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Moth's Graphics & Test Thread

1997: Labour [270], Unionist [190], Liberal [100], Celtic Alliance [83], Green [7]; Labour & Celtic Alliance coalition, Maj. 56
2002: Unionist [293], Liberal [161], Labour [138], Celtic Alliance [38], Green [20]; Unionist minority
2005: Unionist [277], Labour [170], Liberal [164], Green [27], Celtic Alliance [12]; Labour & Liberal Coalition, Maj. 18
2009: Unionist [328], Labour [170], Liberal [133], Green [26], Celtic Alliance [2]; Unionist, Maj. 6
2014: Unionist [253], Labour [167], Liberal [167], Nationalist [40], Green [23]; Labour & Liberal 'Coalition of Equals', Maj. 18
2019: Unionist [282], Labour [192], Liberal [86], Nationalist [51], Green [39]; Labour & Liberal & Nationalist Coalition, Maj. 8

1997-2002: Richard Williamson (Labour)
def. 1997 (Celtic Alliance Coalition): John Langston (Unionist), Susan Hunt (Liberal), Andrew MacKenzie (Celtic Alliance), Arthur Harrow (Green)
2002-2005: John Davenport (Unionist)
def. 2002 (Minority): Susan Hunt (Liberal), Richard Williamson (Labour), Andrew MacKenzie (Celtic Alliance), Arthur Harrow (Green)
2005-2009: Kirsty Hines (Labour)
def. 2005 (Liberal Coalition): John Davenport (Unionist), David Evans (Liberal), Jack Cameron (Celtic Alliance), Arthur Harrow (Green)
2009-2014: John Davenport (Unionist)
def. 2009 (Majority): Kirsty Hines (Labour), David Evans (Liberal), Arthur Harrow (Green), Jack Cameron (Celtic Alliance)
2014-2021: Dr. Walter Campbell (Independent, Lord Campbell of Yeovilton)
def. 2014 (Labour & Liberal Coalition): John Davenport (Unionist), William McIrvine (Labour), David Evans (Liberal), Alec Robertson/Dafydd Jones (Nationalist), Susan Peter (Green)
def. 2019 (Labour & Liberal & Nationalist Coalition): Martha Coleridge (Unionist), William McIrvine (Labour), Simone Clarke (Liberal), Alec Robertson/Dafydd Jones (Nationalist)
, Susan Peter (Green)
2021-2024: William McIrvine (Labour)
 
1997: Labour [270], Unionist [190], Liberal [100], Celtic Alliance [83], Green [7]; Labour & Celtic Alliance coalition, Maj. 56
2002: Unionist [293], Liberal [161], Labour [138], Celtic Alliance [38], Green [20]; Unionist minority
2005: Unionist [277], Labour [170], Liberal [164], Green [27], Celtic Alliance [12]; Labour & Liberal Coalition, Maj. 18
2009: Unionist [328], Labour [170], Liberal [133], Green [26], Celtic Alliance [2]; Unionist, Maj. 6
2014: Unionist [253], Labour [167], Liberal [167], Nationalist [40], Green [23]; Labour & Liberal 'Coalition of Equals', Maj. 18
2019: Unionist [282], Labour [192], Liberal [86], Nationalist [51], Green [39]; Labour & Liberal & Nationalist Coalition, Maj. 8

1997-2002: Richard Williamson (Labour)
def. 1997 (Celtic Alliance Coalition): John Langston (Unionist), Susan Hunt (Liberal), Andrew MacKenzie (Celtic Alliance), Arthur Harrow (Green)
2002-2005: John Davenport (Unionist)
def. 2002 (Minority): Susan Hunt (Liberal), Richard Williamson (Labour), Andrew MacKenzie (Celtic Alliance), Arthur Harrow (Green)
2005-2009: Kirsty Hines (Labour)
def. 2005 (Liberal Coalition): John Davenport (Unionist), David Evans (Liberal), Jack Cameron (Celtic Alliance), Arthur Harrow (Green)
2009-2014: John Davenport (Unionist)
def. 2009 (Majority): Kirsty Hines (Labour), David Evans (Liberal), Arthur Harrow (Green), Jack Cameron (Celtic Alliance)
2014-2021: Dr. Walter Campbell (Independent, Lord Campbell of Yeovilton)
def. 2014 (Labour & Liberal Coalition): John Davenport (Unionist), William McIrvine (Labour), David Evans (Liberal), Alec Robertson/Dafydd Jones (Nationalist), Susan Peter (Green)
def. 2019 (Labour & Liberal & Nationalist Coalition): Martha Coleridge (Unionist), William McIrvine (Labour), Simone Clarke (Liberal), Alec Robertson/Dafydd Jones (Nationalist)
, Susan Peter (Green)
2021-2024: William McIrvine (Labour)

Are these real people? or hypothetical scenarios
 
Are these real people? or hypothetical scenarios
With a lot of the lists on this test thread, it's all hypothetical; a lot of it is just testing out vague ideas, sometimes to see if stuff that I might do for further Zugzwang style TLs and such work, or would just be stuff I'd turn into proper lists with annotations and such. This is more the former, as I'm quite interested by the 'National Government with an Independent Peer PM', although it's the barest of bones and the methodology is very junky.
 
