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Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State

The second chapter of Spoil the Broth where I establish a Republic, make Neville Chamberlain the closest to a George Washington we ever had, and fracture politics terribly thanks to the pro-National Government parties and all, is being worked on but the delay is due to my mental mood. It'll hopefully be up at the end of the week, I've saved what I've typed up so far

But for now, this is a short one to mark the death of President George H. W. Bush...

A Thousand Points of Light

George Bush (Republican) 1981-1989
1980: def. Robert Redford (Democratic) and Jimmy Carter (Populist)
1984: def. Reubin Askew (Populist) and Lane Kirkland (Democratic)
"The Establishment Retakes Control"
The 1980 election was a bitter defeat for the Democrats. Their hopes of finally getting into the White House was dashed. Robert Redford was seen as "the man who lost our golden opportunity" and the party decided to withdraw firmly from "celebrity" candidates once and for all. Also part of this shift was the shift away from the growing environmentalist movement. The Democrats would become more and more "the party of unions"

President Bush represented a continuation of Nixonism. Not a change. Steady as it goes was his motto. AHPA would stay, but there were to be financial policies implemented to ensure the budget remained solvent yet boost the economy up. Many criticised this as a "millionaire government" or "the government of the elite", especially the Democrats who were starting to shed their more 'liberal' elements to become a more blue-collar socialist party

In 1984, the Democrats had a split that led to the "New Left" walking out and deciding to sit the election out while the Democrats nominated labor unionist and fervent anti-Communist Lane Kirkland who left the Populist Party in 1972 in disgust at how it betrayed the "legacy of Huey Long and Lyndon Johnson". This would prove a mistake as many Democrats in the North looked at the aloof and arrogant South Carolinian and questioned if he was even a Democrat [well, National Unionist, but whatever]. Meanwhile, the Populists nominated Florida Governor Reubin Askew, known as a very moral man and one who stood very much in the "Carter" legacy of soft social conservatism and economic centrism

In November, the American people re-elected George Bush to the Presidency. The Dems were wiped out in many of their 1970s gains as American politics increasingly turned back to being Pops vs. Reps with Dems as a third party. In his second term, George Bush oversaw the collapse of the Soviet Union and took credit for it on a domestic level as "the man who defeated communism". Pondering a third term, he ended up deciding otherwise

Slade Gorton (Republican) 1989-1993
1988: def. Jim Blanchard (Populist), Douglas Applegate (Democratic) and Stephen Gaskin (Globalist)
"From Washington to Washington"
The Democrats were always going to face a hard time of it. Locking themselves firmly in trade unionism, they lost the "New Left". And then in the primaries, a random Ohio upstart surged to win the nomination. Who knows who Douglas Applegate was? That was the problem. And then the hippies decided to not sit it out this time around and instead nominated the Dems' running mate in 1976. That hurt as Governor Stephen Gaskin was one of the most prominent and most respected "hippie politicians" in America. But the Globalists can't win, all they can do is... hurt the Dems. Fuck

Meanwhile the Populists went North for their candidate and chose Senator Jim Blanchard of Michigan, a clear shift to the left from Askew and a gesture designed to squeeze the Dems and hopefully cement Thomas Watson's dream of a "two-party system". And while the three "left" parties were fighting, the Republicans under Senator Slade Gorton walked to victory

The man who was now President, Slade Gorton, was very much a "Bush Republican", aligning himself firmly with the WASP moderate faction and championed the Equal Rights Amendment floated around, as well as more protection of the environment. What ultimately brought him down was his support of cutting military spending to reduce the deficit which got conservatives angered and a primary challenge against him

Bruce Babbitt (Populist) 1993-2001
1992: def. Slade Gorton (Republican), Ralph Nader (Globalist) and Jim Traficant (Democratic)
1996: def. Marshall Coleman (Republican) and Rick Santorum (Democratic)
"The real Green Party"
With the Republicans infighting, the Populists nominated their most potent nominee yet, Governor Bruce Babbitt of Arizona. Babbitt ran on a "Make the American Dream Anew" platform, promising environmental protection, financial balancing, protecting welfare from further cuts [especially after Gorton said "He will cut your welfare. I will cut too. The difference is that I said it, he didn't" which doomed him to defeat] and general "we need a change" sentiment. With the Democrats nominating bombastic and alienating Ohio Senator Jim Traficant and the Globalists nominating Connecticut Representative Ralph Nader [who was not as respected as Gaskin], Babbitt managed to form a coalition to defeat Gorton

President Babbitt continued the good economy, even if there was a dip in 1994 that meant a loss in the midterms. Nevertheless, Babbitt continued and in 1996 with a strong economy, an international environmental treaty signed and record levels of environmental protection along with protection of welfare policies and some more unorthodox policies that taxed party unity such as ending the income tax for small businesses, he stood strong and with a new coalition of middle-class "liberals" backing him, and with the New Left Globalists begrudgingly endorsing him, he remade the party in his image. The others had to reply to this sea-change

The Republicans did so in 1996 by trying to compete with Babbitt on the middle-class, nominating Governor Marshall Coleman of Virginia. Meanwhile, the Dems shifted rightwards on social policy and tried to appeal to ancestral Populists alienated by the party's change by nominating young Representative Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. More than ever, the party was the party of the working-class

