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A Stitch in Time: A Cross-Atlantic Timeline

Turquoise Blue

Verward Tibby
Patreon supporter
Location
Op een dag, Nederland.
Pronouns
she/her & ne/nem
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Welcome to my unified thread for A Stitch in Time, the name of the umbrella timeline binding my American Three's A Crowd and my British Spoil the Broth, both of which present much more unstable party systems than the OTL American two and British two-and-minnows party systems

This is the world where the Populist Party made it big and became a major party, winning the White House, yet found their dreams of strangling the Democratic Party frustrated by an egoistic millionaire who absorbed left-wing parties to make the Democratic Party the clear party of the American Left

This is the world where Britain became a Republic, but a fundamentally Tory Republic. The peers still sit in the House of Lords, the Presidency is known for normally going to moderate consensus-builders and politics overall shy away from the extremes in favour of the centre

This is the world of Home Rule All Round, a major agrarian party in both America and Britain, Presidents Oscar Underwood, Henry Wallace and Lee Iacocca along with such Prime Ministers as Oliver Stanley, Jeremy Thorpe, Peter Mandelson and Minette Batters, a democratic China that's increasingly pulling its weight on the world stage and a lot of chirping

This is where I will post everything to do with that world

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy what comes next

And by the way, feedback welcomed and encouraged on everything I post
 
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My original list for Three's A Crowd
25: William McKinley (Republican) 1897-1901*
1896: def. Joseph C. S. Blackburn (Democratic) and Sylvester Pennoyer (Populist)
1900: def. Thomas E. Watson (Populist) and Calvin S. Brice (Democratic)
"The One Man Left Standing"
As the Populists grew and Democrats shrank, the party left standing won the 1896 election handily, taking advantage of Eastern fear of Populists and the growing unpopularity of Grover Cleveland to win a clear victory. McKinley's presidency was roughly OTL

Winning a second term in a landslide, the notable thing about this was that as the Democrats seemed to commit further to the gold standard many Southern voters switched to Watson's campaign which was aimed specifically at breaking their appeal, in turn weakening the Southern grasp on the party and increasing party tension between Northerners who wished for a new leadership and panicking Southern conservatives

26: Theodore Roosevelt (Republican) 1901-1909
1904: def. Thomas E. Watson (Populist), William Randolph Hearst (Democratic) and Alton B. Parker (Independent Democrat)
"The Rough Rider in Rough Rivers"
In 1904, the Populists comfortably renominated their 1900 candidate, eager to do away with the Democrats and become clearly one of the big two, just like how the Republicans replaced the Whigs. No party has lasted much longer once it became unable to win an election, after all! However, there was one man who stood in the Populists' way, and he would be reckoned to eclipse Andrew Jackson in the founding of the Democratic Party. This was the greatest of the yellow journalists and the biggest ego in New York City, William Randolph Hearst. Hearst funded his campaign himself, leveraging his national reputation to unite Northern (and what was left of the Western) Democrats behind him after several balloting and led to both the Democrats walking away from the Bourbons for good and the Bourbons splitting off in anger, nominating Alton Parker

Clearly this was the dying spasms of an irrelevant party, the Populists thought to themselves. Roosevelt didn't even pay Hearst much mind, instead focusing his bombastic rhetoric on Watson and the Populists. Not for the last time, they would learn not to underestimate Hearst. Hearst knew that he wouldn't win any of the South, so he didn't even bother. What he did bother with, was using his newspaper empire to publish unflattering news about Watson and the Populists and about Roosevelt and the Republicans, while touting himself as the best choice Americans could make. And that made all the difference. As Roosevelt won Northern states, Hearst's results were surprisingly good, and once he was projected to win Illinois and New Jersey, states heavily influenced by Hearst's empire yet states the Democrats last won in 1892, the Populists saw that they miscalculated

Roosevelt's strongly progressive first term would continue in his second term, and it would have a long-lasting impact as Southern conservative Democrats, agitated by Roosevelt's radicalism yet aware that Hearst was cementing his control over the party, decided to join the Populists instead. One of those was a certain Oscar Wilder Underwood, who was once the Democratic House Whip

27: William Howard Taft (Republican) 1909-1913
1908: def. William Jennings Bryan (Populist) and William Randolph Hearst (Democratic)
"Bill Taft, Bill Bryan or Bill Hearst?"
The "Battle of the Bills" as 1908 was dubbed, was between Roosevelt's chosen "heir" William Howard Taft, the Democrat-turned-Populist "Boy Orator of the Platte" William Jennings Bryan and of course, Great Yellow Journalist William Randolph Hearst. While Taft chose a front-porch campaign like the days of the past, Bryan went on a storming campaign trail, meeting many voters and condemning Taft as "unwilling to pass the reforms the people of America needed" and Hearst as a "wealthy mudslinger who leads a vanity party". While Taft did not fire back, many of his surrogates gleefully did and labelled Bryan as a socialist, as a radical and as someone who would destroy the country. Hearst, already under fire from the Populists and Republicans [they were not repeating 1904], gladly fired back and the 1904 election was known as one of the major negative elections where newspapers breathlessly reported attacks on candidates by the other two

And despite all that, the election itself was anticlimatic. Despite Bryan's warnings of Taft "empowering business" and Hearst's newspaper assault, the people chose to re-elect the incumbent party and give Taft the White House

Taft overall had a very disappointing presidency right from the start, one that alienated progressives from the Republican Party overall

28: Oscar Underwood (Populist) 1913-1921
1912: def. William Randolph Hearst (Democratic), William Howard Taft (Republican) and Julius Wayland (Socialist)
1916: def. Charles Evans Hughes (Republican) and C. E. Russell (Democratic/Socialist)
"I Choose My Country"
The 1912 victor, and the first Populist to savour victory, was Oscar Wilder Underwood. Rallying many former Democrats and those heavily sceptical of radical fire-breather Eugene Debs of Indiana, he managed to win the nomination. Debs' announcement that he would not endorse Underwood got his campaign off to a bad start, but at least his party was overall united before him, unlike the Republicans...

Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft battled for the nomination and the balloting at the convention was heated as minor candidates gradually shifted to either Roosevelt or Taft. Then on the third day, Roosevelt was found dead in his hotel room, a smoking gun next to his body. "Who killed TR?" flew across the convention and many cast their eyes on the Taft delegates. Taft himself gave a speech lamenting the death of his predecessor and promising his full co-operation with the investigation, but many Roosevelt delegates overall was bitter with President Taft. However, enough of them cast their vote for Taft to hand him the nomination, leading some of the more die-hard Roosevelt delegates to condemn him. Receiving news of the convention from a paid off delegate, William Randolph Hearst grinned and sent off letters to every Hearst-backed politicians not already Democrats that the party would welcome any defections from the GOP or Populists and that he would focus on alloting his backing and money exclusively for Democrats, a clear signal to any Hearst-backed Republicans and Populists that the man was calling in his dues

And many would obey their paymaster, leaving their former party to join Hearst's lot. And much to his delight, many former progressive Republicans would defect to the Democrats after the deeply bitter 1912 convention left a nasty taste in their mouths. The Democratic Party was now once again a major party, albeit a patchwork lot built off an egoistic newspaper magnate's immense fortune and bitterness with the other parties. Hearst has done the impossible, resurrected a dying party by the twin forces of media and money. This would lead the party to have peculiar inclinations in the future regarding people from the media, like movie stars, filmmakers, musicians and the like

The 1912 election was one where Hearst was going all out, sure that it was his year. His party was the biggest it was for two decades, united behind him and his progressive message, and both the Populists and Republicans were torn apart! However, just like those who underestimated him in 1904, he underestimated Oscar Underwood in 1912. Underwood would, like many Populists after him, sell himself as a moderate - inbetween Hearst's "wild" progressivism and Taft's perceived conservatism, he claimed that he would assemble a cabinet "of many talents" and put workable policies above pure ideology. In contrast to past Populists who campaigned... well, as Populists, Underwood offered a very different attitude and proved the perfect candidate to oppose Hearst, putting the much unloved and hated Taft into third place where he wouldn't recover

However, the Populists did have party tensions that Underwood just couldn't put away. Gene Debs ended up endorsing the Socialist Party and their nominee Julius Wayland, passionately condemning Underwood for "betraying the party of James Weaver" [Weaver was dead by then, so he couldn't have said anything], which led to Wayland and the Socialists getting some Populist support from disgruntled Debs supporters

In the end, Oscar Underwood won and became the first President from the South since Andrew Johnson [and first from the Deep South since Zachary Taylor]. Underwood's first term was one which was called "progressive"-inclined, with reforms that he touted as "common sense" and "pragmatic" being passed with support from Democrats [Hearst was starting to lose control of a party that was getting quite big and his idea of shooting everything down was ignored, much to his frustration] and whatever progressive Republicans there were left

By 1916, Europe was in a war and Underwood walked a thin line. Conscious of the war's general unpopularity and people's wish to maintain peace even though they sympathised with the Allies, he maintained that he would keep America out of the war, while Hughes condemned Underwood for not making necessary preparations and Russell maintained that he would remain "truly" neutral, keenly aware of German-American support for the Socialist Party [which Hearst, after a SPA split, got to accept an alliance with the Democrats]. Underwood's managed to win a clear victory for the Populists, but ironically he would lead America into the First Great War in 1917. Hearst maintained that the war was a mistake and that America should not be a participant, up to threatening Democrats that he would withdraw his support if they backed the war. However, as much as Hearst essentially made the party, there were other income by 1917, especially the trade unions which were keenly aware that the Dems, as patchwork as they were, were the most consistent in support of unions and so their success would be conductive for trade union success

Underwood was widely seen as having "won the war, lost the peace" and so Secretary of State Woodrow Wilson's ambitious League of Nations was put on the backburner despite other countries expressing interest in it

29: Leonard Wood (Republican) 1921-1927*
1920: def. William Randolph Hearst (Democratic/Socialist) and William H. Murray (Populist)
1924: def. Fiorello La Guardia (Democratic) and William Gibbs McAdoo (Populist)
"Seeing Red"
The Democrats and Republicans were eager to take advantage of Underwood's rising unpopularity, and both entered their conventions hoping to make the Twenties their decade. The Republicans exited it with General Leonard Wood successfully rallying what few Progressive Republicans were left and uniting the party under the guy who won the war [according to Republicans...]. Meanwhile, the Democrats... Let just say that quite a few people were regretting accepting Hearst's invitation by the end of it, as he cajoled, threatened and thumped his way to receiving the nomination a fourth time, defeating some hopeful rivals who settled themselves with "He'll lose a fourth time and that'll be the end of it. Surely?". Hearst's Socialist allies were similarly treated in turn, as he pointed out the rivals - a general with a burning hatred for socialism and endorsement of some states' "Red Scares", and a bumbling Oklahoman hick who hated blacks [the Socialists were, at this time, getting some support from minorities] and implemented Jim Crow in his state. In the end, after yet another split [smaller than the 1916 one] they endorsed him and sealed their fate

Wood, Hearst and Murray had a heated election [as is always with the pugnalicious Hearst running] but in the end, the people wanted Wood and not Hearst or Murray. The Republicans returned to power in fine fashion while Hearst reportedly muttered "So be it" and announced his effective retirement from politics [which nobody believed]. Much to his annoyance, his Democrats still held on, thanks to the power of union financing and progressive-minded businesspeople, showing that they didn't really need Hearst after all

Wood's time would be remembered as one of prosperity, but also one of the Red Scare as the Socialist Party was targeted as well as the Independent Socialist Party [the anti-Hearst splitter]. In the end, the Socialists, pressured by the Red Scare jailing several of their top leaders and the pressure of the Democrats [especially one W. R. Hearst], folded and voted to merge fully into the Democrats by 1923 [leading to a third split]

By 1924, Wood was aiming at re-election and was confident in it. The Democrats were seen as untrustworthy socialists by many [turns out the merger kind of backfired in the short term] and the Populists still distrusted for "losing the peace". And win he did, by a margin higher than 1920. People wanted to let the good times roll on, and re-electing Wood was the answer for that. Mayor of New York City Fiorello La Guardia, an ex-Republican who defected to the Democrats due to being a Hearst ally back in 1912, was the nominee for the fully united Democratic Party [well, technically Democratic-Socialist-Farmer-Labor-Nonpartisan League Party, but who could remember all of that?] while the Populists nominated the son in law of the late but still unpopular Secretary of State during Underwood's presidency, which proved an unwise move

But in 1927, he suddenly died, handing power to his vice-president...

30: Herbert Hoover (Republican) 1927-1933
1928: def. Cordell Hull (Populist) and Seymour Stedman (Democratic)
"The Great Humanitarian Disaster"
Herbert Hoover, known as the "Great Humanitarian" for his work in leading food relief efforts in Europe. But his presidency would be mainly remembered for the Great Depression that struck in 1929, dooming any positive legacy he could have had. But let us focus on the start. Wood died in late 1927, just after the Mississippi Flood subsided. Hoover's presidency was mostly continuing on Wood's policies while implementing old-school Progressive ideas such as efficiency and budget balancing. It, along with his reputation, was enough to give him a strong victory

Notably in that strong victory, was the Populists eclipsing the Democrats. Finally recovering from the Underwood presidency's unpopular end, they took advantage of the Democrats nominating an ex-Socialist by the name of Seymour Stedman and hammered home just how radical Stedman was and how he would destroy everything American, such as the flag, apple pie and capitalism, sweet capitalism. Even though Stedman gained in the West due to the NPL influence working better for a man who grew up in Kansas on a farm than it did for New York City slickers, he lost elsewhere, and Hull managed to break the party out of the South by winning Indiana thanks to his running mate Governor D. C. Stephenson

Hoover was inaugurated for a second term to much pomp, and after that continued his first term's policies with little fuss. Then the floor dropped out from under the American economy. To go in the Great Depression would be to cover already well-trod ground, but sufficient to say, Hoover did not do well, and in 1930 the Republicans humiliatingly fell to third behind the Populists and Democrats in the House

But in 1932, Hoover somehow believed that he could win a third term, and the Republicans somehow let him, and well, the person who came next certainly did make his name much more impactful than Hoover's sad strange second term did for him
31: Huey Long (Populist) 1933-1941
1932: def. Upton Sinclair (Democratic) and Herbert Hoover (Republican)
1936: def. Frank Knox (Republican) and Lynn Frazier (Democratic)
"Every Man a King, Every Woman a Queen..."
Ah, Huey Pierce Long Jr., the "Kingfish", the man who transformed a country yet managed to do the impossible and drive the left and right together to kick him out. A decade of authoritarianism, a decade of absolute power in Long's America as the "Populist regime" drove forward in its zeal to "Share The Wealth, at times loved and reviled by both Democrats and Republicans

It all started in the darkest of days when the Great Depression was crushing many Americans, and they turned to radical options. Even as Hoover pleaded with Americans to "reject radicalism", people rallied towards the socialistic rhetoric of Upton Sinclair and the bombastic demegaoguery of Huey Long. The Republicans collapsed as the country polarised

Yet Sinclair just couldn't win. The Democrats had too much ground to make up and the Populists had the Solid South. So Huey Long was inaugurated and America trembled in anticipation and fear at what he had planned. And... at first surprisingly little. The Populists were overall not sold on Long, with a considerable amount of them still following President Underwood's mildly progressive policies. So when Long was frustrated yet again by Speaker Garner's frosty reception to his radical bills, he turned to the Democrats and especially to one man, William Randolph Hearst

Hearst and Long shared similar viewpoints on foreign policy and Hearst knew the Democrats as a whole weren't particularly hostile to Share The Wealth, but Hearst always looked out for Number One and in exchange for exceptions specifically crafted to benefit Hearst's media empire at the expense of others, Hearst would encourage his Democrats to vote the bills through to the floor and vote for them. And the Democrats, still trying to get Long to do something on civil rights, would be blindsided by Hearst's unexpected intervention and in the end broke for Share The Wealth