With a lot of the lists on this test thread, it's all hypothetical; a lot of it is just testing out vague ideas, sometimes to see if stuff that I might do for further Zugzwang style TLs and such work, or would just be stuff I'd turn into proper lists with annotations and such. This is more the former, as I'm quite interested by the 'National Government with an Independent Peer PM', although it's the barest of bones and the methodology is very junky.

That's a good idea. I might steal it for scenarios I was thinking of (is it voting reform? it is voting reform) TBH I've done this with ideas of royal succession already.
 
That's a good idea. I might steal it for scenarios I was thinking of (is it voting reform? it is voting reform) TBH I've done this with ideas of royal succession already.
I don't mind people taking inspiration or using the general ideas/scenarios I post here, as I'm sure yourself and others would have good faith to change it enough to make it your own.
 
A Shooting Star
Stood smoking on the veranda of his compound, Jean-Paul DuPont was watching the stars. In a few short minutes, he would hear the news of who had won the 1986 Presidential Election. Leader of the Für die Leute faction in the People’s Choir, for him this news was deeply important, but also news he could have lived without. A portly man of sixty-four in a nation in which the average age was forty-two, he seemed impossibly old. And he felt it to. Fifty years earlier, when he was barely a man, he had been leading his classmates in the Lifankian Mountains against the fascist-corporatist regime of David Larson. Now he led bourgeoisie children half his age, not in an armed uprising against the encroachment of a decadent capitalist west, but rather in parliamentary debate. It was not that he missed this old life; indeed, he was thankful that the only guns he now heard were the shotguns of the gamekeepers and the salute of the National Riflemen. But rather it was some queer nostalgia that he could not place thumb nor finger upon

Perhaps a nostalgia for when life was easier. A nostalgia for home.

His lover called for him from the window; the results of the exit poll were about to come through on the television. Flicking his cigarette to the hard gallery decking, he stamped it out and made his way to the front door. The election was a run-off between the Bürgercharta candidate Hans Neumann and the FdL candidate Kurt Weber. DuPont had little love for Weber, a bourgeoisie liberal who cared little for FdL’s heritage, and who would have been more at home in the Soziale Gruppe, although he was empathetic. Six years prior, he had been in Weber’s shoes. He lost badly; so badly he considered quitting the game of politics all together and retiring to dig sweet potatoes from the earth. But muddy hands were not for a statesman. The FdL came third in the popular vote, and formed the third largest party once the SG joined the Bü in Government. DuPont had responsibilities.

It was then he saw it. Out of the corner of his eye, a blazing fireball in the early March sky. Halley’s Comet. It crept into view from behind Mt Lucy. DuPont was overwhelmed. He quietly wept, for he knew what it meant. Stood alone on his veranda that overlooked the North Pacific, he was sure that it was an omen.

After a few moments, DuPont composed himself and shuffled inside. In the room were several men. They would have otherwise noticed their chief’s reddened face had their eyes not been glued to the television screen. DuPont knew what it meant. He did not need to see it. Instead he sat down and began to drink. Within a few moments, the phone rang. His brother, Simone, sending congratulations. And then the Choirmen and Women whose election had been all but ensured by the results now being discussed enthusiastically by those around the television. The next Chancellor of Lifankia, Jean-Paul DuPont, wished he had never stepped off of the veranda.
 
1961-1963: John Kennedy, United States Secretary of State

There was no doubting that John Kennedy was an ambitious man. Or rather, a man whose ambitions were laid of for him. Bespectacled, well spoken, handsome, and straddled in a wheelchair, when John Kennedy was made Secretary of State under President Symington, many compared him to a latter day Roosevelt. Great hope surrounded Massachusetts favourite son; in the end he was a great disappointment and resigned in shame.

1963-1969: Lyndon B. Johnson, Governor of Texas
 
Been thinking of some 'pitches' for TLs to follow up 7 By-Elections, and having hit a deadlock for a few weeks now (as should be indicated by all the half finished stuff on this test thread), sods might as well post the most clear ideas I have here:

The Very End of the World
A short series of essays talking about the development of London in the post-war, from Mayor Clement Attlee's redevelopment following the Second World War to Roy Major's scandal ridden helmsmanship and the movement into the several 'sub-cities' that make up Greater London.

