The power of the many, not the few.

The Power of the many,
not the few.


A new timeline by FletcherofSaltoun.

Introduction.

This is the tale of Britain, Europe and the World from 1987 onwards. It will concentrate on British political, social and cultural life from 1987-2004, involving figures as diverse as Timmy Mallett to Maggie Thatcher included, with major events from around the world included.

Hope you enjoy.
 
The 1987 General Election.

The failure of the Labour Party in the 1987 General Election was due to a variety of reasons. Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Party returned to office in triumphant mood, following what was a spectacular win, losing only seven seats in the process.

Of the policies endorsed by Thatcher, the principal aim was to “return more state industries to the people.” Also strong on the Conservative agenda was the policy of maintaining the nuclear deterrent of the United Kingdom, something opposed by the Labour Party. This allowed the Conservatives to portray Labour as weak on defence.

They were also aided by the economy, with unemployment falling below three million for the first time since the early eighties, inflation was finally under control, sitting at 4% and a divided left, what with the SDP-Liberal Alliance and Labour scrambling after the same ground. Also, Thatcher was able to outspend Kinnock and with the support of much of the tabloid press, her victory was ensured.

The scale of the victory was, however made greater in the closing days of the campaign, when the Sun outed Labours campaign manager, Peter Mandelson as a homosexual declaring in its editorial that “Labours campaign is as bent as he is.” Kinnocks argument that it should not matter cost him a few more votes. On top of a gaffe by Kinnock a day later over defence spending led to Thatcher winning over yet more support.

Labour made virtually no headway from the previous election, gaining half a percentage point in the opinion polls. The following morning, after peering over the results, Neil Kinnock decided that enough was enough. He resigned as leader of the Labour Party. A leadership election was now to be held.
 
The 1987 Labour Leadership Election.

Overall, three candidates put their name forward to become the new leader of the Labour Party. They were Roy Hattersley, Tony Benn and Michael Meacher.


Roy Hattersley.

The favourite. He was Deputy Leader under Kinnock who was seen as being to the right of the party. He had the support of most of the Parliamentary Labour Party. Over the previous four years had gained support of the Unions, which hamstrung his campaign in 1983. His campaign manager was John Smith and he was rumoured to have the support of Neil Kinnock.

Tony Benn.

Anthony Wedgewood Benn was the standard bearer of the left of the Labour Party. Had served under both Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan in cabinet so had the experience required. He had the support of many within the left of the Labour Party and the NUM.

Michael Meacher.

Also from the left of the party, had been a junior minister under both Wilson and Callaghan, he had less support than Benn and caused anger as was seen to be splitting the votes on the left of the party.

As it was, Hattersley, who ran an efficient campaign managed to defeat Benn and Meacher at the first vote. Under the rules, the Trade Unions and affiliates had 40% of the votes, the PLP(Parliamentary Labour Party) had 30% and the Labour Party members had 30%. Hattersley, who ran the campaign arguing for change within the party won 68.8% of the vote. Roy Hattersley became leader of the Labour Party.

The Results.

Hattersley-Affiliates 27.5%, PLP 20.1%, Constituencies 21.2%. Overall 68.8%
Benn-Affiliates 10.4%, PLP 7.3%, Constituencies 5.5%. Overall 23.2%
Meacher-Affiliates 2.1% PLP 2.6% Constituencies 3.3% Overall 8%
 
Ah, dammit... I thought there was a hope for a Benn-led Labour there...

what was going on with Militant and similar groups at this point in OTL? Had they been sidelined, or still a serious problem for Labour leadership & electoral chances?
 
what was going on with Militant and similar groups at this point in OTL?

Labour was about half-way through Militant at this stage; it had been shorn of much of it's impact, but Militant was still in the party. (IIRC) You could say Militant had passed it's peak at this point.

Same thing about Tony Benn, incidentally. There's no serious prospect of the party going hard-left at this stage.

