What if Mandelson's planned deal between Blair and Brown in an Italian restaurant goes wrong? What if Brown takes more umbrage than in OTL and angrily decides to openly challenge Blair in the election after Smith's death? Assuming nothing else changes, we'd have these three on the ballot:
Tony Blair
Gordon Brown
Margaret Beckett
What happens next? Was Brown (for a long time seen as the obvious successor to Smith) strong enough to win a leadership campaign over Blair? Would any other candidates enter now the race didn't look so 'sewn up'? And if Brown wins, would his platform be New Labour with Tony by his side or more of John Smith and Kinnock's Old Labour with a moderate twist? Or something entirely different?
Lots of questions, the answers to which I am not sure about at all. I can take a shot in the dark and say that Brown would probably lead a more left wing Labour to power in 1997 (possibly with Blair as Foreign Sec to sideline him while keeping him happy and Robin Cook as Chancellor). But this PoD surely very diverse and full of options. Knock yourselves out.