Republicans made hay out of this, of course. "Nary a dime worth of difference between the Populists and Democrats!" and benefited from a backlash in the north-east against the Democrats that led to Republican gains there while losing elsewhere

In 1936, Share The Wealth was... working? It's ambiguous. The President says so, but the Republicans says no. And the Democrats, well... "it works, but it could have been better" which doesn't sell that well to the voters. The Republicans nominated the only man who could rival Hearst for media dominance, the newspaper magnate Frank Knox who was spurred into it upon seeing that Hearst's empire was now being preferred for government taxation cuts and all those sweet pork. In the 1936 election, it was mainly a war of headlines between Hearst's centre-left newspapers and Knox's centre-right newspapers, with Hearst ending up the winner on election night as Knox's prediction of a narrow Republican victory proving laughable. With Hearst clearly preferring Long, the Democratic candidate Lynn Frazier got short stick but still fought anyway

In Long's second term, he became more dictatorial. Now given an outright mandate for Share The Wealth and a strong Populist majority, he increasingly attacked the Court for their conservative opinions including declaring a key part of STW unconstitutional. While he did succeed in appointing several new judges to "re-balance" the Court, it proved intensely controversial, and as the war in Europe brewed on, the Democrats and Republicans met together and discussed a "preparation" ticket, much to the horror of Hearst who increasingly backed Long's isolationism

32: Franklin D. Roosevelt (National Union) 1941-1945*
1940: def. Huey Long (Populist)
1944: def. Charles Lindbergh (Populist)
"This Country Seeks No Conquest"
"FDR", as many knew him as, is possibly the most beloved four-year-long president, having Won The War and established the Concord of Nations and a lot of pithy sayings that sticks with people decades later. Elected on the National Union ticket against the polarising Huey Long, he was a liberal Republican [such was uncommon, which is why he was picked] running with a Populist-turned-Democrat in the form of former Agriculture Secretary Henry A. Wallace. The two could have not been so different, and yet they made the perfect ticket

As America shouted "Washington Wouldn't, Grand Couldn't, Long Shouldn't!" and voted in FDR, it was the first time the Democrats was in the cabinet since the ill-fated years of Grover Cleveland all those years ago. And due to the influence of Hearst and the Socialists, it was a very different party and one very unused to cabinet positions. It was the duty of the Republicans to "show them the ropes" so to speak. And this the Republicans did, while making sure to take advantage of the Dems' inexperience to push through GOP policies

But of course, the top priority was Military Preparedness, which the Populists condemned as "getting us into European affairs" and Hearst was shouting into the ether about how this was betraying his party, the party he made. But the Dems were now mostly ignoring Hearst after he pushed for them to vote through Share The Wealth in 1933. VP Wallace was very eager for Military Preparedness and was seen conversing with the Soviet Ambassador about possible war actions which got him told off and denied access to diplomats, a slight humiliation but America was planning to work with the Soviets anyway, so it wasn't like it explicitly went against the Administration's policies. Still a mess

By 1942, America was now rolling to war due to an Italian attack on Puerto Rico and this led to a rally around the flag effect, with many Populist congresspeople declaring they were now backing "National Union" in order to get re-elected. They would be part of the 1944 NU convention and unanimously re-nominate FDR. Wallace, on the other hand... It took seven ballots and the narrow defeat of William O. Douglas due to Populists preferring the ex-Populist over the hardline liberal [Douglas would later be appointed Chief Justice] but Wallace was also re-nominated

The rump Populists, now taken over by ex-America First people who ran on opposition to FDR's "internationalism", promised to win the war and get America back to splendid isolation. Their nominee, Charles Lindbergh, was intended to stoke American interest in electing the "Lone Eagle" president, but it turned out America had no time for celebrities yet, and elected FDR in a landslide

The war was all but finished when a report came in of the death of the President...

33: Henry A. Wallace (National Union, then Democratic) 1945-1953
1948: def. Harold Stassen (Republican) and Richard Russell (Populist)
"I'm Just Wild About Harry"
"A Democratic president? Dearie me, when was the last time that happened?" was one old grandmother's remark at the ascendance of Henry Wallace to the Presidency. Wallace, although an ex-Populist, represented something astonishingly new to the American scene. The Democrats were at once the oldest and newest party in American politics, and they now had a President. And one that had to decide if he would work with the Soviets in the proposed Concord of Nations. Wallace, guided by his naive view of them, gladly agreed to welcome them in [which got Republicans' condemnations]. But as time went on, President Wallace's rose-tinted glasses grew more sour and by 1947 at the least, he was increasingly anti-Soviet [and peculiarly enough, pro-Chinese], which displeased some on the Democrats' far-left but was popular with the majority of Americans

There was a short and sharp post-war recession which entering 1948, was mainly over but it energised Republicans into believing they could win 1948 and get rid of Wallace and his "socialism" for good [the NUP was dead in 1947 when the Republican cabinet members resigned]. They nominated Governor Harold Stassen of Minnesota, a young up and comer who they saw as likely to win the election. Stassen campaigned quite well and proved affable on the campaign trail, and the Populists hoping to recover from 1944 nominated former Secretary of the Treasury Richard Russell who united the party behind his policies and platform and some hoped of no electoral majority and Russell as a compromise choice

But President Wallace did not act like a dead duck, oh no. Acutely aware of his flagging poll numbers, he subjected himself to an exhaustive campaign, including the "Portable White House" [a briefcase with several papers faxed over] that he dealt with in between kissing baby heads and shaking hands. And the speeches, they promised of a "radical renewal" of America. And Wallace's policies appealed. Even 16 years after the 1932 election, people felt that they still needed a radical solution to what plighted them, and Wallace offered this where the others didn't. Stassen dismissed Wallace's campaign as "the last desperate tactic of a failed president" but just like Hearst in 1904, Wallace was to defy expectations

As New York and Pennsylvania and Illinois and Missouri turned for Henry Wallace, his victory was assured. The Democratic Party, 56 years after their last victory, could now savour victory again. Americans finally accepted them back into the political mainstream, giving them a plurality in the House, several more seats in the Senate and their man returned to the White House

The second term would prove rather disappointing after all that euphoria and celebrations. As part of Wallace's increasing anti-Soviet and pro-China tendencies, he negotiated an alliance with China in early 1948 that ended up biting him in the ass when in 1949, China asked for American troops to prevent the People's State of Manchuria troops from invading them. The Manchuria War would end up a war where Wallace would contribute as few troops as possible up to 1951, when reports of defeats after defeats and a terse conversation with President Chiang Kai-shek pushed him to authorise a surge which would end up intensely controversial, and by 1952 the man once condemned as being too "pro-Soviet" was now seen as too much of a Cold Warrior. America clearly needed a man who knew which wars to fight, and they got that

34: Dwight D. Eisenhower (Republican) 1953-1961
1952: def. Estes Kefauver (Populist), Dwight D. Eisenhower (National Populist) and Henry A. Wallace (Democratic)
1956: def. John Sparkman (Populist) and Glen H. Taylor (Democratic)
"A Series of Unfortunate Events"
Eisenhower would probably have been remembered better if it wasn't for the series of events that actually happened under his Presidency. First there was dealing with the Manchuria War. As Ike grumbled once - "Only Wallace can go to China" - with them being more distrustful of Eisenhower than of Wallace. Nevertheless, the war was fought and finally finished by 1955 [if you count status quo ante bellum as finished or won...], giving Ike some accolades that he could carry into the election and tout as a success of his first term

But dogging him was controversy regarding civil rights. In 1952, the Populists narrowly nominated pro-civil rights Estes Kefauver, and the states of Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina replaced his name on the ballot with that of Eisenhower and Eisenhower felt that he had an obligation to not rock the boat. Wallace integrated the military, so repealing that like Southern Populists wanted would be rocking the boat. But too would doing anything about segregation. So when Chief Justice William O. Douglas passed down the verdict in Williams vs. Board of Education that segregation of education facilities were unconstitutional, Eisenhower was faced with a conundrum now that "not rocking the boat" was impossible. In the end, he sided with the status quo in 1956 and did nothing which angered some pro-civil rights Republicans, but not enough to doom him

In his second term, the Soviet Union tested their biggest nuclear bomb to date [private records would say that the plans for the first bomb was given to them by Wallace, but that's classified] and that led to an alleged "missile gap" that Populists banged the drum on, especially Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson. Also going on in the 1950s was McCarthyism, but by 1958, it collapsed totally as McCarthy ended up accusing the President of being a communist [he was likely highly drunk at the time] and people just stopped listening to him instantly

By 1960, Ike was ready to retire...

35: Lyndon B. Johnson (Populist) 1961-1969
1960: def. Richard Nixon (Republican) and Michael Mansfield (Democratic)
1964: def. Barry Goldwater (Republican) and Michael Harrington (Democratic)
"A Collection of Communities"
The Populists' most impactful president, far beyond Huey Long, was Lyndon Johnson. A seasoned Texan politician, he was highly ambitious and hungered for the Presidency for quite a while. The 1960 election was heated and all three parties [the Dems now free of McCarthyism's effect and Wallace's unpopularity was now bouncing back] nominated strong candidates. LBJ for the Populists, VP Nixon for the GOP and Senator Mansfield for the Dems. And with Eisenhower's popularity gone and people willing to take a more critical eye on the Republicans as a whole, they came up wanting. LBJ won a clear majority while Mansfield bounced the party back from its 1950s slump

LBJ's most famous speech was "A Collection of Communities" which defined his "Big Society" policies. LBJ was someone who demanded a legacy, and he was going to build one. Waxing lyrically of a "war on poverty", he worked with Democrats to continue on the legacy of Huey Long and Henry Wallace, and surprisingly enough, this Southerner met with civil rights leaders and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which led to some Deep Southern states screaming bloody murder at their president's "betrayal". However, the Populist Party has always trod an uncertain line on race, with Oscar Underwood was considered in his time one of the most "liberal" of Southerners and Huey Long somehow weaved a path between portraying himself as a friend to black people and as a friend to the white establishment. So it never quite was a party that fully embraced racism, even if many of its structure involved the suppression of African-American votes in the South. Once he signed it, it received the condemnation of Barry Goldwater, a Republican from Arizona, for breaching "civic liberties" and forcing the government into people's lives

That meant Goldwater, the 1964 nominee, would lose many states in the North yet be the only Republican after Reconstruction to win Mississippi and by a narrow margin Alabama [despite Governor Wallace's spirited campaign for LBJ there] and win South Carolina too. Yet he was incredibly unpopular and Johnson won a landslide over him and similarly unpopular Senator Michael Harrington of New York

His second term would be one of dread. China, Henry Wallace's friend, was now asking America to put missiles on Chinese soil so that it could response to the Soviet missiles in Manchuria. LBJ obliged, and this started the Missile Race that would go higher and higher before it reached fever pitch in mid 1968. Richard Nixon pledged to "win the peace" and get the Soviets to drop their missiles, LBJ maintained that the Soviets would give in, and the quixotic Eugene McCarthy pledged to disarm first. As election night came closer, the doomsday clock ticked closer and closer...

*BANG*

"The President is down!"

"I have very troubling news. The President is in critical condition and is in surgery..."

In the end, this was perhaps the respite needed to cool heads down, as once LBJ recovered and was wheeled out of hospital, he declined re-nomination for a third term [which the Populists were glad to give him anyway] and recommended his protege the Governor of Alabama. Stuck in a wheelchair, LBJ's main priority was to undermine Nixon, which his botched negotiations would have done if only for the Soviets receiving a tip of missiles in Japan which LBJ swore were not there. Of course, that tip came ultimately from an office of one certain Richard Milhous Nixon...

But that's for another story
36: Richard Nixon (Republican) 1969-1974*
1968: def. George Wallace (Populist) and Eugene McCarthy (Democratic)
1972: def. George McGovern (Democratic) and George Smathers (Populist)
"Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Richard Nixon is remembered as a complex man. A terrible and tragic man, but a deeply complex one. And his end will definitely go down in history as the first time it ever happened. The vice-president to Eisenhower, his loss to LBJ rubbed him deeply and although he won the Governorship two years later, he still had a massive chip on his shoulder that never healed. And in 1968 with LBJ possibly running for a third term, Nixon announced his run hoping to finally end LBJ for good. When the Chinese Missile Crisis heated up, Nixon saw an opportunity and took it. As LBJ increasingly withdrew from political campaigns, up to the assassination forcing him to withdraw his candidacy, Nixon increasingly plotted to exploit Johnson's weakness

The Japanese rumour would only come out as having come from Nixon in 1974, but it doomed LBJ and the Populists as not even Governor Wallace's heated campaign arguing for people to "protect the Big Society" would save the Populists from defeat. The Republicans were back. But Nixon was not the shiny liberal he was in 1960, but an embittered man who would seek to assure America's place in the world. LBJ, Ike, Wallace, they were too soft. Nixon would be remembered as the archetype of the Cold Warrior, a deeply paranoid man who hated Communism with a passion

Universal healthcare, long a goal for the Democrats and left-Populists, would find a willing man to sign it in President Nixon. Nixon in 1971 would sign the American Healthcare Provision Act that would end up the short name for the new American healthcare system [as AHPA], making history even if conservative Republicans condemned this growth in the state's power over individuals

Nixon's running mate and Vice-President John Connally was seen as on the party's right compared to Nixon's ambiguous liberal-conservatism, but he was full-throatedly backing Nixon's foreign policy of neoconservatism. America busted onto the global scene with a vengeance, couping several socialist-aligned countries in the Western Hemisphere, intensifying alliances with China and Nusantara and rattled the Soviet Union quite a bit

At home, the 1972 election was looming, and the Populists were tearing apart with the left led by Governor Wallace facing against the right led by Senator Smathers in the primaries. Nixon intervened to push the scale on Smathers' favour and succeeded, weakening the Populists as they shifted away from their traditional left-wing-y rural-populism to a more conservative stance alienating many Northern Populists to the Democrats. And yet Nixon turned his eye on to the Dems as well. George McGovern was rallying the student movement against Nixon's aggressive neoconservatism and he was seen by many as a "hippie" like the 1968 candidate Eugene McCarthy. The "labor" bit of the Democrats deplored him and backed their candidate Walter Reuther who provided a more union-friendly face. Nixon, aware of the potential to appeal to the "hardhat" demographic, arranged for rumours of Reuther taking money from the unions to undermine him enough for McGovern to win

The 1972 election was a landslide, with Nixon winning a clear majority of the vote and a whopping huge amount of electoral votes as well. McGovern's base held up better than Smathers' did, and he could at least tout that he brought the Dems back in second place for the first time in 24 years, and Smathers came under greater criticism from a bitter Wallace for "losing a winnable election"

In 1973, Senator Ed Muskie received a parcel from an anonymous Texan address, imploring him to open it and use it wisely. This was Johnson's revenge on Nixon, as he spent the last five years tracking down Nixon's actions regarding the "Japan rumour" and upon finishing it, sent it to a Senator he knew despised Nixon with all his heart. Ed Muskie was a Democrat who consistently opposed Nixon's neoconservatism and his attempts at rolling back certain civil rights bills. Muskie, true to Johnson's expectations, arranged for further investigation to see if the tricksiness of Nixon in the Japan rumour spread elsewhere. By the cold frost of early 1974, Muskie had all he needed

Committing treason by aiding America's enemies via the Japan rumour, subverting the 1972 conventions via dirty means, threatening Senator Reuther via the FBI to prevent him from running an independent campaign, holding blackmail of what exactly happened that night he drank and drove over Senator Ted Kennedy's head in order to get him to give in and back AHPA, the list went on. It was clear, Nixon subverted American democracy as a whole for his own means. Nixon rejected all those allegations, but yet the Washbucket Commission [named after the label Muskie gave his investigation - "Operation Washbucket"]. In the end, the House of Representatives voted to impeach the President, and it was up to the Senate to decide his fate. Or not, as one fateful day in September 1974 would reveal...