Hattersley, though, won't go full-tilt on modernisation like Kinnock did. With Mandelson also probably out of the picture, (and much more discredited than he was from '87 in OTL, which he was badly hurt by anyway) it'll be interesting to see who takes over Campaign and Comms. That whole clique around the 87-92 Kinnock - Patricia Hewitt, Charles Clarke, etc - will have to find some other way to progress.

Interesting to see who becomes deputy leader. Meacher, presumably.
 
Last edited:
MrHola said:
Interesting. Can't wait what's going to happen in 1992.
Basileus Giorgios said:
I wonder if Thatcher will stay on until '91/'92 for whatever reason...?
Short answer, I don't think so, although I haven't decided for certain. The whole poll-tax riots thing still occurs as does Thatcher attempting to act as a modern day Boudica. I do not want a Labour landslide at the 90/92 General election.....
alt_historian said:
Ah, dammit... I thought there was a hope for a Benn-led Labour there...

what was going on with Militant and similar groups at this point in OTL? Had they been sidelined, or still a serious problem for Labour leadership & electoral chances?

V-J said:
Labour was about half-way through Militant at this stage; it had been shorn of much of it's impact, but Militant was still in the party. (IIRC) You could say Militant had passed it's peak at this point.

Same thing about Tony Benn, incidentally. There's no serious prospect of the party going hard-left at this stage.

Hattersley, though, won't go full-tilt on modernisation like Kinnock did. With Mandelson also probably out of the picture, (and much more discredited than he was from '87 in OTL, which he was badly hurt by anyway) it'll be interesting to see who takes over Campaign and Comms. That whole clique around the 87-92 Kinnock - Patricia Hewitt, Charles Clarke, etc - will have to find some other way to progress.

Interesting to see who becomes deputy leader. Meacher, presumably.
I was actually thinking Margaret Beckett. Its an obvious choice when you think about it. Early on, she backed Tony Benn against Roy Hattersley in '83 but over the course of the next Parliament moved to the right of the party. As such she could act as a John Prescott type figure appealing to both the right and the left. I'll do a bit on the deputy leadership and shadow cabinet elections if you want, although I wasnt intending on doing so? :p

I agree that militant would not be a serious threat to the leadership anymore, although one final challenge may occur.

As for Mandelson, your right, and at the moment he is taking a back seat, but we have not seen the back of him and the whole modernisation wing of the party is still there and will be pushing forward although it will be more restrained than in OTL.

As for Director of Comms, I was thinking of Gus Macdonald. At the time he was director of proggrammes at STV and had worked at Granada and as a journo, so has plenty of media experience, would fit in with the Scottish Mafia amongst the PLP and with all of the above, has potential. It will be a permanent job for the party from Transport House.

His first job would be a review of the 1987 election, with a policy document which will come out as in OTL(the Labour Listens doc), but with slightly different conclusions. I'll go into detail with that later on.

As it is, I'm working on the rest of 1987 for the Government, general events from around the world and trivial events such as tv history at the moment. It should be ready by sunday or monday(one or two bits I'm unhappy with). Have to say though, it is a really interesting period, am really enjoying researching it!

Thanks to everyone for replying! :D
 
Last edited:
Earlier than stated in above post, it is AH in parts, I'll let you guess which.... ;)

1987 was year when Madonna had a hit single with Whos that Girl?, Rick Astley had a hit with Never Gonna Give you up, and Star Trekkin' by the Firm also made number one in the UK singles charts. The year carried on in a similar vein with hits from bands such as Queen, although not making number one and in a joyous note, Cliff Richard never had a hit single.

In TV, the year began in good fashion with Britain getting over Den giving Angie Divorce papers for Christmas, as Eastenders maintained its philosophy of stay as miserable as possible throughout the year. This was compounded by Pauline Fowler a.k.a Wendy Richards of "Are you being Served" fame getting murdered on Christmas day of 1987. Also popular was The Krypton Factor, especially the obstacle course ;), and Olly Reed going onto a live TV broadcast, as shown partially here in a BBC3 show in 2005. There was also a one off return to Fawlty Towers which screened on election night, about the poll, which proved popular.

