TLIAD: Whatever happened to the Prince of Darkeness?

Whatever Happened to the Prince of Darkness?




Or




The Prince of Darkness Ages Made Lighter



Excerpt from “Weathering the Wilderness” The Autobiography of Neil Kinnock. Chapter 11: 1985-86 (Published 1998)


“It was at this point we looked to improve the public image of the party. It was 1985 and things hadn’t really improved since the 1983 general election. I, and indeed, the rest of the party knew we couldn’t face another defeat like that with the Alliance seemingly on a continuous rise.


One of my first points of call in the search for an image improvement was to speak to a television producer by the name of Peter Mandelson. Peter worked for London Weekend Television on their politics show Weekend World and I knew of him through his uncle Alexander Butler who was a well connected party member back when I was first involved. We’d met however briefly when he was a councillor in 1980 but he’d since left the party and I hoped to convince him to rejoin.


As it happened I was unsuccessful, which was a shame, Peter was eloquent, charming and had an excellent eye for presenting people, groups and issues in a certain light. This would be a skill he'd still use to his benifit throughout his career, but I digress.


Our meeting, held at an Italian restaurant in Islington was pleasant enough but I just couldn’t convince him to leave television. He saw the move as too risky compared to his current job security. On top of this I’d heard from others (and in meeting him I’d got the impression) that he’d grown tired of politics and rather disillusioned with the Labour party. At the end of the night he said he wasn’t the man for “the mammoth task” of improving Labour’s election record. Still, he was quite friendly and apologetic about it and we remain quite good friends.


Still, with less than three years until the next election, the search for a new image had to go on. "
 
1990-1997: John Major. (Conservative)

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When John Major succeeded Margaret Thatcher his future beyond the next few years was unsure. While some were predicting a slim Labour win at the next General election a strong performance for both the Conservative and Liberal Democratic Parties. The continuing SDP failed to materialise and as Mike Potter successfully defeated the conservative candidate, Willliam Hague at the Richmond By-Election it seemed Britain might move to a true three party system. Labour lacked a strong public showing and for many their few gains in the 1992 election were a simple product of Tory fatigue. Neil Kinnock’s retirement as leader would see John Smith succeed him before his untimely death in 1995. Talk of an electoral pact between the two Labour frontrunners, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair was short lived as both went into the leadership campaign tooth and nail with the party split between the two.

Despite exploiting this angle of a split party and warring factions, the Tories were undeniably on the way out. Britain plummeting out of the ECR and the Black Wednesday that followed tarnished the Tories with a stain that couldn’t be removed. As Labour elected their new labour by a few dozen votes scandals of cash for questions and accusations of corruption merely sealed the Tories’ fate.
 
1997-2005: Gordon Brown (Labour)

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Despite accusations of lacking charisma, in the wake of the strong victory Labour achieved in the 1997 election it was hard for Brown to be unpopular. Brown’s image as an economist helped him present a strong front on the economy with the Chancellor, Alistair Darling and the long leash he gave Tony Blair on foreign affairs helped promote an image of party unity despite the Tories trying to paint the three as a “Scottish Triumverate” (this would only help both Labour and the SNP in the new Scottish parliament). Through Blair, Brown also set up a brief but fairly healthy relationship with president Tsongas (and later his VP turned President Bill Clinton) with both Britain and the USA coming out of nearly two decades of conservative leaders.

Gordon Brown tried to cultivate an everyman image in the knowledge he couldn’t go for the charisma of his Foreign Secretary and former leadership opponent Tony Blair or the leader of the opposition, Michael Portillo. Far from a full rebranding, the 1997 government was a shift towards the center. The focus had been described as “Not just for the working classes but for all people trying to get to work.” This centre-left populism saw greater investment in jobs, infrastructure and education.

As with 1997, Labour’s re-election in 2001 was all but guaranteed. A drop of a few seats to the Tories and the Lib Dems was hardly the sign of the good times coming to an end but his second term was definitely harder than his first. Despite Darling’s promise of “No return to boom and bust” there was an economic downturn, furthered by an outbreak of foot and mouth disease across the country. A rise in Tory and Lib dem ratings would generally be seen as linked to the brief blockading of oil refineries by lorry drivers. The main problem for Brown would come from withn his own party.

