WI : Angela Lansbury Became Britain's First Woman Prime Minister?

ah-sue

In OTL:
Angela Brigid Lansbury was born (16 October 1925) in the borough of Poplar, London (England!). Her mother was an actress, but her father and grandfather were socialist politicians.

Father - Isaac Edgar Lansbury (1887–1935), known as Edgar Lansbury, was elected to Poplar Council in 1912 representing both the Labour Party and the Communist Party of Great Britain. In 1924, he became a member of the Communist Party’s Central Committee. From 1924 to 1925, he served as Mayor of Poplar, the UK's second Communist mayor

Grandfather - George Lansbury (1859 - 1940) was a socialist, Christian pacifist and newspaper editor. He was a Member of the UK Parliament 1910-1912 and 1922-1940, rising to become Leader of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935.

With the fall of France in 1940 and the onset of the German bombing campaign against London, Angela’s mother took her and her two brothers to Montreal, New York and eventually Los Angeles. Choosing to follow her mother into a stage career, Angela’s first film appearance was as a maid in Gaslight (1944), for which she received an Academy Award nomination. She starred in the TV series ‘Murder She Wrote’ from 1984 to 1996.

What if she had chosen to follow her father and grandfather, enter politics and eventually become the United Kingdom's first woman Prime Minister?

(POD could be either not leaving the UK for America or choosing to return to the UK at the end of WW2)
 

mailinutile2

Interview with PM Angela Landsbury,
printed on The Guardian,
12 February, 1984
----------------------------------------------------------------

"I started in London, as a maid. My grandfather was a great politician, and I inherited a lot of his political views.
My mother was an actress, too, so "-smiling-" I guess that I inherited some sort of an inbred talent for telling lies with a straight face from her"


[ actual words OTL were: "I started in London, as a kid. My mother knew I had sort of an inbred talent. She was an actress, so I inherited it from her. But I think I got a lot of it from my grandfather, who was a great politician." ]

PMAngela.jpg
 

pipisme

Mrs Lansbury, her daughter Angela and her two sons do not leave the UK for America.

She is elected for Labour as a borough councillor in Poplar in 1951.

She unsuccessfully contests a marginal Conservative seat in London in the May 1955 general election.

She is elected Labour MP for the safe seat of East Ham, North at the by-election on 30 May 1957. There was such a by-election in OTL.

The Tories win the general election of October 1959. Lansbury is elected to the shadow cabinet.

Hugh Gaitskell does not die in January 1963, unlike in OTL. Labour win the October 1964 general election with a majoity of around 25 (compared with 4 in OTL). He appoints Lansbury Minister of Housing and Local Government. After a cabinet reshuffle in 1966 she becomes Home Secretary.

The Tories win the April 1969 general election by a majority of around 40 to 45 and Edward Heath becomes Prime Minister. In 1972 Lansbury is elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

The oil crisis happens in October 1973 as in OTL and Heath calls a general election for February 1974 as in OTL. Labour win with a small, but adequate majority and Hugh Gaitskell becomes Prime Minister. He appoints Lansbury as Foreign Secretary.

Gaitskell resigns after his 70th birthday on 9 April 1976. Lansbury is elected Leader of the Labour Party and therefore becomes Prime Minister.
 
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Dilvish

Does this Angela Lansbury still do the Manchurian Candidate with Frank Sinatra? Wouldn't the conspiracy crowd love that.
 

Kate

ITTL does a certain greengrocer's daughter from Lincolnshire pursue a career in acting, move to the US, and eventually star in a somewhat smarmy murder mystery TV series in the 80s?
 

alphaboi867

Kate said:
ITTL does a certain greengrocer's daughter from Lincolnshire pursue a career in acting, move to the US, and eventually star in a somewhat smarmy murder mystery TV series in the 80s?
Click to expand...

Well if she does that we'd never get to see Mrs Thatcher and Miss Lansbury square off in the House of Commons, would we? ;)
 

Orville_third

Banned
Dilvish said:
Does this Angela Lansbury still do the Manchurian Candidate with Frank Sinatra? Wouldn't the conspiracy crowd love that.
Click to expand...

It's interesting to note that Angela Lansbury said in an interview that she didn't play "bad guys" in her work, which is interesting in context of her background...

Coincidentally, I was thinking a bit about my "Hollywood" (as it were) AH, in which Audrey Hepburn does not play Eliza in "My Fair Lady" (Why? It would spoil my story...). This leaves Julie Andrews free to take the role of Eliza (and the role of Mrs. Iselin later...), with Angela Lansbury as Mary Poppins! (This may butterfly away "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" and numerous other films as well...)
 

Bernard Woolley

No doubt members of her cabinet start to get murdered, murders happen everywhere she goes and her many relatives are often the acused. But never fear PM Lansbury saves the day...oh wait, that's her alter ego. :D
 

ah-sue

Sorry, but I just couldn’t resist this ……….

Action, She Wrote (David Owen, HarperCollins 2004)

“The cabinet gathered hastily at 4am, just 2 hours after word reached London that the invasion had occurred. I was one of the last to arrive having been in emergency discussions, as Foreign Secretary, with Ted Rogers (Defence Secretary) and the Chiefs of Staff. Angela sat looking calm as my fellow cabinet members displayed emotions ranging from shell shock to anger. The PM had to restore order a number of times as the arguments flowed. Many felt we should only act through the UN, either to obtain approval for military action or international economic sanctions against the aggressor. I was among the 4 or 5 who did not want to get bogged down in the inevitable chatter at the UN. The debate had raged on for almost an hour when I saw Angela scribbling on a small sheet of paper. She folded the paper and had it passed to me. Opening it, I read its first, one-word sentence, “Action.” Just one paragraph followed, instructing me to return with Ted to the Chiefs of Staff and have a preliminary plan for our own invasion on her desk not later than 6pm that evening.

She stood and the room went quiet. “We have tried negotiations bordering on appeasement, sadly forgetting the lesson of recent history. If we fail to act now we shall be encouraging tin pot dictators throughout the world. While I shudder at the thought of needless fighting, the die has been cast for us. While we should use any and all diplomatic avenues, the military response must be pursued – and seen to be pursued – with the utmost vigour. I expect all of us in this room to stay calm, resolved and united until the rule of law is restored. And now, while David is consulting the Chiefs of Staff, I shall be speaking with the President in Washington.” With that, Angela swept out of the room.”
 
Tovarich

Tovarich

Banned
ah-sue said:
Ted Rogers (Defence Secretary)
Click to expand...

Surely Bill Rogers?

Was that a 'slip-of-the-keyboard', or did you really mean Ted Rogers?
I know have lovely image of Massed regiments of 'Dusty Bin' tanks with BAOR, and Ted Rogers doing countdown to missile tests personally....3-2-1!:)
 
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