In the end, Coleman's efforts failed while Santorum couldn't quite chip away enough ancestral Populists to deny Babbitt his second term. In that second term, the economy stagnated before falling into recession, dooming the Populists' hope of a third term

Jim Jeffords (Republican) 2001-2009
2000: def. Al Gore (Populist) and Dennis Kucinich (Democratic)
2004: def. Howard Dean (Populist) and Dick Gephardt (Independent-Democratic)
"Trouble on the Horizon"
When Jeffords was elected, it represented the continuation of firm environmental policies in both of the Big Two and the dominance of more "affluent" moderate factions, pushing away the more rockscrabble working-class. Jeffords authorised the ban on underground nuclear testing and more expanded rights for lesbians and gays up to floating a same-sex marriage law late in his second term

His first term would be dominated by humanitarian interventions in several African countries, which led to somewhat of a body count, which would have doomed him re-election if it wasn't for the Pops splitting as Howard Dean won the nomination and Dick Gephardt announced that he would walk out and run as an Independent. The Democratic candidate, Senator Richard Trumka of Pennsylvania, agreed to be Gephardt's running mate and the Democratic Party ticket ended up getting 23.7% of the vote, a major boost as more "traditional" Populists finally broke

In his second term, an environmental disaster led to reports of corruption in the Jeffords Administration. Unfounded in the end, but after that people just couldn't trust the President anymore and chose to vote in a new face

Bill Richardson (Populist) 2009-2017
2008: def. Angus King (Republican) and Debbie Stabenow (Democratic)
2012: def. George Pataki (Republican) and Stephen Lynch (Democratic)
"Trouble Brewing"
The 2008 election would make history as America elected its first Hispanic president in Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, defeating Senators Angus King of Maine and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. Promising to fix up the economy, he passed several bills to make the economy better and while the statistics said it did, a lot of people never really felt that

In 2012, the Republicans narrowly nominated moderate former Governor of New York George Pataki, and conservatives were disgruntled enough to stay at home, while some decided to vote for relative social conservative Governor Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, who had a vague "family first" narrative of putting "traditional working-class values" first and that appealed to some social conservatives

In Richardson's second term, the economy imploded and the people turned the blame on the Populists and Republicans, which grouped together to vote for a bank bailout which angered many Americans in the process

Richard Ojeda (Democratic) 2017-
2016: def. Mitt Romney (Republican) and Ken Salazar (Populist)
"Trouble"
In the 2016 election, one figure dominated the conversation. That figure was Richard Ojeda. High-ranking veteran, Governor of West Virginia, and a man full of anger against the system. In 2016, he was the voice of many who were angry against the "elite" in the Reps and Pops. Angry against their social liberalism, angry against their environmental policies that took many jobs away, angry against the way things were. And as the 2016 election map turned red, many turned anxious at this wave of social conservative populism engulfing America

What happened to the consensus on more rights to LGBT people? What happened to the consensus that the environment needed protection? What happened to the America of Bruce Babbitt and Jim Jeffords? Well, all of it went up in flames as the Democrats seized a majority of the House and won almost all Senate seats up that year. A new, angrier, America was in birth
 
Uneasy Heads

2017-2021: Donald Trump (Republican)
2016 (with Mike Pence) def. Hillary Clinton (Democratic)
2021-2021: Jeb Bush (Never Trump Coalition)
2020 (with John Hickenlooper) def. Donald Trump (Republican), Tulsi Gabbard (Independent Democrat / Green)
2021-2022: Jeb Bush (National Trust Coalition leading Emergency Government)
2022-2023: Jeb Bush (Nonpartisan leading Consitutional Convention)
2023-2025: Jeb Bush (Nonpartisan leading Caretaker Administration)
2025-2027: John I Bush ('New Constitution Coalition')
2024 def. vacant (Restoration of the Republic), Michael Bloomberg (Independent)
2027-2049: John I Bush (Bush Family Compact)
2049-2050: George I Bush (Bush Family Compact)
2050-2075: Cara I Kennedy-Cuomo (East Coast Families Compact)
2049 def. George Prescott Bush (Bush Family Compact), Barron Trump (Trump Family Compact)

This is based on a dumb Twitter post I saw, which was not only eulogising George H.W. Bush but All Bushes and saying that things would be better if America simply elected a family every 25 years.

There's little point to doing a huge amount of description here because its fairly obvious. This is the highly implausible path whereby Jeb Bush becomes King of America. I will do some points of interest however

- The Emergency Government isn't Jeb! seizing power unilaterally, America goes into lowkey civil war when Trump loses and the Emergency Government relocates to some hidden bunker and deals with the fash insurgency as well as the antifa militants which emerge to fight it.

- I imagine America withdraws into herself considerably and we ultimately see one rationalisation of our economic malaise in that feudalism no long becomes a throwaway term, but is very much real. Political-economic dynasties exist and are accepted as legitimate but only if they do what is expected which means pay lots of taxes for infrastructure, defence and welfare. I imagine at a state level, things feel little changed from what they are now, but Governors tend to be drawn from powerful families and while the Bushes have an immediate advantage in the aftermath of the New Constitution, they are increasingly outplayed by the intermarried dynasties of the East Coast.
 
