AH Cooperative Lists Thread

[Yokai Man]

I don’t think Profumo would get to know Miss Keeler without having been a Minister in the early Sixties. Might want to change that.

Or not,I’m okay with it.

 

[Time Enough]

I don’t think Profumo would get to know Miss Keeler without having been a Minister in the early Sixties. Might want to change that.

Or not,I’m okay with it.

I changed to it to Profumo having numerous affairs throughout the 1960s instead which wouldn't be that surprising, he seems like someone who would do that.

 

[Yokai Man]

I changed to it to Profumo having numerous affairs throughout the 1960s instead which wouldn't be that surprising, he seems like someone who would do that.

Sorry if I upset you,didn’t mean to.

 

[Time Enough]

Sorry if I upset you,didn’t mean to.

Oh no it's fine, it was a good point. Why would I be upset? Always happy for criticism.

 

[Charles EP M.]

Leaders of the Conservative Party

1945-1949: Winston Churchill [1]
1949-1960: Rab Butler [2]
1960-1962: Lord Boothby [3]
1962-1968: Enoch Powell [4]
1968-1975: John Profumo [5]
1975-1978: Ted Heath [6]
1978-1986:
1986-1987:
1987-1997:
1997-2000:

L
[1] As peace settled across Europe it was time for the long delayed General election to take place. Churchill was confident that his status as Britain's wartime leader would be enough to see the Conservatives returned with a comfortable majority. However some key aides were more cautious, noting the growing consensus within the country for change and that the the Labour manifesto was well developed to feed into that.

A more vigorous campaign strategy was deployed, giving concrete proposals for new welfare provisions, comprehensive health insurance and some retention of a state role in industry and the economy but not to the extent of Labour. Churchill memorably quipped it was "Toryism with a Human Face", an informal slogan which stuck.

Churchill himself was kept on a tight as leash as possible, difficult though that could be with Winston. He was at least talked out of describing Labour as requiring a "Gestapo" to implement it's policies, something that was seen as a step too far with the horrors of the Third Reich still fresh.

The Conservatives were content with the campaign and as the results began to pour in where upbeat that they would win a comfortable majority. It soon became clear that the election had not gone entirely to plan, they had retained a majority alright, a majority of 3. Labour had come within a whisker of taking the election (indeed they would narrowly win the populate vote) while the Liberals and National Liberals had been decimated. While a victory it was not one which would make implementing a new vision for Britain easy.

There were rumblings from within the party that the result was primarily down to Churchill, who was not seen as a man who would "win the peace". However making a move against the Bulldog with the war not fully won and the Potsdam Conference ongoing there was little appetite to depose him.

His near defeat shook Churchill and he showed a remarkable lack of energy following the election, his private papers would detail a severe occurrence of the "Black Dog" which hampered him severely. Party stalwarts such as Leo Amery and Anthony Eden did a great deal of the spade work in forcing through the new Conservative agenda, often in conjunction with the National Liberals with whom they had arranged a de facto confidence and supply are arrangement.

The Conservative government shuffled along for the next few years with the public becoming more and more disenchanted with a party that seemed to be unable or unwilling to make the country fit for heroes that had been promised. But fittingly it was a foreign affair that was to finally finish off Churchill, when the Communists managed to win the Greek Civil War. This was achieved through covert Soviet aid as they had decided to ignore an informal agreement on spheres of influence due to Churchill's weak position and lack of energy. Labour made much hay with the Tories weaknesses both at home and abroad attacks which were sticking and with an election due within the year the Conservatives finally blinked.

The knife was quickly wielded by the men in grey suits and Churchill was unceremoniously dumped. A sad end for the man who led Britain through the 2nd World War but not one who had the skills or ability to rebuild it in peacetime.

EDIT: For the love of God snip that essay out of the next reply!

[2]. The aftermath of the ensuing clusterfuck that was the 1949 Conservative Leadership contest lead to Rab Butler just getting in as leader as Anthony Eden licked his wounds and prepared to try again. No sooner had Butler got in there was an election to try and win. Even with his one nation credentials and his manifesto that promised change, Rab and the Tories lost hard with Labour enjoying a 60 seat majority. Rab managed to keep his leadership due to the party agreeing he had been dropped in the deep end.

The next few years of his leadership would mainly be putting out fires as he tried to wrestle with Anthony Eden with dominance of the Conservative Party throughout the early 50s as Labour would implement a welfare state. As 1955 loomed and another election would be called and Rab hoped he would get somewhere with the party now behind him, but the painful death of his wife Sydney would take the wind out of him and his period of grief and a revived Liberal Party under Jo Grimond would mean that Tories would only gain 30 more seats.

The knifes were out yet again but Rab would manage to win another leadership contest again as Eden was suffering from infections and his successor Macmillan was convinced to stand down in return for a job on the front bench. Rab’s leadership would limp on for another few years, his aim mainly to revive the party under a new One Nation message. In 1960, Gaitskell would call an election and Butler believed his efforts may finally have paid off...they didn’t. Butler watched in horror as Labour won a third term with a majority of fifteen. Depressed Butler would resign as leader seen as a failed attempt to revive the Conservative efforts in the fifties.

[3] The Conservative Party electing an actual Lord as their leader in the new decade was hay for political satirists, but Boothby had been an early anti-appeaser and had an admirable service record, he was anti-Butler but not tied to the rump Edenites, he was pro-European - he was the candidate for the messy reconstruction, the best available everyone could agree on. He'd also been part of the Tory advocates for legalising homosexuality (which was done in 19580 and so could claim to be 'modern'. The fact he was himself gay, an increasingly open secret, upset some traditional Conservative figures but not enough to stop his rise.

Then he abruptly resigned in 1962 and retired to the Lords backbenches, claiming he had achieved what he'd set out to do. Several months later, the party was appalled and furious to find the Daily Mirror printing photos of Boothby at a 'party' with one of the notorious Kray Brothers, and he had to leave even Lords in disgrace. (Many years later it would turn out MI5 had caught wind of Boothby's involvement with the Krays and various Conservative grandees had forced the man to resign before it could come out.)

[4] Handed the leadership to add fresh blood and ideas, Enoch Powell's leadership is now considered one that tacked all the way back to the Duke of Wellington. Initially starting off well, Powell cut a decent figure in the Commons, easily out pacing Hugh Gaitskell as his health began to fail and then again George Brown's slurring. The snap election of 1964 saw the Conservative's return to power with the slenderest of majorities, from which things gradually began to go down hill.

A sudden down turn in the economy saw Powell's monetarist plans for the economy put on hold as he inflicted mild austerity on the nation, which caused an immediate fight with the unions that he didn't need. Meanwhile, abroad Powell made enemies in all the wrong places. Refusing President Kennedy's request for help in the escalating war in Vietnam, Powell looked as though he was trying to reverse the efforts of de-colonisation in Africa: first extending the British 'mandate' in South Rhodesia to fight a bush war in defence of white settlers in the region, then forcing a regime change in Kenya (under the pretence of rescuing the country's Asian minority, but in reality hoping to prevent their mass immigration to the UK). These costly interventions pushed the Exchequer even further, and American displeasure was repaid by tightening pressure on Trans-Atlantic trade, which didn't help as Powell refused to budge on his Labour derived, anti-EEC policy.

As this all went on, a small cadre of MPs still loyal to Boothby gradually began to wear on Powell's nerves for their internal dissent which Powell repaid by having the Whips come down hard. The result was a leak from the Home Office on tightening the governments already controversial immigration controls, which blew apart the Powell's fragile relations with Commonwealth immigrants and their mother country's. Summer of '68 saw London, Leeds, Bradford and Manchester engulfed by race riots and Powell's government finally lost its majority in his Midland heartland. Feeling he could win a snap election on the basis of Law & Order, Powell called one only to have the Conservative campaign breakdown into "Us vs Them" Race baiting, often endorsed by certain corners of Party HQ. Disgusted, the general public delivered a resolute 'No' to Powell, who the morning after made his resignation speech under bombardment by students with eggs. The most generous assessment of Powell's tenure is that it peaked too early, but these are few at best.

[5] Considered by many the man who should have been the leader over the past ten years having existed in nearly every single shadow cabinet and having an impeccable war record, John Profumo was handed a Conservative Party in the middle of a crisis. The Conservatives had lost another election, the radical Greenwood government was experiencing a popular mandate and Powell and his Powellite MPs were battling the remains of the Butler/Boothby regimes. Profumo decided that he was going to radically alter the Conservative Party under his 'Common Sense' leadership, whilst still pushing a message of positive patriotism and a One Nation rhetoric he also called for a closer relationships with America and the EEC as a way to combat the Soviet Union, to end Britain's empire and to not act in a reactionary manner. These were radical messages to many Conservatives but given how Powell had just sunk there first government in nearly twenty years they towed the line.

Under Profumo the Tories would increase there number of female MPs and attempts to heal the relationship between Conservative party and Britain's burgeoning ethnic minority population. The pinnacle of this would be in 1971 when the failed former leader Enoch Powell and five of his closest colleagues would be expelled from the Conservative party. Profumo would also democratise the party, with constituency's now being able to vote for there own parliamentary candidate for the first time and he would aim to win over the Thorpe led Liberal Party which he was able to do with the promise of Alternative Voting.

In 1972 the Conservative Party would manage to gain a majority of 12 and Profumo would prove to be right in his plans, having a majority he didn't have to placate the Liberal's and would implement his plans to finally finish off decolonisation, become closer with America, continue the One Nation consensus and would join the EEC in 1974. Profumo's passionate and intelligent reign would abruptly end when Profumo stated he was stepping down. For many years questions were asked about why this occurred until it was found out in 1990 that Profumo had been having an numerous affairs throughout the 60s which various tabloids had found out and the Conservative Party higher ups had told him to jump before he was pushed.


[6] Heath was one of the leading Profumites, serving as the man's Foreign Secretary during the EEC negotiations. With Profumo's government popular and his achievements working, Heath's job was just to keep everything ticking over. The economy slowly grew, North Sea oil was explored, and Britain was becoming a key part of the pan-European future; unlike America, punk remained a minority interest and disco ("britdisco") sailed on. All seemed calm on the keen yachtsman's ship of state.

