"The Commonwealth of Britain" - Republican UK Wikibox TL
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Hi ryloren, yes it's true I liked your post. I've enjoyed your work, but at the time of writing I wasn't aware of the forum's policy on promotion. That's my bad I should be more familiar with the forums rules and I'm sorry to have encouraged breaking of the rules. But as others have stated it's not my site, I'm not a mod, @CalBear gets final say and they deemed it inappropriate, whether or not I liked the post, its his ruling that matters. I'm sorry to all involved for contributing to this incident.
That's a good analogy. Salmond is certainly an interesting figure and he's caused much friction in the Alliance and rage in the right-wing press. But unfortunately for him his is very unlikely to make it into Buckingham as the Bennett/Salmond ticket is currently polling at 6%
No the position of Head of the Commonwealth has not been made hereditary, and discussions around succession have become even more heated that in OTL as now the House of Windsor is a lot less politically powerful. There's a good chance another figure could become head after Elizabeth dies, but no formal decision has been made
What exactly are commonwealth countries like Canada and Australia doing in this timeline?
Pretty much the same as OTL, however Australia has a referendum on republicanism scheduled for 2017
I would've figured they would've abolished the monarchy when Britain did.
A fair few smaller Commonwealth countries have, but its still a point of contention. Canada is probably the most pro-monarchy realm left as the royal family spends most of their time in Rideau Hall
2014 Part 2, The Space Between Us
Yorkshire Senator Rachel Reeves, Chair of the Joint Committee on Skills and Employment, had led a crusade against youth unemployment
“Youth unemployment has seen the largest annual fall since records began 30 years ago. This is alongside the steepest annual fall in unemployment in a quarter of a century. As part of the government’s long-term economic plan, the unemployment rate has also fallen again, down to 6%, the lowest since late 2008. Youth unemployment has fallen nearly 300,000 over the past year. This is the largest drop since records began in 1983, bringing it to the lowest level for nearly 7 years. The youth unemployment rate is down 5 percentage points compared to a year ago. Unemployment fell by 500,000 over the past year – and 200,000 in only the past 2 months – which is the biggest annual fall in 26 years. Schemes such as the government’s Jobs Guarantee have also contributed to the fall in long-term unemployment. The number of people in work also continues to rise meaning on average over 20,000 more people are in work each week. The vast majority of the increase in employment was full-time.” - Speech by Work Secretary Ed Davey at a visit to Birmingham Airport
The start of the year brought further good news for the incumbent Government, the Bank of England announced that unemployment had fallen to just 6.9% from 7.3% in the previous quarter. It was a far bigger drop than economists were expecting, with most forecasting a modest fall to 7.2%. This led the total number of unemployed people to fall to just 2 million, a six-year low. This good economic news was compounded by news that average earnings had grown by 1.8% compared with a year earlier. And inflation was recorded to have fallen to just 1.5%. The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance fell by nearly 40,000 to 1.1 million.
Once overcrowded Job Centres had returned to some degree of normalcy
With this the three coalition parties began a battle to claim credit for the Commonwealth’s economic success. Vince Cable argued it was his economic know-how which had delivered success to the Commonwealth. Cable loudly and proudly set out a target for full employment by the end of the next Parliament. On the other hand Labour argued low unemployment had been down to the success of Business Secretary John Healey’s “job guarantee” policy, which guaranteed a job to any willing young person. The Greens also argued they could claim responsibility for curbing the worst excesses of austerity and encouraging growth in the clean energy sector.
However it wasn’t all good news, looking deeper into the economic data, statisticians discovered there was an increasing wealth gap between London and the other regions. The data showed for every five jobs created in London, only one was created in the other eleven nations and regions. This particularly hit deprived northern regions, where Labour was fighting off a surge in UKIP. This didn’t just hit rural areas but smaller regional cities as well, who were “punching below their weight”.
