What if Michael Foot won the 1976 Labour leadership election?

What if Michael Foot won the 1976 Labour leadership election and became Prime Minister of the UK? What PoD would be needed to achieve this? What would be the effects? Foot would presumably be a shift to the left-how would the Labour Party be effected in this period? I could see a bigger Thatcher victory in 1979. How would Foot govern? How would the late 1970s go differently? What if?
 
I doubt that Foot would be able to negotiate the Lib-Lab pact, so the General Election would occur earlier than OTL. Paradoxically, Labour would probably do better in a 1978 election than they did in 1979 and might even scrape a victory.
 
Not under a leader who'd likely be incompetent. I'd say they'd lose a 1978 election.

In which case Foot would be replaced as leader. Who'd be the likely candidates at this point ? Probably Benn and Healey. Jenkins would still be in Europe at this time and I think it's a bit too soon for Owen while Callaghan has missed his chance.
 
In otl following misleading economic figures the Labour gover,nent imposed sharp cuts, sort of Thatcher light. There was a section of the government that wanted to resist this.

Maybe more money is paid to low paid workers and the 'Winter of Discontent' avoided
 
Not under a leader who'd likely be incompetent. I'd say they'd lose a 1978 election.
I think you're basing your opinion of Foots capabilities on OTL which isn't particularly fair when discussing ATL and I also think you are being disingenuous to a talented politician without considering all the facts.

A: Whoever led Labour unless they somehow bought back Clement Attlee was going to get their arse kicked in 1983. Possibly not by the same margin but with Thatcher at the top of her game and a successful patriotic war behind her it was her election to lose not Labour's to win.

B: The Left/Right argument in Labour had been brewing for some time. Perhaps under Healey you could have avoided the SDP split but perhaps instead you would have got a Socialist Labour split or just five years of factional infighting. The SDP aside the fact that Labour remained a reasonably united force throughout the 80's is at least partially down to Foots work.

The wrong leader at the wrong time. Possibly. But incompetent. Certainly not.
 
Foot is an interesting man. He was of the left, but unlike the current labour Leader he was a true patriot. He supported Thatcher when Leader during the Falklands War, and he had been one of the major figures on the left during the 1930's who attacked appeasement and fascism.
Weirdly Thatcher liked him personally saying in her book that the was an old fashioned "gentleman" she even stopped some personal attack adverts against him during the 1983 General Election. She just opposed his policies not him personally.
As for him winning in 1976 that is very possible, I agree I think we would have had election circa 1977 instead, god knows who wins that, maybe a hung parliament like Feb 1974.
 
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