The Football World was also turned on its head this year as Dundee United reached the UEFA Cup final, beating Barcelona at the Nou Camp on their way there. They lost, however to IFK Gothenberg in the final. Domestic football was also strange as Coventry City won the FA Cup and a Rangers team which contained four England internationals(due to English clubs being banned from Europe Rangers signed quite a few England players) were a leg break away from the European Cup final.

Terry Wogan still presented Eurovision.
 
Last edited:
Fletcher, I love your timelines, but disapprove of the general slowness at which new updates appear! Chop chop please! :p

Apologies. Please continue at your own pace, and I look forward eagerly to the next installment!
 
Fletcher, I love your timelines, but disapprove of the general slowness at which new updates appear! Chop chop please! :p

Apologies. Please continue at your own pace, and I look forward eagerly to the next installment!

It all depends how busy I am. I have a big plan for this timeline, and have several posts from the 90's already ready, its just 87-89 I am unhappy with and am going over again. I thought it would be ready by now, but is not. Apologies!


Thanks, btw, a good compliment..:D
 
The Governments year.(to be updated)

The mood in the Cabinet was one of activity.

The British Airports Authority had just passed Parliament, in a move which Hattersley had managed to land a blow on the Prime Minister over the move, making much of the point that it would be possible that British Airports could conceivably no longer be in British hands once the move went through.

On the bill, the Liberals and the SDP backed Labour and as such it was rather controversial, but all the same it went through. “You know, I believe that with five more years, we have broken the back of socialism” Thatcher was heard to remark following the debate.

Although, the privatisations were continuing as earlier on in the regime, it was noted that Mrs Thatcher was beginning to look more and more at social matters. The traditional nuclear family was to be at the centre of her policies over the next term. Indeed at the Conservative Party Conference, she made clear in a speech that she wanted a return to more traditional social conservatism, stating that "Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay”.

As such, a new law was to be passed opposing the “Promotion of homosexuality” in schools, in an amendment to a local government bill by Conservative MP, David Wilshire. Thatcher backed the amendment, stating that councils should not be indoctronating children. In the Commons, Hattersley defeated the Prime Minister in PMQs over the bill, portraying her as homophobic, and not trusting teachers. He never got a good review in the Sun and the tabloids, but the majority of the broadsheets agreed.

In addition to this, following the Labour listens document, which ending their policy of unilateral disarmament*, the polls were beginning to turn against the Government.

This of course was affected by other matters. Hattersley was making the point at every oppurtunity of the Conservative poster in the 1979 election of “Britains not working”, and that even now, unemployment was higher than that when Mrs Thatcher came to power and his claims were starting to have an effect.

In addition to this, Jeffrey Archer lost his libel action against the Daily Star after Ted Francis spoke out against him during the case after a reported falling out between the men. Archer was subsequently charged with perjury and sent to prison. The year was not a good one for the Government.

By the end of the year though, Thatcher planned her latest privatisation, British Steel.

*Different from the OTL Doc and coming next, together with more details of both Thatcher and Hattersleys year to come, I'm not finished with 1987..
 
Last edited:
The Governments year.(to be updated)

The mood in the Cabinet was one of activity.

The British Airports Authority had just passed Parliament, in a move which Hattersley had managed to land a blow on the Prime Minister over the move, making much of the point that it would be possible that British Airports could conceivably no longer be in British hands once the move went through.

On the bill, the Liberals and the SDP backed Labour and as such it was rather controversial, but all the same it went through. “You know, I believe that with five more years, we have broken the back of socialism” Thatcher was heard to remark following the debate.

Although, the privatisations were continuing as earlier on in the regime, it was noted that Mrs Thatcher was beginning to look more and more at social matters. The traditional nuclear family was to be at the centre of her policies over the next term. Indeed at the Conservative Party Conference, she made clear in a speech that she wanted a return to more traditional social conservatism, stating that "Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay”.