The problem was that Heath was not a very charismatic or forceful man, certainly no Profumo, and so the growing monetarist wing of the Tories found it easier to get recruits. Why should the Conservatives be shackled to a plan by a man long gone? They had power, why weren't they going further? Heath found he was being briefed against in parts of the press as a man following someone else's plan (unfairly, as it was his too) and of being too complacent against David Steel's revamped Labour & the Liberals, who were starting to come after the Tory gains in Scotland. It's believed this perception of Heath was weak is what caused the Ulster Strike in '77, when the DUP tried to bring down the SDLP-led Northern Irish parliament for "going too far"; the biggest political challenge of Heath's time, forcing constant negotiations with multiple factions and the Irish government. This continued during the election, in which the Tory majority fell to 3, and briefing escalated - why, a more dynamic leader could have increased the majority!

So in retrospect, it's no surprise Heath resigned to take the top job at the EEC instead. There, he could (and did) make his mark and not deal with three years of being undercut.

 

[neonduke]

Leaders of the Conservative Party

1945-1949: Winston Churchill [1]
1949-1960: Rab Butler [2]
1960-1962: Lord Boothby [3]
1962-1968: Enoch Powell [4]
1968-1975: John Profumo [5]
1975-1978: Ted Heath [6]
1978-1986: Geoffrey Howe [7]
1986-1987:
1987-1997:
1997-2000:




[2]. The aftermath of the ensuing clusterfuck that was the 1949 Conservative Leadership contest lead to Rab Butler just getting in as leader as Anthony Eden licked his wounds and prepared to try again. No sooner had Butler got in there was an election to try and win. Even with his one nation credentials and his manifesto that promised change, Rab and the Tories lost hard with Labour enjoying a 60 seat majority. Rab managed to keep his leadership due to the party agreeing he had been dropped in the deep end.

The next few years of his leadership would mainly be putting out fires as he tried to wrestle with Anthony Eden with dominance of the Conservative Party throughout the early 50s as Labour would implement a welfare state. As 1955 loomed and another election would be called and Rab hoped he would get somewhere with the party now behind him, but the painful death of his wife Sydney would take the wind out of him and his period of grief and a revived Liberal Party under Jo Grimond would mean that Tories would only gain 30 more seats.

The knifes were out yet again but Rab would manage to win another leadership contest again as Eden was suffering from infections and his successor Macmillan was convinced to stand down in return for a job on the front bench. Rab’s leadership would limp on for another few years, his aim mainly to revive the party under a new One Nation message. In 1960, Gaitskell would call an election and Butler believed his efforts may finally have paid off...they didn’t. Butler watched in horror as Labour won a third term with a majority of fifteen. Depressed Butler would resign as leader seen as a failed attempt to revive the Conservative efforts in the fifties.

[3] The Conservative Party electing an actual Lord as their leader in the new decade was hay for political satirists, but Boothby had been an early anti-appeaser and had an admirable service record, he was anti-Butler but not tied to the rump Edenites, he was pro-European - he was the candidate for the messy reconstruction, the best available everyone could agree on. He'd also been part of the Tory advocates for legalising homosexuality (which was done in 19580 and so could claim to be 'modern'. The fact he was himself gay, an increasingly open secret, upset some traditional Conservative figures but not enough to stop his rise.

Then he abruptly resigned in 1962 and retired to the Lords backbenches, claiming he had achieved what he'd set out to do. Several months later, the party was appalled and furious to find the Daily Mirror printing photos of Boothby at a 'party' with one of the notorious Kray Brothers, and he had to leave even Lords in disgrace. (Many years later it would turn out MI5 had caught wind of Boothby's involvement with the Krays and various Conservative grandees had forced the man to resign before it could come out.)

[4] Handed the leadership to add fresh blood and ideas, Enoch Powell's leadership is now considered one that tacked all the way back to the Duke of Wellington. Initially starting off well, Powell cut a decent figure in the Commons, easily out pacing Hugh Gaitskell as his health began to fail and then again George Brown's slurring. The snap election of 1964 saw the Conservative's return to power with the slenderest of majorities, from which things gradually began to go down hill.

A sudden down turn in the economy saw Powell's monetarist plans for the economy put on hold as he inflicted mild austerity on the nation, which caused an immediate fight with the unions that he didn't need. Meanwhile, abroad Powell made enemies in all the wrong places. Refusing President Kennedy's request for help in the escalating war in Vietnam, Powell looked as though he was trying to reverse the efforts of de-colonisation in Africa: first extending the British 'mandate' in South Rhodesia to fight a bush war in defence of white settlers in the region, then forcing a regime change in Kenya (under the pretence of rescuing the country's Asian minority, but in reality hoping to prevent their mass immigration to the UK). These costly interventions pushed the Exchequer even further, and American displeasure was repaid by tightening pressure on Trans-Atlantic trade, which didn't help as Powell refused to budge on his Labour derived, anti-EEC policy.

As this all went on, a small cadre of MPs still loyal to Boothby gradually began to wear on Powell's nerves for their internal dissent which Powell repaid by having the Whips come down hard. The result was a leak from the Home Office on tightening the governments already controversial immigration controls, which blew apart the Powell's fragile relations with Commonwealth immigrants and their mother country's. Summer of '68 saw London, Leeds, Bradford and Manchester engulfed by race riots and Powell's government finally lost its majority in his Midland heartland. Feeling he could win a snap election on the basis of Law & Order, Powell called one only to have the Conservative campaign breakdown into "Us vs Them" Race baiting, often endorsed by certain corners of Party HQ. Disgusted, the general public delivered a resolute 'No' to Powell, who the morning after made his resignation speech under bombardment by students with eggs. The most generous assessment of Powell's tenure is that it peaked too early, but these are few at best.

[5] Considered by many the man who should have been the leader over the past ten years having existed in nearly every single shadow cabinet and having an impeccable war record, John Profumo was handed a Conservative Party in the middle of a crisis. The Conservatives had lost another election, the radical Greenwood government was experiencing a popular mandate and Powell and his Powellite MPs were battling the remains of the Butler/Boothby regimes. Profumo decided that he was going to radically alter the Conservative Party under his 'Common Sense' leadership, whilst still pushing a message of positive patriotism and a One Nation rhetoric he also called for a closer relationships with America and the EEC as a way to combat the Soviet Union, to end Britain's empire and to not act in a reactionary manner. These were radical messages to many Conservatives but given how Powell had just sunk there first government in nearly twenty years they towed the line.

Under Profumo the Tories would increase there number of female MPs and attempts to heal the relationship between Conservative party and Britain's burgeoning ethnic minority population. The pinnacle of this would be in 1971 when the failed former leader Enoch Powell and five of his closest colleagues would be expelled from the Conservative party. Profumo would also democratise the party, with constituency's now being able to vote for there own parliamentary candidate for the first time and he would aim to win over the Thorpe led Liberal Party which he was able to do with the promise of Alternative Voting.

In 1972 the Conservative Party would manage to gain a majority of 12 and Profumo would prove to be right in his plans, having a majority he didn't have to placate the Liberal's and would implement his plans to finally finish off decolonisation, become closer with America, continue the One Nation consensus and would join the EEC in 1974. Profumo's passionate and intelligent reign would abruptly end when Profumo stated he was stepping down. For many years questions were asked about why this occurred until it was found out in 1990 that Profumo had been having an numerous affairs throughout the 60s which various tabloids had found out and the Conservative Party higher ups had told him to jump before he was pushed.


[6] Heath was one of the leading Profumites, serving as the man's Foreign Secretary during the EEC negotiations. With Profumo's government popular and his achievements working, Heath's job was just to keep everything ticking over. The economy slowly grew, North Sea oil was explored, and Britain was becoming a key part of the pan-European future; unlike America, punk remained a minority interest and disco ("britdisco") sailed on. All seemed calm on the keen yachtsman's ship of state.

The problem was that Heath was not a very charismatic or forceful man, certainly no Profumo, and so the growing monetarist wing of the Tories found it easier to get recruits. Why should the Conservatives be shackled to a plan by a man long gone? They had power, why weren't they going further? Heath found he was being briefed against in parts of the press as a man following someone else's plan (unfairly, as it was his too) and of being too complacent against David Steel's revamped Labour & the Liberals, who were starting to come after the Tory gains in Scotland. It's believed this perception of Heath was weak is what caused the Ulster Strike in '77, when the DUP tried to bring down the SDLP-led Northern Irish parliament for "going too far"; the biggest political challenge of Heath's time, forcing constant negotiations with multiple factions and the Irish government. This continued during the election, in which the Tory majority fell to 3, and briefing escalated - why, a more dynamic leader could have increased the majority!

So in retrospect, it's no surprise Heath resigned to take the top job at the EEC instead. There, he could (and did) make his mark and not deal with three years of being undercut.

[7] With Heath gone the Monetarists saw their chance to put one of their own into the top spot. However while they had managed to increase their influence throughout the Heath years the Profumoite One Nation faction still retained a plurality of influence within the wider party structure. It quickly became clear to all parts of the party that a bloody battle over succession would hole the Conservatives below the waterline and lead to an early election and the return of Labour. A lot of midnight oil was burnt at Tory HQ to find a compromise figure acceptable to all. The mantle of leadership finally fell upon the shoulders of the Minister of State for Trade and Consumer Affairs.

While Sir Geoffrey Howe was well regarded internally as a moderniser and proponent of soft Monetarism his public profile throughout the Profumo and Heath years had basically been nil. Upon the announcement of his elevation to Prime Minister there was a collective reaction of "who?", most memorably on the front page of the nominally Tory supporting Sun who did a mock up of Howe in Tom Bakers Doctor Who costume with the tagline "Geoff Who?" So it cam as a bit of a shock to all when his first act as Prime Minister, against all advice, was to announce a new election to secure a personal mandate for his vision for Britain.