"A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits", "You won't have President Nixon to kick about anymore" and "I will not leave the White House a disgraced man, I would rather it be as a corpse" are three quotes from the final speech of President Nixon, broadcast live on national television. And what came after, oh God, there was a lot of people being sick at that

37: John Connally (Republican) 1974-1977
"Kicked Upstairs"
As the nation recoiled from their President doing the unimaginable [and there was a surge of suicides after that, something worrying AHPA], now President Connally was ushered into a side room and sworn in, barely aware of what exactly happened. Connally was shaken at the news, even refusing to believe that Nixon could actually do that. "My God, I thought he was fine in the head". Connally, although a fiscal conservative who wished for AHPA to be reduced down, signed through a bill allocating more funding for mental health care. Mental health was becoming a topic widely discussed after Nixon's suicide, one legacy that he left America

But Connally had his own skeletons in the cabinet, something that dogged him and sank his popularity even as Congress was reluctant to follow up on a second investigation into a President in just one term. In the end, economic stagnation struck in early 1976 and doomed the GOP

38: Jimmy Carter (Populist) 1977-1981
1976: def. Frank Church (Democratic) and John Connally (Republican)
"A New Mood in America"
And the 1976 election turned into a fight between the Populists under Governor Jimmy Carter who weaved folksy rhetoric and an "outsider" appeal, and the Democrats under Senator Frank Church which campaigned on strong reforms and on "returning America to good times", with Connally struggling to re-unite a party bitterly divided between him and the "Bushites" under George Bush which advocated for moderation and opposed Connally's dragging the party to the right. In the end, Carter won

Jimmy Carter's presidency could be summed up as one of division. The Populists were divided between an increasing conservative-populist faction and a more "moderate" centrist one - the "Jerry Falwells and Dale Bumpers" as a future president would describe them as, and Carter weaved a narrow line as a president of an evolving party. Intensely religious, he tended to side with the conservatives on certain issues and on financial grounds, he tended to side with the moderates, and the combination alienated both of them and made people see Carter as a rather conservative president, overall, and that was from a party America grew accustomed to seeing as the "centrist option"

The economy stagnated even more, before breaking into a recession in 1979, which led to Carter losing 1980. To an actor?

39: Robert Redford (Democratic) 1981-1989
1980: def. George Bush (Republican) and Jimmy Carter (Populist)
1984: def. Jay Hammond (Republican) and Fob James (Populist)
"The Age of Things"
Charles Robert Redford. What is there to say about a legend? One of the Democrats' three presidents after Grover Cleveland, and the first one since Andrew Jackson to win two consecutive terms. The one to start the "Green Consensus" that would make America known as one of the most environmentalist countries. The one to blaze a bold social policy that would have impacts decades down the line? Perhaps it's best to start like many stories do, at the beginning, namely the 1980 election...

In 1980, people were quite disaffected with Carter and with the Populists, and increasingly feeling like the whole decade was badly mismanaged by both parties. Despite George Bush's centrist rhetoric appealing to some suburban areas and Jimmy Carter still having pull in the South, a lot of people were appealed by the Democrats and their affable young Hearstwood-actor-turned-Senator who promised "Morning Again in America". So the red wave happened and the Democrats were swept into the Oval Office for the first time since Henry Wallace's ill-fated second term. And yet again, they were transformed. Under Wallace, they were a labor party that had a history of sitting with socialists, but by Redford they became a clear alliance between labor unions and the "Young Left" movement containing student radicals, LGBT people, racial minorities, environmentalists and suburban liberals who were once formerly Republican. And all that was given a mandate from the people

But still, even with the most Democrats for decades in Congress, President Redford had to tread carefully. While of course there was traditional Democratic fare in economic policy, bringing back higher tax [something slashed in the Connally-Carter years] and regulation on the banks, foreign policy called Redford's attention to China. The Kuomintang government asked for help containing rebels that they asserted were associated with the Soviets. Redford, like many Democrats, still followed the Wallace model of Cold Warriorism of helpful alliances and limited intervention, but something was off about the reports. The rebels were young, their demands didn't sound Sovietesque but outright democratic ["They're calling for fair elections. How is that Soviet?"] and the Kuomintang has gone more right-wing since the 1950s. So the party of the alliance with China would tell China to democratise and Redford's announcement that "America supports democracy everywhere. Yes, everywhere" led to the KMT collapsing and the Democratic Progressive movement taking over. And once more, China's alliance with America was rekindled as Redford went to Beijing to sign a Treaty of Co-operation and Friendship with new President Liu Xiaobo. At first, the "betrayal of our Chinese allies" were condemned by Republicans and Populists, but Redford came out of it smelling roses as he could tout that "our friendship with the Chinese people is now closer than ever"

Returning back home from Beijing in 1983, President Redford announced several executive orders, the most controversial of which was his lifting of the ban on gay soldiers serving in the Army. Redford won the primaries with the help of the growing LGBT rights movement and he was always minded to help them. This led to the Republicans and Populists [and more "traditional" Democrats] condemning Redford's helping "the gay agenda". Another thing Redford did was order AHPA to look into helping those with LIDS, a disease mainly found in gay men. But even as those polarised the country, something would engulf the news and prove President Redford's most personal challenge yet

Sid Wells was a young University of Colorado student who wished to fly for the Navy, and to make some money he rented out a room. The man who he rented the room out to was Thayne Smika, a college dropout. As time went on, Sid Wells had trouble collecting the rent from an uncooperative Smika, and in August of 1983, Sid's older brother found his corpse with a shotgun blast to the back of the head and Thayne Smika nowhere to be found. Now, how is this relevant to President Redford? Well, Sid Wells was dating Shauna Redford, the "First Daughter". And President Redford personally liked Sid Wells, calling him "a good man to know". So when the reports came in, the President was right on top of it, demanding the police investigate the matter and make it their priority, even bringing into the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Presidential pressure to "find the culprit" led to the arrest of Thayne Smika. The District Attorney was considering dismissing the case and releasing him, but then he realised that there was immense political pressure from the President, from media scrutiny and from those above him, to try Smika, which he gave in to. Thayne Smika was sent to prison and the media wave attracted to this unique case was over

On much less sensational matters, President Redford was now overlooking a booming economy and people were glad to reward the Democrats first in the midterms as they won their first majority in, oh, 80 years? It has been a while. And by 1984, it was a done deal, President Redford would enjoy something once thought impossible for Democratic presidents, re-election. And a consecutive one at that! The last time was one hundred and fifty-two years ago. The Redford campaign was one of heady optimism and economic prosperity, with many suburban voters inclined to give the President a landslide. It was up to the Republicans and Populists to argue otherwise

The Republicans nominated Jay Hammond, Governor of Alaska and perhaps the only person who could rival President Redford on environmentalist credentials - "we stand together on preservation of our Earth" as Hammond declared in the first debate - and the Populists Governor Fob James of Alabama, a "champion of rural areas" and critic of Redford's more... "liberal" actions regarding social issues. But still, the economy was booming and both Hammond and James failed to really cut into Redford's undefeatable aura. Hence the landslide as Redford turned many states red

The Democrats gained more seats in Congress and clearly enjoyed a popular mandate once more. Redford's personal project, that of a global environment conference that would get every CoN member to agree to fossil fuel limits and green energy encouragement, was a-go, and in 1985 it finally happened. And despite many of Redford's ideas being watered down and the final agreement being a vague one to limit fossil fuels and to support the environment, he left it victorious with a historic green agreement - "The Future is Green!" he declared on his return to Washington

The Soviet Union collapsing in early 1986 was certainly a feather in Redford's cap as he could claim to be the president who "won" the Cold War, but as Russia itself started falling apart and nuclear bombs were nowhere to be found, new fears arose, fears of a Post-Cold War era

The booming economy started to stagnate in the summer of 1986 dooming the Dems in the midterms, but Redford was confident that it would bounce back. And indeed by Election Night 1988 it was turning up like he predicted. But still, the Democrats were always the "third amongst equals" and their election was always a break from the normal Republican/Populist elections. Would people be willing to give them a third term? Well...

40: Lee Iacocca (Republican) 1989-1993
1988: def. Mario Cuomo (Democratic) and Richard Riley (Populist) [elected in the House]
"Trouble Shared is Trouble Halved?"
The 1988 election was chaotic. The Democrats nominated Mario Cuomo, Senator from New York and firm liberal, to continue Redford's legacy, while the Populists chose to go "liberal" [by Populist standards!] by choosing Governor Richard Riley of South Carolina, a man known for opposing the death penalty and for investment in education and local healthcare. And the Republicans? Well, they went with Michigan superstar Lee Iacocca, who led Chrysler back from bankruptcy and became one of the most famous businessmen in America. Beloved in the Midwest, he cut deep in a region that was once considered safe Democratic and more than made up for the loss of many states to the resurgent Populists

But it wasn't enough. As Cuomo walked away with the plurality of the popular vote, Iacocca had the plurality of the electoral votes and Richard Riley hoped that he could successfully come away as the elected "compromise" candidate. Focus turned to the running mates of both Cuomo and Iacocca, namely Governor Tom Harkin of Iowa and Senator John Heinz of Pennsylvania [both of which failed to win their states for their running mates] and how the Populists would vote. In the end, it wasn't even close as Harkin's rural background and record of working with Populists trounced Heinz at every turn and he was elected Vice-President. But for the Presidency itself?

As President Redford waited to know who his successor was, Congress voted again and again before Iacocca made a deal with the Populists that they would receive some seats in the cabinet, and they voted for him. The Iacocca cabinet was perhaps the first and only "truly" tripartisan cabinet, with a Republican president, Democratic vice-president and Populists in the cabinet

Iacocca's perspective was always fiscal conservative and he wanted to cut back on Redford's spending. But with Congress split three ways and the Populists forming an unofficial alliance with the Democrats to prevent cuts to rural infrastructure, it seemed impossible. But then entered William Jefferson Clinton, the new Secretary of Agriculture. Clinton came up with a plan build on public-private partnership that managed to assure many of the old-school Populists that this wouldn't harm rural people and the Dem-Pop alliance broke as spending was slashed much to former President Redford's displeasure. Redford's welfare spending was also cut with the argument that "there's no such thing as a free lunch!". This hurt Iacocca's popularity in his native Midwest, but he would still be set to win re-election, right?

The historic North American Free Trade Agreement split all three parties, with Iacocca Republicans cheering it on while more conservative Republicans being sceptical, "Young Left" Democrats nodding it through while labor unions condemned it and centrist "Dale Bumpers" Populists voting for it while more traditional rural Populists made their displeasure known. But still, it passed!

The fall of the Soviet Union meant that there was increasing unsureness in the world, and this unsureness led to a wobble in the economy in 1991. Iacocca was widely blamed for it, and much to his displeasure the opportunistic Bill Clinton resigned from his cabinet post declaring "Iacocca is leading us off a cliff!", clearly planning to run for the Presidency in 1992. And on top of that, another famous businessman declared that he would run against the entire NAFTA and bring America back to where it was before "the giant sucking sound". Indeed, Donald Trump was tapping into quite a bit of popular sentiment that NAFTA was ultimately to blame for the recession

But President Iacocca assured himself, he could win! People could see through Clinton's opportunism, reject Trump's insular rhetoric and whatever Vice-President Harkin was saying, and give him a second term! Right?
41: Bill Clinton (Populist) 1993-2001
1992: def. Donald Trump (Independent), Tom Harkin (Democratic) and Lee Iacocca (Republican)
1996: def. Arlen Specter (Republican) and Jerry Brown (Democratic)
"I still believe in a place called Hope"
The opportunistic backstabber, the centrist boy marvel, or the bourgeois sellout, Bill Clinton is still a figure that divides America. The 1992 election was a divisive one with the already chaotic three-party system being even more upset by a fourth contester - the billionaire Donald Trump. As Trump won over workers in the Midwest who felt hard-done by NAFTA and by the whole system, the Democrats and Republicans floundered. And the young go-getter Bill Clinton increasingly appeared as the "anti-Trump". From a poor, broken, family where Trump came from a wealthy one. Internationalism with a folksy twang as contrast to Trump's insularity with a paternalistic bombastic tone. And ultimately relatable as contrast to a "messiah candidate"

Bill Clinton cleaned up on Election Night, much to President Iacocca's displeasure. But Iacocca was the past, and Bill Clinton's promised "Tomorrow Presidency" was the future. Clinton's brand of Populism was a break from Long and Johnson, and even Carter. He took his inspiration from a president way before the Big Society or Share The Wealth. He took his inspiration from Oscar Underwood and his "pragmatic progressivism". And he was the ascendance of the "Dale Bumpers" faction of the Populists - the fiscal centrist, social moderate, rural infrastructure kind of people that made the Republicans antsy. It was indeed time for a bridge to the shining light of tomorrow, like his inauguration speech declared

The first priority on President Clinton's agenda, of course, was getting America out of the recession. While Redford's Keynesianism worked for his time and Iacocca's policies were... unpopular, Clinton was minded not to blindly follow either of them. For a president who said "I feel your pain", slashing welfare recklessly like Iacocca did was not the solution, but neither was copying from the Democrats' platform. Clinton would walk a thin line as the centrist in between the GOP and Dems, and his first challenge was making sure that welfare cuts "ending welfare as we know it" would be combined with economic incentives for states to invest into infrastructure and jobs. The economy boomed by 1995

But 1994 would be known as the "Nuclear Summer" as the collapse of the Soviet Union back in the 80s led to many Soviet nuclear bombs and missiles falling into private hands and by 1994 one of those private hands carved out a fiefdom in central Russia before declaring that it had enough missiles to destroy London, Washington and Beijing. This brought the attention towards the unknown location of many nuclear missiles. There was a Nuclear Scare as many Americans panicked that nuclear missiles would be fired from unknown sources. And it was ripe fodder for a whole new genre of "cybernuke" novels, of course. The President had to defuse the crisis, and well, he did so. The documents are top classified but here's what we know - the Republic of Novgorod sent an American in to blow up the nuclear facility the Siberian State had, it was successful, everyone agreed to sign a beefed up version of President Redford's environmental treaty [much to the former President's delight] including a vow to seek and dismantle any nuclear weapons and support of nuclear energy in America died a sharp death as people rallied to the growing green energy sector instead

With the economy booming and the "Nuclear Summer" over with nobody dead, people had a very positive view of Bill Clinton. A landslide was certain. But then the Reps and Dems nominated two very good candidates and made it vaguely seem like a contest. The Republicans nominated Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, someone widely considered to be a "moderate" for the GOP and paired him up with a Western libertarian. The West has always been rather sceptical of Bill Clinton, with his victory margins being rather slim there in 1992 and Specter benefited from this and turned many Western states blue. On the other hand, the Dems nominated Governor Jerry Brown of California, someone who was widely seen as slightly eccentric but still "moderate" for the party and a firm environmentalist in the vein of Redford. The two parties were aiming solidly at the Clinton coalition and the President was on the defensive. But he was still popular, and won a comfortable victory

The second term of Bill Clinton was controversial. The economy was still good, the Internet Boom was happening as the economy increasingly became digital, but there was a deep anger within the right-wing. Clinton was a social moderate in a party that contained many hardline conservatives on social matters, and for some of them, Drastic Action would have to be made

The assassination attempt in Dallas happened on 22 November 1997 and albeit it failed, it set off a series of attacks by the "Christian State of America", a terrorist organisation based around Christian fundamentalism and American supremacism. The cry "Make America Great Again!" was used every time they attacked a school [schools were favourite targets of theirs, being particularly vulnerable] and as newspapers flooded people's senses with lurid descriptions of the CSA [everyone picked up on the abbreviation] and their horrific attacks, Clinton decided that It Was Time. Meeting with Republicans and Democrats, he negotiated a bill that would allocate funding to states that passed laws sending police to protect schools from terrorist attacks, and authorised the Armed Forces to go in and crush the CSA for good

By the dawn of 1999, the CSA was all but collapsed and their members on the run. But school shootings would still be a thing, particularly by young white radicalised men and this would be a problem that would linger in American society. Still, President Clinton could boast that he led America through two national crises and brought around a booming econo-

oh

The Internet Boom imploded spectacularly and America was now in a recession. Oh dear

42: Joe Lieberman (Republican) 2001-2009
2000: def. Al Gore (Populist) and Dennis Kucinich (Democratic)
2004: def. Bernie Sanders (Democratic) and Rick Perry (Populist)
"The Nettlesome Man from Connecticut"
Joseph Isadore Lieberman would be the first Jewish president of the United States, something making rump CSA groups go mad in fury at. But for most Americans, they now held no truck with voting for or against someone based off their religion. Lieberman was considered slightly conservative by Republican standards, certainly more to the right than Arlen Specter, but not too extreme. The 2000 election was always favoured by the Republicans, with the Populists struggling to change the narrative of "economy bad. change party" and Democrats the narrative that it was a Lieberman vs. Gore race with Kucinich as an "also-run", the third man in a two-horse race

But Al Gore and Dennis Kucinich put up spirited fights and if only it wasn't for that recount in Michigan, things would have gone to the House. Now Lieberman was president, and the Republicans now had Plans. Big Plans!