As such, a new law was to be passed opposing the “Promotion of homosexuality” in schools, in an amendment to a local government bill by Conservative MP, David Wilshire. Thatcher backed the amendment, stating that councils should not be indoctronating children. In the Commons, Hattersley defeated the Prime Minister in PMQs over the bill, portraying her as homophobic, and not trusting teachers. He never got a good review in the Sun, but the majority of the popular press agreed.

In addition to this, following the Labour listens document, which ending their policy of unilateral disarmament*, the polls were beginning to turn against the Government.

This of course was affected by other matters. Hattersley was making the point at every oppurtunity of the Conservative poster in the 1979 election of “Britains not working”, and that even now, unemployment was higher than that when Mrs Thatcher came to power and his claims were starting to have an effect.

In addition to this, Jeffrey Archer lost his libel action against the Daily Star after Ted Francis spoke out against him during the case after a reported falling out between the men. Archer was subsequently charged with perjury and sent to prison. The year was not a good one for the Government.

By the end of the year though, Thatcher planned her latest privatisation, British Steel.

*Different from the OTL Doc and coming next, together with more details of both Thatcher and Hattersleys year to come, I'm not finished with 1987..

Hmm, interesting. It's always sad (for me personally) when Maggie's downfall is mentioned, but by this time, she had to go. I assume Labour will get in in '91 or '92, but I wonder if Thatcher will still be PM by then? Hopefully a Labour government can avoid the rail privatisation, but will it be even more broken by the Black Wednesday Government than the OTL Tories? (ie as soon as the Conservatives are out, Labour loses control of the economy). If this happens, I wonder what would happen next? Liberal Democrat fightback? Conservatives under say Michael Portillo re-elected in 1997? Devolution halted?

Keep this going... it covers the period of my childhood, so I'd be interested to see how the butterflies would affect me personally in TTL...
 
Hmm, interesting. It's always sad (for me personally) when Maggie's downfall is mentioned, but by this time, she had to go. I assume Labour will get in in '91 or '92, but I wonder if Thatcher will still be PM by then? Hopefully a Labour government can avoid the rail privatisation, but will it be even more broken by the Black Wednesday Government than the OTL Tories? (ie as soon as the Conservatives are out, Labour loses control of the economy). If this happens, I wonder what would happen next? Liberal Democrat fightback? Conservatives under say Michael Portillo re-elected in 1997? Devolution halted?

Keep this going... it covers the period of my childhood, so I'd be interested to see how the butterflies would affect me personally in TTL...
This isn't going to be a simple, Labour wins in 91/92 tl. I have an idea which came to me a while ago, but am only committing to now. I would take nothing for granted in the next election.......;)
 
Labour Listens and the rest of '87 to be updated later, I'm unhappy with them, I will carry on in the meantime with the first post of 1988.......

10th March 1988


The Prince of Wales was killed after an avalanche hit the Royal party who were skiing of piste above the resort in Klosters. Also killed in the incident were both the former equerry to the Prince and close friend, Major Hugh Lindsay and Patti Palmer-Tompkinson.

The guide of the party, Bruno Sprecher, valiantly went back alongside Swiss police to find the victims in the hope of there being more survivors. Unfortunately, the body of the Prince was recovered, already dead, crushed by the avalanche.

The Queen was told of her sons’ death during a visit to the Queen's tennis club in London where she was attending the centenary celebrations of the Lawn Tennis Association. The visit was cut short, as she made her return to Buckingham Palace.

The Princess of Wales made a formal statement within hours of the tragedy, asking for the media to respect both her and her sons privacy in what would obviously be a time of grieving for the entire Royal household. She praised Charles skills as a father, and as a husband adding that Britain, and the Commonwealth has lost a potentially great monarch.

Thousands thronged the streets for the funeral of Charles, where less than seven years earlier they had gathered for the wedding of Charles to his wife, Diana. The sight of young William and Harry following the coffin was a sight which will live in the memory.

The Princes lost a father, the Princess lost a husband, and the nation lost a future King.
 
The following is pretty much as IOTL.

Liberals and SDP Merge.