Labour reacted with glee, feeling that with such a non-descript figure in charge and one preaching a return to Monetarism that a change in government was inevitable. However they were taking Howe lightly as he conducted a whistle-stop tour of the country and appeared in as much media as he could. While not the most dynamic performer he was able to present himself as studious, diligent and courteous figure and one who had a clear vision of a new economic path for the UK. Labour on the other hand ran a somewhat lackadaisical campaign, not helped when internal correspondence was leaked were Steel claimed that Labour MPs simply needed to "return to their constituencies and prepare for Government". The result was an increased Tory majority of 29 and Steel being chastened.

Howe began with his long anticipated Monetarist reforms, increasing privatization of Public Services, lower taxes and deregulation of business. Howe privately conceded there would be short term pain for long term gain but unfortunately for him history repeated itself and a sudden downturn in the economy caused inflation and unemployment to tick upwards. Labour took great delight in painting the Howe government as return to the worst excesses of the Powell administration (however thankfully minus the racism). As the early 80's recession dragged on Howe could hear the knives being sharpened and with an election coming in 1983 it seemed that the Tories luck had finally run out.

But fate had one last card to play, and it was in the shape of Churchill's old bête noire Communist Greece. Since the end of WW2 Turkey and Greece had been eyeing each other across the Thracian border with both claiming various territories and islands. With both countries as members of NATO and the Warsaw Pact respectively it always had the potential to be a Cold War flashpoint and so it came to pass with the Greek sponsored Cypriot Insurgency. Communist partisans succeeded in storming the House of Representatives and proclaiming a Peoples Republic. This in turn led Turkish forces to invade the North or the island to ostensibly protect Turkish citizens. The Greeks protested, claiming this to be an attempt to annex Cyprus and moved their Soviet sponsored fleet towards Cyprus.

With the world in a heightened state of alert and the two superpowers moving to support their allied states Howe jumped to action. Always interested in Foreign Affairs and with Cyprus still maintaining a British base. he took a personal interest in solving the crisis. Retaining close communication with President Hart and Premier Andropov Howe conducted intense shuttle diplomacy to defuse the crisis. He proved critical in stopping a move to open warfare after the Greeks sunk a Turkish destroyer just north of the Island, with the loss of all hands. Eventually tempers cooled and a treaty was developed and signed, while Cyprus would remain Communist it would not unite with Greece, remain demilitarized and respect UK basing rights while also respecting the rights of all Turkish citizens. While the West were disappointed to lose Cyprus to the Communists it was recognized that Howe had done sterling work in avoiding open conflict between the two Superpowers. He was lauded at home as the man who saved the world and went to the '83 election on the back of this triumph and was rewarded by only losing two seats, maintaining a decent majority.

Slowly the recession lifted and the fruits of Howe's economic labours began to be seen. Employment increased, wages were rising and the country as a whole was beginning to see a recovery with some of the traditional manufacturing centers transitioning to new industries or service sectors. Howe was seen as the man who proved that Monetarism could work, and work for all.

But tragedy would strike just as Howe was reaching the apex of his powers. On a visit to an enterprise zone in Manchester Howe would be stabbed by an irate Greek Cypriot angered at the loss of his homeland to the Communists. The Prime Minister was rushed to the nearest hospital but would die on the operating table that evening. A nation mourned and the Conservative party needed to find someone to protect hsi legacy.

 

[Time Enough]

Leaders of the Conservative Party

1945-1949: Winston Churchill [1]
1949-1960: Rab Butler [2]
1960-1962: Lord Boothby [3]
1962-1968: Enoch Powell [4]
1968-1975: John Profumo [5]
1975-1978: Ted Heath [6]
1978-1986: Geoffrey Howe [7]
1986-1987: Edwina Currie [8]
1987-1997:
1997-2000:




[2]. The aftermath of the ensuing clusterfuck that was the 1949 Conservative Leadership contest lead to Rab Butler just getting in as leader as Anthony Eden licked his wounds and prepared to try again. No sooner had Butler got in there was an election to try and win. Even with his one nation credentials and his manifesto that promised change, Rab and the Tories lost hard with Labour enjoying a 60 seat majority. Rab managed to keep his leadership due to the party agreeing he had been dropped in the deep end.

The next few years of his leadership would mainly be putting out fires as he tried to wrestle with Anthony Eden with dominance of the Conservative Party throughout the early 50s as Labour would implement a welfare state. As 1955 loomed and another election would be called and Rab hoped he would get somewhere with the party now behind him, but the painful death of his wife Sydney would take the wind out of him and his period of grief and a revived Liberal Party under Jo Grimond would mean that Tories would only gain 30 more seats.

The knifes were out yet again but Rab would manage to win another leadership contest again as Eden was suffering from infections and his successor Macmillan was convinced to stand down in return for a job on the front bench. Rab’s leadership would limp on for another few years, his aim mainly to revive the party under a new One Nation message. In 1960, Gaitskell would call an election and Butler believed his efforts may finally have paid off...they didn’t. Butler watched in horror as Labour won a third term with a majority of fifteen. Depressed Butler would resign as leader seen as a failed attempt to revive the Conservative efforts in the fifties.

[3] The Conservative Party electing an actual Lord as their leader in the new decade was hay for political satirists, but Boothby had been an early anti-appeaser and had an admirable service record, he was anti-Butler but not tied to the rump Edenites, he was pro-European - he was the candidate for the messy reconstruction, the best available everyone could agree on. He'd also been part of the Tory advocates for legalising homosexuality (which was done in 19580 and so could claim to be 'modern'. The fact he was himself gay, an increasingly open secret, upset some traditional Conservative figures but not enough to stop his rise.

Then he abruptly resigned in 1962 and retired to the Lords backbenches, claiming he had achieved what he'd set out to do. Several months later, the party was appalled and furious to find the Daily Mirror printing photos of Boothby at a 'party' with one of the notorious Kray Brothers, and he had to leave even Lords in disgrace. (Many years later it would turn out MI5 had caught wind of Boothby's involvement with the Krays and various Conservative grandees had forced the man to resign before it could come out.)

[4] Handed the leadership to add fresh blood and ideas, Enoch Powell's leadership is now considered one that tacked all the way back to the Duke of Wellington. Initially starting off well, Powell cut a decent figure in the Commons, easily out pacing Hugh Gaitskell as his health began to fail and then again George Brown's slurring. The snap election of 1964 saw the Conservative's return to power with the slenderest of majorities, from which things gradually began to go down hill.

A sudden down turn in the economy saw Powell's monetarist plans for the economy put on hold as he inflicted mild austerity on the nation, which caused an immediate fight with the unions that he didn't need. Meanwhile, abroad Powell made enemies in all the wrong places. Refusing President Kennedy's request for help in the escalating war in Vietnam, Powell looked as though he was trying to reverse the efforts of de-colonisation in Africa: first extending the British 'mandate' in South Rhodesia to fight a bush war in defence of white settlers in the region, then forcing a regime change in Kenya (under the pretence of rescuing the country's Asian minority, but in reality hoping to prevent their mass immigration to the UK). These costly interventions pushed the Exchequer even further, and American displeasure was repaid by tightening pressure on Trans-Atlantic trade, which didn't help as Powell refused to budge on his Labour derived, anti-EEC policy.

As this all went on, a small cadre of MPs still loyal to Boothby gradually began to wear on Powell's nerves for their internal dissent which Powell repaid by having the Whips come down hard. The result was a leak from the Home Office on tightening the governments already controversial immigration controls, which blew apart the Powell's fragile relations with Commonwealth immigrants and their mother country's. Summer of '68 saw London, Leeds, Bradford and Manchester engulfed by race riots and Powell's government finally lost its majority in his Midland heartland. Feeling he could win a snap election on the basis of Law & Order, Powell called one only to have the Conservative campaign breakdown into "Us vs Them" Race baiting, often endorsed by certain corners of Party HQ. Disgusted, the general public delivered a resolute 'No' to Powell, who the morning after made his resignation speech under bombardment by students with eggs. The most generous assessment of Powell's tenure is that it peaked too early, but these are few at best.

[5] Considered by many the man who should have been the leader over the past ten years having existed in nearly every single shadow cabinet and having an impeccable war record, John Profumo was handed a Conservative Party in the middle of a crisis. The Conservatives had lost another election, the radical Greenwood government was experiencing a popular mandate and Powell and his Powellite MPs were battling the remains of the Butler/Boothby regimes. Profumo decided that he was going to radically alter the Conservative Party under his 'Common Sense' leadership, whilst still pushing a message of positive patriotism and a One Nation rhetoric he also called for a closer relationships with America and the EEC as a way to combat the Soviet Union, to end Britain's empire and to not act in a reactionary manner. These were radical messages to many Conservatives but given how Powell had just sunk there first government in nearly twenty years they towed the line.

Under Profumo the Tories would increase there number of female MPs and attempts to heal the relationship between Conservative party and Britain's burgeoning ethnic minority population. The pinnacle of this would be in 1971 when the failed former leader Enoch Powell and five of his closest colleagues would be expelled from the Conservative party. Profumo would also democratise the party, with constituency's now being able to vote for there own parliamentary candidate for the first time and he would aim to win over the Thorpe led Liberal Party which he was able to do with the promise of Alternative Voting.

In 1972 the Conservative Party would manage to gain a majority of 12 and Profumo would prove to be right in his plans, having a majority he didn't have to placate the Liberal's and would implement his plans to finally finish off decolonisation, become closer with America, continue the One Nation consensus and would join the EEC in 1974. Profumo's passionate and intelligent reign would abruptly end when Profumo stated he was stepping down. For many years questions were asked about why this occurred until it was found out in 1990 that Profumo had been having an numerous affairs throughout the 60s which various tabloids had found out and the Conservative Party higher ups had told him to jump before he was pushed.


[6] Heath was one of the leading Profumites, serving as the man's Foreign Secretary during the EEC negotiations. With Profumo's government popular and his achievements working, Heath's job was just to keep everything ticking over. The economy slowly grew, North Sea oil was explored, and Britain was becoming a key part of the pan-European future; unlike America, punk remained a minority interest and disco ("britdisco") sailed on. All seemed calm on the keen yachtsman's ship of state.