He Was Ten Years in Power
Chartering the decade long leadership of Australia's first republican President.

No Easy Way
A brief discussion of the Councils under control by the former National Alliance member, the Liberal Party, in the year 2010. Somehow use it to explore how the Tories are thriving in the north of England.

Rise and Thrive
Councils under control by minor party's, like Communists, Nationalists, Independents Residents, and Fascists.

The Parties of Wales
An overview of the party's that make up the Council of Wales and Monmouthshire, and Wales' special devolution situation.
 
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They're all councils in the south where voting for such party's is trendy and really the only non-Labour alternatives in Labour's stranglehold of Southern cities.

You could really make it work in Scotland if you can somehow avoid the entry of the major parties into local elections.
 
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In Power was a satirical British mockumentary created by Jimmy Perry and Roy Battersby, and written by Battersby and Edward Du Cann, transmitted by BBC Television from 1970 to 1974 in four six episode seasons. Overall there were 25 episodes, all but one which lasted half an hour.

A sequel of the 1963 stage play of the same name, In Power was principally a satire of the then contemporary British Government, and an ensemble following Cabinet of the fictitious Conservative Prime Minister Ted Heath, played by Edward Heath, previously Chief Whip in the stage play. The series would be notable for its unprecedented portrayal of a dysfunctional Government, centering on themes of clumsiness, frustration, social dysfunction, animosity and the struggles of running a functioning Government, which many would see as a direct attack of the Pike Premiership. Due to this, the series would be plagued by controversy and received mixed reviews, although in retrospect has received acclaim.

Initially set around a small cast of characters, the scope of In Power would greatly expand in second and third series, tackling issues of economic strife, reformation in education and local government, Northern Ireland, and perhaps most famously European Integration, as well as more personal issues of death, sexuality, and personal loyalties. The fourth and final season would see Heath and his Cabinet cast to the Opposition following a narrow defeat in the General Election that resulted in a hung Parliament, and finally defeated in a subsequent Snap Election.

Other aspects of the show that would be noted was its style; unlike many other comedy shows of the time, In Power broke the trend of single-camera set ups and studio audiences, instead using the fly-on-the-wall style of Cinéma vérité, producing a show unique and unlike anything else at the time. Due to the pressures of filming, with single takes often times running for some ten minutes, and the issues Peter Carrington had in remembering his characters name, it was decided by the production for the cast to use their real names, giving an added sense of realism.

Whilst receiving low ratings during its second and third season, the show was broadly popular, even adapted to American audiences with Farmer Jimmy, which premiered 20 January 1977 on CBS. Syndication on BBC 4 and Sky TV during the late 80's and retrospective analysis of the series would see a follow up, Grey Men and Red Boxes, premier in November of 1990, and last seven seasons until 1997. The show remains a cult classic.

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Grey Men and Red Boxes is a British Political Satire of the inner workings of the then modern British Goverment, first broadcast on 28 October 1990. A follow-up toIn Power, and created by co-creator Roy Battersby, like its predecessor, Grey Men and Red Boxes is a mockumentry exploring the day-to-day work of the Cabinet of Conservative Prime Minister John Major (played by then unknown comedian Roy Major in his breakout role), and the frustrations and strains of high political office.

Following Major and his Cabinet from Major's succession of the previous Prime Minister to his heavy General Election defeat, the show was notable for its large and continuously changing cast of characters. With similar themes of frustration, desperation, political impotency, and social animosity, Grey Men and Red Boxes was initially seen by reviews as a rehash of In Power, an accusation unhelped by story arcs such as economic strife and European Integration. Despite this, many would find the more personal focus on Prime Minister Major refreshing, although courted controversy due to the homoerotic subtext and his infidelities during the early seasons, newspapers viewing the topics as inappropriate and insulating to then Prime Minister Collingridge. However high ratings, particularly in the second season, would save the show from cancellation, although the show would continue to court controversy with the sleaze arc.

Another notable aspect of the show would be its unique filming arrangement, with the script and filming done weeks, even in some cases days, before broadcasting. This allowed the show to comment on then contemporary political event, such as Black Friday, which was immortalized as Black Wednesday, although this arrangement would cause controversy, such as during the third season episode Luck of the Irish, in which Major announced his refusal to sit down with fictional Sinn Féin leader, Gerry Adams, which came on the day of the Good Friday Massacre. Despite this, the arrangement would allow for greater dexterity and variety; following the death of John Smith, his character would die with him, replacing him with Tony Blair, who remained a prominent fan favorite following his debut.

As with In Power, the cast used their real names for their characters, although Roy Major would be referred to as John Major. Whist retaining the fly-on-the-wall style that made the original famous, Grey Men and Red Boxes would shed its ensemble focus, instead centralizing on Major. Some, such as Michael Heseltine and John Redwood, were unhappy by this decision. Redwood's own displeasure would be used as the basis of the season 5 episode Survival of the Fittest, for which Redwood would win a BAFTA for best dramatic performance.