John Vincent Cable
Member of the Liberal Party: 1964-1967
President of the Cambridge University Liberal Club: 1965-1966
Member of the People's Party: 1967-1973
Member of Parliament for Glasgow Hillhead: 1971-2000
1971 (SDP backing): def. Tam Galbraith (Scottish National), Jack Glass (Unionist), G. Wotherspoon (Scots Independent)
1977: def. Tam Galbraith (Scottish National), Adam McAllister (Unionist), George Leslie (Scots Independent), Liz Steedman (Liberal), Lt Cmdr Bill Boaks (Public Safety)
1981: def. Douglas Parkin (Independent Social Democratic), Richard Thorndyke (Unionist), Nick Harris (Liberal), Gerry Malone (Scottish National), George Leslie (Scots Independent)
1986 (Liberal backing): def. George Galloway (Independent Labour), Tavish Leish (Unionist), Bill Kidd (Scots Independent), Brian Cooklin (Scottish National)
1990 (Liberal backing): def. Mike James (Unionist-Scottish National), George Galloway (Independent), Bill Kidd (Independent Labour-Scots Independent), Alaistair Whitelaw (Globalist)
1993 (Liberal backing): def. Mike James (Unionist-Scottish National), Sandra White (Scots Independent), Helen Gold (Independent Labour (Militant)), Victor Vanni (Independent Labour (Maxtonite))
1995 (ILP/Globalist backing): def. Sandra White (Scots Independent), Chris Mason (Liberal), Allan Green (Scottish Left-Communist), Robert McGregor (Unionist), Duncan McPhie (Scottish National)

Member of the Social Democratic Party: 1973-
Shadow Minister of State for Latin America: 1981-1987
Shadow Foreign Secretary of the Social Democratic Frontbench Team: 1990-1993
Foreign Secretary: 1993-1999
Member of Parliament for Glasgow Kelvin: 2000-2006
2000 (ILP/Globalist backing): def. Tamsin Mayberry (Liberal), Frances Rankin (Scots Independent), Heather Ritchie (Scottish Left-Communist), Davena Rankin (Scottish National)
Leader of the Social Democratic Party: 2000-2005
2000: def. Alistair Darling, Peter Hain, David Owen, Gordon Brown
2005: def. by Peter Mandelson

Member of Parliament for Glasgow North: 2006-2009
2006: def. Amy Rodger (Liberal), Sandra White (Scots Independent), Martin Bartos (Globalist), Brian Pope (Scottish National), Pauline McNeill (Independent Labour), Nick Tarlton (Scottish Left-Communist), Isobel Macleod (Unionist), Vine Cable (Social Democracy), Jamie McDavid (Tús Nua!Free Scotland)
Member of the House of Lords (Earl Cable): 2009-
Leader of the Social Democratic Party in the House of Lords: 2009-

Is this how you do this?
 
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2024-2030: Tommy Robinson (Patriotic Alliance)
2024 (Majority) def. Tom Watson (National Government - Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats), Laura Pidcock (National Campaign for Socialism), Humza Yousaf (Scottish National), Mary Lou McDonald (Sinn Fein)
2025 EU Referendum, LEAVE 56%
2029 (Majority) def. Gina Miller (National Progressive Centre), Alfie Steer (National Campaign for Socialism), Humza Yousaf (Scottish National), Mary Lou McDonald (Sinn Fein)

2030-2032: Mark Meechan (Patriotic Alliance leading Emergency Government)
2032-2034: Mark Meechan (Patriotic Alliance, backed by US Occupation Authority)
2034-2036: Milo Yiannopoulos (National Alternative)
2034 Patriot's List, APPROVE 98%
2036-2037: Milo Yiannopoulos (National Independence leading Emergency Government)

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Edward VIII, 1936-1952

Under pressure from his increasingly pissed-off father and a despairing Prime Minister, Prince Edward starts courting Anastasia Nikolaevna, the last surviving heir of the tsar - who has been growing bored and despondent in Paris, surrounded by White Russians with increasingly ludicrous schemes of 'return'. Edward decides he likes Anastasia after all cos she's well fit. She's also willing to look the other way as he continues half a dozen affairs with married women, as she's burned out and just grateful to be shot of her 'court'. (UK-USSR relations take a frosty turn)

Edward VIII's brash manners and his wife's glamorous associations make him popular with the masses and unpopular with the British & dominion governments who have to actually work with the blighter. He uses some of his 'soft' power influence to nudge Chamberlain more towards seeing Hitler as someone who we need a big stick against (these are also unguarded comments Eddie makes in public), influence he makes because his wife has influence on him, namely taking issue with Hitler's statement that slavs, and thus her, are untermensch. The Second World War ends in late 1944, Germany occupied by Anglo-American forces and a rump 'Free Poland' allowed to exist, but the Cold War starts up early as Stalin's still not happy about the king's wife. The Polish Airlift happens in 1945.

It's all downhill for Edward VIII when Labour gets into power. The bally socialists are pissing him off and for Attlee, the feeling is mutual. A massive falling out takes place in 1948 and - though it's partly hushed up at the time - Edward VIII has to be talked out of dissolving parliament by the Conservative leader. Labour's internal divisions are papered over by the interference of an obnoxious monarch and they narrowly claw their way into a second parliament for the 1950s.