The problem was that Heath was not a very charismatic or forceful man, certainly no Profumo, and so the growing monetarist wing of the Tories found it easier to get recruits. Why should the Conservatives be shackled to a plan by a man long gone? They had power, why weren't they going further? Heath found he was being briefed against in parts of the press as a man following someone else's plan (unfairly, as it was his too) and of being too complacent against David Steel's revamped Labour & the Liberals, who were starting to come after the Tory gains in Scotland. It's believed this perception of Heath was weak is what caused the Ulster Strike in '77, when the DUP tried to bring down the SDLP-led Northern Irish parliament for "going too far"; the biggest political challenge of Heath's time, forcing constant negotiations with multiple factions and the Irish government. This continued during the election, in which the Tory majority fell to 3, and briefing escalated - why, a more dynamic leader could have increased the majority!

So in retrospect, it's no surprise Heath resigned to take the top job at the EEC instead. There, he could (and did) make his mark and not deal with three years of being undercut.

[7] With Heath gone the Monetarists saw their chance to put one of their own into the top spot. However while they had managed to increase their influence throughout the Heath years the Profumoite One Nation faction still retained a plurality of influence within the wider party structure. It quickly became clear to all parts of the party that a bloody battle over succession would hole the Conservatives below the waterline and lead to an early election and the return of Labour. A lot of midnight oil was burnt at Tory HQ to find a compromise figure acceptable to all. The mantle of leadership finally fell upon the shoulders of the Minister of State for Trade and Consumer Affairs.

While Sir Geoffrey Howe was well regarded internally as a moderniser and proponent of soft Monetarism his public profile throughout the Profumo and Heath years had basically been nil. Upon the announcement of his elevation to Prime Minister there was a collective reaction of "who?", most memorably on the front page of the nominally Tory supporting Sun who did a mock up of Howe in Tom Bakers Doctor Who costume with the tagline "Geoff Who?" So it cam as a bit of a shock to all when his first act as Prime Minister, against all advice, was to announce a new election to secure a personal mandate for his vision for Britain.

Labour reacted with glee, feeling that with such a non-descript figure in charge and one preaching a return to Monetarism that a change in government was inevitable. However they were taking Howe lightly as he conducted a whistle-stop tour of the country and appeared in as much media as he could. While not the most dynamic performer he was able to present himself as studious, diligent and courteous figure and one who had a clear vision of a new economic path for the UK. Labour on the other hand ran a somewhat lackadaisical campaign, not helped when internal correspondence was leaked were Steel claimed that Labour MPs simply needed to "return to their constituencies and prepare for Government". The result was an increased Tory majority of 29 and Steel being chastened.

Howe began with his long anticipated Monetarist reforms, increasing privatization of Public Services, lower taxes and deregulation of business. Howe privately conceded there would be short term pain for long term gain but unfortunately for him history repeated itself and a sudden downturn in the economy caused inflation and unemployment to tick upwards. Labour took great delight in painting the Howe government as return to the worst excesses of the Powell administration (however thankfully minus the racism). As the early 80's recession dragged on Howe could hear the knives being sharpened and with an election coming in 1983 it seemed that the Tories luck had finally run out.

But fate had one last card to play, and it was in the shape of Churchill's old bête noire Communist Greece. Since the end of WW2 Turkey and Greece had been eyeing each other across the Thracian border with both claiming various territories and islands. With both countries as members of NATO and the Warsaw Pact respectively it always had the potential to be a Cold War flashpoint and so it came to pass with the Greek sponsored Cypriot Insurgency. Communist partisans succeeded in storming the House of Representatives and proclaiming a Peoples Republic. This in turn led Turkish forces to invade the North or the island to ostensibly protect Turkish citizens. The Greeks protested, claiming this to be an attempt to annex Cyprus and moved their Soviet sponsored fleet towards Cyprus.

With the world in a heightened state of alert and the two superpowers moving to support their allied states Howe jumped to action. Always interested in Foreign Affairs and with Cyprus still maintaining a British base. he took a personal interest in solving the crisis. Retaining close communication with President Hart and Premier Andropov Howe conducted intense shuttle diplomacy to defuse the crisis. He proved critical in stopping a move to open warfare after the Greeks sunk a Turkish destroyer just north of the Island, with the loss of all hands. Eventually tempers cooled and a treaty was developed and signed, while Cyprus would remain Communist it would not unite with Greece, remain demilitarized and respect UK basing rights while also respecting the rights of all Turkish citizens. While the West were disappointed to lose Cyprus to the Communists it was recognized that Howe had done sterling work in avoiding open conflict between the two Superpowers. He was lauded at home as the man who saved the world and went to the '83 election on the back of this triumph and was rewarded by only losing two seats, maintaining a decent majority.

Slowly the recession lifted and the fruits of Howe's economic labours began to be seen. Employment increased, wages were rising and the country as a whole was beginning to see a recovery with some of the traditional manufacturing centers transitioning to new industries or service sectors. Howe was seen as the man who proved that Monetarism could work, and work for all.

But tragedy would strike just as Howe was reaching the apex of his powers. On a visit to an enterprise zone in Manchester Howe would be stabbed by an irate Greek Cypriot angered at the loss of his homeland to the Communists. The Prime Minister was rushed to the nearest hospital but would die on the operating table that evening. A nation mourned and the Conservative party needed to find someone to protect his legacy.

[8] A monetrist, Minister for Health and someone that would protect Howe's legacy Currie at first seemed to be the perfect fit to keep the Conservative Flag flying and be Britain's First Female Prime Minister. But immediately there was trouble. Two of the other leadership candidates, Norman Tebbit and Alan Clark would start a rather sexist campaign against Currie as they tried to undermine her within the party. Currie's attempt to deal with them would lead to her getting ridiculed by various Tory supporting Tabloids. Meanwhile the Lab-Lib party which had just gone through a leadership election and now had a passionate Modern looking Socialist in Micheal Meacher leading them, with his appearances at the dispatch box where he would often calmly rip apart Currie's claims being watched by many, as well as Labour's policies preaching it's self as 'Socialism to bring us into the 21st Century' polling well.

Currie decided to secure her rule by calling an election, hoping sympathy as Howe's successor,her mostly uncontroversial rule and painting the Lab-Lib Party as dangerous Socialists would work. The one thing she hadn't accounted for was salmonella pandemic amongst Britain's chickens thanks to policies Howe had brought in, when this was announced by the Minister of Health John Major, chaos ensued. The price of eggs collapsed,farmers were pissed and about 4 million chickens had to be killed. Major was shuffled off to the backbenches, the Lab-Lib's had a field day and as the election day reared it's head polling had dipped massively for the Conservatives. By the skin of there teeth the Tories had a majority of 2 and would have to rely on UUP for support as well as the support of the British Independence Party (Powell's side project post removal which had managed to gain 2 MP's in rural Tory seats pissed at the egg crash) in the years to come. Considered a failure by many, Currie would resign as Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party the very next day.

 

[Charles EP M.]

Leaders of the Conservative Party

1945-1949: Winston Churchill [1]
1949-1960: Rab Butler [2]
1960-1962: Lord Boothby [3]
1962-1968: Enoch Powell [4]
1968-1975: John Profumo [5]
1975-1978: Ted Heath [6]
1978-1986: Geoffrey Howe [7]
1986-1987: Edwina Currie [8]
1987-1997: Nigel Lawson [9]
1997-2000:




[2]. The aftermath of the ensuing clusterfuck that was the 1949 Conservative Leadership contest lead to Rab Butler just getting in as leader as Anthony Eden licked his wounds and prepared to try again. No sooner had Butler got in there was an election to try and win. Even with his one nation credentials and his manifesto that promised change, Rab and the Tories lost hard with Labour enjoying a 60 seat majority. Rab managed to keep his leadership due to the party agreeing he had been dropped in the deep end.

The next few years of his leadership would mainly be putting out fires as he tried to wrestle with Anthony Eden with dominance of the Conservative Party throughout the early 50s as Labour would implement a welfare state. As 1955 loomed and another election would be called and Rab hoped he would get somewhere with the party now behind him, but the painful death of his wife Sydney would take the wind out of him and his period of grief and a revived Liberal Party under Jo Grimond would mean that Tories would only gain 30 more seats.

The knifes were out yet again but Rab would manage to win another leadership contest again as Eden was suffering from infections and his successor Macmillan was convinced to stand down in return for a job on the front bench. Rab’s leadership would limp on for another few years, his aim mainly to revive the party under a new One Nation message. In 1960, Gaitskell would call an election and Butler believed his efforts may finally have paid off...they didn’t. Butler watched in horror as Labour won a third term with a majority of fifteen. Depressed Butler would resign as leader seen as a failed attempt to revive the Conservative efforts in the fifties.

[3] The Conservative Party electing an actual Lord as their leader in the new decade was hay for political satirists, but Boothby had been an early anti-appeaser and had an admirable service record, he was anti-Butler but not tied to the rump Edenites, he was pro-European - he was the candidate for the messy reconstruction, the best available everyone could agree on. He'd also been part of the Tory advocates for legalising homosexuality (which was done in 19580 and so could claim to be 'modern'. The fact he was himself gay, an increasingly open secret, upset some traditional Conservative figures but not enough to stop his rise.

Then he abruptly resigned in 1962 and retired to the Lords backbenches, claiming he had achieved what he'd set out to do. Several months later, the party was appalled and furious to find the Daily Mirror printing photos of Boothby at a 'party' with one of the notorious Kray Brothers, and he had to leave even Lords in disgrace. (Many years later it would turn out MI5 had caught wind of Boothby's involvement with the Krays and various Conservative grandees had forced the man to resign before it could come out.)

[4] Handed the leadership to add fresh blood and ideas, Enoch Powell's leadership is now considered one that tacked all the way back to the Duke of Wellington. Initially starting off well, Powell cut a decent figure in the Commons, easily out pacing Hugh Gaitskell as his health began to fail and then again George Brown's slurring. The snap election of 1964 saw the Conservative's return to power with the slenderest of majorities, from which things gradually began to go down hill.

