' leader Hugh Fraser. Fraser ran a campaign focusing entirely on Foot's record of "crisis, economic decline, and unions out of control" including red meat on immigration (appealing towards lost voters who drifted to the National Front) and disassociated himself with radical free market policies. The result was never in doubt, Fraser won the largest majority in decades, winning 392 seats and 47.9% of the vote. However, assuming office, the Tories abandoned their moderate manifesto and implemented drastic public spending cuts in the 1976 emergency budget which increased prescription charges, slashed spending across the board, tightened controls on unions, and introduced cash limits on new spending initiatives, interest rates were also hiked in an effort to bring down inflation which caused widespread unemployment. His new Chancellor, Geoffrey Howe, became one of the most hated figures in Britain. Ireland also received special attention with rather heavy handed tactics being used to crush the insurgent Irish Republican Army that had reasserted itself - their bombing campaign in England escalated with the assassination of Prince Charles in April 1977. Additional policies in the economic field included tax reforms with those on 'indirect' income increased and the top tax rate slashed from 83% to 60% in one fell swoop. The cleave saw on public spending continued in May 1977 when cuts were again made to public services, leading to nation wide protests and strikes dubbed 'The Year of Discontent' when the government later refused to accede for pay increases and a nation wide strike by miners ensued (later called the Winter of Discontent), plunging the nation into darkness for December. The "third force" in politics (Liberals) for their part formed an alliance with the Democratic Labour Party, forming their own Alliance Party in February 1979, and briefly polled at 50% in some polls as public rage at both parties fueled support for it. This was also later joined by an Independent bloc of Independent Conservatives who opposed the 'monetarist' policies implemented by Fraser including Ian Gilmour and Anthony Meyer.
 
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Deleted member 140587

Triumph in the Suez
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1960: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [1]
1962: Rab Butler (Conservative) [2]
1964: Rab Butler (Conservative) [3]
1968: Edward Heath (Conservative) [4]
1973: Michael Foot (Labour) [5]
1976: Hugh Fraser (Conservative) [6]
1981: Jeremy Thorpe (Alliance minority) [7]


[6] Despite assuming office and defeating the Tories handily, Labour faced deteriorating economic circumstances. The Arab-Israeli War had precipitated an oil embargo by OPEC and added to the heavy spending promises Labour implemented with their safe majority. Taxes on the wealthy increased from 75% to 83% and public spending rapidly increased, particularly on supporting failing industries that struggled after privatisation, debt also increased as a result. By August 1975 the inflation rate had ballooned to 15% on average while wage negotiations with unions often resulted in strike action, as a result of the Labour Relations Act of 1974 which repealed the "draconian" Tory legislation (Industrial Relations Act) passed in 1969. Currency crisis ensued as investors pulled out British investments and the Pound fell alarmingly. Chancellor Richard Crossman announced that Sterling would be devalued relative to other international currencies with the result of Labour falling disastrously in polling to an all time low of 31% in December 1975. Foot stood fast in avoiding spending cuts, but confidence continued it's downward trajectory. An effort to reform the House of Lords also came under fire and was later largely abandoned or watered down. After being informed that some MP's were threatening to force him out of office he begrudgingly agreed to cut some programs but did little to reign in inflation that was now nearer 20% at the start of the year. By election disasters, defections, and battles within cabinet further eroded support for Labour. Even the pro-Labour newspaper the Sun ran the headline 'Enough is Enough' which summarised the feeling across Britain; with his majority all but lost thanks to the loss of twenty MP's to the Democratic Labour Party (from 340 seats in 1973 to 319 in 1976) Michael Foot's position was precarious. In an effort to regain control Foot decided to go to the country and call another election for February 1976 which pitted him against the Tories' leader Hugh Fraser. Fraser ran a campaign focusing entirely on Foot's record of "crisis, economic decline, and unions out of control" including red meat on immigration (appealing towards lost voters who drifted to the National Front) and disassociated himself with radical free market policies. The result was never in doubt, Fraser won the largest majority in decades, winning 392 seats and 47.9% of the vote. However, assuming office, the Tories abandoned their moderate manifesto and implemented drastic public spending cuts in the 1976 emergency budget which increased prescription charges, slashed spending across the board, tightened controls on unions, and introduced cash limits on new spending initiatives, interest rates were also hiked in an effort to bring down inflation which caused widespread unemployment. His new Chancellor, Geoffrey Howe, became one of the most hated figures in Britain. Ireland also received special attention with rather heavy handed tactics being used to crush the insurgent Irish Republican Army that had reasserted itself - their bombing campaign in England escalated with the assassination of Prince Charles in April 1977. Additional policies in the economic field included tax reforms with those on 'indirect' income increased and the top tax rate slashed from 83% to 60% in one fell swoop. The cleave saw on public spending continued in May 1977 when cuts were again made to public services, leading to nation wide protests and strikes dubbed 'The Year of Discontent' when the government later refused to accede for pay increases and a nation wide strike by miners ensued (later called the Winter of Discontent), plunging the nation into darkness for December. The "third force" in politics (Liberals) for their part formed an alliance with the Democratic Labour Party, forming their own Alliance Party in February 1979, and briefly polled at 50% in some polls as public rage at both parties fueled support for it. This was also later joined by an Independent bloc of Independent Conservatives who opposed the 'monetarist' policies implemented by Fraser including Ian Gilmour and Anthony Meyer.

[7] By 1981, the elections became inevitable and with the Labour Party led by hard-left Eric Heffer and with the Tories led by the detested Hugh Fraser, the newly formed Alliance Party gained hundreds of seats and was able to form a minority government with former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe as the Prime Minister. Thorpe immediately set about trying to implement German-style workplace democracy in Britain but was bogged down by opposition from both the Tories and Labour. With no other choice, Thorpe called a general election for January 5th, 1982...
 
