Our Man in Belfast

SteveW

Heath had a quiet first month but then a massive boost on 30th July 1966 when England defeated Germany 3-1 at Wembley, goals coming from Jack Charlton, Bobby Charlton and Geoff Hurst. Through no real effort, Heath was going up in the polls already.

The energy plan was announced the next day: the NUM miners' union kicked up a fuss, but it was lost in the euphoria.
 
Fletch

Fletch

SteveW said:
Heath had a quiet first month but then a massive boost on 30th July 1966 when England defeated Germany 3-1 at Wembley, goals coming from Jack Charlton, Bobby Charlton and Geoff Hurst. Through no real effort, Heath was going up in the polls already.

The energy plan was announced the next day: the NUM miners' union kicked up a fuss, but it was lost in the euphoria.
Click to expand...

Is there going to be a miners strike? If so are the coal reserves stockpiled to cover the power stations? If not then its a return to the three day week and an end to Ted.

Remember, Thatcher stockpiled enough coal to last over a year before attempting to take on the miners.
 

SteveW

FletcherofSaltoun said:
Is there going to be a miners strike? If so are the coal reserves stockpiled to cover the power stations? If not then its a return to the three day week and an end to Ted.

Remember, Thatcher stockpiled enough coal to last over a year before attempting to take on the miners.
Click to expand...

Thing is, nothing is happening yet-just a White Paper. The unions would look churlish to move now, but they will move.
 

SteveW

Meanwhile, Harold Wilson had resigned. It was a badly-kept secret that the top brass of the Party wanted him out now-especially Callaghan.

There was no shortage of contenders mentioned. George Brown; James Callaghan; Michael Stewart; Roy Jenkins; Barbara Castle.

In the end, in late August, it was James Callaghan who was victorious, with Roy Jenkins not far behind. The new Shadow Cabinet was:

Prime Minister: Jim Callaghan
Chancellor: Roy Jenkins
Foreign Secretary: Barbara Castle
Home Secretary: Michael Stewart
Health: Fred Peart
Education: Denis Healey
Agriculture: Ray Gunter
Defence: Robert Mellish
Employment: Tony Crosland
Duchy of Lancaster: Peter Shore
Transport and Scotland: Judith Hart
Pensions and National Insurance: Ted Short
Wales: George Thomas
 

SteveW

On 5th September 1966, Charles de Gaulle addressed the nation.

Across France, millions waited around the radios to hear the iconic figure of French modern history announce that he was retiring on health grounds. Typically, the announcement said more than this and went on at some length.

The stage was set for a presidential contest in early December. Within days, Francois Mitterrand had weighed in as Socialist candidate, to be followed "after a respectful period of time" by Jacques Chaban-Delmas, the Prime Minister.

But even Mitterrand, despite his optimism, knew he was doomed. A man whose name is a Resistance code name is tough to beat.

Something that the man formerly known as Herbert Frahm, now leader of Germany's SPD, was mulling over at the same time.
 

SteveW

On 4th October, the governing CDU-FDP coalition in Germany collapsed when the FDP walked out of power. Ludwig Erhard, the Chancellor, immediately resigned.

As soon as Georg Kiesinger took over, he decided against a grand coalition with the SDP and went for broke, calling an election for early November. The stage was set for a mighty battle.

Meanwhile, in France, the names on the ballot were Jacques Chaban-Delmas, Francois Mitterrand, Jean Lecanuet (centrist), and Jean-Louis Tixier-Vignancourt (far right).
 

MrHola

Banned
I wish I could offer anything constructive but this is all pretty realistic to me. Keep it up.
 

SteveW

Kiesinger had called it badly, badly wrong, becoming the shortest-lived Chancellor of the postwar era.

CDU: 191 (-5)
FDP: 42 (-7)
CSU: 49 (-)
SPD: 212 (+10)
NPD: 2 (+2)

The shock was palpable. Although the SPD had done well enough to form a coalition with the FDP, it was the fascist NPD who shocked the world. After twenty years, the far-right had parliamentarians in Germany.

[NB: In 1969, the NPD got 4.3% of the vote. I feel it is not unreasonable that they might scrape over the boundary here]
 

SteveW

Willy Brandt took office as Chancellor, the first SPD man to hold such a rank since Hermann Mueller in 1930. There were high hopes for this new SPD-FDP government, and Brandt was relishing the opportunity.

December 1966 saw the French go to the polls as well. In a first round victory, Jacques Chaban-Delmas was elected as the second President of the Fifth Republic. On the 7th December, he appointed Michel Debre as Prime Minister. Mitterrand, who had achieved just 22% of the vote in the first round compared to Chaban-Delmas' outright 51%, opened talks to begin a broader Socialist Party to replace the SFIO. He was to be helped in this by Pierre Mauroy.
 
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