A sudden down turn in the economy saw Powell's monetarist plans for the economy put on hold as he inflicted mild austerity on the nation, which caused an immediate fight with the unions that he didn't need. Meanwhile, abroad Powell made enemies in all the wrong places. Refusing President Kennedy's request for help in the escalating war in Vietnam, Powell looked as though he was trying to reverse the efforts of de-colonisation in Africa: first extending the British 'mandate' in South Rhodesia to fight a bush war in defence of white settlers in the region, then forcing a regime change in Kenya (under the pretence of rescuing the country's Asian minority, but in reality hoping to prevent their mass immigration to the UK). These costly interventions pushed the Exchequer even further, and American displeasure was repaid by tightening pressure on Trans-Atlantic trade, which didn't help as Powell refused to budge on his Labour derived, anti-EEC policy.

As this all went on, a small cadre of MPs still loyal to Boothby gradually began to wear on Powell's nerves for their internal dissent which Powell repaid by having the Whips come down hard. The result was a leak from the Home Office on tightening the governments already controversial immigration controls, which blew apart the Powell's fragile relations with Commonwealth immigrants and their mother country's. Summer of '68 saw London, Leeds, Bradford and Manchester engulfed by race riots and Powell's government finally lost its majority in his Midland heartland. Feeling he could win a snap election on the basis of Law & Order, Powell called one only to have the Conservative campaign breakdown into "Us vs Them" Race baiting, often endorsed by certain corners of Party HQ. Disgusted, the general public delivered a resolute 'No' to Powell, who the morning after made his resignation speech under bombardment by students with eggs. The most generous assessment of Powell's tenure is that it peaked too early, but these are few at best.

[5] Considered by many the man who should have been the leader over the past ten years having existed in nearly every single shadow cabinet and having an impeccable war record, John Profumo was handed a Conservative Party in the middle of a crisis. The Conservatives had lost another election, the radical Greenwood government was experiencing a popular mandate and Powell and his Powellite MPs were battling the remains of the Butler/Boothby regimes. Profumo decided that he was going to radically alter the Conservative Party under his 'Common Sense' leadership, whilst still pushing a message of positive patriotism and a One Nation rhetoric he also called for a closer relationships with America and the EEC as a way to combat the Soviet Union, to end Britain's empire and to not act in a reactionary manner. These were radical messages to many Conservatives but given how Powell had just sunk there first government in nearly twenty years they towed the line.

Under Profumo the Tories would increase there number of female MPs and attempts to heal the relationship between Conservative party and Britain's burgeoning ethnic minority population. The pinnacle of this would be in 1971 when the failed former leader Enoch Powell and five of his closest colleagues would be expelled from the Conservative party. Profumo would also democratise the party, with constituency's now being able to vote for there own parliamentary candidate for the first time and he would aim to win over the Thorpe led Liberal Party which he was able to do with the promise of Alternative Voting.

In 1972 the Conservative Party would manage to gain a majority of 12 and Profumo would prove to be right in his plans, having a majority he didn't have to placate the Liberal's and would implement his plans to finally finish off decolonisation, become closer with America, continue the One Nation consensus and would join the EEC in 1974. Profumo's passionate and intelligent reign would abruptly end when Profumo stated he was stepping down. For many years questions were asked about why this occurred until it was found out in 1990 that Profumo had been having an numerous affairs throughout the 60s which various tabloids had found out and the Conservative Party higher ups had told him to jump before he was pushed.


[6] Heath was one of the leading Profumites, serving as the man's Foreign Secretary during the EEC negotiations. With Profumo's government popular and his achievements working, Heath's job was just to keep everything ticking over. The economy slowly grew, North Sea oil was explored, and Britain was becoming a key part of the pan-European future; unlike America, punk remained a minority interest and disco ("britdisco") sailed on. All seemed calm on the keen yachtsman's ship of state.

The problem was that Heath was not a very charismatic or forceful man, certainly no Profumo, and so the growing monetarist wing of the Tories found it easier to get recruits. Why should the Conservatives be shackled to a plan by a man long gone? They had power, why weren't they going further? Heath found he was being briefed against in parts of the press as a man following someone else's plan (unfairly, as it was his too) and of being too complacent against David Steel's revamped Labour & the Liberals, who were starting to come after the Tory gains in Scotland. It's believed this perception of Heath was weak is what caused the Ulster Strike in '77, when the DUP tried to bring down the SDLP-led Northern Irish parliament for "going too far"; the biggest political challenge of Heath's time, forcing constant negotiations with multiple factions and the Irish government. This continued during the election, in which the Tory majority fell to 3, and briefing escalated - why, a more dynamic leader could have increased the majority!

So in retrospect, it's no surprise Heath resigned to take the top job at the EEC instead. There, he could (and did) make his mark and not deal with three years of being undercut.

[7] With Heath gone the Monetarists saw their chance to put one of their own into the top spot. However while they had managed to increase their influence throughout the Heath years the Profumoite One Nation faction still retained a plurality of influence within the wider party structure. It quickly became clear to all parts of the party that a bloody battle over succession would hole the Conservatives below the waterline and lead to an early election and the return of Labour. A lot of midnight oil was burnt at Tory HQ to find a compromise figure acceptable to all. The mantle of leadership finally fell upon the shoulders of the Minister of State for Trade and Consumer Affairs.

While Sir Geoffrey Howe was well regarded internally as a moderniser and proponent of soft Monetarism his public profile throughout the Profumo and Heath years had basically been nil. Upon the announcement of his elevation to Prime Minister there was a collective reaction of "who?", most memorably on the front page of the nominally Tory supporting Sun who did a mock up of Howe in Tom Bakers Doctor Who costume with the tagline "Geoff Who?" So it cam as a bit of a shock to all when his first act as Prime Minister, against all advice, was to announce a new election to secure a personal mandate for his vision for Britain.

Labour reacted with glee, feeling that with such a non-descript figure in charge and one preaching a return to Monetarism that a change in government was inevitable. However they were taking Howe lightly as he conducted a whistle-stop tour of the country and appeared in as much media as he could. While not the most dynamic performer he was able to present himself as studious, diligent and courteous figure and one who had a clear vision of a new economic path for the UK. Labour on the other hand ran a somewhat lackadaisical campaign, not helped when internal correspondence was leaked were Steel claimed that Labour MPs simply needed to "return to their constituencies and prepare for Government". The result was an increased Tory majority of 29 and Steel being chastened.

Howe began with his long anticipated Monetarist reforms, increasing privatization of Public Services, lower taxes and deregulation of business. Howe privately conceded there would be short term pain for long term gain but unfortunately for him history repeated itself and a sudden downturn in the economy caused inflation and unemployment to tick upwards. Labour took great delight in painting the Howe government as return to the worst excesses of the Powell administration (however thankfully minus the racism). As the early 80's recession dragged on Howe could hear the knives being sharpened and with an election coming in 1983 it seemed that the Tories luck had finally run out.

But fate had one last card to play, and it was in the shape of Churchill's old bête noire Communist Greece. Since the end of WW2 Turkey and Greece had been eyeing each other across the Thracian border with both claiming various territories and islands. With both countries as members of NATO and the Warsaw Pact respectively it always had the potential to be a Cold War flashpoint and so it came to pass with the Greek sponsored Cypriot Insurgency. Communist partisans succeeded in storming the House of Representatives and proclaiming a Peoples Republic. This in turn led Turkish forces to invade the North or the island to ostensibly protect Turkish citizens. The Greeks protested, claiming this to be an attempt to annex Cyprus and moved their Soviet sponsored fleet towards Cyprus.

With the world in a heightened state of alert and the two superpowers moving to support their allied states Howe jumped to action. Always interested in Foreign Affairs and with Cyprus still maintaining a British base. he took a personal interest in solving the crisis. Retaining close communication with President Hart and Premier Andropov Howe conducted intense shuttle diplomacy to defuse the crisis. He proved critical in stopping a move to open warfare after the Greeks sunk a Turkish destroyer just north of the Island, with the loss of all hands. Eventually tempers cooled and a treaty was developed and signed, while Cyprus would remain Communist it would not unite with Greece, remain demilitarized and respect UK basing rights while also respecting the rights of all Turkish citizens. While the West were disappointed to lose Cyprus to the Communists it was recognized that Howe had done sterling work in avoiding open conflict between the two Superpowers. He was lauded at home as the man who saved the world and went to the '83 election on the back of this triumph and was rewarded by only losing two seats, maintaining a decent majority.

Slowly the recession lifted and the fruits of Howe's economic labours began to be seen. Employment increased, wages were rising and the country as a whole was beginning to see a recovery with some of the traditional manufacturing centers transitioning to new industries or service sectors. Howe was seen as the man who proved that Monetarism could work, and work for all.

But tragedy would strike just as Howe was reaching the apex of his powers. On a visit to an enterprise zone in Manchester Howe would be stabbed by an irate Greek Cypriot angered at the loss of his homeland to the Communists. The Prime Minister was rushed to the nearest hospital but would die on the operating table that evening. A nation mourned and the Conservative party needed to find someone to protect his legacy.

[8] A monetrist, Minister for Health and someone that would protect Howe's legacy Currie at first seemed to be the perfect fit to keep the Conservative Flag flying and be Britain's First Female Prime Minister. But immediately there was trouble. Two of the other leadership candidates, Norman Tebbit and Alan Clark would start a rather sexist campaign against Currie as they tried to undermine her within the party. Currie's attempt to deal with them would lead to her getting ridiculed by various Tory supporting Tabloids. Meanwhile the Lab-Lib party which had just gone through a leadership election and now had a passionate Modern looking Socialist in Micheal Meacher leading them, with his appearances at the dispatch box where he would often calmly rip apart Currie's claims being watched by many, as well as Labour's policies preaching it's self as 'Socialism to bring us into the 21st Century' polling well.