The king becomes increasingly bad tempered and bridge-burning, and his marriage has decayed. What finishes him off, however - and means popular remembrance glosses over his post-war self - is when his son Prince Edward is fatally wounded in Korea, in 1952. Edward VIII had remembered how angry he was at being kept away from the front during the First World War and pressured to get "Second Lieutenant Windsor" put nearer the real action, and the guilt and grief shatters his will, his marriage, and his desire to reign. Following the mourning, he abdicates.


Mountbatten, Regent, 1952-1955

Until the next monarch comes of age, Louis Mountbatten has to step in. He happily shakes the hand of the incoming Tory PM Profumo but otherwise keeps a much lower profile than Edward, seeing his job as keeping things ticking along for the heir. The dominions and visiting foreign dignitaries greatly prefer this guy.


Queen Alexandra I, 1955-1978

A shy, retiring figure who wasn't expected to ever get ahead, went through a rather grim home life, and is now in power & responsibility at 18, with both her parents and uncle Mountbatten looming. To unkind commentators, she is a fitting symbol of the weaker Britain that exists and not the wise old power player Profumo wants it to be. His successful carrot-and-stick diplomatic approach with Nasser over Suez's nationalisation just shows it, for once Britain would've just thumped him.

Profumo decides the country needs to join the EEC and uses the young queen as part of his diplomatic bombardment of all the other members, especially France, to ensure the UK can get in. It's been suggested Alexandra helped swing the French on it, helping make the UK seem less of a threat and a country that might take Paris' lead. During her tour, she was courted by the Spanish royal Carlos Juan and encouraged to go for it by her parents. The UK would get an heir, Carlos and his immediate family get a connection that they'll never get while Spain's a republic, win-win!

The imagery changes in the 1960s, with Arthur Greenwood's Labour and the 'baby boom' generation coming of age: now there's a young Queen for a young generation in their ballsy Swinging London. She becomes a symbol of youth and counter-culture even though that makes no sense. This helps her become more assertive in her role, having long policy discussions with a startled Greenwood and becoming an arts patron, in particular more 'modern' music and artwork. When the Prague Spring is crushed, Alexandra - raised with tales of bloodied Soviet monsters - delivers a fiery speech in condemnation.

Throughout the 1970s, during greater European integration, demographic changes, and economic upheaval, Queen Alexandra remains a popular figure and a symbol of stability & the boomer generation coming of age (even though she predates it). The Sex Pistols jab at the establishment by putting out a song that suggests the queen is a huge punk fan and loves it when they say rude things.

Her popularity and symbolism is why the IRA decide to scare her with an attack when she's visiting Ireland. They don't plan to actually kill her, they know that would be a huge own goal. Unfortunately the bomb is bigger than expected.


Queen Victoria II, 1978-2018

The immediate aftermath is a violent crackdown on the IRA, suspected IRA members, suspected IRA sympathisers, and people the RUC don't like very much. Republic and American support for the IRA craters and the Northern Irish Parliament's catholic members can only make so many cautions - thus the crackdown is not halted and largely works, at least in the short term of hammering the IRA, but absolutely not the long term of a lasting peace when too many people know someone who got battered.

Once again the country has a young female monarch (her brother will soon be of age but it's no longer seen as necessary that he takes the throne). Victoria is closer in temperament to her grandfather than her mother, more ready to rule and assured of her education & ability. Much like her grandfather, she clashes frequently with her Prime Minister. What changes this is the Spanish Civil War, as Alfonse II proves unable to keep the dictatorship going in her father's homeland and the EEC sends troops to restore peace; the death of hundreds of British servicemen and the sight of her father in despair causes her to be less certain of herself.

Victoria is an ardent europhile and is strongly associated with the ongoing integration of the EEC. That means when the backlash comes in the 1990s, sparked by the idea of inducting the former Eastern block nations, her popularity takes a long-term whack - the Queen herself is part of the unelected powers that are forcing Europe on Britain. Her 'soft power' with the PM suffers when that PM becomes William Hague, 'homeland conservative' leader of the eurosceptic faction of his party.

And so by the late 1990s, the monarch becomes a rubber-stamp ceremonial figure. Victoria starts to go abroad more, where she's more popular; this is particularly true in Australia, after she marries a local. Unlike her grandfather, she has yet to abdicate and Britain should finally have a monarch who dies and of natural causes.
 
An idea I had last night...

Lists of Mayors of London, 2000-2018

2000-2004: Steven Norris (Conservative) [1]
2004-2008: Frank Dobson (Labour) [2]
2008-2012: Andrew Boff (Conservative) [3]
2012-2016: Samantha Heath (Labour) [4]
2016-2018: Andrew Pelling (Independent) [5]
2018: post abolished