Despite critical acclaim and early high ratings, though seasons five to seven the show suffered low ratings, which many pointed to as being caused by the perpetuation of the Sleaze Arc, and the inability to top Black Wednesday. The show would end on 2 May 1997 in a two hour special, which would see John Major loose heavily to Tony Blair. The finally, titled Last Call, would receive a staggering 20 Million Views, and a BAFTA.

Immediately following the shows end, there was talk of a spin-off following Major's successor- both Michael Portillo and Malcolm Rifkind would be offered the lead, however they would turn it down due to scheduling issues. Eventually William Hague would be cast as Major's successor, although the spin-off would languish in development hell until its axing in 2001. A second follow up, this time following Michael Howard, would be proposed in 2003, but it too was axed. Finally a follow up, titled The High Castle, following the Premiership of the season 2 and 3 recurring character David Cameron, premiered on 11 May, 2010, and ended on 13 July, 2016.

The show was also saw a crossover with Farmer Jimmy, in the form of cast member George Bush, here portraying the American President (having previously portrayed Senator and subsequent Vice President), George H.W. Bush, which bought the shows into shared continuity.

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The High Castle was a satirical British mockumentary broadcast by the BBC on BB2 from 6 May 2010 to 23 June 2016. The third and most recent entry of the In Power series, it followed the Cabinet of Prime Minister David Cameron (played by Donald Cameron) and the day-to-day activities of a Coalition Government. Overall 48 episodes were released over six seasons.

Following David Cameron from his near victory in the 2010 General Election and the formation of his Coalition Government with Nick Clegg (played by Nick Clegg), through to his resignation in the aftermath of a Referendum on Britain's status in the European Union, the show was noticeably bleaker than its predecessors, with critics noting that the previous focus on the frustrations of running Government eschewed in favour for, as Seamus Milne of the Guardian would write, "the anxiety of the public mask and what it means to be a politician in modern society, and the consequences of when that mask slips". Other critics would also point out that the show concerned itself strongly with the interactions between the Coalition partners and the "savage" breakdowns of those interactions, as well as the traditional themes of desperation and political impotency.

Much like its predecessors, the show was frequently written shortly before filming and transmission in an attempt to keep it relevant to ongoing political events. Notable examples of this would include the Falklands diplomatic stand-off, the Arabian Civil War (rendered in-show as the Libyan and Syrian Civil Wars), the offshore banking scandal, and the London Riots. Additionally, as had become tradition many of the actors used their real names, though some, such as Donald Cameron, Gideon Osborne, and Theresa Braisier, would opt to use variations of their names in order to personally distance themselves from the characters.

The show has received a great deal of attention, both critically and politically, famously coming under fire from Prime Minister Durrell. Though receiving warm reviews from the press, the fifth season of the show would prove to be controversial, with the Coalition ending and much of the cast leaving, many finding the subsequent plots to have become increasingly outlandish and silly, such as the infamous 'Piggate' story, as well as bordering at times of wish-fufilment, espeically after the introdution of Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn. The development of Michael Gove would receive particular attention among the fan community, who noted a dramatic decline in his intelligence and abilities as the series progressed, as well as the absurdly antagonistic behaviour of Iain Smith. Despite this, the sixth and final season, which delt with the collapse of the Cabinet, a Refrendum on the European Union, and the resignation of Cameron was critically acclaimed, with 33 million watching the series two-part climax, Turning and Turning.

The High Castle has receive several BAFTA nominations, with Cameron receiving attention for his potrayal of the Prime Minister, critics praising his performance of a "charecter perpetually on the verge of loosing his cool", and Nick Clegg for his role as the belittled Deputy Pime Minsiter. The show was relativly successfull, with an American adaptation, obstantly a sequal to Farmer Jimmy, announced in 2017.

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In Power is a collaborative play by British playwrights William Douglas-Home and Iain Macleod. The play was first produced in 1963 by Chichester Festival Theatre in Chichester, England. Initially written by Macleod as a biography of his time as the Private Secretary of former Prime Minister Iorwerth Jones, Macleod would expand on the fictionalised Jones, who quickly evolved into a fictionalisation of then Prime Minister George Blocket.

Originally titled 'Questions for the Prime Minister', the play is a satire that largely revolves around the brief Premiership of Fredrick, a Foreign Secretary of a scandal ridden Government who is thrust against his will into the role of Prime Minister. Set mainly in his Office at Downing Street, the play confronts the emotional strain Fredrick is put under as he is forced to cope with the burden of both the extraordinary power and impotency of the office, his strained relationship with his wife, the pressures of the Cabinet to pursue conflicting policies, and of the overbearing President Lyndon (based on then sitting President John Merwin). The play concludes on Fredrick's defeat in a General Election, and his replacement by 'Harold', who through the play had heckled the Prime Minister from the peanut gallery, and his decision to resign as Leader in favour of his Whip, 'Ed'.

