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No-one is quite sure how the fire started.

Some say a stressed waiter lit a cigarette while on his way to the back door and some stray ash set alight a pile of dishcloths. Others believe a gas leak was ignited by a fire in a waste paper basket. The police investigation ruled out foul play, but this has not ended suspicion of gangland racketeers, dissident Republicans or even conspiring operatives of MI5 as the sources of an explosive device.

However it happened, that night's news in 1994 would quickly become the most dramatic in recent British history, and indeed until 11 September 2001. What began as a third-up story on the 9 O'Clock News reporting an explosion that had gutted an London Italian restaurant became an instant newsflash around the country, and soon the globe, when the press office of the Labour Party issued the following statement at 9:31pm:

'It is with great distress that we must confirm that the Shadow Home Secretary and the Shadow Chancellor have not been heard from since six o'clock this evening. Mr Blair's wife has informed us that he had told her his plans this evening were to visit an Italian restaurant in the vicinity of the Granita, with Mr Brown in attendance. A third man, Peter Mandelson, also told friends tonight that he would be at such a restaurant. While we are not yet assuming the worst, we would implore anyone who has had any contact with any of these men to contact the authorities immediately.'

Within minutes the police presence at the site had tripled, and the search of the rubble for bodies intensified. At 10:17pm, a wallet containing the Labour membership card of Tony Blair was found. By midnight, the bodies of Peter Mandelson, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair were laid out in the street as ambulances queued up to take them onwards.​

The question is, dear AH.com users, what would happen next? This isn't a TL, just a creative way of opening a discussion. Smith, Blair, Brown and Mandelson disappear from the political scene forever in the space of a month - what for Labour in the future? How does the post-Smith leadership election go? Who wins in 1996/1997? What does Britain look like today?
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