Inspired by UM's list, here is an antipodean party switcher in Britain taken to the logical extreme.
Electoral History of William "Billy" Hughes
1894-1901: Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Sydney-Lang (Labor Electoral League)
1894 def: John FitzGerald (Protectionist), John Taylor (Free Trade), John Butler (Independent Free Trade)
1895 def: John Taylor (Independent Free Trade), Henry Foran (Independent Free Trade) John Anderson (Independent Protectionist)
1898 def: Joseph Chuck (National Federal), John Strachan (Independent), David Fealy (Independent Federalist)
1901-1916: Member of the House of Representatives for West Sydney (Labor)
1901 def: James Beer (Protectionist) James Hanrahan (Independent Protectionist)
1903 def: Edward Warren (Free Trade)
1906 def: James Burns (Anti-Socialist)
1910 def: Stanley Cole (Liberal) Harry Holland (Socialist)
1913 def: John Sutton (Liberal)
1914 def: Walter Finch (Liberal)
1904: Minister for External Affairs
1908-1909, 1910-1913: Attorney General
1916-1917: Member of the House of Representatives for West Sydney (National Labor)
1917: Member of the House of Representatives for West Sydney (Nationalist)
1917-1920: Member of the House of Representatives for Bendigo (Nationalist)
1917 def: Alfred Hampson (Labor)
1919 def: Alfred Hampson (Labor)
1920: Member of the House of Representatives for Bendigo (Independent)
1920: Member of the House of Representatives for Bendigo (Australian)
1920 def by: Alfred Hampson (Labor) Edmund Jowett (Country)
1920 def by (Two Party pref): Edmund Jowett (Country)
1914-1920: Attorney General
1915-1920: Prime Minister of Australia
1920-1922: Private Citizen
1922-1923: Member of Parliament for Merioneth (National Liberal)
1922 def: Henry Hayden Jones (Liberal), John Jones Roberts (Labour)
1923-1931: Member of Parliament for Merioneth (Liberal)
1923 def: John Jones Roberts (Labour)
1924 def: John Jones Roberts (Labour), Robert Vaughan (Conservitive)
1929 def: John Jones Roberts (Labour), Charles Phibbs (Conservitive)
1931-1937: Member of Parliament for Merioneth (Liberal National)
1931 def: James Henry Howards (Labour), Charles Phibbs (Conservative)
1935 def: Thomas Jones (Labour), Charles Phibbs (Conservative)
1937-1939: Member of Parliament for Merioneth (Independent)
1939-1945: Member of Parliament for Merioneth (Independent National)
1939-1941: Minister for the Coordination of Defence
1941-1945: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Billy Hughes is one of the great enigmas of the 20th century. A man who was a thousand different things to a thousand different people, from a young labour organiser in New South Wales, to a member of one of the first Labor party governments in the world, to a man willing to sacrifice his own principles to try and win a war, To a man who sacrificed the success of the party he founded out of an ego that wouldn’t let himself go into government on anything but his own terms, to a backbench rabble-rouser in the parliament of his motherland to finally and most famously being the man who stood up to German tyranny and lead the free world through its darkest hour, Billy Hughes in his journey across the political spectrum will stand as a testament to the fact you could never count the “Little Digger” out.
The POD is that the Nationalists do worse at the 1919 election and the Country Party organises faster, leading to the rest of the Nationalists presenting Hughes with an ultimatum, either form a coalition with the Country party or get kicked out. Hughes chooses the latter and after trying to repeat the trick of founding a new party, he is defeated narrowly on preferences after this stance is not seen as principled but rather egocentric in Ballarat. At this point, he gets in touch with his old friend Lloyd George and decides that if Australia does not respect perhaps his homeland will. A combination of his celebrity, uncompromising pro-veteran stance, union bona fides and knowledge of Welsh, allows him to get elected in Wales. Through the 20’s and 30’s he gets battered around by the constantly changing situation of the Liberal party, eventually splitting over appeasement, a policy he is very strongly against being almost obsessive about a potential German threat. When war breaks out he formally rejoins the government, and given his experience is given Minister for Coordination of Defence. Thus when the Norway Crisis comes, despite his personal belligerence, he is an obvious choice to lead the War Government on account of his anti-appeasement stance, First World War experience, political moderation and potential to bring the Dominions together, at least as a stop-gap, given his age. And so of all men Billy Hughes is tapped to lead Britain in its hour of need.
