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IOTL, the Conservatives did quite well at the 2005 General Election, recovering from their harrowing results in 1997 and 2001 and winning 198 seats to position the Party on a clear springboard to challenge Labour in 2010.

But what if the Conservatives did better, and won the General Election?

Now, with a POD after the 2001 general election this is quite difficult (although not impossible), so here is a scenario which gives the Conservatives the easiest path back to power:

Let's say that the Conservatives do better in 2001, gaining 20-30 seats rather than the one they did IOTL. William Hague still retires as leader and the Conservatives go through their leadership changes (IDS to Howard) over the subsequent Parliament, during which life is far more difficult for Labour - as well as dealing with the fallout from Iraq, Blair is also faced by a leadership challenge from Brown, who has become irritated at the Prime Minister for failing to abide by the Granita Pact and stand down in his favour after winning two general elections. Such a leadership election is divisive and brings out the worst in both Blair and Brown, with both sides snipping and attacking one another, which leads to the electorate gradually shifting away from Labour. Blair eventually comes out on top, fending off Brown who resigns from the Chancellorship and moves to the backbenches (perhaps some other Brownites, such as Ed Balls, go with him), where he becomes a nuisance for the Government.

With Labour polling poorly ITTL, Blair holds off until 2006 before calling a GE, yet by this point Labour's woes in Government, combined with the lacklustre leadership of the Lib Dems by Ming Campbell, creates a perfect scenario for Howard and the Conservatives, who return to power with a slim, yet workable, majority.

So, now we have the scenario, what would a Howard Government look like? How would the Conservatives handle a financial crisis? Given his old age, would Howard seek re-election in 2011 (or, if the Government has done well, 2010)? What would Trans-Atlantic relations look like? President Bush was actually quite hostile to Howard when he visited America during his leadership of the Conservatives (see this BBC Article), so I imagine meetings between the two would be quite awkward.
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