The 8th of August 2001 saw the USA face the greatest attack on mainland soil its ever seen. Planes were hijacked and sent on collision into the Statue of Liberty, the Pentagon and the White house. The first two planes found their targets but the third was retaken by the passengers and instead collided with the Washington monument. Following this the USA would intervene in Afghanistan who were seen as supporting Al Qaeda (the group that claimed responsibility for the attacks). Britain formed part of the Coalition that supported the USA in their overthrow of the Taliban government and the government would introduce several anti-terror laws to prevent attacks from happening on British soil. In turn the British would support the US invasion of Iraq against the government of Sadam Hussein. Something which saw strong protest and criticism at home

However it would be revealed in early 2005 that the government had approved an RAF strike on a village over the border with Pakistan on information that the village was hiding Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, information that had been revealed to be false. With the death of several dozen Pakistani citizens the government had to issue an apology to the Pakistani government. This would in turn form a rift (in the eyes of the media, if not the government itself) between the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary over who was to blame for this mistake. This was worsened by the shooting of a British Citizen at Heathrow airport in what would be revealed to be a case of mistaken identity. With Labour dropping in the polls, Brown himself would be discredited when the News of the World revealed documents suggesting the Prime Minister had approved the airstrike on Pakistani soil over the recommendations of the Foreign secretary.

Despite the government’s strong record on the economy, education and quality of living, these mistakes and their support for the US-Led invasion of Iraq would cost them badly and the 2006 election would see all three parties polling very close numbers right up until the final Ballot was counted.
 
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2005-2008: Michael Portillo (Conservative-Liberal Democratic Coalition)

People were torn in the 2005 election. Labour had given them eight years of relative success. A booming economy, higher employment and improvements in healthcare and education, the public had turned against them over Afghanistan and Iraq, something both the Lib Dems and Conservatives were keen to exploit. The Conservatives criticised the government’s actions and intelligence but didn’t have a huge amount to back this up with as, as the Lib Dems were keen to exploit in turn. Though not specifically supporting it, the Tories had been given a free vote in 2004 Iraq and many had supported it. The Lib Dem’s profile was riding high in opposition to the Iraq war, despite many Lib Dem MPs voting for the war in Afghanistan.

Michael Portillo was in turn, not in the strongest position within his party. His failure to at least come close to winning in 2001 saw many try to replace him with their leader of choice. Many saw the future of the party in the Shadow Defence secretary William Hague but Hague, only in parliament since 1992, stood firmly by his leader, as did other proposed replacement such as Ken Clarke and Michael Howard. Only John Redwood had been a consistent critic and he hadn’t formally challenged Portillo.

Labour polled better than many expected but failed to beat the Tories on seats. The Conservatives in turn fell short of a Majority or even a feasible minority government. Portillo then turned to the Lib Dems to arrange a coalition government which had the often shared themes of Civil Liberties at its core. This was in turn seen as being in the public eye at current. This would last three years and see the Coalition withdraw British forces from Iraq much to the annoyance of US President Edwards and plans for extending detention without trial were scrapped. However the matter of civil liberties were one of the few shared areas the two parties had and even then only in part. Other areas where socially Liberal tories and the Lib Dems would face opposition from one nation and cornerstone Tories would be over the legalisation of gay marriage and the Lib Dems proposals on voting reform were voted down by their senior partners. The matter of the EU would come up again and again and be exploited by Labour to great effect. The UK independence party would see its ratings rise as many Tories were accused of “appeasing” the Lib Dems over Europe.

After three tumultuous years and the Tories rising in the polls, Portillo would call a snap election.
 
Tony Blair: 2008-2010
Labour Minority.

The General election of 2009 was a confusing one. Dissatisfaction from the voter bases of both members of the Portillo Coalition hurt them both. The upstart UKIP Party attracted members from the right of both the Conservatives and Labour while Labour attracted the more left wing Lib Dem members. Blair was hurt however by a negative public image as being quite bitter and “moody” after being beaten for the leadership in 1995 then serving as Brown’s Foreign Secretary then receiving a Luke warm endorsement from the outgoing Labour Leader. Blair was also tainted over the government’s conduct in Iraq.


Falling short by three seats Blair would form a minority government with supply and confidence on key policy issues from the SNP, Plaid Cymru (both of whom saw gains), and the formerly 70 now 12 Strong Lib Dems. The Labour ministry would find themselves lacking a key focus and policy narrative, often being seen as trying to continue the policies rejected at the previous election. Key policies would involve greater powers for the Scottish and Welsh parliaments and directly elected mayors for several key cities.


Blair’s government would receive a blow when the News of the World was caught up in a scandal over private investigators hired by the paper accessing voicemail messages of several celebrities or persons of interest. One person implicated by the revelations included Blair’s press secretary and former News of the World editor Peter Mandelson. These revelations came at the time of local government elections and two by-elections (including the former Home Secretary, Robin Cooke). Labour suffered terribly at the polls, losing several major city and county councils and both by-elections. Taking a gamble that public support against the Conservatives was still to weak to beat Labour. Blair sent out negotiators to several potential coalition partners and called an election for November 2010.
 