Electoral History of William "Billy" Hughes
1894-1901: Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Sydney-Lang (Labor Electoral League)
1894 def: John FitzGerald (Protectionist), John Taylor (Free Trade), John Butler (Independent Free Trade)
1895 def: John Taylor (Independent Free Trade), Henry Foran (Independent Free Trade) John Anderson (Independent Protectionist)
1898 def: Joseph Chuck (National Federal), John Strachan (Independent), David Fealy (Independent Federalist)
1901-1916: Member of the House of Representatives for West Sydney (Labor)
1901 def: James Beer (Protectionist) James Hanrahan (Independent Protectionist)
1903 def: Edward Warren (Free Trade)
1906 def: James Burns (Anti-Socialist)
1910 def: Stanley Cole (Liberal) Harry Holland (Socialist)
1913 def: John Sutton (Liberal)
1914 def: Walter Finch (Liberal)
1904: Minister for External Affairs
1908-1909, 1910-1913: Attorney General
1916-1917: Member of the House of Representatives for West Sydney (National Labor)
1917: Member of the House of Representatives for West Sydney (Nationalist)
1917-1920: Member of the House of Representatives for Bendigo (Nationalist)
1917 def: Alfred Hampson (Labor)
1919 def: Alfred Hampson (Labor)
1920: Member of the House of Representatives for Bendigo (Independent)
1920: Member of the House of Representatives for Bendigo (Australian)
1920 def by: Alfred Hampson (Labor) Edmund Jowett (Country)
1920 def by (Two Party pref): Edmund Jowett (Country)
1914-1920: Attorney General
1915-1920: Prime Minister of Australia
1920-1922: Private Citizen
1922-1923: Member of Parliament for Merioneth (National Liberal)
1922 def: Henry Hayden Jones (Liberal), John Jones Roberts (Labour)
1923-1931: Member of Parliament for Merioneth (Liberal)
1923 def: John Jones Roberts (Labour)
1924 def: John Jones Roberts (Labour), Robert Vaughan (Conservitive)
1929 def: John Jones Roberts (Labour), Charles Phibbs (Conservitive)
1931-1937: Member of Parliament for Merioneth (Liberal National)
1931 def: James Henry Howards (Labour), Charles Phibbs (Conservative)
1935 def: Thomas Jones (Labour), Charles Phibbs (Conservative)
1937-1939: Member of Parliament for Merioneth (Independent)
1939-1945: Member of Parliament for Merioneth (Independent National)
1939-1941: Minister for the Coordination of Defence
1941-1945: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Billy Hughes is one of the great enigmas of the 20th century. A man who was a thousand different things to a thousand different people, from a young labour organiser in New South Wales, to a member of one of the first Labor party governments in the world, to a man willing to sacrifice his own principles to try and win a war, To a man who sacrificed the success of the party he founded out of an ego that wouldn’t let himself go into government on anything but his own terms, to a backbench rabble-rouser in the parliament of his motherland to finally and most famously being the man who stood up to German tyranny and lead the free world through its darkest hour, Billy Hughes in his journey across the political spectrum will stand as a testament to the fact you could never count the “Little Digger” out.
The POD is that the Nationalists do worse at the 1919 election and the Country Party organises faster, leading to the rest of the Nationalists presenting Hughes with an ultimatum, either form a coalition with the Country party or get kicked out. Hughes chooses the latter and after trying to repeat the trick of founding a new party, he is defeated narrowly on preferences after this stance is not seen as principled but rather egocentric in Ballarat. At this point, he gets in touch with his old friend Lloyd George and decides that if Australia does not respect perhaps his homeland will. A combination of his celebrity, uncompromising pro-veteran stance, union bona fides and knowledge of Welsh, allows him to get elected in Wales. Through the 20’s and 30’s he gets battered around by the constantly changing situation of the Liberal party, eventually splitting over appeasement, a policy he is very strongly against being almost obsessive about a potential German threat. When war breaks out he formally rejoins the government, and given his experience is given Minister for Coordination of Defence. Thus when the Norway Crisis comes, despite his personal belligerence, he is an obvious choice to lead the War Government on account of his anti-appeasement stance, First World War experience, political moderation and potential to bring the Dominions together, at least as a stop-gap, given his age. And so of all men Billy Hughes is tapped to lead Britain in its hour of need.
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