“Cities in the Commonwealth are experiencing relative rather than absolute decline. These cities are still growing in population and employment terms but at lower levels compared with other cities. This condition of weaker growth signals the potential for policy intervention to boost their growth and close the gap. This would allow these cities to address their development challenges. Absolute decline among cities would signal a more deep-seated lack of potential. The government’s cities policy remains focused on ‘unlocking growth in cities’ and stimulating their growth. There is particular emphasis upon non-capital or ‘second tier’ cities that are interpreted as not ‘punching their weight’. Investing in small cities is more constructive than investing in the capital where issues like congestion constrain growth. The Commonwealth government has emphasised the important role of city regions in the north to mobilise under-used potential. As the national policy agenda and focus shifts, cities experiencing relative decline can take centre stage.” - Tackling City Decline, Andy Pike, JRF (2014)
Labour-run Liverpool was one of the cities not "punching it's weight"
London appeared to "suck talent from the rest of the country", with many young people never returning to their hometowns. Edinburgh and Birmingham were the next best performing cities in private sector job creation. SNP run Aberdeen also featured in the top ten. An SNP spokeswoman said the report was "further evidence" Scotland could succeed as an independent country. Maureen Watt, Mayor of Aberdeen, said the city was "key" to the Commonwealth. "The city is renowned for successful business start-ups and its strength has been remarked on during the past few years. Where many other areas have struggled and watched as businesses have folded around them, we have seen private firms develop and grow." Paul Swinney, senior economist at the Centre for Cities, said the performance of London was good for the UK economy. "It's one of the best performing cities in the world and from a national perspective we need to continue supporting the growth of London. The bigger issue is the under-performance of our next largest cities, such as Sheffield and Manchester.”
This data was particularly worrying for the coalition as the two cities called out for under-performing were coalition cities; Manchester, controlled by a Labour Majority Council under Mayor Tony Lloyd, and Sheffield, a Labour-Liberal coalition under Mayor Nick Clegg. However the biggest loser was the city of Bristol, again a Liberal Democrat city, Bristol had lost over 10,000 private sector jobs. This had dire tidings for the Government, and the opposition were quick to pounce, denouncing the Traffic Light Government as a “London Coalition”, uncaring for Britain's smaller towns and cities. This increasing gulf between London and the rest of Britain would only grow in later years.
SNP Scottish Premier Candidate Nicola Sturgeon argued London was a leech on Scotland's success
“The gulf between the fortunes of London and the rest of Britain has widened during the recession and early recovery. This has increased concerns that Britain’s prospects for lasting economic growth rely too on the capital. London’s economy grew by almost 30% between 2008 and 2013, according to data released Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics. That growth stands in stark contrast to the 20% growth seen by the rest of the Commonwealth. While London’s recovery has lifted surrounding areas with it, regions in the north of England grew at a much slower pace during the six years. The region of Yorkshire and the Humber expanded at 9%, the slowest after Northern Ireland, which grew less than 6% between 2008 and 2013. There has long been a growing gap between London’s economy and that of other parts of the country. The recession appears to have marked an inflexion point in accelerating that trend. In 2013, London’s growth outpaced that of all other regions, driving its economy to make up 24% of Britain’s economy, compared to less than 22% in 2008.” - London’s Growth Further Outstrips Rest of Britian, Jon Sindreu, WSJ (2014)
Britain also saw another wave of flooding in February 2014. Parts of Britain had been hit by a storm which forced people from their homes and left thousands without power. A section of the sea wall in Dawlish, Devon, collapsed and left the railway to Cornwall suspended in mid-air. Residents of homes on the Somerset Levels were evacuated amid fears flood defences could be overwhelmed. This led to Environment Secretary Caroline Lucas offering an extra £120m for flood works. At Minister's Questions she pledged £80m for repairs over the next year, £20m for urgent work in Somerset and £20m for maintenance. Lucas said she would "ensure that everything that can be done to get stricken communities moving is being done: there are no restrictions on help".
Lucas knew she needed to be seen giving the clearest possible sign that she was getting a grip on the situation. The floods would be the second major test of the Green Party since the coalition. Rural South West areas like Somerset and Devon had seen the Green Party grow in recent years, with them capturing 9% of the vote and twelve seats in the South West Parliament on an anti-floods platform.Many in the Greens hoped to take the Lib Dem’s place as the anti-tory party in rural southern England and thus Lucas took radical action, such as dispatching 30 Commonwealth Marines to oversee flood defences.