Lieberman filled his cabinet with neoconservatives including his vice-president Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Paul Wolfowitz and they all had one country in mind - Nusantara. Once an American ally, it has fallen to a left-wing nationalist party led by Megawati Sukarnoputri which encouraged "Nasakom" [an alliance of nasionalisme ('nationalism'), agama ('religion'), and komunisme ('communism')] which incorporated the once-banned Communist Party into the cabinet. This set off alarm bells in the neoconservative think-tanks and once Lieberman got in, the ball was rolling for a military intervention to "protect democracy" and "stop communism" with some fig-leafs to protecting minorities in Nusantara

The Democrats decried this as needless military intervention and argued that America could instead work with Nusantara, like how President Redford worked with DPP China [by then the KMT was back in, but China's still a democracy] and Populists were cagey on the matter but when pushed to it voted to authorise Lieberman's Nusantara war. By 2002, the Nasakom regime was... well, not toppled but certainly in hiding. Turns out when you invade a jungle, you kind of have a hard time of it. But as reports of deaths in the jungle went up and up, the Democrats increasingly was viewed as right all along on Nusantara, and the Populists lost a lot of their middle-class Clinton voters to either the Democrats or Lieberman

The Republicans won a majority while the Populists fell to third. The ever-shifting American political scene was changing yet again. One of the loudest critics of the Nusantara War was Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Seen as on the left of the left-wing party, he rallied many students and promised a swift end to the war, a return to Redfordism and more spending to the beloved AHPA. As he grew higher and higher in the polls [leading one dodgy newspaper to splash their front page with "JEW VS JEW?" and for some anti-Semites to declare that this was the final step before the Great Replacement], the Populist candidate Rick Perry floundered. While a firm enemy of the CSA and authorised one of the country's most harsh laws against terrorism. he was quite socially conservative and intensely religious, which turned him off from the increasingly secular Northern middle-class suburban areas. In the end, while the people liked Bernie's honesty, they decided Lieberman was doing fine as is and re-elected him

Lieberman's second term would be dominated by what happened in late 2007, but before that the lustre was starting to go off the President. The Nusantara War was still going on... and on... and on... with no sign of victory. And as the American people grew more and more impatient, the Democrats soared in popularity. The Populists were still torn between Clintonites and those to his right, and the Democrats was on message and won a clear plurality of the seats in the House, before negotiating a coalition with Populists to put Andrew Cuomo in as Speaker. Also notable in Lieberman's second term was the Supreme Court casting down the decision in the 2007 case Hart vs. United States that same-sex marriage should be legal nationwide. This led to a rise in social conservative anger, but certainly nothing like the 1990s

Donald Rumsfeld was still the favourite to win the 2008 Republican nomination. Vice-President to Lieberman for eight years and faithfully pushing their neoconservative message, he was seen as The Candidate. But in mid-2007 Air Force Two went down due to an engine malfunction and the nation was without a Vice President. Lieberman, in due time, nominated Senator John McCain, a personal ally and more significantly, someone more popular than the icy blinkered technocrat that Rumsfeld was [although Rummy was then gathering a peculiar fanbase on the Internet that called him "The Donald" and came across as particularly fanatic in their devotion], so could be counted on to win 2008 or at least give a good showing

The 2008 election was shaped by the 2007 financial crash. The economy was always on shaky grounds all through Lieberman's presidency, even if it could be argued to be "good", and by late 2007 things were starting to fall apart. Lieberman's economic policy was straight out of the Iacocca playbook, including welfare cuts and relaxing bank regulation, and it came back to bite him. As banks declared bankruptcy and the value of the dollar went down, Lieberman worked with the Populists and Speaker Cuomo to negotiate a bank bailout in early 2008 that although saved the economy, was intensely polarising and led to many calling for "a people's bailout" [often with a hashtag on Chirpit]

43: Warren Beatty (Democratic) 2009-2017
2008: def. John McCain (Republican) and Rick Santorum (Populist)
2012: def. Lincoln Chafee (Republican) and Sarah Palin (Populist)
"Government is not Show Business"
For a man who many expected to be a return to the glitzy Hearstwood days of Robert Redford, Warren Beatty proved just the opposite. He was a self-declared "puritan" who was notable for speaking out against Hearstwood's obsession with youth, for marrying later in life and for having... well... how do I put it this nicely, an attraction to the far-left. His uncle A. A. MacLeod was the Canadian Communist leader for many years, and Beatty has said that he was 'inspired' by him. First attracted to the Democratic Party by George McGovern's 1972 campaign, he ended up entering politics full time in 2002 by running for the Governorship of California against unpopular Populist governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and was re-elected in 2006 in a landslide as people turned against the Nusantara War and rallied behind the Democrats

Beatty's 2008 campaign was not flashy like Redford's 1980 one was, but it had something Redford lacked. The personal touch. If you think an actor can't be a President, okay, why don't you go to a campaign meet-and-greet and talk to the candidate himself? Many who come away from meeting Beatty remarked that he didn't seem like a typical actor, but like a humble politician willing to form a team and lead the country. And for those who weren't sure about an actor from Hearstwood and the "Left Coast", there was the fiery working-class rhetoric of his running mate Senator Anthony Weiner of New York who was widely seen as someone who took no shit and attacked the other two parties for "failing America"

Up against Vice-President John McCain and Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and for the Populists, the fiery demagogue Governor Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Governor Peggy Wallace Kennedy of Alabama, it was an election to remember. While McCain and Beatty enjoyed a pre-existing friendship and agreed on several issues, like campaign finance reform, so the debates between the two were often portrayed in the media as a civil disagreement of a bipartisan friendship which likely enabled Rick Santorum to bounce back his flagging campaign to tap into people's disgruntledness at the "chumminess" shown between McCain and Beatty. But in the end, Beatty won. Too much people lost their jobs, and although the economy was on paper starting to recover, nobody felt that recovery. Everyone was angry. And Beatty was their candidate

Top of President Beatty's agenda was his promised "People's Bailout", a slew of programs designed to make the recovery "work" for every American. including a level of debt forgiveness that made Wall Street nervous [and possibly led to a slight dip in the economy in 2010]. While Republicans and "New Populists" decried this as socialism, the old-school Populists nodded. Here was a common-sense solution, one fit of Huey Long himself. And for the person on the street, the common John and Jane Doe-Smith, things were getting better. People they knew were getting jobs, the economy was humming once again and President Beatty was clearly a trustworthy figure, even if not as glitzy as they originally thought. Hey, that was good!

The exposure of a Hearstwood film manager's sexual abuse of actresses seeking to get ahead, led to a social ripple in early 2011 and ultimately led to the fall of several Hearstwood big names. Of course, many kept their eye out for a possible mention of the President himself, but no such name appeared. What did, after everything came out and the social ripple reached politics, was Vice-President Anthony Weiner. Weiner denied ever sexting an underage minor, but upon President Beatty receiving word of it, he made it clear in a press conference that "Anthony Weiner now has no place in my Administration" and called upon Weiner to resign "for the good of the country". Weiner persisted up until early 2012, when he accepted a plea deal in the trial that included him resigning from office. President Beatty came across as a firm man of values, including no tolerance of anything sexually misconducting or abusing and his popularity increased a bit. Since it was so close to election day, Beatty chose to not appoint any new vice-president, but his new running-mate was Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota

In the 2012 election, trans rights was then a heated social topic, with Beatty being clearly and uncompromisingly in favour of it [he had a trans son he was very proud of] while the Republicans narrowly after a bitter primary nominated Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, who was considered quite a "liberal" for the GOP including on LGBT rights. The only social conservative in the race was Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, a Populist. And Palin made sure to exploit this opportunity all she could, to take as much votes from the Republicans and perhaps eclipse them as the main right-wing opposition to the Democrats [a far cry from Clinton's "moderate centre" attitude], Endorsed by conservative talk radio, she ended up bringing in the Populists' worst result electoral vote wise, but a marked improvement votewise from Santorum, and dragging the Populists to the right

But with Palin taking Chafee votes that Chafee just couldn't quite make up for, the 2012 map was a redwash, with Beatty getting almost 400 electoral votes. President Beatty chose to take this as a confirmation of his path going forward being right

In 2013, Chief Justice Antonin Scalia died. Beatty, already with two confirmations under his belt, chose to push the boundary a bit and nominated Chai Feldblum, a disability rights and LGBT rights lawyer, what struck many conservatives was the fact she would be the first female and first lesbian Chief Justice [and indeed first LGBT justice overall], something that many of them had a problem with. But she was competent, and Democrats had an advantage in Congress - they were reasonably united while Populists and Republicans were split between moderates, liberals/populists and conservatives. In the end, Beatty got his Chief Justice. And continuing with his uncompromising social agenda, was the long-dreamt-of Equal Rights Amendment. In the 80s, it was set rolling by President Redford yet stagnated under Iacocca, Clinton and Lieberman. The Palin-Chafee division allowed Democrats to make gains in enough states to confirm it as a constitutional amendment at last, and much to conservatives' fury, Chief Justice Feldblum cast down a judgement from the Supreme Court that it covered gender identity as well

Ultimately all those led to a conservative backlash and Democrats lost control of the House and Senate to a centre-right Pop-GOP coalition. The heady days of social progress were seemingly over, but American society was already rapidly transformed. In his final two years, the President turned his attention to environmental matters. Green energy was quite a growing sector, with it accounting for 30% of America's energy usage, and the President wanted to spread that to other countries and push it to a dreamed of 50%. Working with Secretary of Energy Jill Stein and new Republican Speaker Gwen Graham, new tax incentives on people to adopt green energy was adopted, as well as encouragement to use new green cars and of course quite a bit of investment into public transit in cities via a board that would work with the states using Congress-allocated funds to grow public transit and cut down people using cars [or at least carpool]. All of those was part of the "Cultural Revolution" President Beatty boasted of

Abroad, the President had more free rein and he desired to "Green the World", so he arranged for a conference of the Concord of Nations and acutely aware that the world leaders were more interested in nuclear disarmament instead of green energy, he negotiated a treaty that covered them both. The most energetic adopter was the Republic of China which declared a "Green Dream" of a sustainable China. At that conference, America and China rekindled their alliance yet again, underlining the Democrats as the most pro-China party. And of course, we can't mention foreign policy without Nusantara. Nusantara was a nuisance for Lieberman as his hoped for victory became a stalemate in the hot stifling jungle. Beatty knew victory was impossible, but he couldn't just withdraw yet even though the Dems originally backed Nasakom, due to the fact that the Nusantara regime has retorted to human rights violations to fight off American troops. So what was President Beatty to do?

A rather ingenious thing indeed. The Concord of Nations had a peacekeeper force, but not one that would be enough to defeat the regime and keep things stable. All Beatty needed was to clean America's hands of it, and upon getting China and Dravidia to agree to back up CoN peacekeeper forces, he started a plan for withdrawal receiving applause from Americans across the political divide [well apart from some crusty Republicans]. Whatever troops were left there, were officially under the aegis of the CoN, not under America

This gambit received a backlash as the President overreached once more as was his tendency. In the 2016 election, one person emerged as the main anti-CoN critic, arguing that America was still in Nusantara just under CoN pretenses and that America should do less for the CoN than it currently does. That man would go on to win the 2016 election and make a splash in the history books as well...

44: Marco Rubio (Populist) 2017-present
2016: def. Amy Klobuchar (Democratic) and Bill Haslam (Republican)
"A Dreamer and a Believer"
America's first Latino president was Marco Rubio of Florida. A Senator originally famous for declaring that "Warren Beatty knows exactly what he's doing" when he was giving the Populist response to the 2014 State of the Union Address, he grew in stature as he criticised Beatty's ambitious global gambits while cannily avoiding any social issues [well apart from the growing non-binary issue, which he made his point clear on - he thought they didn't exist, instead maintaining that "God made us, male and female"]. He promised to "bring troops back home" and review America's commitments to the CoN [not exiting it, merely reviewing, he insists] and this was popular with a big chunk of Americans

But even though he captured the zeitgeist of distrust of the world, he faced firm opposition. Vice-President Amy Klobuchar proved a strong opponent and had a strong argument as well, namely that of "the economy is doing well. why change horses?". Meanwhile the Republicans were firmly internationalist and nominated Governor Bill Haslam of Tennessee, someone who had some appeal with the youth voters for his provision of free college in Tennessee [that and weird "Bill Haslam Will Make Anime Real!" memes]. But Rubio was clearly shaking up the Populists and driving them on a more insular yet more moderate line. Drawing heavily from the legacies of Huey Long and Oscar Underwood, Rubio managed to come across as someone who... well... knew exactly what he would be doing. Sorry. The most notable thing he said in the debate was... "While Klobuchar and Haslam talk about what they apparently know will happen if my plans happen, I can only tell you this. I only know what I believe, and I believe in American greatness. I believe in the American Dream. And I believe in America asking for a better deal from the world" which spread around on the Internet quite a bit as a gif on Chirpit and Facepage and linked to by grandmothers on "RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Finally some sense!!!" emails

Making historic gains in the Midwest, Rubio won the election by a narrow margin in American history [with recounts in Indiana and Arizona being part of the post-election drama as Dems and Reps tried to deny Rubio a majority] but he did it. Sworn in as President, he would seek to not destroy Beatty's treaties, but adjust them. And... at first it didn't sound promising. The Concord of Nations expected Rubio to keep Beatty's treaties and to maintain troops in Nusantara, but with negotiating with China and Dravidia, Rubio managed to end American troops in Nusantara for good in exchange for lucrative trade deals for both countries as a "reward". This got some condemnation back home, but all the American people cared was that their president delivered on his promise to finally finish the Nusantara War for good

Now, on broader renegotiation with the Concord of Nations? Ah. That's something still going on, and it doesn't seem good at present. Rubio is a very stubborn man, but he is trying to alter decades-old structures with little interest from others. The economy is fine, people are getting jobs, the Populists don't expect to lose much seats in the midterms, but the Democrats and Republicans will try to undermine him of course

Such as is for America in its eternally chaotic yet tragically beautiful three-party system
 
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And this is the place where I'll put updates to the big list of Spoil the Broth
Winston Churchill (Liberal) 1937-1952 [endorsed by New Democrats in 1947]
1937: def. James Maxton (Independent Labour), Ernest Shepperson (Agriculturalist), Duff Cooper (Conservative), Hugh Dalton (Social Democratic)
1942: unopposed (ILP petition to be on the ballot denied)
1947: def. Herbert Morrison (Social Democratic),
Frederick Marquis (Union), Fenner Brockway (Independent Labour), John Hargrave (Agriculturalist)
"Titan of a New Era"

Yes, yes, the Abdication Crisis ended up terribly for everyone. We now have a Republic. The UK is now just the Union. Or Britain. Whatever. But for the presidential election there was a decision to have a runoff. To ensure everyone could at least agree that one person would have the support of the majority of the populace, you see. The Liberal Party ended up narrowly saying that Lloyd George would not be nominated, and instead his ally Winston Churchill would, mainly because they distrusted DLG more than Churchill. And anyway, the Liberals stood no chance. Right?