The initial production was produced by Sir Laurence Oliver and directed by Macleod himself. It opened on October 19, 1963, and closed after 45 performances despite strong reviews, largely due to little interest at the time. It starred Alec Douglas-Home, William Douglas-Home's brother, as Fredrick.

A sequel to the play would eventually be produced as the TV Series In Power. It ran for four seasons.

An American version of play would be produced in 1974, starring Gerald Ford and translated for American audiences.

The play would experience three major revivals: 1976, 1990, 2007, and most recently in 2016. The 1990 and 2016 productions would star the lead actors of Grey Men and Red Boxes and The High Castle- Roy Major and Theresa May, respectively- in the role of Fredrick.

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Alexander Frederick "Alec" Douglas-Home, the 14th Earl Home, KT (2 July 1903 – 3 January 1996) was a British actor and cricketer. Noted for his stage presence and physicality, Home garnering attention for his various roles in pre-war films, however is best remembered for his performance as Lawrence Queen in the 1968 movie, A Serious Man, which earned him nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor, as well lesser roles in the movie The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, and television series such as In Power, Situation Room, The Bush War, The Hurd Diaries, and Furthering Heights. He starred in various stage plays, often for his brother, the playwright William Douglas-Home, and had a famously strained relationship with writer Iain Macleod.

A keen political activist, Home entered the House of Lords following his fathers death in 1951 and sat as a Conservative member until his death in 1996. He married Elizabeth Percy, the daughter of the Duke of Northumberland, with whom he had four children, including the Politician Lilian Douglas-Home, and Economist Charles Douglas-Home. He died on January 3 1996 of renal failure aged 92.

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A Serious Man is a 1968 British-French political thriller film directed by Sidney J. Furie, with a screenplay by Edward du Cann. The film stars Alec Douglas-Home as Newspaper Baron Lawrence King, who, following an incident, goes mad, and, after having his request for an Earlship rejected by the Prime Minster (played by James Callaghan), decides to launch a coup against the Government, who he believes is trying to destroy the country. Dorothy Cavendish plays Agnes Queen, his wife who spurs him on to take down the Government, and Harold Evans as his untrusting assistant. Playing with themes of paranoia, anxiety, and conspiracy, the film presents a detailed depictions of shadowy back room cables and brutal political conflicts.

The film was the second highest grossing movie in Britain in 1968, and received a warm critical reception, with critics citing Home's performance as Lawrence Queen as "electrifying", though were critical of the pacing of the film and the script. Despite this, the film would win a Golden Globe for best picture, with Home nominated for an Academy Award.
 
2000 London Assembly Elections

Overall
667,877 - 39.0% - 13 (12 con., 1 reg.) - Livingstone for London
464,434 - 27.1% - 04 (2 con., 2 reg.) - Conservative
223,884 - 13.1% - 04 (4 reg.) - Labour
203,452 - 11.9% - 02 (2 reg.) - Liberal Democrats
043,060 - 02.4% - 01 (1 reg.) - Christian People's
038,121 - 02.2% - 01 (1 reg.) - Green
 
The 1973 Election

The lead up to the election ultimately looked dire for Labour. Although many in the Cabinet hoped for a miracle, Premier Dunch was adamant that he would be defeated, not just nationally, but in his own seat of Hodge Hill. Where his colleagues scrambled up and down the country to fight off incursion from the Liberals, Communists, and National Frontsmen, Dunch spent his time with his local campaigners, sleeping in a cot in his Constituency Office, practically begging his Constituents for their vote. Charles Arnold was conversely confident; he led in the polls, and was projected for a majority as handsome as the newspapers called him. As Labour drifted first below the Liberals, and then the NF, Arnold's concern was for a blow-out election, one of a majority bigger than what Martin Baxter-Graham had won in 1959, a mere fourteen years prior, perhaps even bigger than what Stanley Baldwin won just forty-two years earlier, when Arnold was ten.

However, as soon as Labour was overtaken, The Guardian (a noted backer of a vague sense of political malaise) dropped an atom bomb on the Unionist campaign: during the last Tory administration, senior Party Members accepted illegal donations, entirely non-disclosed and illegally wired through personal Gibraltar Bank Accounts, often for access to the Sovereign, but also to be put onto honours lists and receive peerages and knighthood. The scandal, at a time of Labour-led austerity during the worst recession the country had known, was enough to send the wheels flying form the Unionist campaign cart, especially once plausible deniably went with the wheels when the Shadow Chancellor, in no ambiguous terms, cheerfully admitted that Arnold was both aware of what was going on and even encouraged it.