Currie decided to secure her rule by calling an election, hoping sympathy as Howe's successor,her mostly uncontroversial rule and painting the Lab-Lib Party as dangerous Socialists would work. The one thing she hadn't accounted for was salmonella pandemic amongst Britain's chickens thanks to policies Howe had brought in, when this was announced by the Minister of Health John Major, chaos ensued. The price of eggs collapsed,farmers were pissed and about 4 million chickens had to be killed. Major was shuffled off to the backbenches, the Lab-Lib's had a field day and as the election day reared it's head polling had dipped massively for the Conservatives. By the skin of there teeth the Tories had a majority of 2 and would have to rely on UUP for support as well as the support of the British Independence Party (Powell's side project post removal which had managed to gain 2 MP's in rural Tory seats pissed at the egg crash) in the years to come. Considered a failure by many, Currie would resign as Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party the very next day.

[9] Chancellor of the Exchequer under Currie, Lawson had been itching to get on with full-on monetarism post-Howe but the need to keep the UU and BIP on side restrained him. He was able to massively deregulate the City of London's financial markets and reduce income tax, but anything further - like a planned number of privatisation - would not make it through. Wanting to find something he could do, Lawson let his government and party wage 'cultural' issues against things like horror films, or imported rap music, or patriotism, or divorce rates, or Labour councils allegedly indoctrinating children in transgender ideology. And of course, there was always crime.

The problem Lawson found was as well as talking about this stuff, he had to do something. Horror movies and flag-waving made it too easy to portray the government as old maids and laws on councils and trans rights caused a backlog of court courses - fighting crime seemed easiest, and an End To Drugs campaign was ordered. That all went fine until the police started arresting some City figures who were on cocaine and it came out just how decadent the deregulated area had become, hoisting Lawson on his own petard. In the 1990 election, hoping to take advantage of part of the Warsaw Pact ended communism, Lawson led the Tories to defeat against John Smith's Lib-Lab coalition.

Lawson, however, refused to stand down and his rivals were not quite able to defeat him. He continued to run the Tories on the same lines, thundering in PMQs about a wave of bad standards, crime, and spending of YOUR taxes, and was lucky enough to be in place when Smith suffered his second heart attack in 1992, as Black Wednesday hit. Labour was baited into a new election to show it still had a mandate and narrowly lost to another Tory-UU-BIP coalition as Lawson promised to be a steady, experienced hand that Labour could not offer. Unfortunately for him, his second government took years to reverse the UK out of the post-92 recession and the attempt to reimpose the 'transgender indoctrination' law backfired - even the Mail questioned why he was focusing on that and not SORTING OUT YOUR HOUSE PRICES. When Lawson lost a second time in 1997, he was swept aside.

 

[Time Enough]

Leaders of the Conservative Party

1945-1949: Winston Churchill [1]
1949-1960: Rab Butler [2]
1960-1962: Lord Boothby [3]
1962-1968: Enoch Powell [4]
1968-1975: John Profumo [5]
1975-1978: Ted Heath [6]
1978-1986: Geoffrey Howe [7]
1986-1987: Edwina Currie [8]
1987-1997: Nigel Lawson [9]
1997-2000: David Mellor [10]




[2]. The aftermath of the ensuing clusterfuck that was the 1949 Conservative Leadership contest lead to Rab Butler just getting in as leader as Anthony Eden licked his wounds and prepared to try again. No sooner had Butler got in there was an election to try and win. Even with his one nation credentials and his manifesto that promised change, Rab and the Tories lost hard with Labour enjoying a 60 seat majority. Rab managed to keep his leadership due to the party agreeing he had been dropped in the deep end.

The next few years of his leadership would mainly be putting out fires as he tried to wrestle with Anthony Eden with dominance of the Conservative Party throughout the early 50s as Labour would implement a welfare state. As 1955 loomed and another election would be called and Rab hoped he would get somewhere with the party now behind him, but the painful death of his wife Sydney would take the wind out of him and his period of grief and a revived Liberal Party under Jo Grimond would mean that Tories would only gain 30 more seats.

The knifes were out yet again but Rab would manage to win another leadership contest again as Eden was suffering from infections and his successor Macmillan was convinced to stand down in return for a job on the front bench. Rab’s leadership would limp on for another few years, his aim mainly to revive the party under a new One Nation message. In 1960, Gaitskell would call an election and Butler believed his efforts may finally have paid off...they didn’t. Butler watched in horror as Labour won a third term with a majority of fifteen. Depressed Butler would resign as leader seen as a failed attempt to revive the Conservative efforts in the fifties.

[3] The Conservative Party electing an actual Lord as their leader in the new decade was hay for political satirists, but Boothby had been an early anti-appeaser and had an admirable service record, he was anti-Butler but not tied to the rump Edenites, he was pro-European - he was the candidate for the messy reconstruction, the best available everyone could agree on. He'd also been part of the Tory advocates for legalising homosexuality (which was done in 19580 and so could claim to be 'modern'. The fact he was himself gay, an increasingly open secret, upset some traditional Conservative figures but not enough to stop his rise.

Then he abruptly resigned in 1962 and retired to the Lords backbenches, claiming he had achieved what he'd set out to do. Several months later, the party was appalled and furious to find the Daily Mirror printing photos of Boothby at a 'party' with one of the notorious Kray Brothers, and he had to leave even Lords in disgrace. (Many years later it would turn out MI5 had caught wind of Boothby's involvement with the Krays and various Conservative grandees had forced the man to resign before it could come out.)

[4] Handed the leadership to add fresh blood and ideas, Enoch Powell's leadership is now considered one that tacked all the way back to the Duke of Wellington. Initially starting off well, Powell cut a decent figure in the Commons, easily out pacing Hugh Gaitskell as his health began to fail and then again George Brown's slurring. The snap election of 1964 saw the Conservative's return to power with the slenderest of majorities, from which things gradually began to go down hill.

A sudden down turn in the economy saw Powell's monetarist plans for the economy put on hold as he inflicted mild austerity on the nation, which caused an immediate fight with the unions that he didn't need. Meanwhile, abroad Powell made enemies in all the wrong places. Refusing President Kennedy's request for help in the escalating war in Vietnam, Powell looked as though he was trying to reverse the efforts of de-colonisation in Africa: first extending the British 'mandate' in South Rhodesia to fight a bush war in defence of white settlers in the region, then forcing a regime change in Kenya (under the pretence of rescuing the country's Asian minority, but in reality hoping to prevent their mass immigration to the UK). These costly interventions pushed the Exchequer even further, and American displeasure was repaid by tightening pressure on Trans-Atlantic trade, which didn't help as Powell refused to budge on his Labour derived, anti-EEC policy.

As this all went on, a small cadre of MPs still loyal to Boothby gradually began to wear on Powell's nerves for their internal dissent which Powell repaid by having the Whips come down hard. The result was a leak from the Home Office on tightening the governments already controversial immigration controls, which blew apart the Powell's fragile relations with Commonwealth immigrants and their mother country's. Summer of '68 saw London, Leeds, Bradford and Manchester engulfed by race riots and Powell's government finally lost its majority in his Midland heartland. Feeling he could win a snap election on the basis of Law & Order, Powell called one only to have the Conservative campaign breakdown into "Us vs Them" Race baiting, often endorsed by certain corners of Party HQ. Disgusted, the general public delivered a resolute 'No' to Powell, who the morning after made his resignation speech under bombardment by students with eggs. The most generous assessment of Powell's tenure is that it peaked too early, but these are few at best.

[5] Considered by many the man who should have been the leader over the past ten years having existed in nearly every single shadow cabinet and having an impeccable war record, John Profumo was handed a Conservative Party in the middle of a crisis. The Conservatives had lost another election, the radical Greenwood government was experiencing a popular mandate and Powell and his Powellite MPs were battling the remains of the Butler/Boothby regimes. Profumo decided that he was going to radically alter the Conservative Party under his 'Common Sense' leadership, whilst still pushing a message of positive patriotism and a One Nation rhetoric he also called for a closer relationships with America and the EEC as a way to combat the Soviet Union, to end Britain's empire and to not act in a reactionary manner. These were radical messages to many Conservatives but given how Powell had just sunk there first government in nearly twenty years they towed the line.

Under Profumo the Tories would increase there number of female MPs and attempts to heal the relationship between Conservative party and Britain's burgeoning ethnic minority population. The pinnacle of this would be in 1971 when the failed former leader Enoch Powell and five of his closest colleagues would be expelled from the Conservative party. Profumo would also democratise the party, with constituency's now being able to vote for there own parliamentary candidate for the first time and he would aim to win over the Thorpe led Liberal Party which he was able to do with the promise of Alternative Voting.

In 1972 the Conservative Party would manage to gain a majority of 12 and Profumo would prove to be right in his plans, having a majority he didn't have to placate the Liberal's and would implement his plans to finally finish off decolonisation, become closer with America, continue the One Nation consensus and would join the EEC in 1974. Profumo's passionate and intelligent reign would abruptly end when Profumo stated he was stepping down. For many years questions were asked about why this occurred until it was found out in 1990 that Profumo had been having an numerous affairs throughout the 60s which various tabloids had found out and the Conservative Party higher ups had told him to jump before he was pushed.


[6] Heath was one of the leading Profumites, serving as the man's Foreign Secretary during the EEC negotiations. With Profumo's government popular and his achievements working, Heath's job was just to keep everything ticking over. The economy slowly grew, North Sea oil was explored, and Britain was becoming a key part of the pan-European future; unlike America, punk remained a minority interest and disco ("britdisco") sailed on. All seemed calm on the keen yachtsman's ship of state.

The problem was that Heath was not a very charismatic or forceful man, certainly no Profumo, and so the growing monetarist wing of the Tories found it easier to get recruits. Why should the Conservatives be shackled to a plan by a man long gone? They had power, why weren't they going further? Heath found he was being briefed against in parts of the press as a man following someone else's plan (unfairly, as it was his too) and of being too complacent against David Steel's revamped Labour & the Liberals, who were starting to come after the Tory gains in Scotland. It's believed this perception of Heath was weak is what caused the Ulster Strike in '77, when the DUP tried to bring down the SDLP-led Northern Irish parliament for "going too far"; the biggest political challenge of Heath's time, forcing constant negotiations with multiple factions and the Irish government. This continued during the election, in which the Tory majority fell to 3, and briefing escalated - why, a more dynamic leader could have increased the majority!