Despite holding many of the seats which were lost following the 1987 election, calls were made for the Liberals and SDP to merge. a policy that was whole-heartedly opposed by David Owen who publicly called it a "ghastly mess, a disaster and a shambles". By contrast, his former running-mate and co-leader, David Steel, was an enthusiastic backer.

Negotiations were difficult. Disagreements ranged over issues such as the very name of the Party, which they eventually agreed upon by calling the new party the Liberal Democrats, membership of NATO and even issues over such areas as how the Liberals and the SDP reacted to the miners strike. Owen argued that the differences were too great to be bridged and urged for them to be called off, but the new leader of the SDP Bob McLennan carried on regardless and he had his way.

On 2nd March 1988, the two parties held ballots over the proposed merger. By a large percentage both memberships voted for the move. The Liberal Democrats were born.


Ashdown to lead Britain's third party

The MP for Yeovil, Paddy Ashdown, has been elected the first leader of the new Social and Liberal Democrat Party.
Mr Ashdown, 47, won a decisive victory with 41,401 votes - 71.9% - against former deputy leader of the Liberal Party Alan Beith who polled 16,906 votes - 28.1%.

Following an eight-week campaign Mr Ashdown was widely expected to win the election, but the size of the margin was a surprise.

With such a strong mandate his team is confident they can build a strong third political party for the UK that can provide "a decent, effective and responsible" alternative to Thatcherism in three years.

Mr Ashdown gave an optimistic press conference after receiving the results outside the SLD headquarters in Westminster, with his wife Jane and former joint leader David Steel standing beside him. "Our first priority must be to look beyond the internal politics of our party to the concerns of our nation," he said.

Looking to the future

The ex-Royal Marines officer was keen to put the year-long problems of merging the Liberals and Social Democrats behind him and rejected any schemes for coalition with other opposition parties. Leader of the SDP Dr David Owen sent his congratulations and renewed his proposal for an electoral pact.

Labour leader Roy Hattersley has dismissed Mr Ashdown's ambition to become the main opposition party.
Mr Ashdown hopes to exploit internal arguments within the Labour Party and has said he does not expect they will form a government again.

Positions within the SLD will be announced in September and Mr Ashdown will go on a nationwide tour in October.
Paddy Ashdown did not enter Parliament until 1983 - when he became MP for his Somerset constituency - after periods commanding a unit in the Special Boat Squadron and serving as a diplomat.
 
1988

January saw British Steel privatised by the Government, despite opposition objections. Margaret Thatcher welcomed the move by stating that more of the economy was being handed back to the people.

March was a busy month. The Liberal Democrats were born as the Liberal Party and the SDP agreed upon a merger. It was hoped that the move would be a stepping stone in creating a new political structure for the United Kingdom.

In addition to this, the Prince of Wales died in a tragic skiing accident. Despite pleas for privacy from the royal family, their wishes were ignored as pictures of the Princess of Wales crying in the Swiss Chalet the next day made the front pages of many of the tabloids.

The royal funeral was watched by over 25 million in the country, and the sight of the young princes walking behind the gun carriage caught the moment. In addition to this, the reaction by the Prime Minister caught the spirit of the occasion, by stating that the nation must and would rally in such times, as has happened in times past. Such moves came across well.

In May, Labour won the English Local elections with 42% of the vote in the available seats. The Conservatives were down to 31%, with the new Liberal Democrats winning 22.6% of the vote in their first election. The result was the biggest defeat Margaret Thatchers Conservative Party had ever suffered. Confidence within the Tories was low, and talk began over a challenge. No challenge was to materialise over the year however.

By July, Paddy Ashdown became leader of the new Social and Liberal Democratic Party and stated that it was his intention to reform British politics from top to bottom. Also in July, Labour and the Lib Dems in a combined move established the Scottish Constitutional Convention. The aim was to establish a Scottish Assembly within the union. The SNP boycotted the affair as independence was not on the table.

Also in July, Bobby Robson resigned as the manager of England folowing a dismal performance in the 1988 European Championships. Within three weeks his successor was announced, and it was controversial, Brian Clough.