[1] Following a 1998 referendum in which the Yes side won by a wide margin on a turnout of less than 35%, London-wide government was restored for the first time since Thatcher's abolition of the Greater London Council in 1986. Beginning in 2000, Londoners would elect both an executive mayor using the SV voting system allowing one second preference, and a 25-member London Assembly using the Additional Member System, with both FPTP seats based on combining boroughs, and a London-wide list. The first mayoral election in 2000 seemed to be shaping up to be an exciting contest, with papers predicting a colourful clash between Jeffrey Archer for the Tories and Ken Livingstone for Labour. However, it was not to be, very much setting the tone for the short-lived institution. Archer was removed from the Conservative selection following numerous scandals, while Livingstone narrowly lost the Labour selection vote to the anodyne Frank Dobson. Livingstone complained that the selection method was unfair (an electoral college giving additional weighting to Labour MPs) and announced his intention to run as an independent, but was unable to secure funding. Livingstone nonetheless ran an informal campaign in which he endorsed the Green candidate, Jenny Jones, with whispers that Jones would appoint him deputy mayor if she won in a power-sharing agreement. The informal Jones-Livingstone ticket managed to finish third, ahead of Lib Dem Susan Kramer, but the top two were predictably Conservative Steven Norris and Labourite Frank Dobson. Norris narrowly finished ahead after a recount and much criticism of the new electronic vote-counting system--which proved prescient given events in Florida later that year. The victory was rather anaemic and unconvincing--Dobson had been ahead on first preferences, and had ultimately lost out due to bruised Livingstone supporters being unwilling to give him their second preferences. Either way, the stage was set for the characteristic form of London mayoral election we all remember: an exciting and interesting ticket inevitably comes third and leaves the two dull major party candidates to finish in a close race.

[2] The 2000 election had been a rare and valuable boost for William Hague's embattled leadership of the Conservatives, but the party went down to heavy defeat in 2001 just the same, and didn't even make much progress in London. From 2002 onwards there was much frenzied speculation about whom Labour might get to contest the mayoralty, with many wondering if the party would make a statement by nominating a candidate from an ethnic minority background. In the end, tellingly, most of the candidates mooted in the papers eventually ruled themselves out: it had become increasingly obvious during Norris' term (especially working with a Labour-controlled Assembly) that the Mayor was a figurehead. While it would be valuable to Labour to possess the office for propaganda and messaging reasons, many young upcoming London Labour MPs regarded it as a potential career killer that took them out of Parliament. Some Labour members of the London Assembly were considered, including those who had clashed most vocally with Dobson, but in the end it was felt that a sitting London MP was required to give the office sufficient gravitas. The eventual selection was farcical, with Frank Dobson being anticlimactically renominated despite a lack of enthusiasm on his own part. Meanwhile, after some noise about a full independent run this time, Ken Livingstone--along with George Galloway's nascent Respect movement--endorsed Simon Hughes' Lib Dem campaign as the anti-Iraq War candidate. There proved to be a significant anti-war vote across London to be tapped, but Hughes still finished on only 23% of the vote, once again leaving a second-preference fight between Norris and Dobson in a re-run of the previous contest. This time, Dobson came out on top. This was one good bit of news for Labour in the otherwise difficult 2004 local elections, but tellingly it did not receive the level of press coverage that Alistair Campbell had hoped for. The London Mayoralty just wasn't that important.

[3] With the financial crisis hitting and Gordon Brown's mismanagement of the 10p tax rate gaffe, it would have been a hard fight for an enthusiastic Labour incumbent to keep City Hall, and Dobson was not that candidate. After some speculation, he announced his retirement. With Brown having given up on attracting a young London MP to be the face of a continued Labour renaissance, the selection fell to the Labour members of the London Assembly. Even then, some of the more high-profile members (relatively) who were looking to secure Westminster seats following incumbent retirements in the 2010 election, declined to run. The selection ended up between Joanne McCartney and Samantha Heath, which some papers reported as the result of an all-women shortlist, though in reality it was simply that no man had chosen to run. McCartney, vaguely painted as the more 'Brownite' candidate by Evening Standard journalists who couldn't be bothered to do research about a contest nobody really cared about (except in that it might provide further humiliation for Brown), was narrowly selected ahead of the more 'Blairite' Heath. Andrew Boff, a London Assembly member with some new ideas about transport policy, defeated McCartney to become the second Conservative Mayor. However, his ideas largely remained on the drawing board; the Assembly was hung, and the Lib Dems (mindful of NIMBY votes) as well as the Greens and UKIP worked to block his grand designs. Boff's tenure was ultimately another damp squib.

[4] Anger had risen against the incumbent Conservative-Lib Dem coalition's policies on tuition fees and austerity, and it was likely that any Labour candidate with a pulse would be able to beat Boff in what was essentially just a slightly more formal than usual opinion poll on the government. Boff, to his credit, fought on, but was ridiculed in satire (those satirists who thought to acknowledge the contest, that is) as a Walter Mitty who thought anyone cared about the office he held or that he had any real power. Heath, who had won the Labour nomination unopposed (after an angry David Miliband turned down his brother offering it as an insult) was duly elected in 2012 by a slightly wider margin than usual.

[5] By 2016, the viability of the office of Mayor of London had become something of a coffee-table discussion, at least among the duller sort of chattering classes. After Boff lost his seat and Heath attempted, ineffectually, to use it as a bully pulpit to attack the government, there was some speculation that Cameron would abolish the office as Thatcher had the GLC before him--especially once he had obtained a majority government in 2015. It was felt that it would represent a good cost-saving measure that did not impact on frontline services, given the cost of running mayoral elections. However, in the end the Tories still went through the motions of selecting a candidate (actually managing to get the coup of a defeated MP, Ilford North's Lee Scott, who only agreed because he didn't think he could win and might raise his profile). Instead, the issue would be brought to the voters by Andrew Pelling, a former Conservative from Croydon who had been elected to the London Assembly (after losing out on the Croydon Central selection for 2005) only to break with the party. Pelling ran on an Abolish the Mayor of London cost-saving independent campaign, not truly believing he could win ("duopoly dullards can't lose") but again wishing to raise his profile to potentially start his own political movement or take over a minor party. Much to his surprise, when the votes were counted--which took longer than expected, as the contest had had an unusually high turnout, 39%--he found himself elected to City Hall.

