TLIAD: Thatcherism Stillborn

[Techdread]

Unemployment was still rising. The economy was still in recession. And Margaret Thatcher was steadily moving along to become one of the most unpopular Prime Minister Great Britain had yet to see. Some of her advisors had even sought her out to resign out of fears this would fundamentally damage the party; that she was out of her depth. In an effort to prove them wrong, Mrs Thatcher decided to prove that despite her the unremarkable progress, the public would still choose her over Labour, now led by a doddery pseudo-Communist who couldn’t even keep his own party together, or that piece-meal attempt at a political part in the Alliance.

There were some calculated risks that Mrs Thatcher may have gone on to make that would prove to be in her favour in the long run, however a snap general election in 1981 would prevent any of that from happening. Perhaps buoyed by the Limehouse Declaration as a sign of Labour’s newfound unpopularity and ignorant of her own party’s public image, she’d expect little more than a repeat of her ’79 victory – perhaps with an even greater failure for Labour. How wrong she would be…

1981
Subsequent Prime Minister: Michael Foot
Government: Labour Majority​

.....​

Good lord…

What?

You’ve actually made a TLIAD – a little late to the party with that, aren’t you?

I’ve had the idea for this one for some time, so I thought I’d finally have a crack at it.

You have enough trouble with the ONE TL you have ongoing at the moment.

And I think the time away might help me with that too-

Let me guess; you’re going to turn Britain into either a Leninist regime or a militarist reactionary state.

…

…

Where would you get that kind of idea from?

I’m in your head, lest you forget. I wish that I could. You like dystopic TLs and have had more than a flirtation with the far-Left in the past.

Emphasis on the past. I’ve moved away from that now, as you well know. I’m going for something more rooted in reality – well, as much I can anyway.

Makes a change for you to have anything to do with reality-

Are you going to let me carry on with this?

Fine.

 

[Techdread]

The Conservatives were in disarray and a state of shock following the 1981 general election. Not only had they lost their majority, they had come perilously close to being relegated as a third party and replaced by the SDP-Liberal Alliance as the Opposition. It was only by some good grace that fortune had spared them such a disaster. It would become a time for reflection, and the image of Margaret Thatcher recapturing Downing Street did not sit well with many of the Tory backbenchers or several members of her own shadow cabinet.

A leadership election was swiftly called to try and find a new direction for the party; the expected names announced themselves swiftly – Whitelaw, Thatcher, even the Grocer himself sought a revival in this troubled time. An unexpected name to arise was that of Michael Heseltine – a cabinet minister under Thatcher but not considered by many to have the necessary skills. It was all over in the first ballot. Margaret had had her tenure as Leader of the Conservative Party and as the first female Prime Minister of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, but she’d failed. A new hope had to be found, and the guise it took was that of William Whitelaw.

1981 Conservative Party Leadership Election Results
William Whitelaw – 52.1%
Margaret Thatcher – 33.7%
Edward Heath – 10.2%
Michael Heseltine – 4.0%​

 

[Whanztastic]

Oooooooooooooo

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Prime Minister Foot? I have the feeling that Reagan's going to despise him.

 

[Meadow]

Me likey! Now make sure you do it in 24 hours

Really interested in a Foot premiership.

 

[AlfieJ]

This is already wonderful.

 

[Techdread]

Oooooooooooooo

Prime Minister Foot? I have the feeling that Reagan's going to despise him.

I think in almost every way with a few exceptions - there were a few policies they agreed on, after all.

Me likey! Now make sure you do it in 24 hours

Really interested in a Foot premiership.

Fear not - I've had this planned out for months; I'll make sure it's done in 24 hours or die trying!! (I do hope it isn't the latter though...)

I may not be the hardcore socialist I was sometime ago, but I still wish PM Foot could have been seen

This is already wonderful.

Something we agree on.

 

[Techdread]

Labour had only managed a slim majority in the ’81 general election, but it seemed to reinforce the strength of the hard Left within the party. Its implementation of further nationalising industry and business saw a temporary drop in unemployment and a slow start to economic recovery – the welfare state also saw an increase in funding and reform despite the economic downturn. However, it was in 1982 that Labour faced its first hurdle, which proved to be detrimental to its future in government. Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. The military junta leading the South American nation saw the aged Michael Foot as a weak leader who would be more willing to allow the islands to move into Argentinean control rather than remain an overseas territory. They would be proven just as incorrect as Mrs Thatcher had in her estimations of the man the year before.

The Falklands Crisis, a total victory for Britain and a strengthening point for Labour with Foot at the helm, would be one of the main points that Labour would cling to in the 1985 general election. Together with a slow-but-gradual economic recovery and the decline in unemployment, Labour was set to win one of its largest victories since 1945. The Conservatives, however, had managed to find themselves a capable leader in William Whitelaw; although his policies were in essence a reproduction of those set out by Edward Heath a decade before, it seemed to resonate with traditional Conservative voters and those social moderates who were fearful of the still strongly Leftist Labour.

