During my first year at University one of my projects was to design a dream constitution/political system. I held onto it and over the years I was thinking about what the UK would look like with my magic constitution. The result was this TL.
1999, New Alliances
President
Blair's already strong position as a popular Prime Minister who led the country through the Diana Crisis was further cemented by conflict in the Tory ranks. Whilst the Liberal Democrat and Labour primaries were formalities to crown the party leaders, disillusion with Hague led to him being challenged by Ken Clarke for the nomination. Smelling blood several other rivals jumped in the race and Hague narrowly scraped his nomination. Defeating Micheal Portillo by just four points in the final round of the primary.
House of Commons and Senate
House of Commons and Senate
The change in electoral system led to some interesting results. Despite going up by three points since 97' Labour lost over 100 seats. The main divide was between pro-commonwealth parties. (Labour, Liberal Democrats, SNP and Irish Republicans) and the anti-commonwealth parties (UKIP, Ulster Unionist and most of the Tory party). The real winners of the 99 election were the Liberal Democrats and to a lesser extent UKIP. Nigel Farage, then a little known UKIP Regional Chair became the head of a nearly 30 strong block of MPs overnight. Young rising star Ed Davey led his party to over 100 seats for the first time since the Second World War. Smaller parties such as the Scottish Socialists (3 MPs and 2 Senators) and UK Unionist Party (1 MP) managed to break the 4% threshold in at least one region and gain entry into Parliament.
The clear result was a victory for the pro-Commonwealth parties. Putting the issue to bed for the foreseeable future. Due to Parliamentary maths President Blair had only one choice. On the 11th June Gordon Brown, Margaret Beckett, Paddy Ashdown, Ed Davey and Adrian Sanders were summoned to Buckingham Presidential Palace to form the first Government of the Commonwealth of Britain.
Locally Labour dominated. Winning 10 of the 12 regional Premierships. With London going to the former Labour turned Independent Ken Livingstone. The most shocking of all was Oxford MP Andrew Smith winning the South East by a margin of less than 0.2%. The Liberal Democrats put most of their efforts in the South West. Trying to elect their Chief Whip Paul Tyler as the Lib Dem's first regional Premier. He too lost out to Labour's Dawn Primarolo by a margin of 0.4%.
The Aftermath
"The 1999 election's weren't just a defeat, they were a landslide, it was a complete massacre, we fundamentally misjudged the mood of the British people and their attitudes to the new Britain, our desperate clinging to the old order doomed us for a generation" - Then Senator Ken Clark addressing donors during the 2003 Conservative Primary
The 1999 elections, now infamous in the vocabulary of Conservatives everywhere, was the first elections of the "New Britain" as dubbed by President Blair, the election was a humiliation for the Conservatives who sought to make it into a second referendum on the Commonwealth referendum of 1998, however they fundamentally misjudged the mood of the British people, pro-Commonwealth candidate Blair defeated traditionalist Hague by nearly 2-1, in both the House of Commons and the senate, the Labour/Liberal coalition won a clear majority and not a single regional government was under Tory control when the dust settled, however much like Clement Attlee in 1945 Blair's government was not built to last, and he would lose his presidency just five years later.
"The first order of business was forming a coalition, we had such a large majority combined so the conversation was less about parliamentary arithmetic and more about ensuring the Liberal Democrats got a slice of the pie equal to our mandate"
- Fmr Ashdown Chief of Staff Tim Farron
President - Tony Blair (Labour)
Vice President - John Presoctt (Labour)
Prime Minister - Gordon Brown (Labour)
Deputy Prime Minister - Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat)
Senate Leader - Margaret Beckett (Labour)
Foreign Secretary - Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrat)
Chancellor - Margaret Jay (Labour)
Home Secretary - Derry Irvine (Labour)
Justice Secretary - Jack Cunningham (Labour)
Defence Secretary - Robin Cook (Labour)
Health Secretary - Alan Beith (Liberal Democrat)
Business Secretary - Nick Brown (Labour)
President of Board of Trade - George Robertson (Labour)
Work Secretary - Paul Tyler (Liberal Democrat)
Education Secretary - Stephen Byers (Labour)
Environment Secretary - Mo Mowlam (Labour)
Housing Secretary - Andrew Stunell (Liberal Democrat)
Transport Secretary - Gavin Strang (Labour)
Northern Ireland Secretary - John Morris (Labour)
Scotland Secretary - Donald Gorrie (Liberal Democrat)
Wales Secretary - Ivor Richard (Labour)
Digital, Media and Sport Secretary - (David Clark)
International Development - Robert Maclennan (Liberal Democrat)
Blair and Brown looked to form their first cabinet and looked to give a bi-partisan feel by being generous to the Liberal Democrats, granting powerful positions like Foreign Affairs and Health to the Liberal Democrats, this angered many Labour figures, especially former cabinet minister who had not stood for office expecting to be reappointed to their old jobs and now found themselves unemployed, MP Dennis Skinner remarking that Blair was more "chummy with Ashdown and the Liberals then his own MPs that put him in power in the first place."