Triumph in the Suez
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1960: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [1]
1962: Rab Butler (Conservative) [2]
1964: Rab Butler (Conservative) [3]
1968: Edward Heath (Conservative) [4]
1973: Michael Foot (Labour) [5]
1976: Hugh Fraser (Conservative) [6]
1981: Jeremy Thorpe (Alliance minority) [7]
1982:
Jeremy Thorpe (Alliance) [8]


[8] The first "liberal" government in Britain since 1922 faced economic problems, dealings with unions, increasing militancy and intensity from the IRA, and the collapse of the post-war consensus. With Labour in a state of crisis and near meltdown and the Tories increasingly befuddled by ideological differences the Alliance led polling for much of it; Thorpe himself urged voters to give the government a majority to ensure stability and confidence. On election night the result showed the Alliance Party holding 349 seats, well ahead of their opposition, and their own comfortable majority. Thorpe returned to Downing Street with his own mandate for reforming change and pledged the issue of unemployment would be first on his items of policy. There was also the issue of defence which was on the minds of voters as tensions between the Soviet Union and American reached crisis level the same month after America used her military force an in effort to crush communism in the Caribbean and Asia. His relationship with Britain's foremost ally was very often strained, particularly over the Double Track Solution and the deployment of Bradley Missiles. The weaponisation of space by President of the United States Bob Dole was a particular sore point, with Germany's Franz Joseph Strauss being the only enthusiastic advocate inside NATO while the departure of Italy and France into a European 'Third Bloc' seriously led Thorpe to consider joining. The Soviet Union for their part had questions of their own leadership when Grigory Romanov became General Secretary who denounced American imperialism and the perceived provocations on her borders. Economically, things began to improve, inflation and unemployment fell almost consistently while new government legislation regarding housing programmes, reforms to wage bargaining, income tax reforms, increases to benefits, and the introduced of a new minimum wage left the government very popular going into their next election....
 
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Triumph in the Suez
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1960: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [1]
1962: Rab Butler (Conservative) [2]
1964: Rab Butler (Conservative) [3]
1968: Edward Heath (Conservative) [4]
1973: Michael Foot (Labour) [5]
1976: Hugh Fraser (Conservative) [6]
1981: Jeremy Thorpe (Alliance minority) [7]
1982: Jeremy Thorpe (Alliance) [8]
1986: Roy Jenkins (Emergency Government) [8]


[8] Given the prolonged confrontation between Romanov's Russia and Dole's America, in hindsight the outbreak of war seems inevitable, although none would have expected it's direct cause. The wage reforms of the Thorpe Government had led to cost-cutting measures at Amstrad Computers, who supplied Britain's missile defence systems. The outcome was a quality-control failure which caused a decisive programme malfunction in the Lyme Regis Tracking Station, which detected a wave of incoming Soviet nuclear missiles that actually did not exist. Jeremy Thorpe was warned at once and reluctantly authorised a counter-strike before leaving London. The resultant nuclear exchange engaged all the major world powers and killed 300 million people, including Thorpe himself who found that the Soviets were well aware of the British governments secret Wiltshire bunker complex and had a warhead aimed squarely at it. Indeed, the most senior survivor of the British Government was Roy Jenkins, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Britain's representative to the EC, who was on a flight from Brussels during the exchange. It was nearly a week before he returned to England and formed a government with the most senior surviving politicians he could make contact with - Tony Benn, who had been holidaying in Mexico, Quintin Hogg who had been on a transatlantic flight and Alan Clark, who had been in the Scottish moors. This small and bizarre emergency cabinet took office in Dorchester, the largest settlement to be unscathed by nuclear fire, and set about the task of rebuilding Britain ...
 
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Triumph in the Suez
1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1960: Anthony Eden (Conservative) [1]
1962: Rab Butler (Conservative) [2]
1964: Rab Butler (Conservative) [3]
1968: Edward Heath (Conservative) [4]
1973: Michael Foot (Labour) [5]
1976: Hugh Fraser (Conservative) [6]
1981
: Jeremy Thorpe (Alliance minority) [7]
1982:
Jeremy Thorpe (Alliance) [8]
1986:
Roy Jenkins (Emergency Government) [9]
1991:
David Alton (National Continuity Coalition) [10]

[10]
Although the Third World War was a global tragedy of unprecedented proportions, British government held on. As her Majesty continued to reside on board HMS Britannia remaining MPs and civil servants slowly congregated in Dorchester, and Jenkins formed the Emergency Government. It quickly became clear that the United States and other NATO partners had tentatively retained functioning government, but it was equally apparent that the Soviet Union and her allies had not. Much of Britain burned in the immediate post-war period, and the government was forced to prioritize survival over assistance for the suffering populace. Although the Nuclear Cold was relatively short-lived, it led to major food shortages. The Civil Defence Corps was strengthened wherever possible, and took an increasingly important role in Reconstruction. A new Land Army was hastily-conceived to muster some of the wartime spirit, although in many areas (particularly the devastated northern cities) government or army control was tenuous. In a bid to try and restore government control there came attempts to link rations and security to government industrial projects or involvement with state organizations (usually the Civil Defence Corps itself or the Land Army). 'Ration towns' were created, in which civilians would work for their usually-more-generous allocations at remaining government-run power plants, mines, farms and railway distribution centres. Although Jenkins personally struggled with the pressure Britain began her long recovery, and in 1990 there were limited ballots for local council positions and for CDC positions. In 1991 the Emergency Government was reformed into a more cohesive National Continuity Coalition, led by David Alton (whose harrowing escape from the irradiated ruins of Liverpool had become legendary), and by the mid-1990s Britain had restored elements of her industry and facilitated a surge in productivity around the New Cities of the south and northeast.
 
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