Britain hit a rock. Within a matter of days the inevitability of a Unionist Majority melted like magnesium against the flame. The Tories cratered in the polls and never recovered. Even the Daily Mail withdrew its support. Martin Lewes-Peters very suddenly felt 'Prime Ministerial' as the National Front surged. However they did not surge alone; the Liberals shot up with them. The question of "Who Governs Britain" was one that flashed up on every newspaper in the country, and as Polling day hurtled ahead, it looked clear that for the first time in 63 years Britain would not be voting for either the Tories or Labour. Rather its choice increasingly shaped up to be fascism or liberalism; communism as well, although it was noted that, in spite of John Martin's charisma and intense popularity in Britain's industrial regions, Renewal Britain was only running in 200 seats. Enough to cause a Labour wipe-out, and perhaps become the Opposition or even Largest Party in a particularly fragmented result, but not enough to clear the finish line.

Martin Lewes-Peters was itching for a fight with the Liberal Leader Edward Stoke, and as it became increasingly clear that, by the Friday morning, one of them may be Prime Minister, he sought a way to ensure that it would only be him. There had been talk of a debate during the last election, but it had always fallen through. However what Martin had in mind was more of a spectators sport, simply him and Stoke, alone, sparring it out in the verbal arena for the soul of the country, a soul that Lewes-Peters was sure he would win. Dunch and Arnold were not to be invited- how could they be? Labour was barely scraping 13% in the polls while their Leader scurried around on his knees in Hodge Hill, and Arnold was a crook. ITV agreed to do the debate. Lewes-Peters and Stoke were generally opposites; where Lewes-Peters was a stoic, unassuming grey man of banker stoke, Stoke was a flamboyant, articulate barrister. Where Lewes-Peters believed in white supremacy, Douglasite social creditism, and a protectionist who sought splendid isolation, Stoke was a internationalist liberal who made a name fighting for civil rights, and believed in Europe and the 'third way' of untested Hayekite Neo-Liberalism.

The clash came exactly a week before polling day. The field of battle was in the Community Hall of the Lancashire town of Clitheroe, due to its proximity to the 'true centre of Britain', but also as its Constituency, Ribble Valley, was a hotly fought contest between the Liberals, Conservatives, and the National Front. The eyes of Britain descended on the town, despite protest from Arnold, who felt, as the Leader of the Opposition, it was his natural right to be there, and Labour Party spokespersons, who wanted to use it as a chance to drag Dunch away from Hodge Hill and to put his fight to the nation. The broadcast went ahead. It was safe to sat that Lewes-Peters misjudged his abilities. To say that Stoke ran rings around him is to imply that Stoke was merely a better debater. Instead within a 90 minute long broadcast seen by 1/6 of the nation, Lewes-Peters imploded before the eyes of a live audience. Insults were traded. The argument was heated. Lewes-Peters image of a stone cool technocrat was broken down when his face turned "as pink as gammon" and he accused Stoke of being a "*-expletive-* lover". Unable to articulate Social Credit economic theory to the horror of Andre Macmillan, the National Front's Finance Spokesman, Lewes-Peters attacked Stoke, only to collapse when asked if he had any better ideas, and countered Lewes-Peters rally to "Make Britain Great" by accusing him of unnecessary division, and called for Britain to "do things different; to build the fair society; to bring about a better tomorrow".

The next morning following the breaking of the snap poll, in a telegram to his top 400 constituency parties, Stoke told his MPs to prepare for Government. And on polling day, as Dunch wrapped his coat tighter and begged on his final doorstep for support, the bitter winds of change swept through Britain, a wind that would change the country- forever.
 
SDPaboo

2002-copy-png.281942

The United Kingdom general election of 2002 was held on 2 May 2002. Under the leadership of Paddy Ashdown the Labour Party ended its 23 years in opposition and won the general election with a landslide victory over the Conservative-Social Democratic Coalition, capturing 464 seats, the most seats the party has ever held, and the largest electoral majority in British history. The election saw a massive swing of 12.3% from the Conservatives to Labour, granting Ashdown a majority of 269 seats, safely securing his position as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a post which he would hold until his resignation in 2008.

Taking over following the resignation of John Prescott, Ashdown's Labour adopted a "safe hands" approach to the electorate, developing the social democratic platform that had begun under the Leadership of Neil Kinnock, steering economically towards the centre whilst adopting traditionally liberal social policies alongside well established socialist ones under what Ashdown defined as "Gouldnomics", after Chancellor Bryan Gould. Pledging a minimum wage, education and health service reform, federal devolution, electoral reform, economic competences, and a withdrawal from Britain's intervention in the on-going and highly unpopular Russian Civil War, Ashdowns' fierce campaign was ultimately a success and saw the party return from the wilderness with an unprecedented 464 seats, beginning the first of four consecutive Parliaments in power. However internal strife, which had been allowed to fester under the Prescott Leadership through vague notions of 'unity', particularly the division between the Leadership and Backbenches, would see the Party ultimately split in 2003 over Ashdown's failure to follow through with his pledge for withdrawal in Russia, and disagreements with the direction of Gould's economic policies.