Blair also had to form a Presidential staff, he appointed his head of policy David Miliband to chief of staff, and unsurprisingly Alistair Campbell remained Buckingham communications director.
"The first year of the Commonwealth to say the least politicians and the public were still trying to work out the social and political norms of the "New Britain", a key factor in this would be the strong relationship between President Blair and Prime Minister Brown, with each able to focus on their personal preference, Blair the international stage and discussions of national purpose and identity, and Brown's domestic agenda" Andrew Marr, "The Birth of New Britian", BBC 1 (2008)
1999 was a year of upheaval, Britain was still getting used to the politics of proportionality, with 26 UKIP MPs in parliament making ever more controversial statements, or firebrand Scottish Socialist Senator Tommy Sheridan making speeches decrying capitalism on the floor of the senate, the overton window of British politics had certainly widened, however the coalition generally held strong, most of the legislation passing through parliament was generally inoffensive, and the "two Micheals" running the parliamentary and senate Conservative parties struggled to provide strong opposition, it looked like "Liblab" would be in power forever.
"Hague's poor performance in the 1999 Presidential Election was more down to opposition to the Commonwealth then divisions in the Conservative Party, discuss" (30 Marks) - A Level History Exam Question (2019)
1999, New Alliances
President
Blair's already strong position as a popular Prime Minister who led the country through the Diana Crisis was further cemented by conflict in the Tory ranks. Whilst the Liberal Democrat and Labour primaries were formalities to crown the party leaders, disillusion with Hague led to him being challenged by Ken Clarke for the nomination. Smelling blood several other rivals jumped in the race and Hague narrowly scraped his nomination. Defeating Micheal Portillo by just four points in the final round of the primary.
House of Commons and Senate
House of Commons and Senate
The change in electoral system led to some interesting results. Despite going up by three points since 97' Labour lost over 100 seats. The main divide was between pro-commonwealth parties. (Labour, Liberal Democrats, SNP and Irish Republicans) and the anti-commonwealth parties (UKIP, Ulster Unionist and most of the Tory party). The real winners of the 99 election were the Liberal Democrats and to a lesser extent UKIP. Nigel Farage, then a little known UKIP Regional Chair became the head of a nearly 30 strong block of MPs overnight. Young rising star Ed Davey led his party to over 100 seats for the first time since the Second World War. Smaller parties such as the Scottish Socialists (3 MPs and 2 Senators) and UK Unionist Party (1 MP) managed to break the 4% threshold in at least one region and gain entry into Parliament.
The clear result was a victory for the pro-Commonwealth parties. Putting the issue to bed for the foreseeable future. Due to Parliamentary maths President Blair had only one choice. On the 11th June Gordon Brown, Margaret Beckett, Paddy Ashdown, Ed Davey and Adrian Sanders were summoned to Buckingham Presidential Palace to form the first Government of the Commonwealth of Britain.
Locally Labour dominated. Winning 10 of the 12 regional Premierships. With London going to the former Labour turned Independent Ken Livingstone. The most shocking of all was Oxford MP Andrew Smith winning the South East by a margin of less than 0.2%. The Liberal Democrats put most of their efforts in the South West. Trying to elect their Chief Whip Paul Tyler as the Lib Dem's first regional Premier. He too lost out to Labour's Dawn Primarolo by a margin of 0.4%.
