TLIAD: Thatcherism Stillborn

Techdread

Techdread

Although Cook had only come into the leadership in the last two years, the loss of Labour’s first general election in over a decade still rankled within the party. The liberals and moderates felt that it was not personally Cook’s fault; that it was an unfortunate time to be in power regardless of whoever it was, whilst the hard-Left believed that moderation had weakened the power of the labour movement itself and that Britain under the Labour party had become little more than a puppet for American and Eurasian imperialism now that the Cold War had ended. With such sentiment in the air, Tony Blair sought to challenge Cook for leadership of the party. Whilst initially thought unlikely to gather any serious support from a weak train of thought, Blair was able to coerce Tony Benn, leader of the hard-Left faction, into giving his support in exchange for a position in his shadow cabinet.

The first ballot proved enough to falter Cook’s own image. Blair had not only the firm support of the Bennites, but also enough moderates to see Cook unsuccessful at the first ballot. Just as what had happened to Whitelaw, the same appeared to be happening with Cook now. Fortune would look more favourably on the Labour leader though; he was able to bring his close friend and ally, Gordon Brown, in to aid in bringing the support of the moderates back to him whilst also giving providing Benn with the possibility of a cabinet position in a far more likely government than one headed by Blair. The careful manoeuvring by Cook and Brown helped to turn the tide back in their favour. Seeds had still been sown though that would grow in time, as Blair made contact with a new Labour MP, Peter Mandelson.

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1993 Labour Party Leadership Election Results
First Ballot
Robin Cook – 43.7%
Tony Blair – 32.4%
John Prescott – 13.7%
Jack Straw – 10.2%​

Second Ballot
Robin Cook – 56.3%
Tony Blair – 27.6%
John Prescott – 16.1%​
 
Techdread

Techdread

Heseltine made good on his promise to Ashdown as agreement on a coalition – the referendum on changing from FPTP system to a PR was made on 15th May 1994, but still failed with the public voting 67% NO to 33% YES. Despite this, the coalition appeared to be strong and united on most issues it would come to face. Heseltine would implement a new set of reforms for industry and business, transferring several components of state owned industry into private hands and reducing the taxes on certain key business linked to communication and travel. His critics would claim that his policies were ‘Thatcher behind a mask’, however this criticism failed when the opening of these areas proved to be a boost for the economy and an opening for the new business and market ventures in Eurasia.

The Prime Minister would also cement himself on the world stage by agreeing to the SAS mission that would capture Nicolae Ceausescu near the Romanian border with Hungary. Praise would be heaped upon him by US President Michael Dukakis, who’d petitioned the UN to invade Romania to depose the dictator in 1992, and Eurasian President Boris Yeltsin, eager to bring the occupation of Romania to an end. With Ceausescu’s capture, the loyalist began to lay down their arms and the democratic government in Bucharest would begin dialogue with the Transylvanian separatists to reach an agreement on region autonomy within Romania.

By the time of the next general election, the Conservatives were ahead enough in the polls that a majority government could be formed. The Liberals had been able to gather greater support following their time in government, whilst Labour appeared to be internally lost in the wilderness though outwardly united. The next time that Heseltine visited the Palace, it would be to form the first Conservative majority government in almost twenty years.

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1997
Subsequent Prime Minister: Michael Heseltine
Government: Conservative Majority​
 
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Techdread

Techdread

It was well expected that Blair would once again begin yet another leadership election against Cook following the loss of another general election against Heseltine. In an effort to avoid the drama involved, Cook announced his resignation. Unlike Foot before him, there would be no real grief within the party of who could replace him. It was widely expected that Gordon Brown, Cook’s close friend and ally would seek to be his successor. The one hope within the moderate Cookite faction was that the rest of the party hadn’t take lessons from the Conservatives; replacing one kind of man with a near duplicate would mean the same results. The party, it seemed, were happy with such a result.

Brown could appeal to both the moderates & liberals in the party whilst accommodating to the Bennites. It was almost a closed contest before it began once more.

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1997 Labour Party Leadership Election Results
First Ballot
Gordon Brown – 90.7%
Tony Blair – 9.3%​
 
Turquoise Blue

Turquoise Blue

1979: Margaret Thatcher (Con majority)
1981: Michael Foot (Lab majority)
1985: Michael Foot (Lab majority)
1989: Michael Foot (Lab majority)
1991: Robin Cook (Labour majority)
1993: Michael Heseltine (Con-Lib coalition)
1997: Michael Heseltine (Con majority)
 
Techdread

Techdread

Following a series of mini-strokes in 2000, Michael Heseltine resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It was a shock to the entire world, most of all his own party. With the general election expected to take place within the next two years, the party needed to find a new leader and prove itself against the more aggressive and competent Brown-led Labour Party. His Chancellor, Michael Portillo, began his campaign to become party leader and Prime Minister with high energy and early suggestions led to him assuming that the title would be his without any problems. Others soon began to make their voices heard: Kenneth Clarke; Foreign Secretary, William Hague; Home Secretary, and Iain Duncan Smith; Defence Secretary.