The Conservatives, led by incumbent Prime Minister Malcolm Rifkind, would run a campaign emphasising Britain's economic progress, falling unemployment, falling fuel prices, national security, and party unity. In spite of this this, the visible signs of disunity and disloyalty would undermine the message, with the lingering memories of the recent 'Fuel Wars', malaise of the Conservative and Social Democratic Goverment, and the desire for change after a near quarter century led to the Conservative Party's worst defeat since 1906, with only 160 MP's returning to Parliament, not including the Prime Minister, who would loose his own seat in what became known as the 'Red Wash', as well as dozens of other high profile Conservative Members and Cabinet ministers. The Conservative vote share would also be the worst since 1832.

The Social Democrats would suffer in a similar vein, having campaigned on the progress the party had made with the Tories, only for their message to backfire and leave the Party with only 6 MP's out of their 23 strong caucus returning to Parliament. The Conservative Party and Social Democratic Party would ultimately merge shortly following the election, and would spend the next 12 years in Opposition.

As with all elections since the 1950's, the results would be broadcast live on the BBC and ITV, as well as for the first time online, broadcasted by the BBCNet Service.

2002-png.281955
The United Kingdom general election of 2004 was a snap election held on 15 January 2004 following the Democrat Labour Party's split from the Government, The election would see Paddy Ashdown's Labour Party return to office on a narrow majority, returning with 338 seats, a reduction of 138 seats compared to the 464 seat landslide of 2002. It remains the largest loss of seats in a single election to not result in a change of Government.

The Labour campaign emphasised the strong and stable economy, a deescalation of violence in northern England, Northern Ireland, and Russia. Although the Democratic Labour split in August of 2003 triggered the election and placed Labour back considerably, Labour fought back, framing the election 'unnecessary' and the rump Labour as stronger for the loss of its sister opposition, although this did little to quell public perception of Labour as being disunited, fraught with infighting, and ultimately weak.

The Democratic Labour Party, under the leadership of former Home Secretary Robin Cook, campaigned with a similar focus on the Governments success, however diverging with the belief that more traditionally Labourite economic Principles were the way forward, accusing Gould of inflicting unnecessary harm on the nation and promising to nationalise the various industries, the manifesto seen as a throw-back to a quarter of a century, and although popular in many wings of Britain, hopelessly anachronistic.

The Conservative & Social Democratic Party, formed in 2002 in the immediate aftermath of the 2002 General Election, under the Leadership of Sebastian Coe, sought to highlight the Governments failings in Russia, high Goverment Spending on 'wasteful' social programmes, and contrast the split between Labour and Democratic Labour with the unification of the Conservative and Social Democratic Parties. However, Coe himself faced issues with this message, as the National Party, a Conservative breakaway who split following the Conservative and Social Democratic merger, led by Anti-Merger Thatcherite Iain Duncan Smith, campaigned hard as being the 'true alternative' for the Conservative voter base.

During the campaign the four main party Leaders took part in a televised debate, the first of such to take place in Britain. The result would see Democratic Labour shoot up in the Polls, with Robin Cook, despite being perceived as weaker in comparison to the more charismatic Ashdown, viewed as the winner due to providing a more coherent opposition to Ashdown, and for being able to hold his own on matters of security and social reform. The National Party, despite having been touted for a potential breakthrough, suffered at the hands of Duncan Smith, whose lack of charisma resulted in the National Party swinging low in the polls, from which they were unable to recover.

Democratic Labour came second with 148 seats, behind Labour's 338, but edging out the Conservative and Social Democratic Party by 2. Cook would remain Leader and served as the first Leader of the Opposition since 1922 to be neither Labour nor the Conservatives, until his death in 2005. Both the seat share and vote share of the Conservative and Social Democratic Party shrunk, blame put onto National's vote splitting, though Coe would remain Leader. The Election remains the most three cornered since 1929.
 
The 1973 Election

The lead up to the election ultimately looked dire for Labour. Although many in the Cabinet hoped for a miracle, Premier Dunch was adamant that he would be defeated, not just nationally, but in his own seat of Hodge Hill. Where his colleagues scrambled up and down the country to fight off incursion from the Liberals, Communists, and National Frontsmen, Dunch spent his time with his local campaigners, sleeping in a cot in his Constituency Office, practically begging his Constituents for their vote. Charles Arnold was conversely confident; he led in the polls, and was projected for a majority as handsome as the newspapers called him. As Labour drifted first below the Liberals, and then the NF, Arnold's concern was for a blow-out election, one of a majority bigger than what Martin Baxter-Graham had won in 1959, a mere fourteen years prior, perhaps even bigger than what Stanley Baldwin won just forty-two years earlier, when Arnold was ten.

