WI: Supermac killed at the Somme?

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
I apologise if the title is slightly clickbaity, however it's a question I've been thinking on for a few hours now. What if Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister and all around decent chap, was killed at the Battle of Flers–Courcelette, which IOTL he was severally wounded at whilst leading his advancing Platoon. Assuming his wounds were worse or he was killed by a German Soldier patrolling the area, what effect would his death on the world?
 
I read this and thought "Malcolm Macdonald can't possibly be old enough to have been at the Somme"
 
Rab Butler as PM in the long run.
Assume that the Liberals keep Stockton on Tees in the 1924 election, how does this affect British politics?
 
It is extremely unlikely that RAB Butler would become Leader of the Conservative Party let alone PM. Rightly or wrongly the Grandees didn't like him (he's not really one of us syndrome). There was an "anybody but RAB" movement when Eden went and also when Macmillan went (hence Douglas-Hume).
If Supermac died on the Somme then the butterflies will flap quite hard but assuming things converge after a time Selwyn LLoyd to replace Eden?
 
Rab Butler as PM in the long run.
Assume that the Liberals keep Stockton on Tees in the 1924 election, how does this affect British politics?

It is very unlikely that the Liberals would have kept Stockton-on-Tees in the 1924 general election. In OTL they went from first to third place and their vote fell from 34.5% to 24.9% compared with the 1923 general election. The Conservative vote increased from 34.3% to 42.0% and the Labour vote rose from 31.2% to 33.1%.

But if the Liberals kept the seat for some reason it would mean only that there was one more Liberal and one less Conservative MP. The Liberal MP was Robert Strother Stewart. Here is his entry in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Strother_Stewart. Considering that he did not seek re-election after he was defeated, if he had been re-elected I expect he would have retired as an MP at the 1929 general election.
 

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
Rab Butler as PM.

Probably a better deal.

Rab Butler as PM in the long run.
Assume that the Liberals keep Stockton on Tees in the 1924 election, how does this affect British politics?

As Lindseyman, Rab was a bit too unpopular with the Magic Circle to replace Eden, although I wouldn't mind living in a word where he did.

If the Conservatives loose Stockton, they'll be loosing to Frederick Fox Riley of Labour. I'm not sure how Riley entering the House five years early would change politics, however the wider implications of Macmillan not being there are interesting; Macmillan wouldn't be part of the radical conservatives, his extremely influential role diminished on account of him being dead, which could result in the Conservatives Central wing greatly diminished.
 
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