Well. The Liberals got in the runoff against the ILP and won handily. Now Churchill's the first President. Great. And he's now talking about fighting Hitler and how we should stop appeasing him. Is this how our Presidents are going to be. Loud, abrasive and totally wro-

Oh.

Can the President just stop being so fucking smug? Yes, yes, we're at war with Germany, our former King is over there and the Nazis have declared us an illegitimate regime or something. Can he just be quiet and be a national symbol of us being strong? There's supposed to be an election in 1942? Can we like, re-elect him unopposed? Ah, the ILP is making noises about how they want to contest the election. Can we just say no?

Oh good, we can. Now he's re-elected. Shut up, Maxton, nobody likes you. Now we can focus on winning the war. Oh good, the war is won. Now time to get a peacetime pres- oh come on, he's running for a third term. Why? Why do we have him as our president?

Ugh, he won a third term. At least it seems like he's planning on retiring in '52. Oh, it's 1952 now. That went by fast

Malcolm MacDonald (New Democratic, then National) 1952-1957 [endorsed by Union]
1952: def. Harold Macmillan (Liberal-Social Democratic), John Hargrave (Agriculturalist), Emanuel Shinwell (Independent Labour)
"Carrying on the Consensus"
Malcolm MacDonald? Who? Oh, the son of Ramsay MacDonald. Why did he get nominated again? Ah, the most uncontroversial pick, I see. Anyway, Macmillan will win it handily, he got the support of Churchill and the SDP. That's rare. 50.1-49.9? I think we're starting to regret the idea of the runoff... Ah well. President MacDonald. Not bad sounding tho. Oh, he's much less loud than Churchill. What a relief. That means we can sit eas-

John Hargrave (Agriculturalist) 1957-1962
1957: def. Malcolm MacDonald (National), Archibald Sinclair (Liberal), Aneurin Bevan (Independent Labour), A. V. Alexander (Co-operative-Social Democratic)
"A Rude Interruption"
Wait what. How did MacDonald lose re-election. And to... him. Seriously. How did the White Fox win the Presidency of this poor country? Ah. ILP and SDP support. Well, let hope things don't spiral out of control now we're led by a weird paganistic Scouts leader. No, no, no, President Eisenhower, the Kindred of the Kibbo Kift isn't the Ku Klux Klan, it's a whole different thing that we can promise. So can you please tell all those American newspapers to stop overreacting and telling DC to put sanctions on to us? And President Hargrave, can you please stop talking about "survival of the fittest"? It's not helping, especially as our Empire is crumbling

Malcolm MacDonald (Independent) 1962-1965* [endorsed by Nationals, Liberals and Social Democrats]
1962: def. John Hargrave (Agriculturalist), Annie Maxton (Independent Labour), John Loverseed (Fellowship)
"Tanned, Rested and Ready"
Oh God, who can get us away from President Hargrave? Oh, look who it is, former President MacDonald, back from his holiday. He looks healthy. And more full of pip and vigour than ever. And he said he's running again, yay! And the SDP, Liberals and Nationals have all agreed to back him to kick out Hargrave. That's good. A firm victory! Wait, who's that in fourth? Apparently it's a bunch of weird university professors and socialites talking about... the environment? The environment? Why?

*bang*

Oh God. The President's dead. Who takes over? The Prime Minister, right? Why do I hear David Lloyd George laughing?

Megan Lloyd George (Liberal) 1965-1967 [as Princess of Wales]
Megan Lloyd George (People's) 1967-1972 [endorsed by Social Democrats]
1967: def. Enoch Powell (Unionist), Emlyn Hooson (Liberal-Agriculturalist), Charles Coulson (Fellowship), Anthony Barber (National), Ted Grant (Independent Labour)
"Y Ddraig Goch"
Fuck Lloyd George. No, not you Megan. Your father, who managed to make the Prince of Wales the one to take over in an acting position if the President is dead. He came up with that for some damned reason. I'm sure you'll do well, it's just the whole how you got to here. Wow, MLG is pretty firm and active as President, unlike past ones, and she managed to piss off the Liberal Party in the process. She won't win the next ele-

Huh. She split off as the People's Party and got the SDP endorsement. Still, the Nationals will wi- oh come on why are we like this. Ugh. Apparently the Nats had a split and Powell walked out with the whole right-wing to form the Unionists. And now MLG won a term thanks to Powell managing to unite everyone against him in the runoff. Great

Yeah, MLG is doing a good job as President. Although her calls for devolution to Wales is pretty predictable by now. And the fact her party is kinda mostly just her and they only won like, 7 seats at the last election kind of hurts her possibility for re-election, I guess

Maurice Macmillan (Liberal) 1972-1977 [endorsed by Nationals]
1972: def. Megan Lloyd George (People's-Social Democratic), Enoch Powell (Unionist), Rolf Gardiner (Agriculturalist), Emrys Thomas (Independent Labour), Charles Coulson (Fellowship), Desmond Donnelly (Our Democracy)
"Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow"
Macmillan? Didn't the Liberals nom- oh wait, it's his son. And the runoff is between two Liberals. Huh. What a good thing Powell narrowly came third, he would have been a nightmare if he won. Alright, Macmillan won. Let see if things hap-

*blinks*

Okay. Jeremy Thorpe somehow became PM leading a coalition of his Liberals, the Nationals and SDP, and this somehow fell apart as an investigation turned up... quite a few things that made him no longer suitable to lead. The President had to intervene, and the President ended up choosing his father as the most suitable man to lead that coalition. He wasn't... wrong per se, but it looked shit

Roy Jenkins (Social Democratic) 1977-1982
1977: def. Maurice Macmillan (Liberal-National), Albert Booth (Independent Labour), John Biffen (Unionist-Agriculturalist), Tony Whittaker (Fellowship)
"A Civilised Society"
What the hell does Jenkins mean by a civilised society? A liberal one? Well, that's civilised, I guess? Anyway, he got elected thanks to people seeing Macmillan as self-serving by appointing his own father. Wow. He's not going to live that down, is he?

And huh, I just noticed that the only president to be re-elected to a consecutive term is Churchill. Is anyone else gonna do that?

Ian Gilmour (National) 1982-1992
1982: def. Roy Jenkins (Social Democratic), Maurice Macmillan (Liberal), Albert Booth (Independent Labour-Globalist), Norman Tebbit (Unionist-Agriculturalist)
1987: def. Arthur Scargill (Independent Labour), Ranulph Fiennes (Agriculturalist-Unionist), Shirley Williams (Social Democratic-Liberal), John Abineri (Globalist)

"Enough of That"
Well, not Jenkins, as he lost to Gilmour. And wow, is our politics getting fragmented. ILP, Fell- Globalists, SDP, Liberals, Agriculturalists, Nationals, Unionists, and don't forget the Scots Independents and Cynghrair Cymru. Wow. Is it just me or is the maps starting to look like an abstract painting?

And with Benn's government falling apart, it seems that the Tories will be in charge for the 80s. Gilmour and Pym. I guess it's a good thing they're not hardline neoliberals like some in the Unionists want, even if Scargill got loud about them "undermining" workers' rights. He clearly just wants the Presidency, just ignore the ambitious bastard. Oh look, he announced his run. Told ya

And he lost in the runoff to Gilmour. First consecutive re-election for... 40 years? Huh. That long. Anyway, things seem to be falling apart for the Tories as the Unionists grow and whatnot. Certainly not a good sign for... huh. That was unexpected

Michael Heseltine (Liberal) 1992-1997
1992: def. Ken Clarke (National), Alan Clark (Unionist), Neil Kinnock (Social Democratic), Ben Mancroft (Agriculturalist), Peter Tatchell (Independent Labour-Globalist)
"Free Trade, Free People"
A Liberal as president? I thought that was out of the window after, well, the Thorpe thing. Apparently I was wrong. Heseltine is very active on foreign policy, which has pissed off Boyson. Good, Boyson's awful. Wait, he's no longer PM? That's Maxton? Wait, Maxton?! Ah, his nephew. We're certainly having a polarised time of it, first the right-wing Unionists now the left-wing ILP. And poor Heseltine in the middle

The whole Non-Aligned Movement thing Heseltine is pushing hard for has made President Clinton pretty irked off, especially as Heseltine spoke out against the idea of nuclear disarmament, calling it a dangerous and foolish thing. Prime Minister Maxton has nevertheless signalled his willingness to agree with Clinton on this, which has led to a clash between the President and PM. The election'll decide who the British people support

David Owen (Social Democratic, then Democrats for Owen) 1997-2002
1997: def. Michael Heseltine (Liberal-National), Sara Parkin (Globalist), Charles Spencer (Agriculturalist), Michael Meacher (Independent Labour), Neil Hamilton (Unionist), Alasdair Morgan (Scots Independent-Cynghrair Cymru - "League of Nations")
"The Wild Card"
Ah. Turns out it was neither. The British people didn't want Heseltine any more, but neither did they particularly want to give Maxton's party the Presidency. Congrats, President David Owen. Why am I feeling a deep sense of unease at that?

Owen has been... well, certainly the most vocal president, and one that seems to think he's the party leader when he's not. The SDP hates him and has decided to say no to renominating him. I don't bla- "I am forced to follow the example of a past President". Oh God, this damn country...

John Major (National) 2002-2007 [endorsed by Unionists]
2002: def. Cynog Dafis (Cynghrair Cymru-Globalist), David Owen (Democrats for Owen), Gordon Brown (Social Democratic), Jeremy Corbyn (Independent Labour), Malcolm Bruce (Liberal), Ann Mallalieu (Agriculturalist)
"Grey Mornings"
Huh. That was one weird election. I didn't expect the Welsh Nats to form an alliance with the Globalists and somehow get in the runoff and for Brown, Owen and Corbyn to basically split the Left vote to smithereens. But we're now left with... why am I feeling so bored?

Ah. It's John Major. The greyest man ever. The man who left the circus to become an accountant. At least that's a change from Heseltine and Owen. He'll be re-elected easily as people vote for the safe and secu-

Charles Windsor (Globalist) 2007-2017 [endorsed by Agriculturalists and Cynghrair Cymru, and Liberals in 2012]
2007: def. John Major (National-Unionist), Charles Kennedy (Liberal), Jeremy Corbyn (Independent Labour), Jack Straw (Social Democratic)
2012: def. Suzanne Evans (Unionist-National), John McDonnell (Independent Labour), Margaret Beckett (Social Democratic)

"The Black Spider"
Okay. There was a recession. The Globalists somehow decided to nominate the cousin of the would-be Queen and he got the endorsement of the Agriculturalists and Cynghrair Cymru somehow, and he won. Well, congrats on the death of the Republic, I guess

The Black Spider [his nickname in the somehow still-existent Kibbo Kift] has been a somewhat "aristocratic" president, as befitting his station, but he has supported several climate change bills. We must show ourselves better than the Americans on this. We must get to 100% green energy by 2030! Full steam ahead! He gets on famously with American President Beatty, which is a welcome change from the days of Atlantic frostiness

In 2012, the Liberals, after voting on it, has decided to endorse him, declaring "there is no one better to lead this country". And he got close to winning an outright majority, almost becoming the first President to do so. The runoff was almost an afterthought

In his second term, he has been vocal about... the countryside. I knew there was a reason the Agriculturalists liked him. He has met with Agriculturalist leader Minette Batters quite a bit and she's clearly hoping some of his popularity can rub off on her party as well as the Globalists

Mike Woodin (Globalist) 2017-present [endorsed by Independent Labour]
2017: def. Theresa May (National), Yvette Cooper (Social Democratic), Andrew Adonis (Liberal), Tim Farron (Agriculturalist), Nigel Farage (Unionist)
"Everything's Gone Green"
Back in 2007, there was a meeting, according to rumours. This meeting was between Charles Windsor and Mike Woodin. The deal apparently was that Windsor got the nomination for two terms if he won, and then Woodin would take the nomination in 2017. And this deal went by smoothly as Woodin won it with no opposition. Unlike Windsor, Woodin has been more left and so got the support of the ILP although none of the parties that supported the President in 2012. But with Windsor campaigning for him and his spirited energetic charismatic campaign, he won the election

His radical views make him Britain's most visionary President yet. What a pity he now has to deal with PM Minette Batters leading a centre-right coalition, instead of a left one that he could influence. The next four years promise to be interesting

William Ewart Gladstone (Liberal minority with support from Irish National Federation) 1892-1894
1892 (min.): def. Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (Conservative), Justin McCarthy (Irish Nat. Fed.), Joseph Chamberlain (Liberal Unionist)
"People's William's Last Ride"
The famed "People's William"'s last ministry would be focused on Irish Home Rule. When it failed in the House of Lords, he floated the idea of calling a general election against the Lords, but was talked down by his cabinet. He would instead resign in early 1894, ostensibly for his health

William Harcourt (Liberal minority with support from Irish National Federation) 1894-1897
1895 (min.): def. Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (Conservative), Justin McCarthy (Irish Nat. Fed.), Joseph Chamberlain (Liberal Unionist)
"Eternal Stumble"
Unlike the "People's William", Harcourt was seen as an intellectual detached from the populace. A good orator, that's for sure, but not one "of the people", so to speak. He regularly spoke using elevated language, making him sound "posh". The 1895 election was dominated by a growing divide between Salisbury and Chamberlain, when the latter grew to see the former as plotting "the absorption of the Liberal Unionists". This split enabled Harcourt to eke out a re-election for the shaky minority propped up by the INF

This minority would be dominated by one word - "collapse". Harcourt himself however, never really fell despite resignations of several top cabinet members and the INF threatening to withdraw support. With Salisbury and Chamberlain patching things up, the next election was seen as inevitably Unionist. But Harcourt shook his head - after all wasn't 1895 seen as that? He'll lead the party to a third term in government!

Then a bill that would have allowed parishes to vote on the closing of local pubs appeared and brought down the Harcourt government as the INF voted with the Unionists on it and withdrew support. The joke went "For the want of a pint, Bill Harcourt lost everything"

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (Conservative-Liberal Unionist coalition) 1897-1902
1897 (coal.): def. William Harcourt (Liberal), Joseph Chamberlain (Liberal Unionist), Justin McCarthy (Irish Nat. Fed.), John Redmond (Irish Nat. League), John Dillon (United Irish League), Keir Hardie (Independent Labour)
1901 (coal.): def. John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer (Liberal), Joseph Chamberlain (Liberal Unionist), John Redmond (Irish Parl.)

"Strong and Stable?"
If people thought the Harcourt ministry was unstable, the Salisbury-Chamberlain "Unionist" government was worse. A coalition between a party led by a micromanager who desired full control over his government and desired a government that would hold back demagoguery, and one led by someone often characterised as arrogant and ruthless, and portrayed himself as a "champion of the common man", there were sure to be conflict

But the Unionist victory in 1897 was not the main story. One main story of 1897 was the fragmentation of the Irish nationalist force as the previously minor Irish National League, led by John Redmond and the more religious United Irish League gained at the expense of the INF. Another was the surprise victory of the small far-left Independent Labour Party in industrial areas. Led by the charismatic Keir Hardie, their sudden win of 3 seats was a sudden shock to many, including the Liberals. Richard Haldane and others argued that this growing working-class pressure needed to be "accommodated" into the Liberal Party - hence "Social Liberalism", "as social as socialism, but as liberal as the liberals of old"

But the Liberals' new leader, the Earl Spencer, was sceptical of this and disencouraged it from happening. Chamberlain was primarily a man of domestic affairs, while Salisbury was one of foreign affairs and that is how the Unionist Government held. Salisbury led Britain into the Second Boer War, which proved a costly victory for the British and finally finished in 1902

In the first election of King Edward VII's reign, the Unionists held even as the ILP lost their seats due to intense local Liberal campaigning. The Earl Spencer was increasingly opposed because of his wiffly-waffly stance on the Boer War, but he ended up resigning as leader due to a bout of ill health, enabling the more radical Richard Haldane to rise to power. Haldane drove the Liberals to the left, allying with local trade unions and friendly socialist associations to run "Social-Liberal" candidates to ward off the rise of the more radical ILP

In 1902, Salisbury fell ill and decided to announce his resignation. The Conservative Party was divided on who to support for leader due to the unexpected disappearance of Salisbury's nephew and political "heir" Arthur Balfour, and so the King sent for...