In the end though, Whitelaw proved as unsuccessful as his predecessor – Foot won by a landslide, though not on par with the 1945 Labour victory. Compromise had been made to achieve such a victory however – concerned with a potential second schism in the party, Foot sent out peace feelers to the SDP in attempt to bring them back into the Labour fold. In a secret agreement between Foot and Owen, now SDP Party leader following Roy Jenkins resignation in 1983, Owen would concede to folding back into Labour along with the remainder of his party in exchange for moderating the Party’s upcoming manifesto in the election and being named as his Deputy Prime Minister.

1985
Subsequent Prime Minister: Michael Foot
Government: Labour Majority​

 

[Turquoise Blue]

LABOUR, LABOUR, LABOUR!!!

Oh, and its not the German SPD we're talking about. Its the British SDP.

 

[Maponus]

No mention of unilateralism yet - any particular reason why?

LABOUR, LABOUR, LABOUR!!!

Oh, and its not the German SPD we're talking about. Its the British SDP.

No the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands clearly wants to merge with the Labour Party in order to reunite the peoples of Anglo-Saxon England and Germany.

 

[Techdread]

LABOUR, LABOUR, LABOUR!!!

Oh, and its not the German SPD we're talking about. Its the British SDP.

Corrected - looks like I've been reading about West Germany too much in my spare time lately.

No the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands clearly wants to merge with the Labour Party in order to reunite the peoples of Anglo-Saxon England and Germany.

Now that is the start of an idea for another time.

 

[Turquoise Blue]

I've just realized. Bernie Sanders looks a bit like Michael Foot.

 

[Techdread]

Labour looked set to dominate the next set of elections following their second victory under Foot – the hard Left were kept in check by Owen’s faction of Social Democrats whilst collectively keeping the party true to its socialist roots in a modernising fashion. It seemed as the fracturing of less than a decade before had never happened. And Foot was striving to bring the world in a delicate balance; despite leaving the EEC, relations with continental Europe, in particular France and West Germany, were kept warm and cordial by Foreign Secretary Denis Healey. The United States, under President Ronald Reagan, was far less hospitable with the Prime Minister during their mutual first tenures in office; however that seemed to improve moving into their second terms. Both leaders, whilst politically polar opposites, had one common policy – unilateral nuclear disarmament; following the Reykjavik Summit in 1986 with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, both world leaders agreed to nuclear disarmament within a decade, following pressure from Prime Minister Foot that Reagan agree to Gorbachev’s proposal of keeping Reagan’s ‘Star Wars’ program within lab conditions.

Whitelaw had managed to cling onto the leadership of the Conservative party, despite whispers of leadership elections hanging above his head. During and after the Reykjavik Summit, he had both condemned the elimination of Britain eliminating its own nuclear arsenal and praised the progress being made in making the world safer for future generations in removing such a terrible and harmful weapon. His indecisiveness, as well as a seeming lack of support from his own backbenchers, would prove to be fatal for his career.

Whilst America had been unsupportive in Reagan’s apparent ‘surrender to the Soviets in Iceland’, shown by the failure of his Vice-President George Bush to succeed Reagan in 1988, the United Kingdom was both impressed and proud of Michael Foot to stand on-par with the giants of American and the Soviet Union. Coupled with a mixed economy that had gone from strength to strength, Labour once again achieved victory. It seemed as though the Party could not fault itself under Foot’s premiership.

1989
Subsequent Prime Minister: Michael Foot
Government: Labour Majority​

 

[Turquoise Blue]

Boo, Foot brought us out of the EEC.

But no Thatcher!

FOURTH TERM FOR LABOUR! FOURTH TERM FOR MICHAEL FOOT!

 

[Techdread]

1989 was a loss seen as one too many by the Conservative Party. The man that they’d once voted as their leader who they thought could easily become Prime Minister, had failed them twice and brought them close to being replaced as the Opposition in the process. Only days after the general election result, the knives had come out. Whitelaw faced a leadership crisis that would prove to be one of the defining moments in the Conservative Party’s history. Amongst those seeking to claim the leadership for themselves were John Major; Whitelaw’s Shadow Education Secretary, Norman Tebbit; Shadow Employment Minister, Douglas Hurd; Shadow Foreign Secretary, and the man viewed at one point as Whitelaw’s greatest supporter, Michael Heseltine; Shadow Chancellor. The election was a radical difference between the one that made Whitelaw Party leader – lasting for days, with the potential to take the party into untold directions. Whitelaw himself would resign following the first ballot, as would Hurd; both had failed to achieve anything near the support they would require to gain the position they sought. Hurd placed his support behind Major, seen as the safest option who would continue Whitelaw’s policies and views. Whitelaw himself brought the support to his heir apparent. This would prove to be a mistake, however.