So in retrospect, it's no surprise Heath resigned to take the top job at the EEC instead. There, he could (and did) make his mark and not deal with three years of being undercut.

[7] With Heath gone the Monetarists saw their chance to put one of their own into the top spot. However while they had managed to increase their influence throughout the Heath years the Profumoite One Nation faction still retained a plurality of influence within the wider party structure. It quickly became clear to all parts of the party that a bloody battle over succession would hole the Conservatives below the waterline and lead to an early election and the return of Labour. A lot of midnight oil was burnt at Tory HQ to find a compromise figure acceptable to all. The mantle of leadership finally fell upon the shoulders of the Minister of State for Trade and Consumer Affairs.

While Sir Geoffrey Howe was well regarded internally as a moderniser and proponent of soft Monetarism his public profile throughout the Profumo and Heath years had basically been nil. Upon the announcement of his elevation to Prime Minister there was a collective reaction of "who?", most memorably on the front page of the nominally Tory supporting Sun who did a mock up of Howe in Tom Bakers Doctor Who costume with the tagline "Geoff Who?" So it cam as a bit of a shock to all when his first act as Prime Minister, against all advice, was to announce a new election to secure a personal mandate for his vision for Britain.

Labour reacted with glee, feeling that with such a non-descript figure in charge and one preaching a return to Monetarism that a change in government was inevitable. However they were taking Howe lightly as he conducted a whistle-stop tour of the country and appeared in as much media as he could. While not the most dynamic performer he was able to present himself as studious, diligent and courteous figure and one who had a clear vision of a new economic path for the UK. Labour on the other hand ran a somewhat lackadaisical campaign, not helped when internal correspondence was leaked were Steel claimed that Labour MPs simply needed to "return to their constituencies and prepare for Government". The result was an increased Tory majority of 29 and Steel being chastened.

Howe began with his long anticipated Monetarist reforms, increasing privatization of Public Services, lower taxes and deregulation of business. Howe privately conceded there would be short term pain for long term gain but unfortunately for him history repeated itself and a sudden downturn in the economy caused inflation and unemployment to tick upwards. Labour took great delight in painting the Howe government as return to the worst excesses of the Powell administration (however thankfully minus the racism). As the early 80's recession dragged on Howe could hear the knives being sharpened and with an election coming in 1983 it seemed that the Tories luck had finally run out.

But fate had one last card to play, and it was in the shape of Churchill's old bête noire Communist Greece. Since the end of WW2 Turkey and Greece had been eyeing each other across the Thracian border with both claiming various territories and islands. With both countries as members of NATO and the Warsaw Pact respectively it always had the potential to be a Cold War flashpoint and so it came to pass with the Greek sponsored Cypriot Insurgency. Communist partisans succeeded in storming the House of Representatives and proclaiming a Peoples Republic. This in turn led Turkish forces to invade the North or the island to ostensibly protect Turkish citizens. The Greeks protested, claiming this to be an attempt to annex Cyprus and moved their Soviet sponsored fleet towards Cyprus.

With the world in a heightened state of alert and the two superpowers moving to support their allied states Howe jumped to action. Always interested in Foreign Affairs and with Cyprus still maintaining a British base. he took a personal interest in solving the crisis. Retaining close communication with President Hart and Premier Andropov Howe conducted intense shuttle diplomacy to defuse the crisis. He proved critical in stopping a move to open warfare after the Greeks sunk a Turkish destroyer just north of the Island, with the loss of all hands. Eventually tempers cooled and a treaty was developed and signed, while Cyprus would remain Communist it would not unite with Greece, remain demilitarized and respect UK basing rights while also respecting the rights of all Turkish citizens. While the West were disappointed to lose Cyprus to the Communists it was recognized that Howe had done sterling work in avoiding open conflict between the two Superpowers. He was lauded at home as the man who saved the world and went to the '83 election on the back of this triumph and was rewarded by only losing two seats, maintaining a decent majority.

Slowly the recession lifted and the fruits of Howe's economic labours began to be seen. Employment increased, wages were rising and the country as a whole was beginning to see a recovery with some of the traditional manufacturing centers transitioning to new industries or service sectors. Howe was seen as the man who proved that Monetarism could work, and work for all.

But tragedy would strike just as Howe was reaching the apex of his powers. On a visit to an enterprise zone in Manchester Howe would be stabbed by an irate Greek Cypriot angered at the loss of his homeland to the Communists. The Prime Minister was rushed to the nearest hospital but would die on the operating table that evening. A nation mourned and the Conservative party needed to find someone to protect his legacy.

[8] A monetrist, Minister for Health and someone that would protect Howe's legacy Currie at first seemed to be the perfect fit to keep the Conservative Flag flying and be Britain's First Female Prime Minister. But immediately there was trouble. Two of the other leadership candidates, Norman Tebbit and Alan Clark would start a rather sexist campaign against Currie as they tried to undermine her within the party. Currie's attempt to deal with them would lead to her getting ridiculed by various Tory supporting Tabloids. Meanwhile the Lab-Lib party which had just gone through a leadership election and now had a passionate Modern looking Socialist in Micheal Meacher leading them, with his appearances at the dispatch box where he would often calmly rip apart Currie's claims being watched by many, as well as Labour's policies preaching it's self as 'Socialism to bring us into the 21st Century' polling well.

Currie decided to secure her rule by calling an election, hoping sympathy as Howe's successor,her mostly uncontroversial rule and painting the Lab-Lib Party as dangerous Socialists would work. The one thing she hadn't accounted for was salmonella pandemic amongst Britain's chickens thanks to policies Howe had brought in, when this was announced by the Minister of Health John Major, chaos ensued. The price of eggs collapsed,farmers were pissed and about 4 million chickens had to be killed. Major was shuffled off to the backbenches, the Lab-Lib's had a field day and as the election day reared it's head polling had dipped massively for the Conservatives. By the skin of there teeth the Tories had a majority of 2 and would have to rely on UUP for support as well as the support of the British Independence Party (Powell's side project post removal which had managed to gain 2 MP's in rural Tory seats pissed at the egg crash) in the years to come. Considered a failure by many, Currie would resign as Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party the very next day.

[9] Chancellor of the Exchequer under Currie, Lawson had been itching to get on with full-on monetarism post-Howe but the need to keep the UU and BIP on side restrained him. He was able to massively deregulate the City of London's financial markets and reduce income tax, but anything further - like a planned number of privatisation - would not make it through. Wanting to find something he could do, Lawson let his government and party wage 'cultural' issues against things like horror films, or imported rap music, or patriotism, or divorce rates, or Labour councils allegedly indoctrinating children in transgender ideology. And of course, there was always crime.

The problem Lawson found was as well as talking about this stuff, he had to do something. Horror movies and flag-waving made it too easy to portray the government as old maids and laws on councils and trans rights caused a backlog of court courses - fighting crime seemed easiest, and an End To Drugs campaign was ordered. That all went fine until the police started arresting some City figures who were on cocaine and it came out just how decadent the deregulated area had become, hoisting Lawson on his own petard. In the 1990 election, hoping to take advantage of part of the Warsaw Pact ended communism, Lawson led the Tories to defeat against John Smith's Lib-Lab coalition.

Lawson, however, refused to stand down and his rivals were not quite able to defeat him. He continued to run the Tories on the same lines, thundering in PMQs about a wave of bad standards, crime, and spending of YOUR taxes, and was lucky enough to be in place when Smith suffered his second heart attack in 1992, as Black Wednesday hit. Labour was baited into a new election to show it still had a mandate and narrowly lost to another Tory-UU-BIP coalition as Lawson promised to be a steady, experienced hand that Labour could not offer. Unfortunately for him, his second government took years to reverse the UK out of the post-92 recession and the attempt to reimpose the 'transgender indoctrination' law backfired - even the Mail questioned why he was focusing on that and not SORTING OUT YOUR HOUSE PRICES. When Lawson lost a second time in 1997, he was swept aside.

[10] The Conservatives needed a bold new leader, someone with radical ideas, charisma and ability to lead the party into the 21st Century...David Mellor was not that man. The former Minister of Culture and then in the slowly sinking second Lawson Cabinet Secretary of State was not the true candidate for change, that probably went to ‘Red Ken’ Clarke but Mellor would win the ensuing leadership election on a technicality.

Mellor tried to lead his party but found it a bickering mess of Monetrists and One Nationists and his attempt to stop Clarke’s influence would go nowhere. His leadership as the leader of the opposition was just as rudderless, his laddish antics looked stupid against Labour dream team of Charles Kennedy and Diane Abbott who had a habit of trouncing him in PMQs.

A man of no substance and little charm, the discovery of his extramarital affairs would be the final blow as Ken used it as an opportunity to demand his resignation. Mellor seeing the writing on the wall resigned, leaving the Conservatives to have a battle occur between the giants of Portillo and Clarke.

 

[Stuyvesant]

Great Powers of the World (In no particular order)

1. United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves
2. 
   
3. 
   
4. 
   
5. 
   
6. 
   
7. 
   

[1] - While no longer controlling any land in Africa or Asia, the natural resources and Industry of Portugal-Brazil ensure she is always on these sorts of lists.

 

[TheHatMan98]

Great Powers of the World (In no particular order)

1. United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves
2. The British Empire
3. 
   
4. 
   
5. 
   
6. 
   
7. 
   

[1] - While no longer controlling any land in Africa or Asia, the natural resources and Industry of Portugal-Brazil ensure she is always on these sorts of lists.

[2] - Though not what she once was since Indian Independence, and with the American Commonwealths and wider Dominions becoming more self-reliant, whether it can even be called an Empire anymore remains up for debate - nevertheless, the deep financial web spread by London keeps the influence of Westminster beyond the confines of the British Isles.

 

[Charles EP M.]

Great Powers of the World (In no particular order)

1. United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves
2. The British Empire
3. Gran Colombia
4. 
   
5. 
   