Cameron saw this as both an embarrassment and an opportunity, and although loth to look as though he was giving in to Pelling's demands, he began the legislative process to bring forward an abolition bill. However, with the EU Referendum's Leave vote leading to Cameron's downfall, it would not be until 2018--by which time Pelling had been half-heartedly telecommuting from Croydon for over a year--that Theresa May's minority government would abolish, as an afterthought, one peculiar anachronistic legacy of the experimental Blair period.
 
National Disunity

2017-2021: Donald J. Trump / Mike Pence (Republican)
2016 def. Hillary R. Clinton / Tim Kaine (Democratic)
2021-2025: Donald J. Trump / Nikki Haley (Republican)
2020 def. Joe Biden / Mitt Romney (National Unity), Bernie Sanders / Cory Booker (Democratic), Michael Bloomberg / Mark Cuban (Bloomberg's America)
2025-2029: Nikki Haley / Tom Cotton (Republican)
2024 def. Kamala Harris / Rashida Tlaib (Democratic), Mitt Romney / Greg Orman (National Unity), Donald Trump Jr. / Kris Kobach (The Trump Movement)
2029-2037: Chelsea Clinton / Tagg Romney (Democratic)
2028 def. Nikki Haley / Macro Rubio (Republican), Ivanka Trump / Joe Arapaio (The Trump Movement), Donald Trump Jr. / varied by state (Draft Don Jr. Committees)

Biden and Romney's "Unity Ticket", far from uniting anti-Trump voters, only further divides them, especially as Biden is seen as having "flounced" out of the Democratic Party before the primaries since he knew he couldn't win, and in the end the split between Biden and Bernie voters (as well as the very small clique of #Resistance white collar professionals who back Bloomberg, mainly at the Washington Post) allows Trump to win an electoral college majority even if Biden just squeaks a popular vote plurality. The Mueller Invetsigation indicts Trump for various crimes, but at this point no one cares, and the GOP senate minority refuses to even think of impeachment. Trump leaves office after 8 years with a smug grin, a divided opposition, a collapsing economy, and an angry Mike Pence who wishes he'd been kept on the ticket. Nikki Haley's GOP unity run sees another Republican victory in spite of Don Jr.'s huffy third party, and the split between the left and the centre allows her to win a large majority. This doesn't last, and after Haley is egged into a war in Iran and an intervention in North Korea by Defense Secretary Lindsey Graham, her poll numbers drop to the high 20s as The Trump Movement picks up momentum with the founding of the ex-President's personality vehicle "Trump.TV". The 2028 Election sees Governor Chelsea Clinton of New York merge the Democrats and National Unity in a joint Primary and convention, and her extension of the olive branch to Senator Tagg Romney allows the merger to work. The Democrats sweep to victory that year with three right-wing oligopolistic parties failing to differentiate themselves.
 
This is for a D&D campaign I've been thinking about running.

High Kings of Cuirtherzhon

946-981: Aven the Conqueror (Smivar/Avenid) [1]
981-991: Osen the Great (Avenid) [2]
991-000: Joredh the Unworthy (Avenid) [3]

[1] Aven was of relatively humble stock, it is said his grandfather was nothing more than a blacksmith who forged mighty weapons for the petty king of Algherzhon. Nevertheless through cunning and skill at arms by the time of his father's death, Aven was King of Algherzhon - and soon much more. Aven would bring the disparate kingdoms of Cuitherzhon under his boot. While termed the Conqueror he achieved this mighty goal through diplomacy as much as through force of arms, preferring to persuade his fellow kings to pledge their swords to him and binding them with marriages and oaths of honour. So great were his achievements that his children would his name as theirs, expunging their lowly origins and constructing a mythos around their progenitor.

[2] Where Aven left a united realm, prosperous and contented, Osen would leave it impoverished and torn by strife. This was not wholly his doing, as the honourable ideals in which his father raised him meant he spent 9 years of his decade on the throne fighting on the Continent against the Orcish Horde which had brought waste and ruin to all in their path since they had cascaded forth from the Blacktower Mountains of the East. Taxes were repeatedly raised, and a lowpoint was the enclosure of dwarvish and gnomish communities in order to exploit their supposed wealth. Osen would defeat the Horde's Warlord in single combat earning laurels in the immediate aftermath of the battle but the fact was it was virtually impossible to drive the Orcs back to the Mountains from whence they came. The kingdoms of the Continent soon fell upon one another and Osen had to fight his way back to the coast to get back to Cuirtherzhon. Sadly he did not make it as he was killed by a fellow human's hand.

[3] While Osen waged war, his brother Joredh reigned in his name and carried out many of the more unworthy acts of Osen's rule in order to raise the funds for war. With Joredh's death, these excess grew only worse, with halflings also suffering the same ill treatment that the dwarves and gnomes already endured. The maintenance of war taxes after the battle against the orcs was won led to dissatisfaction amongst the lesser kings which finally burst out into rebellion. What they did not count on was Joredh's raising of an army of 'new men', professional soldiers who fought for coin. With his bursting treasury, Joredh cut down the rebels and slew entire ranks of the aristocracy, replacing the carefully constructed feudal system built by his father with vast marches ruled by cruel hard eyed men. The King's Revolt has been followed by Peasant Revolts and Soldiers Revolts which have proven rather more difficult to put down and the sheer lack of respect Joredh openly has the feudal system means distrust abounds. For now, Cuitherzhon holds together though how long that can last, no one can say.
 