However, as soon as Labour was overtaken, The Guardian (a noted backer of a vague sense of political malaise) dropped an atom bomb on the Unionist campaign: during the last Tory administration, senior Party Members accepted illegal donations, entirely non-disclosed and illegally wired through personal Gibraltar Bank Accounts, often for access to the Sovereign, but also to be put onto honours lists and receive peerages and knighthood. The scandal, at a time of Labour-led austerity during the worst recession the country had known, was enough to send the wheels flying form the Unionist campaign cart, especially once plausible deniably went with the wheels when the Shadow Chancellor, in no ambiguous terms, cheerfully admitted that Arnold was both aware of what was going on and even encouraged it.

Britain hit a rock. Within a matter of days the inevitability of a Unionist Majority melted like magnesium against the flame. The Tories cratered in the polls and never recovered. Even the Daily Mail withdrew its support. Martin Lewes-Peters very suddenly felt 'Prime Ministerial' as the National Front surged. However they did not surge alone; the Liberals shot up with them. The question of "Who Governs Britain" was one that flashed up on every newspaper in the country, and as Polling day hurtled ahead, it looked clear that for the first time in 63 years Britain would not be voting for either the Tories or Labour. Rather its choice increasingly shaped up to be fascism or liberalism; communism as well, although it was noted that, in spite of John Martin's charisma and intense popularity in Britain's industrial regions, Renewal Britain was only running in 200 seats. Enough to cause a Labour wipe-out, and perhaps become the Opposition or even Largest Party in a particularly fragmented result, but not enough to clear the finish line.

Martin Lewes-Peters was itching for a fight with the Liberal Leader Edward Stoke, and as it became increasingly clear that, by the Friday morning, one of them may be Prime Minister, he sought a way to ensure that it would only be him. There had been talk of a debate during the last election, but it had always fallen through. However what Martin had in mind was more of a spectators sport, simply him and Stoke, alone, sparring it out in the verbal arena for the soul of the country, a soul that Lewes-Peters was sure he would win. Dunch and Arnold were not to be invited- how could they be? Labour was barely scraping 13% in the polls while their Leader scurried around on his knees in Hodge Hill, and Arnold was a crook. ITV agreed to do the debate. Lewes-Peters and Stoke were generally opposites; where Lewes-Peters was a stoic, unassuming grey man of banker stoke, Stoke was a flamboyant, articulate barrister. Where Lewes-Peters believed in white supremacy, Douglasite social creditism, and a protectionist who sought splendid isolation, Stoke was a internationalist liberal who made a name fighting for civil rights, and believed in Europe and the 'third way' of untested Hayekite Neo-Liberalism.

The clash came exactly a week before polling day. The field of battle was in the Community Hall of the Lancashire town of Clitheroe, due to its proximity to the 'true centre of Britain', but also as its Constituency, Ribble Valley, was a hotly fought contest between the Liberals, Conservatives, and the National Front. The eyes of Britain descended on the town, despite protest from Arnold, who felt, as the Leader of the Opposition, it was his natural right to be there, and Labour Party spokespersons, who wanted to use it as a chance to drag Dunch away from Hodge Hill and to put his fight to the nation. The broadcast went ahead. It was safe to sat that Lewes-Peters misjudged his abilities. To say that Stoke ran rings around him is to imply that Stoke was merely a better debater. Instead within a 90 minute long broadcast seen by 1/6 of the nation, Lewes-Peters imploded before the eyes of a live audience. Insults were traded. The argument was heated. Lewes-Peters image of a stone cool technocrat was broken down when his face turned "as pink as gammon" and he accused Stoke of being a "*-expletive-* lover". Unable to articulate Social Credit economic theory to the horror of Andre Macmillan, the National Front's Finance Spokesman, Lewes-Peters attacked Stoke, only to collapse when asked if he had any better ideas, and countered Lewes-Peters rally to "Make Britain Great" by accusing him of unnecessary division, and called for Britain to "do things different; to build the fair society; to bring about a better tomorrow".

The next morning following the breaking of the snap poll, in a telegram to his top 400 constituency parties, Stoke told his MPs to prepare for Government. And on polling day, as Dunch wrapped his coat tighter and begged on his final doorstep for support, the bitter winds of change swept through Britain, a wind that would change the country- forever.

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"Stoke '73 - MLP '78!"
- Graffiti made in Hackney following the election
 
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