Due to the unexpected nature of the resignation, none of the contenders had neither planned nor made any form of alliance or agreement to guarantee their place as leader. The final result was an unexpected shock for most of the party.

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2000 Conservative Party Leadership Election Results
First Ballot
Michael Portillo – 33.5%
Kenneth Clarke – 31.2%
William Hague – 27.8%
Iain Duncan Smith – 7.5%​

Second Ballot
Michael Portillo – 35.4%
William Hague – 32.5%
Kenneth Clarke – 32.1%​

Third Ballot
William Hague – 57.1%
Michael Portillo – 42.9%​
 
Turquoise Blue

Turquoise Blue

1979: Margaret Thatcher (Con majority)
1981: Michael Foot (Lab majority)
1985: Michael Foot (Lab majority)
1989: Michael Foot (Lab majority)
1991: Robin Cook (Labour majority)
1993: Michael Heseltine (Con-Lib coalition)
1997: Michael Heseltine (Con majority)
2000: William Hague (Con majority)

Can Labour come storming back in with Gordon Brown?
 
Meadow

Meadow

Wendell said:
I'm seeing butterflies detailed here that aren't necessarily warranted.
Click to expand...

I think a commitment to unilateral nuclear disarmament by the Soviets, British and Americans in 1986 gives any author carte blanche to launch whatever butterflies he wishes, actually.
 
Meadow

Meadow

Turquoise Blue said:
Oh God, Gordon Brown... What happened to the glory days of Left-Labourism? :(
Click to expand...

With a POD of 1981, Brown is probably a very different man - particularly if he's a close ally of a Michael Foot-raised Robin Cook. I imagine the glory days are still underway. Blair himself was described in an earlier update as being from the soft-left of the party.
 
Aelita

Aelita

Fascinating. I hope that something less than full capitalist restortion occurred in the Eurasian Union

Perhaps Gorbachev's election motto should be something like "21st century socialism is soviet power plus the internet"
 
Techdread

Techdread

Hague called the general election as last as he feasibly thought he could do whilst still maintaining a lead in the polls. The economy had continued to be stable during his tenure as Prime Minister and various domestic reforms had been implemented: the privatisation of some key industries and amenities; an official end to the Trouble of Northern Ireland had been signed by himself and his Home Secretary, Michael Howard; and the welfare state continued to reform eliminating ‘needless bureaucracy’ as Hague put it. Foreign relations between the United Kingdom and Europe had cooled – French President Jospin sought closer relations between the three main European nations of France, the United Kingdom and the reunited Germany under Gerhard Schroder, however the Eurosceptics in both main parties were against any possible repeat of the EEC under any new guise.

The 2001 campaign itself proved to be more of a match than either Brown or Hague had expected. Whilst Hague continued his own policies of closer relations with the US and greater economic freedom within the private sector, Brown called for diplomatic neutrality between the US, Europe and Eurasia; portraying Britain as the powerbroker amongst the Great Powers. A divided Britain went to the polls, seemingly undecided firmly enough by either of the main parties. Both Labour and the Conservatives, neither successful in creating a majority government, started seeking out paths with other parties to create a functioning government.

The Liberals, newly under Simon Hughes, refused to participate in any government led by Brown or Hague. The Ulster Unionists were eager to aid the Conservatives, but would still fall short of the required majority, and none of the more regional parties would be so successful to put themselves forward as possible kingmakers. In the end, with the largest minority, Hague would go on to become the Prime Minister of the first minority Conservative government.

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2001
Subsequent Prime Minister: William Hague
Government: Conservative Minority​
 
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Techdread

Techdread

It wouldn’t be long until the government fell – minority government rarely lasted for very long, that was a known fact. Within a year, calls for a vote of no-confidence began to appear in parliament from Labour, quietly supported by the Liberals. Rather than risk a continued Conservative government or possible Con-Lib coalition again, Brown announced his resignation as Labour leader after guaranteeing that the Liberal Party would join a coalition under a new Labour Prime Minister. Brown had already forewarned the person he wished to succeed him that he would be resigning in enough time to gather support.

Once more, Tony Blair nominated himself as a possible leader to bring a resurgent Left to power, however by now he’d become a token contender regardless of his impossibility. Another prominent member of the Left, John Prescott, also stood for the nomination to try and bring a fresher face to the Left of the party rather than the continual failure of Blair. The favourite amongst the entire party was Vince Cable; Brown’s Shadow Chancellor and a figure that the entire party could support. The final vote was nothing unsurprising in the least.

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2002 Labour Party Leadership Election Results
First Ballot
Vince Cable – 62.6%
John Prescott – 23.7%
Tony Blair – 13.7%​
 
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