alternatehistory.com

Hi all,
This is another British political Wi, partly influenced by a great TL I was reading on here, focussing on the survival of John Smith past his 1994 death, going on to become PM in 1997 and denying Tony Blare the premiership in the process.

My question is, what would have happened if Smith's earlier 1988 heart attack killed him? I heard from somewhere he was at the doctors at the time and that probably saved his life.

If Smith dies in 1988, who replaces him as Shaddow Chancellor? Of course it was Gordon Brown OTL, though that was only while Smith was recoverring. Does Brown become Shaddow Chancellor on a perminant bases here?

How does this affect Thatcher's remaining time in office and the subsequent 1992 election?

If we assume there are minimal butterflies from Smith's death and Kinnock still loses to Major on schedule, who becomes Labour leader at this point instead of Smith? IOTL, Smith was pretty unanimously respected within the party, leading to his almost Brown-like corination in the 1992 Leadership contest.

Could Brown go for it here? Brian Gould was the only other leadership contender, though he lost pretty badly to Smith. Could he win in the absence of Smith though?
Who else is potentially in the running? I have a feeling Blare won't be in a position to do so and therefore won't become PM, at least not in 1997...
Top