“Marines have been deployed on the Somerset Levels to help reinforce defences at properties at risk from flooding. Troops from 40 Commando were called in to help set out sandbags in the village of Burrowbridge. Two severe flood warnings remain in place in the area as efforts to evacuate properties continue. Further heavy rain is forecast for the region with up to 30mm predicted to fall overnight. Residents of Fordgate, North Moor, Salt Moor and Moorland have been encouraged to leave their homes. A rest centre has been established in Bridgwater for those who have been displaced. The Environment Agency said 30 properties in the county were flooded. Rescue crews used inflatable boats and other equipment to evacuate many families from their homes. In Ruishton, a woman with chest pains was rescued in an inflatable boat and two people were rescued from the bonnet of their car in Thornfalcon. In a statement to Parliament, Housing Secretary David Laws said more money would be made available for emergency repairs.” - BBC South West Today (2014)
The flooding benefited candidate Miliband, who made several visits to the afflicted areas
“The Commonwealth’s Federal structure has not addressed inequalities between the nations and regions.” How far do you agree? (30 Marks) - A Level Politics Exam (2019)
That's good, sounds like Labour can overcome their perceived incompetence in economic affairs, although the rural-urban gap is worrying, especially as it can strengthen UKIP appeal. I was thinking it would be nice having a short look on mayors, who is mayor and where, do you think that could be possible?
Yeah no problem, so the last Mayoral Elections were in 2009, a Conservative wave year.
The current number of Mayors is as follows:
- Conservative - 41
- Labour - 25
- Liberal Democrats - 7
- Independents - 2 (Lutfur Rahman and Tony Egginton)
- SNP - 1
- Green Party - 1
- Sinn Fein - 1
I've put a couple of mayors and Council Control for examples as follows:
- Birmingham - Andrew Mitchell (Conservative), Lab/Lib Coalition
- Manchester - Tony Lloyd (Labour). Lab Majority
- Liverpool - Jane Kennedy (Labour), Lab Majority
- Glasgow - Tom Harris (Labour), Lab/Green Coalition
- Newcastle - Stephen Hughes (Labour), Lab Majority
- Sheffield - Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat), Lab/Green Coalition
- Bristol - Don Foster (Liberal Democrat), Lib/Con Coalition
- Leeds - Stuart Andrew (Conservative), Lab/Lib Coalition
- Nottingham - Graham Allen (Labour), Lab Majority
- Portsmouth - Penny Morduant (Conservative), Con/Lib Coalition
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Well, I think I'll take a little advantage over you 
What about Belfast, Cambridge, Canterbury, Cardiff, Coventry, Exeter, Leicester, Plymouth, Southampton and York?
What about Belfast, Cambridge, Canterbury, Cardiff, Coventry, Exeter, Leicester, Plymouth, Southampton and York?
Well, I think I'll take a little advantage over you
What about Belfast, Cambridge, Canterbury, Cardiff, Coventry, Exeter, Leicester, Plymouth, Southampton and York?
- Belfast - Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein), Sinn/DUP coalition
- Cambridge - Jim Paice (Conservative) Con/Lib coalition
- Canterbury with just 150,000 people was small to be constituted into a metro area so it has no Mayor. It's Council is currently run by a Conservative/Lib Dem coalition
- Cardiff - Wayne David (Labour), Labour/Plaid coalition
- Coventry - Marcus Jones (Conservative), Labour/Lib Coalition (fun fact Coventry is a TUSC stronghold, they gained 6% and 4 Council Seats at the 2011 election)
- Exeter, like Canterbury was too small to become an official metro area. It's Council has a Labour Majority
- Leicester - Keith Vaz (Labour), Labour/Lib Coalition
- Plymouth - Gary Streeter (Conservative), Con/UKIP Coalition
- Southampton - Caroline Nokes (Conservative), Con/Lib Coalition
- York - Anne McIntosh (Currently Independent, elected as a Conservative), Con/Lib Coalition
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- Edinburgh - Margaret Smith (Liberal Democrat), Labour/Lib Coalition
- Stirling was too small to be made an official metro area, it's current Council is a SNP/Green/Lib Coalition
- Dundee was also too small, it's current Council is a SNP/Lib Coalition
- Cardiff - Wayne David (Labour), Labour/Plaid coalition
- Aberystwyth was also too small, it's current Council is a Plaid/Lab Coalition
In late 2013 McIntosh lost the Conservative Primary for York Mayor to Andrew Jones. She accused her local party officers of conspiring against her and that the local party had been taken over by a "small sexist radical faction". She announced she would seek to keep her job as an Independent and left the Tory party to sit as an independent.