WI: Robin Cook was elected leader of the Labour Party in 1994 instead of Tony Blair

I have been reading A Walk-On Part: Chris Mullin's Diaries 1994-1999. In his entry for 12 May 1994 - the day John Smith died - Mullin writes that sometime after 9pm he met Cook in a gloomy corridor in the House of Commons. "We chatted briefly about the succession. He says he hasn't made up his mind to stand, but I think he will. And why not?"

So what if Cook stood for the Labour Party leadership and was elected. Labour would still have won the May 1997 general election and most likely the following election in 2001 or 2002. How would the domestic and foreign policies of a Cook government differ from those of Tony Blair's government in OTL? If he is Prime Minister in the winter of 2002/2003 and the spring of 2003, what would be his policy as regards Iraq?

Assuming he died from a heart attack on 6 August 2005, as in OTL, who would succeed him as leader of the Labour Party, and Prime Minister, if he is still Prime Minister?
 
The problem with this is that Cook would lose if he stood. Badly. And if you try to remove the other contenders beforehand to clear a path, you're basically talking about a timeline with all its contortions, and not an easily answered WI - their removal would impact on events that followed.

Sorry to pee in the pool, but it is really quite difficult to get Robin Cook as leader of the Labour Party.
 
Yup agree whilst he was generally popular within the party I think the party and in particular many Labour MPs were fully aware of the need for a leader who "wouldn't frighten the horses" by that I mean a leader who would appeal to the undecided middle ground voters (people who were most likely to switch in key English marginals and deliver a Labour majority)
Given in 1994 it was only 2 years since Labour had lost its fourth general election - the overriding ambition of most labour members was to win which was why Blair won and then managed to persuade the party at large to ditch some sacred cows in a continuation of the reforms that Kinnock had started in Labour's long march back to power.
 
Yup agree whilst he was generally popular within the party

He wasn't though, that's the thing.

It's been a while since I've read Mullins' diaries, but I believe he touches on this himself - he says something along the lines of 'Robin is more respected than liked'. He had a small band of admirers, people much like Chris Mullins in fact, intellectual soft left types, but was there any substantial body of opinion which viewed him as leadership material, no.

All this Robin Christ, Superstar stuff which you get with Cook is, much like John Smith in fact, all post-mortem thinking.
 

Heavy

Banned
You tell me. Straw has even more of a non-leader vibe than Cook though, and none of his oratory.

I suppose not. I guess I'm influenced by the fact that Blair gave him some important things to do in the cabinet.

Maybe David Blunkett or John Reid? I'm actually not sure. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.
 
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