Joseph Chamberlain (Conservative-Liberal Unionist coalition, then Liberal Unionist minority) 1902-1905
"An Interesting Man in Interesting Times"
Despite his popularity, Chamberlain knew that it would be a hard job leading the government as the Conservatives still had a numerical advantage in the coalition. Unfortunately, the King distrusted the names that popped up as possible Conservative leaders, and so decided to call on the only man he knew and trusted and well, liked. That was Chamberlain. The Conservative top brass objected to this, including the man who was their new leader, Michael Hicks Beach, a critic of Chamberlain on free trade. Hicks Beach ended up declaring that the Liberal Unionists would not enjoy the support of the Conservatives and fractured the party in the process. There were Conservatives who were conscious of Chamberlain's intense popularity and from seats that had a considerable LU presence who decided to switch allegiances and prop up Chamberlain

Shakily holding a government together only by virtue of Liberal absentation in votes of no confidence, Chamberlain was on the precipice. His most lasting legacy would be setting up the "Home Rule All Round Association" that would have its vision realised eventually. But in 1905, his time ran out after years of shaky government. The British people were getting fed up with reports of governments on the brink of collapse

Michael Hicks Beach (Conservative minority) 1905-1907
1905 (min.): def. Richard Haldane (Liberal, inc. "Social-Liberal"), Joseph Chamberlain (Liberal Unionist), John Redmond (Irish Parl.)
"Life's Not a Beach"
A man often characterised as hard, "Black Michael" oversaw the split that enabled Chamberlain to take his Liberal Unionists to be fully separate from the Conservatives, but also to more firmer discipline in Tory ranks and a firm message of stability and rejection of radicalism, portraying Haldane and Chamberlain as similar "wild-eyed radicals" seeking to "experiment on Britain". Hence why in a bitter three-way election, Hicks Beach emerged triumphant. That was the zenith of his ministry. After, it proved to bog down in stagnation as the Tories increasingly relied on ad-hoc deals with Liberals and/or Liberal Unionists, until one by-election gave the Liberals a seat advantage. The King stepped in again

Richard Haldane (Liberal (inc. "Social-Liberal") minority, then majority, then Wartime Coalition) 1907-1919
1907 (maj.): def. Michael Hicks Beach (Conservative), Joseph Chamberlain (Liberal Unionist), John Redmond (Irish Parl.), Philip Snowden (Independent Labour)
1911 (maj.): def. Michael Hicks Beach (Conservative), Arthur Conan Doyle (Liberal Unionist), John Redmond (Irish Parl.), Philip Snowden (Independent Labour)

"War Against Poverty"
A Liberal Imperialist and a "Social Liberal", Richard Haldane is one figure that both the Liberals and SDP vaguely claim as their own. A firm radical, Haldane allied with David Lloyd George and fellow Liberals on the party's left to push forward a "revolution in the party" and ultimately the country

Put in power after a by-election gain led to the Liberals having more seats than the Conservatives, Haldane immediately called a snap election and rode people's discontent with Tory and Liberal Unionist shambles to a firm majority that he believed would hold. Also notable is the election of many Social-Liberals, elected in alliances with trade unions and socialist associations. Some of those would appear in his cabinet. Meanwhile the ILP was recovered from their 1901 blow and won 4 seats in the North of England under the leadership of fierce orator Philip Snowden

Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George's declaration that his budget - the "People's Budget", would be a wartime budget to fight poverty, was published in newspapers as "Government Declares 'War' On Poverty!" which caught on as a slogan. But Haldane's personal focus was on the Army and on reforms he felt was necessary to fight the coming European war, one he was sure was inevitable

The People's Budget made King Edward VII nervous especially at the "radical" rhetoric of Liberals such as Churchill and Lloyd George. Haldane intervened and managed to convince the King to tell the Lords to let the budget through, at the cost of a pledge to further tie Britain's diplomatic efforts with France's, something that Haldane begrudgingly agreed with despite his wish to quell tensions with Germany

In 1911, Hicks Beach worked out a tenuous agreement with new Liberal Unionist leader and famed novelist, Arthur Conan Doyle, and went into the election with the opposition united and stronger than ever. But the People's Budget was popular and the voters gave Haldane a new albeit slimmer majority. The war that the Prime Minister saw as inevitable, would finally happen in 1913

As alliances dragged countries into the war on two sides, the legacy of now deceased King Edward VII and Haldane's foreign policy would prove to hold as Britain entered the war on France's side. Haldane was distrustful of bringing in the opposition when the Tories didn't in the Boer War, but as the war dragged on, the idea of an "all hands on deck" coalition of the Libs, the Tories and the Liberal Unionists [not the ILP, they were fairly pacifist and their leader opposed recruitment for the Armed Forces] gained popularity and in 1916 after a disastrous battle, Haldane conceded the argument and brought the Tories and Lib Unionists in, appointing Austen Chamberlain as Home Secretary and other prominent Lib Unionists and Tories to cabinet posts. This was an uncomfortable arrangement, especially as Haldane was widely distrusted by the ex-opposition

The war finally finished in late 1918, but Haldane held on, arguing that "we need to win the peace". In 1919, two things happened that made his staying on impossible. The first was the Social-Liberal faction voting to establish itself as a separate party, the Social Democratic Party, due to increasing disputes with more traditional Liberals. This was a blow to Haldane as the Social-Liberal faction was his creation. But the second and fatal blow was the withdrawal of the Liberal Unionists and Conservatives due to the growing Irish tension. They saw Haldane as too "soft" on the rising nationalist force in Ireland, especially the radical Sinn Fein. Deciding that it was time for him to step down, he announced his retirement as Prime Minister, allowing David Lloyd George to reach the position he envied for long yet was denied for years

Meanwhile, an earthquake was starting in British politics that would radically transform everything
Coming soon!
Coming eventually
Hopefully at one point
After the rest
The final one
 
Major Federal
Agriculturalist:
Centre-right, broadly. Can be centre-left sometimes. Tends social conservative, but they're mostly all about that rural stuff. Surprisingly against the Unionists' floating of an EF referendum because farm trade to Europe is very important. They have the PM, Minette Batters
Social Democratic: Basically a weird mix of New Labour, soggy Lib Dems and "Smithite" Soft Left. Those days, they're under the leadership of Ed Miliband, who succeeded his brother. Standard nepotistic accusations flop since Ed was quite critical of his brother in the leadership election
National: Broad right-wing, tends very establishment. Sometimes religious, but not as soc-con as the Unionists. Broadly supports "Stay" in any possible EF referendum. Currently led by Ruth Davidson, who is the first major party leader to be LGBT
Liberal: Vaguely centrist, tends economically liberal, but is broadly the "kingmaker" in any government that emerges out of a fractured party system. Their dream of expanding the list seats beyond 1/4 of the Parliament is popular, but unlikely to happen. Led by Nick Boles
Globalist: A weird broad-tent coalition of environmentalists, it tended left up until their nominee Charles Windsor won the Presidency, then it grew more broad, especially with the growing influence of Windsor's "Turquoise Tendency". Led by Amelia Womack and President Mike Woodin
Independent Labour: A party of both Jeremy Corbyn and "Blue Labour", it's a far-left party that tends "Old Left", but the modernisers broadly stay in control most of the time. Very much against the EF and would support "Depart" in any referendum. Led by Mark Drakeford (a "moderniser")
Unionist: The right-wing of the British spectrum, they're very much against the EF and is the loudest for "ending the Geneva gang bullying poor Britain". They're also quite social conservative, "Faith, Family and Flag", but those days, tend to be quieter in tone, especially under Suzanne Evans.

Minor Federal (and England)
Communist:
The Communists has struggled to enter Parliament with the ILP essentially absorbing their possible vote base. Tends to be at lots of rallies, while consistently refusing to work with the ILP. Runs with Scottish Left in Scotland and Cymru Ymlaen in Wales. Led by Andrew Murray
Roman: Oddly enough has one MP who comes from Tyne and Wear and is pretty left-wing. Overall a weird party where the campaigners dress in Roman attire and all. People seem to vote for them because they're pretty amusing. Led by Philip West
Idle Toad: A weird party name, but it's a general federation of local parties in England and won 3 seats in 2018. Generally think of it as an "alliance of residents' associations" mostly to get a chance to break into the list seats. Has no one leader
Free England: An English nationalist party, it calls for full English independence and "stop immigration". Very much anti-EF and a popular slogan of theirs that has gone mainstream is "Eff off, EF!". Some of them tend to outright say "Keep England White", but their leader Robin Tillbrook avoids that
One London: A somewhat right-wing London regional party that calls for "protecting London" and for leaving the EF. They're also somewhat localist, but this only goes so far. Generally tends to act as "the London Unionist Party". Their leader is Damian Hockney

Scotland
Scots Independent:
Scottish nationalists, basically. Tends left, but not always. Very loud about "standing up for Scotland" and all that. Used to have power in the Scots Parliament, but lost it recently to an "Unionist Coalition" which they grumble about. Led by Michael Russell
Tús Nua!Free Scotland: Scottish nationalists, but more right-wing and tends more rural. Split off in the early 2000s due to a dispute between the left-wing base and the conservative base. Merged with the Free Scotland Party, so has this weird name. Led by Liam Fox
Scottish Left: Scottish nationalists, but more left-wing and tends more urban. Split off the ILP due to John Maxton wishing to "modernise" the ILP and get rid of the plank supporting Scottish independence. Runs with the Communist Party in all elections. Led by Michael Gove
Scottish Voice: An alliance of Scottish localist parties calling for less power to be centralised and more to the regions. This is a hot topic in Scotland, and it's why they're doing well in the Scots Parliament, even if their lack of a leader means they're incoherent

Wales
Cynghrair Cymru:
The dominant party in Wales, mostly by being the biggest in a very fractured but nationalist environment. Generally tends left-wing, but not always. Has led to some conservatives calling the place "the Socialist Republic of Wales". Led by Bethan Sayed, the Princess of Wales
People's Voice: A general alliance of localist and populist forces in the Valleys, they tend to work with Idle Toad in England and Scottish Voice in Scotland to unite as one broad localist front. Has no united leader, making it fractious
Cymru Ymlaen: A left-wing Welsh nationalist party that proudly labels itself socialist, instead of the vague social-democratic entity Cynghrair Cymru is. Often calls for independence and for a real Socialist Republic of Wales. Led by Mike Hedges
Cymru Fydd: A sort of refounding of the old Cymru Fydd of the 1890s, this is a liberal and Welsh nationalist party that argues that Wales needs to stake itself as a liberal democratic republic. Hence Cymru Fydd - Free Wales. Led by Keith Morgan
Ein Gwlad: Welsh nationalists, but of the conservative variety (despite saying they're not). Tends very heavy anti-EF [unlike CC's pro-EF attitude] and generally tends to be rural and very suspicious of any immigration to Wales, English or otherwise. Led by Royston Jones

Cornwall
Mebyon Kernow:
Cornish nationalist, they tend centre-left and broadly left-liberal/social democratic, but generally is more about the language and culture and pushing for Cornwall to be seen as distinct. Dick Cole's hunger strike in 1999 brought them to notability and led to Cornwall formally being split off from England and more power to be given to their County Council, which led to full Home Rule in 2009. Led by Derek Collins
Cornish Nationalist: Cornish nationalist (duh), they tend right-wing and conservative, but distinguish themselves from MK by their more hardline view on independence. While MK is generally happy with Home Rule at the moment the CNP isn't and demand "Kernoxit". Led by Loic Rich
Big Three

Populists: They're basically Nordic agrarians. Vaguely "liberal", very rural except when they're not, and can work with either left or right
- Liberal Caucus: Basically suburban environmentalists who vote for "crunchy conservative" stuff and you get it
- Agrarian Caucus: Rural farmers/rural interests in general. In general tends centrist and prefers 'pragmatic' solutions
- Values Caucus: Faith, farmers, family, flag. They're Populists because they live in the Populist South and it's easier to get ahead in the Pops
- Workers' Caucus: Basically the urban working-class that does not want the Democrats' "liberalism". Think Blue Labour and Richard Ojeda

Democrats: Social democrats, more or less. Has a bit of a Hollywood obsession, including thinking they should run celebrities for stuff
- Socialist Caucus: Unrepentantly left-wing. Not "left". LEFT. Think the DSA, except more radical. Warren Beatty was a disappointment to them
- Progressive Caucus: The party centre. They tend middle-class "liberal", but you know. Think Ed Miliband, I guess
- Labor Caucus: The unions. The trade unions has been a strong influence in the Dems, and they do tend to be more centrist than the party
- NeoDemocrat Caucus: The NeoDemocrats. They're basically trying to make the Dems go Third Way. The faction of the Speaker

Republicans: Establishment conservatism. Can go right-wing at times, but nothing like OTL GOP. Much more "European"
- Conservative Caucus: Social conservatives. Somewhat religious. Tends more economic liberal than the Populist Values Caucus
- Suburban Caucus: Suburban middle-class conservatives. Advocates less tax and less spending, unlike the Populist Liberal Caucus
- Reform Caucus: Social liberals. Bit of an odd one out, but they're broadly the faction of Nelson Rockefeller and Lincoln Chafee
- Freedom Caucus: Libertarians. They advocate smaller government and oppose social conservatism. Way more consistent than OTL

Allied Parties

Populists: More or less either places the Populists "allowed" local parties to rise, or in places that wasn't previously open to them
- Homesteader: Basically the Populists, but Alaskan-oriented and way more supportive of "socialistic" ideas like oil-funded tax rebates
- Aloha Aina: Hawaiian regionalism, but mostly Native Hawaiian rights. Defaulted to being the Populist branch due to the Pops not running
- Green Mountain: Vermont localism, some mutter about "bringing back the Green Mountain Boys". Tends very greeny
- Reform: The party of Senator Jesse Ventura, more or less. The Populist Party in Minnesota has more or less been absorbed into them
- Moderate-Moose: The party of Senator-elect Robert J. Healey. Very much centrist and has filled a niche in RI that the Pops wasn't around for

Democrats: Due to Hearst and successors allowing minor parties to merge and ally with the Dems, they have a smorgasbord of allies
- Farmer-Labor: Basically the Democrats in Minnesota. Don't tell them, they'll get indignant at that and argue they're a whole separate party
- Progressive: Basically a party that allies with Dems in Wisconsin and has more separation than Farmer-Labor, but not much
- Nonpartisan League: A rural socialist party that split off the Socialists in protest at their alliance with the Dems. Heh, ironic much?
- Mountain: The West Virginia Democrats are still around. They just share Dem affiliate status with a greenie party. Blame Redford
- DC Statehood: A Dem splitter party from when the Dems were seen as insufficiently pro-DC. Now is de facto the DC Dems
- National Union: Comes from splitter Populists that gave the Dems a Southern presence they lacked. Now it's just mostly a label
- Municipal Ownership: A Democratic fusion party in New York, they're very much the Other Party of Hearst. Still endorses every Dem tho

Technically not allied with Dems, but endorse them all the time
- Communist:
When the Soviets went "stop running candidates and support the Dems", there was a split. This is the pro-Dem far-left party

Republicans (only one, thankfully)
- Independent-Republican: The Minnesota GOP. ... What? That's it. That's all they are. It's just a weird name

Parties that don't ally with the Big Three yet win seats in the state legislatures (gasp!)