Although still respected as a politician, Whitelaw was seen as a failure before all things, and his announcement that John Major was ‘the safe hands for the country and the Conservative Party to trust in’ was viewed by many as a replacement of one failure for another potential one. The second ballot brought the election to a close. Tebbit had agreed to resign in exchange for support to the winning candidate, Michael Heseltine.

1989 Conservative Party Leadership Election Results
First Ballot
Michael Heseltine – 33.1%
John Major – 31.7%
Norman Tebbit – 30.5%
Douglas Hurd – 3.7%
William Whitelaw – 1.0%​

Second Ballot
Michael Heseltine – 65.7%
John Major – 34.3 %​

 

[The Red]

Fantastic stuff!

The battles between Foot and the Rt Hon Member for Heseltine should be brilliant.

 

[Techdread]

With Michael Heseltine as the new Leader of the Conservative Party, they suddenly had a brand new lease on life and a new purpose. Heseltine was often relentless during Prime Minister’s Questions, accusing Foot of giving any possible spark of energy into British industry and economy over to the unions, weakening the nation’s power both internationally and domestically. Although Foot was often able to counter those statements, it was clear that the fire had begun to disappear in the Prime Minister. It emerged as no surprise when, in 1991, he announced that he would resign from his post. There was little shock within the Labour Party, though many were grief-stricken to think of the Labour Party no longer being led by the man that brought them through some of their greatest achievements since Clement Atlee himself.

Cabinet ministers began nominating themselves as potential successors – Robin Cook; Home Secretary, Gordon Brown; Employment Minister, and John Smith; Industry Secretary. Peter Shore, the Chancellor, was thought to be able to achieve victory should he choose to stand, however he declined to, instead offering his support to Cook. Tony Blair, a rising star from the soft-Left of the party, put himself forward hoping to use his own faction and his allies within the unions and hard-Left to see a brand new look on the Labour Party – some went so far as to call him ‘The Next Michael Foot’. In the end though, the election was a closed case before it truly began. Both Brown and Cook had reached an agreement that should one prove to have the lead, the other would resign and place the support to the better candidate. This amicable decision saw victory go through to Robin Cook on the second ballot.

1991 Labour Party Leadership Election Results
First Ballot
Robin Cook – 34.1%
John Smith – 32.9%
Gordon Brown – 29.6%
Tony Blair – 3.4%​

Second Ballot
Robin Cook – 65.3%
John Smith – 34.7%​

 

[Mumby]

This is great.

 

[Techdread]

The Cold War had finally come to an end. The Warsaw Pact had dissolved itself and democratic regimes had taken shape in much of Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union itself no longer existed – several of the republics; Moldavia, the Baltic States and those in the Caucasus, had declared their independence following a national referendum on the country’s future; however they were peacefully let go by President Gorbachev of the Union of Sovereign States, more commonly referred to as the Eurasian Union. There were several exceptions to these democratic states in Eastern Europe though – Romania’s dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, still held onto power within his country and had invaded neighbouring Moldavia to ‘reclaim Romanian territory stolen away by imperialist Russians’. With newly free countries still underdeveloped surrounding it, and the crumbling edifice of the former Yugoslavia attempting to remake itself, a UN Coalition jointly led by the US and Eurasia would liberate Moldavia and bring Ceausescu to trial.

The operation was less than successful. Although Moldavia was liberated, Ceausescu fled Bucharest before the UN forces could arrive in the city to apprehend him. Separatists in Transylvania began a guerrilla campaign for independence and loyalists to Ceausescu continued their own fight against the occupying forces. By 1993, British forces had been occupying parts of Romania for almost a year and the economy had begun to slow with the prospect of a move into recession becoming more visible each day.

Labour had been under attack by the Conservatives on both the economic stagnation and its aggressive foreign policy in an attempt ‘to reignite the British Empire in an age when it doesn’t have the capability’. Labour tried to use this statement as anti-patriotic in the general election campaign that year, however the Conservatives were able to counter it by claiming that the Conservatives knew that patriotism started at home, not abroad fighting in a foreign land. Prime Minister Cook knew that it would almost impossible to seek out a majority with these coupling events, so began to make inroads with the leadership of the Liberal Party, Paddy Ashdown. He was too late with this tactic; Michael Heseltine had already established a dialogue with the Liberals and proposed a coalition government should a hung parliament occur. In exchange for a referendum on the voting system, Ashdown had already agreed. By the time the official results had been received, it was already a forgone conclusion; the Conservatives were back in power.

1993
Subsequent Prime Minister: Michael Heseltine
Government: Conservative-Liberal coalition​

 

[AlfieJ]

I love this so much.