The Aftermath
"The 1999 election's weren't just a defeat, they were a landslide, it was a complete massacre, we fundamentally misjudged the mood of the British people and their attitudes to the new Britain, our desperate clinging to the old order doomed us for a generation" - Then Senator Ken Clark addressing donors during the 2003 Conservative Primary
The 1999 elections, now infamous in the vocabulary of Conservatives everywhere, was the first elections of the "New Britain" as dubbed by President Blair, the election was a humiliation for the Conservatives who sought to make it into a second referendum on the Commonwealth referendum of 1998, however they fundamentally misjudged the mood of the British people, pro-Commonwealth candidate Blair defeated traditionalist Hague by nearly 2-1, in both the House of Commons and the senate, the Labour/Liberal coalition won a clear majority and not a single regional government was under Tory control when the dust settled, however much like Clement Attlee in 1945 Blair's government was not built to last, and he would lose his presidency just five years later.
"The first order of business was forming a coalition, we had such a large majority combined so the conversation was less about parliamentary arithmetic and more about ensuring the Liberal Democrats got a slice of the pie equal to our mandate"
- Fmr Ashdown Chief of Staff Tim Farron
President - Tony Blair (Labour)
Vice President - John Presoctt (Labour)
Prime Minister - Gordon Brown (Labour)
Deputy Prime Minister - Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat)
Senate Leader - Margaret Beckett (Labour)
Foreign Secretary - Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrat)
Chancellor - Margaret Jay (Labour)
Home Secretary - Derry Irvine (Labour)
Justice Secretary - Jack Cunningham (Labour)
Defence Secretary - Robin Cook (Labour)
Health Secretary - Alan Beith (Liberal Democrat)
Business Secretary - Nick Brown (Labour)
President of Board of Trade - George Robertson (Labour)
Work Secretary - Paul Tyler (Liberal Democrat)
Education Secretary - Stephen Byers (Labour)
Environment Secretary - Mo Mowlam (Labour)
Housing Secretary - Andrew Stunell (Liberal Democrat)
Transport Secretary - Gavin Strang (Labour)
Northern Ireland Secretary - John Morris (Labour)
Scotland Secretary - Donald Gorrie (Liberal Democrat)
Wales Secretary - Ivor Richard (Labour)
Digital, Media and Sport Secretary - (David Clark)
International Development - Robert Maclennan (Liberal Democrat)
Blair and Brown looked to form their first cabinet and looked to give a bi-partisan feel by being generous to the Liberal Democrats, granting powerful positions like Foreign Affairs and Health to the Liberal Democrats, this angered many Labour figures, especially former cabinet minister who had not stood for office expecting to be reappointed to their old jobs and now found themselves unemployed, MP Dennis Skinner remarking that Blair was more "chummy with Ashdown and the Liberals then his own MPs that put him in power in the first place."
Blair also had to form a Presidential staff, he appointed his head of policy David Miliband to chief of staff, and unsurprisingly Alistair Campbell remained Buckingham communications director.
"The first year of the Commonwealth to say the least politicians and the public were still trying to work out the social and political norms of the "New Britain", a key factor in this would be the strong relationship between President Blair and Prime Minister Brown, with each able to focus on their personal preference, Blair the international stage and discussions of national purpose and identity, and Brown's domestic agenda" Andrew Marr, "The Birth of New Britian", BBC 1 (2008)
1999 was a year of upheaval, Britain was still getting used to the politics of proportionality, with 26 UKIP MPs in parliament making ever more controversial statements, or firebrand Scottish Socialist Senator Tommy Sheridan making speeches decrying capitalism on the floor of the senate, the overton window of British politics had certainly widened, however the coalition generally held strong, most of the legislation passing through parliament was generally inoffensive, and the "two Micheals" running the parliamentary and senate Conservative parties struggled to provide strong opposition, it looked like "Liblab" would be in power forever.
"Hague's poor performance in the 1999 Presidential Election was more down to opposition to the Commonwealth then divisions in the Conservative Party, discuss" (30 Marks) - A Level History Exam Question (2019)
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