Patriotic Pride: Racists, white supremacists and fascists. 100% deplorable. Their motto is "Make America White Again", a riff off the slogan of the far-right terrorist force that terrorised America back in the 90s - "Make America Great Again". Awful people

One Nation: Isolationist, America First, portrays itself as "willing to make deals", sees Rubio as a "sellout". Yes, this is the party of Trump

Alaska First: "Alaska First, Alaska Always"... Basically a weird libertarian-socialist and Alaskan separatist party

Independent Socialist: As their name suggests, they're independent and socialist. They're the "no endorsing Dems" far-left party

Liberal: Basically the party of Liberal Republicans and NeoDemocrats would fit in, but they see the Liberals as laughably irrelevant

Parties without seats in State Legislatures that I found interesting

New Federalist: Alexander Hamilton's party in all but reality. Which means they're calling for an end to the universal vote and a return to wealth-weighed voting where the billionaires would have lots more say than the struggling mother of three

Young American: Young America. Basically Integralists. Think a weird mix of fascism and DEMOGRAPHICS. Don't ask me, I don't get it either

Libertarian: A family party, led by the Pauls of Texas, they talk about "ending government oppression" and "slashing spending" and basically they just sound like the libertarians in the Republicans, except more radical overall on this
 
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Little Loaf
The Imperial tariff policy has always been a Liberal Unionist dream. It was the major thing differing them from the Liberals [and increasingly the Conservatives] and so it was a thing they championed. Although it was not something they brought up after the Liberals won 1907, but now it was the 1920s. The Liberals were now in fourth place and split with the left-y SDP, the far-left Independent Labour was now defeated in the October 1924 election, and Austen Chamberlain walked into 10 Downing Street a second time, this time more comfortably than the first

Sure, it was a coalition with the Conservatives, but the Lib Unionists were on top, damnit! They were now in control and they would decide what would be policy and what would not. And the Imperial Tariff was at the top of the Liberal Unionist demands. It was one they would pass!

As Chamberlain conveyed the Imperial Council and met with the dominion Prime Ministers, his policy-makers were hard at work writing up bills that would end the free trade policy and help ensure Britain's economy was Empire-oriented and empowering it. Just like Father wanted, Austen thought. With the Conservatives grumbling, he deployed his closest allies to convince them that the Imperial Tariff policy was an acceptable compromise between Tory protectionism and Liberal free trade. Meanwhile, of course that ragamuffin Ramsay MacDonald was talking about how this was bad for the working-class. Didn't he know that tariffs would enrich the industries of this fair land?

After much "pleasant" talk and convincing, Chamberlain got the Imperial Council to agree to Empire tariffs, apart from Canada which was heavily sceptical of the policy. Nevertheless, Chamberlain was undeterred and went ahead to put it before Parliament. The bills were written and ready and put before parliament. The ILP voted against it, of course. The Liberals, devoted to free trade, voted it down. The Social Democrats, well, they were mixed. The Conservative votes were needed, and after negotiation with top Tory brass, it was narrowly voted through

Joseph Chamberlain's vision was here. One glorious summer of Empire tariff later, and it all fell apart. The American economy took a hit, and despite the tariff policy, Britain was severely hit as well. The economy entered a deep recession, seemingly made worse by the tariff

Austen Chamberlain immediately became the most hated man in Britain. Smelling opportunity to kick the Liberal Unionist upstarts down, the Tories withdrew from the coalition and voted with the opposition to call a new election

1544504202622.png

Even he wasn't spared the humiliation of losing his own seat. With his brother Neville the "last Chamberlain" still with a political career, Austen declared "my family's legacy is over". But Neville was to prove the most transformative Prime Minister of them all

But that was in the future. For now, Ramsay MacDonald and the ILP was in power [propped up by the Liberals and SDP] and time would judge them...​
 
This looks very good, but I am curious how the Electoral College issue is solved over in America.
 
British Party Leaders (WIP obviously)

Leaders of the Unionist Party
Enoch Powell 1967-1975 (MP for Wolverhampton South West, Staffordshire, England)
Julian Amery 1975-1984 (MP for Brighton Pavilion, Sussex, England)
Rhodes Boyson 1984-1994 (MP for Brent North, Greater London, England, then List)
Alan Clark 1994-1997 (MP for List)
Ann Widdecombe 1997-2006 (MP for Maidstone, then Maidstone and The Weald, both of Kent, England)
Neil Hamilton 2006-2013 (MP for Tatton, Cheshire, England)
Nigel Farage 2013 (Acting. MP for List)
Suzanne Evans 2013-2015 (MP for Wimbledon, Greater London, England)
Jacob Rees-Mogg 2015-2017 (MP for The Wrekin, Shropshire, England)
Suzanne Evans 2017-present (MP for Wimbledon, Greater London, England)

=========

Leaders of the Liberal Party
William Harcourt 1894-1898 (MP for Derby, Derbyshire, England)
John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer 1898-1902 (Peer)
Richard Haldane 1902-1919 (MP for Haddingtonshire, Scotland)
David Lloyd George 1919-1924 (MP for Caernarvon Boroughs, Wales)
H. H. Asquith 1924-1926 (MP for Paisley, Scotland)
Herbert Samuel 1926-1931 (MP for Cleveland, Yorkshire, England)
John Maynard Keynes 1931-1942^ (MP for Cambridge University)
Herbert Samuel 1942-1955 (MP for Cleveland, Yorkshire, England)
Frank Byers 1955-1967 (MP for North Dorset, Dorset, England)
David Renton 1967-1970 (MP for Huntingdonshire, Huntingdonshire, England)
Jeremy Thorpe 1970-1974 (MP for North Devon, Devon, England)
Harold Macmillan 1974-1978 (MP for Bromley then Ravensbourne, both of Greater London, England)
Richard Wainwright 1978-1986 (MP for Colne Valley, Yorkshire, England)
Michael Heseltine 1986-1992 (MP for Gower, Wales)
David Penhaligon 1992-1999 (MP for Truro then Truro and St. Austell, both of Cornwall, England)
Alan Beith 1999-2008 (MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England)
Andrew Adonis 2008-2017 (MP for Westbury, Wiltshire, England)
George Osborne 2017 (acting) (MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England)
Nick Boles 2017- (MP for Hove, East Sussex, England)

=========

Leaders of the Social Democratic Party
Arthur Henderson 1918-1927 (MP for Barnard Castle, Durham, England)
Charles Trevelyan^ 1927-1942 (MP for Elland, Yorkshire, England)
Philip Noel-Baker 1942-1956 (MP for Coventry, Warwickshire, England)
Hugh Gaitskell^ 1956-1963 (MP for Leeds South, Yorkshire, England)
Anthony Crosland 1963-1972 (MP for South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, England)
Dick Taverne 1972-1976 (MP for Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England)
Tony Benn 1976-1986 (MP for Bristol South East, then Bristol South, both of Avon, England)
Peter Shore 1986-1990 (MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney, Greater London, England)
Margaret Beckett 1990-2000 (MP for Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England)
Vince Cable 2000-2005 (MP for Glasgow Kelvin, Scotland)
Peter Mandelson 2005-2013 (MP for Hartlepool, Durham, England)
David Miliband 2013-2018 (MP for South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England)
Ed Miliband 2018- (MP for Doncaster North, Yorkshire, England)

=========

Leadership of the Fellowship Party (1959-1980)
John Loverseed (chairman, None)/Bertrand Russell (parliamentary leader, MP for List) 1959-1967
Benjamin Britten 1967-1975 (MP for Sudbury and Woodbridge, Suffolk, England)
Donald Swann 1975-1980 (MP for List)

Leaders of the Globalist Alliance (1980-present)
Donald Swann 1980-1981 (MP for List)
Barbara Ward and Tony Whittaker 1981-1983 (MP for List/MP for Warwick and Leamington, Warwickshire, England)
Jean Lambert and Tony Whittaker 1983-1985 (MP for List/MP for Warwick and Leamington, Warwickshire, England)
Jean Lambert and George MacLeod 1985-1987 (MP for List/Peer in House of Lords as Baron MacLeod of Fuinary)
Shiona Baird and David Icke 1987-1991 (MP for List/MP for Isle of Wight, England)
David Icke and Sara Parkin 1991-1995 (MP for Isle of Wight, England/MP for List)
Charles Windsor and Tracy Worcester 1995-2004 (MP for Cities of London and Westminster, Greater London, England/MP for List)
Sian Berry and Robin Harper 2004-2007 (MP for Holborn and St. Pancras, Greater London, England/MP for Edinburgh East, Scotland, then List)
Sian Berry and Charles Windsor 2007-2011 (MP for Holborn and St. Pancras, Greater London, England/President)
Molly Scott Cato and Charles Windsor 2011-2017 (MP for List/President)
Molly Scott Cato and Mike Woodin 2017-2018 (MP for List/President)
Amelia Womack and Mike Woodin 2018-present (MP for List/President)

Co-Parliamentary Leaders of the Globalist Alliance (2007-present)
Robin Harper 2007-2011 (MP for List)
Loz Kaye 2011-present (MP for List, then Manchester Central, Greater Manchester, England)

=========

Chairmen of the Council of Leadership of the Independent Labour Party (1894-1923)
Keir Hardie (None, then MP for West Ham South, Essex, England, then none) 1894-1901
Henry Hyndman (None) 1901-1905
Philip Snowden (None, then MP for Wakefield, Yorkshire, England) 1905-1917
Ramsay MacDonald (MP for Leicester, Leicestershire, England, then Aberavon, Wales) 1917-1923

Presidents of the Independent Labour Party (1923-1936)
Ramsay MacDonald (MP for Aberavon, Wales) 1923-1931
David Kirkwood (MP for Dumbarton Burghs, Scotland) 1931-1933
James Maxton (MP for Glasgow Bridgeton, Scotland) 1933-1936

Chairmen of the Presiding Committee of the Independent Labour Party (1936-1991)
James Maxton (MP for Glasgow Bridgeton, Scotland) 1936-1952
Aneurin Bevan^ (MP for Ebbw Vale, Wales) 1952-1960
Vacant 1960
Ian Mikardo (MP for Reading, Berkshire, England) 1960-1973
Michael Foot (MP for Plymouth Devonport, Devon, England) 1973-1982
Albert Booth (MP for Barrow and Furness, Cumbria, England, then List) 1982-1987
John Maxton (MP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scotland) 1987-1991

Leaders of the Independent Labour Party (1991-present)
John Maxton (MP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scotland, then List, then Glasgow Cathcart, Scotland) 1991-2000
Jeremy Corbyn (MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, Greater London, England) 2000-2008
Ian Lavery (MP for Wansbeck, Northumberland, England) 2008-2018
Mark Drakeford (MP for Cardiff West, Wales) 2018-
 
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Princes and Princesses of Wales
Gwilym Lloyd George (Liberal-Conservative-National Democratic coalition, then Wartime Solidarity coalition) 1938-1947
S. O. Davies (Independent Labour-Social Democratic coalition) 1947-1952
Megan Lloyd George (Liberal-Social Democratic coalition) 1952-1957
Tudor Watkins (Social Democratic-Independent Labour coalition) 1957-1962
Megan Lloyd George (Liberal-Cynghrair Cymru coalition) 1962-1965
Roderic Bowen (Liberal-
Cynghrair Cymru coalition, then Liberal-National coalition, then minority coalition) 1965-1968

Cledwyn Hughes (Social Democratic-People's-Cynghrair Cymru coalition, then Social Democratic-Cynghrair Cymru coalition) 1968-1977
Walter Padley (Independent Labour-Social Democratic coalition) 1977-1979
Beata Brookes (National-Liberal-Agriculturalist coalition) 1979-1987
Alex Carlile (Liberal-Agriculturalist-Globalist coalition with support from Cynghrair Cymru) 1987-1994
Ron Davies (Independent Labour-Cynghrair Cymru coalition, then Independent Labour minority) 1994-1999
Kim Howells (Social Democratic-Liberal-Globalist coalition) 1999-2006
Jackie Lawrence (Social Democratic-
Liberal-Globalist coalition) 2006-2007

Jonathan Edwards (Cynghrair Cymru-Liberal coalition then Cynghrair Cymru-Cymru Fydd-Globalist coalition) 2007-2012
Joyce Watson (Social Democratic-Independent Labour-Globalist coalition) 2012-2017
Bethan Sayed (Cynghrair Cymru-Cymru Fydd-Globalist minority coalition supported by Independent Labour and Cymru Ymlaen) 2017-
 
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@Skaven: I sincerely appreciate the likes, but do you have any feedback for me? Any requests or critique?

Of course. My main feedback is how much I like the idea of Maxton's kid becoming PM at one point, and that the Prince/Princess of Wales concept is delightful. Something I'd like to see is an electoral map of the UK, or some sort of diagram showing where the various parties strongholds are.
 
Of course. My main feedback is how much I like the idea of Maxton's kid becoming PM at one point, and that the Prince/Princess of Wales concept is delightful. Something I'd like to see is an electoral map of the UK, or some sort of diagram showing where the various parties strongholds are.
Actually it's his nephew

And I'll probably try something just as a guideline
 
How does this whole Prince/Princess of Wales concept work? Is it just the Welsh first minister given a royal title?
 
@Md139115

Princes and Princesses of Wales
Gwilym Lloyd George (Liberal-Conservative-National Democratic coalition, then Wartime Solidarity coalition) 1938-1947
"His Elected Majesty"
As part of Neville Chamberlain's "Home Rule All Round", Wales was given its own Parliament, which was named the Senedd. David Lloyd George's name still held much sway over great swathes of Wales even as the place increasingly went to socialist forces and so when his son Gwilym was announced as the new leader of the Welsh Liberal Federation, the split Social Democrats and ILP couldn't prevent the Liberals from coming a comfortable first in the new election. Forming a coalition with the Tories and Nat Dems, a mirror of the Westminster government only excepting the SDP, he then took part in one of Wales' most bizarre rituals and all thanks to his father's perhaps generous influence over the constitutional committee

He went to Machynlleth, the claimed coronation place of Owain Glyndwr, and was officially inaugurated there by the President. Churchill reportedly despised doing such, claiming "it was made for DLG and DLG can have it for all I care!" but he did so, being the elected President. As the coronet went on to Gwilym's head confirming him as the first democratically-elected Prince of Wales, a new era for the Principality of Wales began

Gwilym would a year later summon the SDP and Agriculturalists and officially request them to join his cabinet to present a strong face of unity for Wales in the Second World War. They both agreed and the Wartime Solidarity coalition began

With foreign policy and the Armed Forces being that of Westminster's policy, it was mainly Gwilym's charge to keep Wales' powers for itself and to not let Westminster, even in wartime, violate Home Rule All Round. He had to walk the tightrope between appearing patriotic and not compromising his office

In 1941, there was a motion in the Senedd to expel Cynghrair Cymru for opposing the wartime effort and "supporting Hitler's regime". Some Independent Labour Senators opposed this motion but it passed and the by-elections showed considerable Government gains, damaging Welsh nationalism at a political level. All of this was silently approved by the Government in London

But Gwilym would put his foot down, prodded along by Social Democrats, National Democrats and more urban Liberals, when it came to interning Welsh people of immigrant extraction. "Nothing without a fair trial. We treated them like people, and like people we shall treat them". The Westminster Government found the Liberals broadly in agreement, yet overrode the Welsh government and went ahead with plans anyway

"Bards under the bed" was coined as a saying by Westminster politicians to refer to the "defiant" Welsh government and the perceived danger of Welsh nationalism alike. Gwilym grew to regret his stance, saying in his memoirs "people influenced me to make a ill-considered decision that portrayed me as going against my Country". But he would hold on until the end of the war, when there would be a fresh election, called in 1947