Liam Fox

2010-2011

Leading Conservative-UKIP Coallition



The general election of 2010 was chaotic to say the least. The proposed debates ahead of the election saw Tony Blair, Liam Fox, Chris Huhne and Tim Congdon saw polls rocket and plummet for all four parties at various points and in various directions in the weeks leading up to the election. A surge was seen for the Greens as a point of focus for disaffected voters and some media attention was gained by them in their protests against being left out of the debates. Blair was seen as corrupt and power hungry. Davis was dubbed by some as a Europhile, (despite being quite the opposite)



In the end no party achieved a majority with the Conservatives achieving slightly more seats than Labour. After negotiations between Labour, the Lib Dems (who failed to see gains), the Greens (who achieved their first two seats in Bristol West and Brighton Pavilions), the SNP (who gained a significant number of seats) and Plaid fell through in various combinations an agreement was achieved between the Conservatives and UKIP, the key point of which was a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union to be carried out in August of 2011. Other proposals included a repeal of the hunting ban and reform of the NHS.



Fox would remain in the role for whole six months before an expenses scandal rocked parliament with Fox being found to have claimed significant amounts to cover travel as well as mortgage payments. Shortly afterwards newspaper articles revealed that the prime minister had been letting a friend, Adam Werritt, living rent free in a property he owned, raising questions of corruption and influence. Fox resigned in April 2011. With barely four months until the referendum, the party chose Fox’s successor, aware that their choice could critically shape the country’s future.
 
David Davis (2010-2010)

(Conservative-UKIP Coalition)

Given the approach of the referendum the election for party leader was rushed with the vote coming down to David Davis and George Osborne, representing the anti and pro EU sides of the party. Davis narrowly won and threw himself into the campaign, clashing with Labour leader David Miliband. Davis was tarnished in some newspapers as being appointed by the party rather than by the electorate. On other matters he also clashed with Nigel Farage, the Deputy Prime Minister. The Tories and their Junior partners also clashed over both claims about Britain after the UK leaving the European union or “Ukxit” as it was being called in the media (pronounced Uk-zit) as well as conduct in referendum campaigning.

Come the actual referendum both men would find themselves on the losing side as the country voted to remain 53%-47% with significant majorities for remain in both Scotland and Wales. Despite calls of voting fraud from several UKIP MPs the vote was accepted by the Prime Minister who resigned shortly after, leaving the Tories dropping in the polls and the coalition teetering on the brink of collapse.
 
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George Osborne

2011-2012

(Conservative-UKIP Coalition)


After a shortened summer break, the conservative party voted on a new leader for the third time in a year. Former second place choice George Osborne was elected over Jeremy Hunt and Andrea Leadsome. Osborne had been a prominent campaigner for the remain campaign. Osborne’s honeymoon period was quickly over when the bank Natwest faced Liquidity shortages. This soon expanded into a financial crisis caused by the sale of high-risk mortgages which failed to be repaid. Internationally this lead to the collapse of several banks including “Freddie Mac” and “Fannie May” in the US and BNP Paribas in France. Although Osborne and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond would act and bail out first Natwest, then several other banks to allow them to keep lending. Despite this, the Britain and the world went into a great recession and Osborne was blamed for this. Osborne was criticized by both his own party and the public for increasing VAT and cutting spending in key areas.


It was finally a 4p hike on beer of all things that lead to a walk out by Nigel Farage, the Deputy Prime Minister. This was a spark that not only caused UKIP to collapse as a political party but the coalition as a whole. Cuts to the NHS and local spending had been opposed by several of UKIPs 21 MPs but with Farage’s protest the party began to split. Finally a vote of no confidence was carred out against the coalition and the country went to the Polls.
 
David Miliband

(2013-Present)

Labour Majority


With the Osborne government being the face of the recession and UKIP fracturing while still campaigning for parliament, a Labour Majority was a fair bet, in the end Labour would secure a Majority of 88 seats, Osborne lacking in the TV debates against the young Charismatic David Miliband and the “man who foresaw the financial crisis” Vince Cable. UKIP failed to submit a leader for the debates with the party splitting into several parts with the election campaign still going on. The Greens also suffered, losing two of their three seats with only Party Leader Caroline Lucas keeping her seat.


Miliband dove into action, bringing financial reform and implementing an emergency tax on the banks alongside his Chancellor, Yvette Cooper. Slowly the country pulled itself out of recession with investment in the NHS, education and the railways. Criticism seeped into the public sphere over private financial investment in healthcare and the civil service and Milibands wholehearted support of President Bush’s intervention in Libya, with British Troops landing in Libya to support rebels from 2014.


Still after the chaos of the previous six years as Miliband promised in his election: Things could only get better.
 
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