In November, George Bush was elected President of the United States.

Also, Edwina Currie resigned as Health Minister after making claims about Salmonella in eggs which turned out to be false.

Throughout the year, the Government began to concentrate more and more on social policy. It was felt more and more that wealth should be rewarded. As such, the top rate of income tax was reduced to 40% at the budget, and the benefits for the poorest were reduced. Roy Hattersley attacked these measures, in the Commons openly calling the Prime Minister “Robin Hood in reverse.” He was seen to have won over taxation. In addition to this, by December, the new Health Secretary, Ken Clarke announced an internal market within the NHS was to be introduced.

Measures were also introduced to increase police numbers. It was seen that an increase in policing would decrease inner city crime. This would be in concert with a policy of regeneration which was seen by all as essential.

Despite it all though, the Government was still trailing Labour in the polls, with the Lib Dems starting to make an impact.
 
Last edited:
1989

5th Febuary saw Sky Televisions first broadcast. The Chancellor, Nigel Lawson claimed that it was an event which would help bring about the liberalisation of television in Britain.

Events in Northern Ireland also escalated during the month of Febuary as the IRA bombed an army barracks in England, causing many injuries. The Government were quick in an effort to clamp down on the group. It was claimed that “The murderers will be brought to justice.”

March saw Iran break off all diplomatic relations with Britain due to the publication of the book, “The Satanic Verses”.

April saw disaster, as over 90 people were killed in the Hillsborough disaster as fans rushed forward as Liverpool scored a goal. A report was announced into the suitability of British football grounds. It was agreed that clubs would be obliged to go along with whatever recommendations were made.

In May, Wimbledon won the FA Cup.

In July, Shirley Porter, the leader of Westminster council was accused by the BBC of Gerrymandering. She denied this, and a court case seemed inevitable.

August saw the most controversial moment of the year. The Community Charge, or Poll Tax was introduced in Scotland, in a move derided by both Roy Hattersley and Paddy Ashdown as “The death knell of the Conservatives in Scotland.”

The tax shifted from the estimated price of a house to the number of people living in it, with the effect of shifting the tax burden from the rich to the poor. Support for the tax in Scotland was below 10% and a campaign of non-payment was begun by protesters, led by Tommy Sheridan.

Despite this, and over 60,000 people dissaperaing from the electoral and council rolls(to avoid the tax), their protests were ignored, indeed the tax was gloried in by the Government. As such, support for the Conservatives in Scotland began to fall apart.

The campaign moved from just ending the tax in Scotland to stopping the tax being implemented elsewhere in the UK, which was due to happen in the next financial year. The protests met with the response from the Prime Minister that there would be no u-turn.

The protests were amplified when the Chancellor, albiet over an unconnected matter, resigned and replaced by John Major. Major echoed that the tax would still be implemented.

The year ended with Labour ending its policy of supporting a closed shop union policy. This was done to make the policy in line with european legislation, and ensure that the party was seen as being pro-european. They ended the year twenty points ahead of the Conservatives.
 
As such, a new law was to be passed opposing the “Promotion of homosexuality” in schools, in an amendment to a local government bill by Conservative MP, David Wilshire. Thatcher backed the amendment, stating that councils should not be indoctronating children. In the Commons, Hattersley defeated the Prime Minister in PMQs over the bill, portraying her as homophobic, and not trusting teachers. He never got a good review in the Sun, but the majority of the popular press agreed.
Not sure that's an attack that's going to get much currency in 1988 - for most people Section 28 was relatively uncontroversial at that stage. Indeed it was used in those days as much a tool for embarrassing Labour than stopping education about homosexuality. An attack of 'homophobia' is probably more likely to be laughed at than taken seriously.

I'm also interested with regards to the 1987 election - you've got Thatcher doing better by about 15 seats or so. Does this mean that the disaster that was the 1987 for the Scottish Tories does not happen in the same form (seat totals for the party fell from 20 to 10).
 
Top