S. O. Davies (Independent Labour-Social Democratic coalition) 1947-1950
"The Red Prince"
S. O. Davies always insisted on being called "President" of Wales, deploring the "royalist" connotations the Lloyd Georges brought to the office. He declined the coronet, preferring a staff of office. Working with Prime Minister Philip Noel-Baker and the Secretary of State for Wales, he helped bring the Social Revolution Noel-Baker brought to Britain, to Wales, including the National Health Service

When Noel-Baker and American President Wallace authorised an intervention to protect China from Soviet-supported troops of the People's State of Manchuria, S. O. Davies vocally opposed this move, declaring that China was under a fascist government and expressed his firm support of the Soviet Union, declaring "Britain stands on the wrong side. It should stand with the workers against the fascists". This led to a crisis that led to the SDP withdrawing and a fresh election called. With war fever still in the air even if subsiding and an increasing perception of the ILP as unpatriotic, it was brutal

Megan Lloyd George (Liberal-Social Democratic coalition) 1950-1957
"Breaking Glass"
In 1950, Wales elected the first female head of government in the UGB, that of Megan Lloyd George. With Gwilym seen as "tainted goods" and an expectation of losing another election, the Welsh Liberal Federation elected Megan as their new leader. And in 1950, she successfully won an election against a reeling ILP and a SDP too dazed to seize the opportunity it had. She got on very well with Prime Minister Noel-Baker and it was overall a time of relaxed tension between the Senedd and Westminster. But when Noel-Baker lost the election of 1955 to former PM Oliver Stanley, it got frosty. In her first ministry, she continued the implementation of the National Health Service, including provision for Welsh language services and prescription for free eyeglasses. Calling a new election in 1954, she successfully won a new mandate

In her second ministry, things got more rocky, especially as the SDP gained at the expense of the shakily-united National Party and increasingly-unpopular Agriculturalists at a federal level. When a by-election in Cardiff went the SDP's way, they pulled out and forced a vote of no confidence

Tudor Watkins (Social Democratic-Independent Labour coalition) 1957-1962
"Preserve and Survive"
Watkins came from the left of the Social Democrats and if he wasn't from rural Powys, would likely have been an ILPper. But nevertheless, he was a Social Democrat and now Prince of Wales. Like S. O. Davies before him, he took the staff of office instead of the coronet. Even though he won the '57 election, he was seen as untrustworthy and "slippery" for withdrawing the SDP from the coalition and for supporting the first withdrawal in '50. Nevertheless, he was now Prince. As Prince, his main focus was dealing with the environment. If the Fellowship Party was in the Senedd, they would have been in Government as Watkins shepherded several bills that established national parks in Wales. When Prime Minister Gaitskell was in power, Watkins would approve of building more houses. What brought him down was his coalition partner, the ILP

By 1962, the ILP was increasingly getting into foreign policy, and that damaged them with their traditional working-class base, dooming the government to defeat as Megan Lloyd George returned to power for the second time

Megan Lloyd George (Liberal-Cynghrair Cymru coalition) 1962-1965
"The People's Princess"
With the Welsh nationalists in tour, MLG returned to power. By this point, concern about the Welsh language declining was strong with Welsh nationalists and MLG was happy to oblidge them by passing several bills, including the one that made the Welsh language co-official with English in Wales itself. This got opposition but a firm whip led to it passing. In exchange for this, Cynghrair Cymru voted on bills that supported working women. This got MLG firm support with Welsh working-class mothers albeit it did not extend to her party

In 1965, President MacDonald was shot and died on the operating table. The government turned to see who would take office and to their horror it said the Prince of Wales. A clear work of art by David Lloyd George that got his daughter into the office he himself was denied

Roderic Bowen (Liberal-Cynghrair Cymru coalition, then Liberal-National coalition, then minority coalition) 1965-1968
"Splitting Headache"
Roderic Bowen was chosen as MLG's successor by a hasty meeting of the Welsh Liberal Federation's Senators. Bowen was on the right of the party as contrast with MLG being firmly on the Left. Bowen elected to change coalition partners, kicking out Cynghrair Cymru and bringing into the Nationals. Wales would have its first dose of the right in decades. The budget of 1966 would see spending cut and government focused on being more efficient. This led to tensions, which was reflected at a federal level with MLG being denied nomination by Emlyn Hooson, Bowen's ally

In the end, a chunk of the Welsh Liberal Federation Senators walked out, following the MPs, into Megan Lloyd George's People's Party. Bowen stumbled on a further year with a minority government before being forced to call an election which was predictable

Cledwyn Hughes (Social Democratic-People's-Cynghrair Cymru coalition, then Social Democratic-Cynghrair Cymru coalition) 1968-1977
"The Quiet Titan"
Cledwyn Hughes was a no-nonsense political titan that brought stability to Wales in a chaotic era for Britain. Reckoned as a moderate, he united the forces of the Welsh "centre" around himself and enabled the incorporation of the People's Party in Wales into the Welsh SDP. Holding the steering wheel, he oversaw a recession in the late 60s and rode it out to recovery before winning a new mandate in 1973

As Westminster churned in the wake of Thorpe's sudden rise and fall from power and the somewhat nepotistic appointment of Harold Macmillan by his own son, Welsh people grew to value Hughes' "boring" government. But as the economy stagnated and dipped once more in 1976...

Walter Padley (Independent Labour-Social Democratic minority coalition) 1977-1979
"Throwback"
A conscentious objector in WWII and somewhat long-term leader of the rump Welsh ILP, Padley did not expect to win the 1977 election, but revolution was in the air in Britain as the increasingly-left SDP leader Tony Benn brought the ILP back into government for the first time in decades and brought into the Fellowship Party for the first time ever. In Wales, this mood led to the surge of the Independent Labour Party at the expense of the more "establishment" Social Democrats and the entrance of Fellowship to the Senedd

Padley would form a minority coalition of the ILP and SDP with unofficial Fellowship support, but the Liberals refused to support him and in two years, it all fell apart and Wales went back to the polls, this time in a very much different atmosphere

Beata Brookes (National-Liberal-Agriculturalist coalition) 1979-1987
"Blue Dragon"
The Nationals were growing, and the Unionists were as well. Yet Brookes declined to work with the far-right Unionists, preferring to bring the Liberals and Agriculturalists in, the second one for the first time ever as they gained from more conservative Cynghrair Cymru voters who mainly voted on cultural issues. Britain was in a mood for sober conservatism, and they increasingly voted for right-wing parties that promised that

The Brookes ministry would be dominated by conflict with the unions, including toughing out the Long Summer of 1984, but also of social tension. Previous ministries liberalised LGBT rights, but there was now a push from young LGBT people to go further and from moral conservatives to roll it back. With the Liberals threatening to withdraw if Brookes pushed for any bill or suchlike and Brookes herself being a firm social conservative, the policy of the Welsh government on this was nothing. Meanwhile, the most lasting legacy of Brookes' ministry was firm disabled rights legislation, surprisingly enough. In the end, there was a blowback to the National brand Britain-wide and this damaged Brookes' chances in 1987

Alex Carlile (Liberal-Social Democratic-Globalist coalition with support from Cynghrair Cymru) 1987-1994
"A Social Viewpoint"
By 1987, Carlile and his brand of Liberals were now in control and they now could lead Wales. With Britain continuing to polarise on social issues as the Unionists rise, exploiting social conservatism and a perception that the Nationals and Agriculturalists were weak, the Liberals also gained. In Wales, Alex Carlile led the party to return to power for the first time since the split of 1967

Bringing in the Globalists and Social Democrats while working out a deal with Cynghrair Cymru, Carlile had to walk a thin line. Himself firmly socially-liberal, he knew many in the Social Democrats and Cynghrair Cymru wouldn't be. So that is why he focused on the most pressing issue, namely transition of jobs from mining to technology. The Long Summer of 1984 and the Pym ministry's response to that dealt a blow to Britain's mining industry and so it was time for a Welsh answer to a British problem

Bringing into American advisors, especially from their Rust Belt states, the plan was written up and implemented in 1990 after a snap election narrowly gave them a new mandate even as the Unionists and ILP gained. The centre couldn't hold for ever. But the plans was implemented in 1991 by a narrow vote where ILP people condemned the "betrayal of our working men"

Carlile mainly conflicted with Prime Minister Rhodes Boyson, an Unionist who aimed at rolling back social progress decades. When Boyson implemented a bill in 1992 that banned LGBT people from teaching in schools and teaching of the existence of LGBT people, Carlile spoke out against it and was one of the vocal opponents of such a bill. In early 1993, the economy crashed

By 1994, the Unionists were wiped out Britain-wide, seen as too preoccupied with social issues to care about the economy. Meanwhile the Liberals were increasingly blamed for Wales' economic woes and the voters turned to the ILP. But... the voters also shifted priorities

Ron Davies (Independent Labour-Cynghrair Cymru coalition) 1994-1999
"Sea Change"
The ascendance of Ron Davies and the "Red-Green" coalition of the ILP and CC reflected a shift in Welsh politics. With CC in third place in a Welsh election for the second time ever and continuing growing, politics were increasingly more about "Westminster vs. Wales" as Davies described such in 1997. Davies was notably someone who preferred more power be in Wales than in Westminster, but he was not a full-blown nationalist yet

With the ILP under modernising John Maxton and just getting over a split in its Scottish branch as the left-wing nationalists left to form Scottish Left, the fact its Welsh branch was led by someone who often sounded like his coalition partner more than he did the Prime Minister irked the central committee but they were reluctant to do anything while the Welsh ILP was still in power

Instead of Carlile's technological solution, Davies preferred a more traditional one that kept miners working in jobs familiar to them. Namely, subsiding the mines. The Globalists decried this while Social Democrats lambasted it as impractical and Liberals declared it harmful idiocy

On social issues, the policy of the day was a free vote. Which led to Carlile pushing through several social programs now free of having to balance coalition partners. Most controversially was a bill to recognise trans people as who they were. In the end, that passed narrowly despite vocal UGB-level outrage. None of them would bring down Davies. What would is the increasing impatience of the central ILP leading to a leak that accused Davies of being in gay relationships while married. In the end, the ILP split between "Daviesites" and "Maxtonites" heading into the 1999 election

Kim Howells (Social Democratic-Liberal-Globalist coalition) 1999-2006
"Welcome to the Wales of TOMORROW!"
Kim Howells, often known as "Howling Howells" for his outspoken nature, was a proud member of the "Third Way" faction in the SDP, and his government would in some ways prove a blueprint for the later Mandelson-Miliband era of British politics

First making headlines for his declaration "We are all capitalists now" as he oversaw the Welsh SDP striking out any mention of socialism in its platform, he ran a confrontional campaign against not the fractured ILP, but the rising Cynghrair Cymru. Portraying it as a battle between "Wales' past and its future", he ended up triumphing and bringing in the Liberals and Globalists, even as CC rose to a comfortable second place thanks to the ILP fracturing between those loyal to Maxton (the future rump ILP) and those to Davies (later renamed Cymru Ymlaen and turned more explicitly nationalist). Wales' politics were shifting more and more every year

The "Megaphone", as some of his Senators jokingly referred to him as, brought back Carlile's technological employment transition plan while combining it with more of a focus on preserving Wales' environment with the help of the Globalists. Mining subsidies were cut in 2000 and finally abolished in 2005 as job training programs went full blast to retrain "Wales' workers for the world of tomorrow" as he loftily declared

Meanwhile, with the SDP more socially-liberal than ever, it was time to push Wales' social values "forward, not back" and many bills expanding LGBT rights beyond the UGB baseline, expanding upon Brookes' standards for disabled care and unofficially sending a Welsh "ambassador" to the CoN

In early 2006, Howells retired as Prince, the only one to ever retire at his discretion and not that of events outside his control

Jackie Lawrence (Social Democratic-Liberal-Globalist coalition) 2006-2007
"Ydych chi'n siarad Cymraeg?"
The Minister of Education in the Howells ministry, Jackie Lawrence was prominent in pushing for more access to Welsh language education and she was key to making support for the Welsh language cross the growing division between "Westminster vs. Wales", or increasingly more accurate, between unionists and nationalists. Lawrence's ministry would be primarily one of the economy, though, as a recession happened in 2006 that engulfed the world's attention. As the Social Democrats swept into control of Westminster in 2006 under Peter Mandelson, Lawrence hoped that similar good feelings would help give her a new mandate. But when she called an election in 2007, the polls were gloomy

Jonathan Edwards (Cynghrair Cymru-Liberal coalition then Cynghrair Cymru-Cymru Fydd-Globalist coalition) 2007-2012
"The Strange Split of Liberal Wales"
The leader of the Wales Liberal Federation at this time was Eleanor Burnham. Burnham was someone who inched close to nationalism at times yet led a traditionally unionist party. So when she announced that she would coalition with Cynghrair Cymru and help put a coronet on Jonathan Edwards' head, the Westminster Liberals expressed concern. Edwards was crowned all the same and the "Lemon and Lime Government" began

The Welsh economy recovered somewhat under Edwards, yet it was a sluggish one all the same. The Carlile Plan was continued yet people grew sceptic of the idea, arguing that instead the focus should be on education more than job training. The Carlile Plan had years, and it didn't have the impact it originally was envisioned to have, so they argued it should be scrapped. The Welsh Liberals maintained this was mainly because of insufficient funding, and that the current Government would invest enough in it

In 2011, the Welsh Liberal Federation split over a bill in the Senedd that would allow Wales to work with other countries, such as Ireland, in a quasi-diplomatic manner, something generally frowned on by a firm-handed Westminster. Also helping this split was the increasing perception that many in England and Scotland didn't understand Wales' linguistic concerns and so wanted to push for "English education for all"

And perhaps it was inevitable given Wales' politics was now more than ever one of unionists vs. nationalists. It's hard to say, but after all was said and done, there was two Welsh liberal parties - the Welsh Liberal Federation, and Cymru Fydd

Bringing into the Globalists, Edwards maintained his majority for another year, then called a new election, hoping that the recovery would boost him

Joyce Watson (Social Democratic-Independent Labour-Globalist coalition) 2012-2017
"Cracked Pavement"
The 2012 election was the most multi-party yet, with 10 parties in the Senedd. Joyce Watson was known as someone who steered the SDP away from the unrepentant Third Way of Howells and Lawrence, and back towards a soggy centre-left, including rekindling the relationship with the trade unions. Hence why she announced that she formed a "Popular Front" of the SDP, ILP and Globalists, the three "unionist" left-wing parties

With the Britain SDP still led by Peter Mandelson and David Miliband, there was a clear division between the Welsh SDP that was "been there done that" with the Third Way and the Britain SDP that was still firmly so. This was dubbed "clear red water" by Vaughan Gething, rising SDP star. The Watson ministry saw a focus on education and on fighting income inequality, seen as the main "culprit" for why Wales' economy was lagging

The economy did pick up, but the Welsh NHS's inefficiency leading to people not receiving healthcare promptly led to a backlash in Welsh politics and in the end it damaged the SDP as they were seen as the primary cause of it [but CC wasn't spared either] and in 2017...

Bethan Sayed (Cynghrair Cymru-Cymru Fydd-Globalist minority coalition supported by Independent Labour and Cymru Ymlaen) 2017-
"Cymru Ifanc"
The youngest to wear the coronet yet, Bethan Sayed entered power after weeks of coalition arithmetic with a 13-party Senedd and both the SDP and CC losing seats. In the end, with nobody willing to return to the country in a new election, a "Umbrella Government" was hammered out where it would be one of CC together with Cymru Fydd and (of course) the Globalists, propped up by the ILP and their splitter party Cymru Ymlaen

This was expected to last a year but it has prolonged longer than everyone thought. Nevertheless, the Princess thinks 2019 is high time for an election and one she expects will lead to a more stable coalition for her. Polls are ambiguous on this, but she is right that CC is enjoying yet another honeymoon going off their popular reforms and she wants to seize that opportunity sooner rather than later

Of course, there are talk that President Mike Woodin might not be in the best of health, and she might have to step in as Acting President in the case of his death or resignation. That would put the cat among the pigeons, both in Westminster and in Wales...
 
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