Those Marvellous Presidents (Part 1)

1957-1965: Steve Rogers /Estes Kefauver (Democratic)

The Democrats decided the only way to defeat Eisenhower was to find their own equivalent and when New York teacher & local Democrat activist Steve Rogers' true wartime record was declassified, they knew they had one. Rogers, Kefauver, and their chosen Congress creatures like LBJ would embark on an ambitious set of policies that Rogers would label "the Square Deal": enhanced welfare programs and labour laws, slum renovation and new housing bills, investment in education, and the creation of Medicare. The Soviet Union and Red China were to be opposed - Rogers' 'commie smasher' activity in the early 1950s, combined with his war work, made it hard for opponents to label the Square Deal as socialistic - and the moon, he proclaimed, would be in reach.

Lacking any previous experience with office or any leadership outside of his captain rank in WW2, Rogers often struggled with the bureaucratic parts of his job and was one of the weaker presidents - Kefauver and others were given a great deal of leeway. The President relied on his famous charisma to get politicians on his side or, failing that, to appeal to the public. This is largely responsible for him serving two terms. The 1959 Civil Rights Act was a bitterly fought piece of legislation and barely passed, and saw him face a vicious fight for the nomination in 1960 - a fight he was barely able to afford with the threat of the more serious-seeming Nixon as the Republican candidate. But 1960 also saw the debut of televised debates and Rogers' charisma saw him narrowly scrape past both opponents.

The early 1960s saw growing tension over desegregation and welfare for African-Americans (both that they were receiving it and the struggles to ensure the civil servants at the ground were giving it), and over Rogers' foreign policy: his pressure on Batista in Cuba had led to a seemingly weak left-wing government, troops were 'advising' in South Vietnam but the long-term plan was unclear, and it was becoming clear he was at odds with his own CIA over their activity. Plans for a multinational intelligence sharing outfit, acronym SHIELD, were presented by opponents (and CIA leakers to the press) as an overly ambitious, overly expensive way to distract America from its own interests. It was clear Kefauver would struggle to win office with this legacy.


1965 - 1969: Harrington Byrd / William Miller (Republican)

A hawkish and patrician figure, Byrd had come to prominence with his senate hearings into Stark Industries - he was seen as an uncompromisingly tough figure who, while pro-business and planning to ease the labour laws, could reassure swing voters that he wouldn't let the industrial complex push them around. Once in office, his two primary defence & foreign policy plans were to strengthen the West's involvement in Vietnam without forcing the US to lose too many lives - in the end, US forces would secure part of the country & train Vietnamese forces, who would then (with foreign and Marine Recon support) actually do the rural fighting - and to reform SHIELD so it would 'work'. In a sop to the CIA, he appointed senior officer Colonel Nick Fury as the first head of SHIELD.

The growing counterculture was a source of confusion and annoyance for Byrd, but was dismissed as irrelevant and kids being stupid (which didn't please many of the more socially conservative figures in his party). His main domestic policy concern was rising crime levels, which struck him and Miller both as a failure of their rule, and the ongoing racial tensions. It proved near-impossible to reverse Rogers' legislation there and Byrd found that giving the states more leeway on this was causing protests, riots, and mystery deaths in parts of the south. The failure to put a lid on this was an international embarrassment, and harmed attempts at diplomatic relations with the new Wakandan monarchy; worse still was the Sons of the Serpent terror group forming, initially due to Chinese black money in retaliation over Vietnam but swiftly becoming an unkillable domestic presence.

A bright spot was America landing on the moon in 1966. Byrd was able to get Congress to approve taxes for a mission to Mars, planned for the mid-70s.


1969-1977: Dr Henry Pym / Gerald Ford (Republican)
1975-1977: Gerald Ford / Bill Foster (Republican)


Pym, a decorated scientist, was already a scientific advisor for the government and was famous for involvement in crime-fighting with the Avengers group - when he challenged Byrd for the candidacy, his tough-on-crime credentials seemed impeccable.

While committed to reducing taxes and reducing some parts of the welfare budget, he also increased funding for STEM education at all levels of the school system and for universities. For Pym, this was necessary to keep the US as the world's superpower and equally necessary for ending the US's sense of ennui. Initiatives were set up to increase African-American and Hispanic involvement in STEM, overseen by his advisor Dr Bill Foster; this went some way to calming racial tensions even as Pym pushed for harsher policing and federal action. His signature law-enforcement and counter terror policy was the "Fifty State Initiative" to put Avengers everywhere, and this did go some way to shattering the Sons of Serpent for a few years. The crime rate did briefly plateau.

Under him, the Vietnam War ground to a slow, dull semi-peace with a few "accidents" and terrorist outrages every month. Relations with the communist powers remained frosty, causing mutual arms buildups and continuing the fiction that the Republic of China was the 'real' Chinese state. The Latverian dictatorship also continued to be a thorn in Pym's side, and indeed everyone's once it had the bomb.

What doomed Pym in the end was his mental health. Bipolar disorder and depression had dogged him for most of his adult life, which was hushed up during the presidency - up until 1975, when it leaked out. Pym was deeply ashamed of what he considered "weakness" and when the news came out, he resigned the presidency despite the lack of any call to do so. Ford attempted to continue Pym's policy and stunned the country with the first black Cabinet member when he made Foster a VP (mainly to have someone close for the STEM work than anything else), but that would be his only sole legacy.


1977-1981: Prez Rickard / Walter Mondale (Democratic)

Rickard was a true outsider, coming out of nowhere in a burst of youthful energy (Mondale was necessary to calm the swing voters with the sight of an 'adult'). He was famous worldwide for having been the eighteen-year-old mayor of Partridge, Minnesota, and for doing a good enough job to become a plausible candidate in 1976. The Ford government was tired and the boomer generation was disgruntled that they'd seen Rogers leave for 12 years of stodgier figures.

We also know now that corrupt figures like Smiley and Wilson Fisk were backing Rickard's campaign in the hope of taking advantage of him and any chaos caused by inexperience. While they greatly underestimated Rickard, there was indeed chaos caused by his passion and inexperience, and Fisk was able to expand his reach outside of New York.

Rickard's youth and passion would lead to big, transformative gestures: a rollback of labour laws to the Rogers standard, more ethnic minorities and women appointed than before (including a Native American head of the FBI), and relations were opened with China. (An attempted thaw with Latveria did not work) The delayed Mars landing took place. While Pym had enacted green policies, recognising their scientific validity, Prez greatly ramped up environmental protections and pollution curbs. The downsides were, of course, the aforementioned chaos that caused various initiatives and programs to run inefficiently, and he would be blamed for a rise in street crime.

Realistically, he was going to lose in 1980. The problem was who he ended up losing to, and over what issue, as Senator Kelly made a bid for candidacy....
 
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 tow, 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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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 tow, 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...

That was inspired!
 
Electrobeat*

1933-1941: Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democratic)
1932 (with John N. Garner) def. Herbert Hoover (Republican)
1936 (with John N. Garner) def. Alf Landon (Republican)

1941-1944: Wendell Willkie (Republican)
1940 (with Styles Bridges) def. John N. Garner (Democratic)
1944-1945: Styles Bridges (Republican)
1945-1953: Harry F. Byrd (Democratic)
1944 (with Henry A. Wallace) def. Styles Bridges (Republican)
1948 (with Millard Tydings) def. Douglas MacArthur (Republican), Henry A. Wallace (Progressive)

1953-1955: Douglas MacArthur (Republican)
1952 (with Robert Taft Sr.) def. W. Averell Harriman (Democratic)
1955-1957: Ezra Taft Benson (Republican)
1957-1961: W. Averell Harriman (Democratic)
1956 (with John S. Battle) def. Ezra Taft Benson (Republican), Wayne Morse (Progressive)
1961-1969: Charles A. Halleck (Republican)
1960 (with Robert B. Anderson) def. W. Averell Harriman (Democratic), Wayne Morse (Progressive)
1964 (with Robert B. Anderson) def. Hubert Humphrey (Democratic)

1969-1973: William F. Buckley Jr. (Republican)
1968 (with Robert Taft Jr.) def. Sam Yorty (Democratic)
1973-1981: John Connally (Democratic)
1972 (with Henry M. Jackson) def. William F. Buckley Jr. (Republican), Gore Vidal (Progressive)
1976 (with Jimmy Carter) def. Paul Laxalt (Republican), George McGovern (Progressive)

1981-0000: Ronald Reagan (Progressive)
1980 (with Jeane Kirkpatrick) def. Jimmy Carter (Democratic), John B. Anderson (Republican)

The year is 1981, and it is morning in America.

This is a world that saw the New Deal throttled in the 1950s and finally suffocated to death in the 1960s. The brief experiment with Keynesianism was rejected and the Democrats' dalliances with civil rights and liberalism, and the Republicans flirtation with statism and, uh, liberalism came to an end. The left was eventually re-energised by the Progressive campaign which has finally culminated in Ronald Reagan's election.

The 60s were the height of a free market boom, as the last constraints maintained by the Byrd and Harriman administrations were unleashed. Unfettered capitalism saw successes in the space race, in the international struggle against communism and in replacing 19th century colonialism with 20th century business management. The boom stuttered and faltered in the 1970s and finally came to a grinding halt under Connally who had essentially accepted much of the economic consensus whilst seeking to widen the frontiers of the state in relation to internal security. As real wages fell, unemployment rose, and a generation found themselves looking forward to lesser standard of living than their parents, the Progressive Party turned from a vehicle for frustrated presidential ambitions into a proper movement. Nevertheless, Connally retained power through a programme of dirty tricks - ably helped along by FBI Director Richard Nixon.

*ATL word for cyberpunk because i am bad
 
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At first I was like ayyyy

But then I was like aaaaaaaa

welcome to a world which entered the 80s in the 60s, and by the 80s its all on fire.

I literally decided to do the final joke at the end just as I was finishing, the premise from the beginning was 'Lefty Reagan implements the same scale of paradigm shift in an America that went monetarist decades before OTL'. It was only right at the end I realised 'haha i can do a bit with jimmy carter and john anderson'
 
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