6. 
   
7. 
   

[1] - While no longer controlling any land in Africa or Asia, the natural resources and Industry of Portugal-Brazil ensure she is always on these sorts of lists.

[2] - Though not what she once was since Indian Independence, and with the American Commonwealths and wider Dominions becoming more self-reliant, whether it can even be called an Empire anymore remains up for debate - nevertheless, the deep financial web spread by London keeps the influence of Westminster beyond the confines of the British Isles.

[3] The dominant state of South America, it went from regional power to great power with the construction of the Panama Canal and has remained an economic powerhouse & naval power ever since. Has not fought a war with the United Kingdom for sixty years but sporting rivalries are infamous.

 

[Time Enough]

Great Powers of the World (In no particular order)

1. United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves
2. The British Empire
3. Gran Colombia
4. The Workers Commonwealth of Oceania
5. 
   
6. 
   

[1] - While no longer controlling any land in Africa or Asia, the natural resources and Industry of Portugal-Brazil ensure she is always on these sorts of lists.

[2] - Though not what she once was since Indian Independence, and with the American Commonwealths and wider Dominions becoming more self-reliant, whether it can even be called an Empire anymore remains up for debate - nevertheless, the deep financial web spread by London keeps the influence of Westminster beyond the confines of the British Isles.

[3] The dominant state of South America, it went from regional power to great power with the construction of the Panama Canal and has remained an economic powerhouse & naval power ever since. Has not fought a war with the United Kingdom for sixty years but sporting rivalries are infamous.

[4] The ones that got a way from the British Empire, the Workers Commonwealth dominates trade in Oceania and also has a vast array of resources from coal, to rare metals and also wool and mutton. It also has economic ties to much of Asia and a series of military alliances that keep the balance of power in Oceania and South East Asia.

 

[Stuyvesant]

Great Powers of the World (In no particular order)

1. United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves
2. The British Empire
3. Gran Colombia
4. The Workers Commonwealth of Oceania
5. The Holy Roman Empire
6. 
   

[1] - While no longer controlling any land in Africa or Asia, the natural resources and Industry of Portugal-Brazil ensure she is always on these sorts of lists.

[2] - Though not what she once was since Indian Independence, and with the American Commonwealths and wider Dominions becoming more self-reliant, whether it can even be called an Empire anymore remains up for debate - nevertheless, the deep financial web spread by London keeps the influence of Westminster beyond the confines of the British Isles.

[3] The dominant state of South America, it went from regional power to great power with the construction of the Panama Canal and has remained an economic powerhouse & naval power ever since. Has not fought a war with the United Kingdom for sixty years but sporting rivalries are infamous.

[4] The ones that got a way from the British Empire, the Workers Commonwealth dominates trade in Oceania and also has a vast array of resources from coal, to rare metals and also wool and mutton. It also has economic ties to much of Asia and a series of military alliances that keep the balance of power in Oceania and South East Asia.

[5] The Holy Roman Empire had a rough... few centuries, but they've crawled back since their resurgence in the 18th Century, and now oversees an Industrialized Federal Empire from the former Austrian Netherlands to the Dnieper.

 

[Mumby]

Great Powers of the World (In no particular order)

1. United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves
2. The British Empire
3. Gran Colombia
4. The Workers Commonwealth of Oceania
5. The Holy Roman Empire
6. The Workers Commonwealth of Nippon
7. 
   

[1] - While no longer controlling any land in Africa or Asia, the natural resources and Industry of Portugal-Brazil ensure she is always on these sorts of lists.

[2] - Though not what she once was since Indian Independence, and with the American Commonwealths and wider Dominions becoming more self-reliant, whether it can even be called an Empire anymore remains up for debate - nevertheless, the deep financial web spread by London keeps the influence of Westminster beyond the confines of the British Isles.

[3] The dominant state of South America, it went from regional power to great power with the construction of the Panama Canal and has remained an economic powerhouse & naval power ever since. Has not fought a war with the United Kingdom for sixty years but sporting rivalries are infamous.

[4] The ones that got a way from the British Empire, the Workers Commonwealth dominates trade in Oceania and also has a vast array of resources from coal, to rare metals and also wool and mutton. It also has economic ties to much of Asia and a series of military alliances that keep the balance of power in Oceania and South East Asia.

[5] The Holy Roman Empire had a rough... few centuries, but they've crawled back since their resurgence in the 18th Century, and now oversees an Industrialized Federal Empire from the former Austrian Netherlands to the Dnieper.

[6] Japan was opened up by the British, and for nearly a century the medieval East Asian state was dominated by the EIC - and when the Oceanian Revolution broke the shackles of Empire, Japan was one of the British vassals to follow. Since then however, Nippon has rapidly increased in stature, to the point of challenging their former mentors for the position of leading workers state in the Pacific.

 

[TheHatMan98]

Great Powers of the World (In no particular order)

1. United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves
2. The British Empire
3. Gran Colombia
4. The Workers Commonwealth of Oceania
5. The Holy Roman Empire
6. The Workers Commonwealth of Nippon
7. Republic of California

[1] - While no longer controlling any land in Africa or Asia, the natural resources and Industry of Portugal-Brazil ensure she is always on these sorts of lists.

[2] - Though not what she once was since Indian Independence, and with the American Commonwealths and wider Dominions becoming more self-reliant, whether it can even be called an Empire anymore remains up for debate - nevertheless, the deep financial web spread by London keeps the influence of Westminster beyond the confines of the British Isles.

[3] The dominant state of South America, it went from regional power to great power with the construction of the Panama Canal and has remained an economic powerhouse & naval power ever since. Has not fought a war with the United Kingdom for sixty years but sporting rivalries are infamous.

[4] The ones that got a way from the British Empire, the Workers Commonwealth dominates trade in Oceania and also has a vast array of resources from coal, to rare metals and also wool and mutton. It also has economic ties to much of Asia and a series of military alliances that keep the balance of power in Oceania and South East Asia.

[5] The Holy Roman Empire had a rough... few centuries, but they've crawled back since their resurgence in the 18th Century, and now oversees an Industrialized Federal Empire from the former Austrian Netherlands to the Dnieper.

[6] Japan was opened up by the British, and for nearly a century the medieval East Asian state was dominated by the EIC - and when the Oceanian Revolution broke the shackles of Empire, Japan was one of the British vassals to follow. Since then however, Nippon has rapidly increased in stature, to the point of challenging their former mentors for the position of leading workers state in the Pacific.

[7] Rising out of the desert of the American West, one of the oldest Republics in the world and youngest of the Great Powers, oil discoveries stretching from the Oregon coast to the tip of Baja and with flood of immigration over the past 50 years over the Colorado river and Pacific, the sky is the limit.

 

[Indicus]

Great Powers of the World (In no particular order)

1. United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves
2. The British Empire
3. Gran Colombia
4. The Workers Commonwealth of Oceania
5. The Holy Roman Empire
6. The Workers Commonwealth of Nippon
7. Republic of California
8. Cape Republic

[1] - While no longer controlling any land in Africa or Asia, the natural resources and Industry of Portugal-Brazil ensure she is always on these sorts of lists.

[2] - Though not what she once was since Indian Independence, and with the American Commonwealths and wider Dominions becoming more self-reliant, whether it can even be called an Empire anymore remains up for debate - nevertheless, the deep financial web spread by London keeps the influence of Westminster beyond the confines of the British Isles.

[3] The dominant state of South America, it went from regional power to great power with the construction of the Panama Canal and has remained an economic powerhouse & naval power ever since. Has not fought a war with the United Kingdom for sixty years but sporting rivalries are infamous.

[4] The ones that got a way from the British Empire, the Workers Commonwealth dominates trade in Oceania and also has a vast array of resources from coal, to rare metals and also wool and mutton. It also has economic ties to much of Asia and a series of military alliances that keep the balance of power in Oceania and South East Asia.

[5] The Holy Roman Empire had a rough... few centuries, but they've crawled back since their resurgence in the 18th Century, and now oversees an Industrialized Federal Empire from the former Austrian Netherlands to the Dnieper.

[6] Japan was opened up by the British, and for nearly a century the medieval East Asian state was dominated by the EIC - and when the Oceanian Revolution broke the shackles of Empire, Japan was one of the British vassals to follow. Since then however, Nippon has rapidly increased in stature, to the point of challenging their former mentors for the position of leading workers state in the Pacific.

[7] Rising out of the desert of the American West, one of the oldest Republics in the world and youngest of the Great Powers, oil discoveries stretching from the Oregon coast to the tip of Baja and with flood of immigration over the past 50 years over the Colorado river and Pacific, the sky is the limit.

[8] Ruled by the Princes of Orange, in exile after the conquest of the Dutch Republic by the Holy Roman Empire, the Cape Republic has since grown tremendously as an entity, creating a vast network of alliances with Xhosa, Zulu, and many other states across southern Africa. Most recently, Angola and Mozambique have, since independence, become part of its orbit.

 

[Stuyvesant]

Kinda contradicts Gran Colombia but okay

 

[Indicus]

Kinda contradicts Gran Colombia but okay

Ah, shit. Well, I’ll edit it to something else, then.

 

[theev]

Presidents of the NewStates of America:

1955-1964: Rexford Tugwell (Democratic) [1]
1964-1973:
1973-1976:
1976-1985:
1985-1988:
1988-1997:
1997-2000:
2000-2009:
2009-2018:
2018-0000:

(Just to clarify the electoral system: an election happens every 9 years, but the president's government faces a referendum after 3 and if they receive <40% then an immediate election gets called. Also there's two VPs)

[1] FDR's deputy, the architect of the Second New Deal and the man behind the Allies' victory in the Second World War, was perhaps the only man capable of so radically altering America's postwar political landscape. After the NewStates Convention was finally ratified by the requisite two-thirds of American states, there was only really one obvious candidate to be the NSA's first president. President Tugwell would triumph over scattered opposition from renegade Democrats and a GOP that was still very much stuck in the wilderness.

Tugwell's presidency mainly dealt with the difficulties in trying to establish his new government's legitimacy. Tugwell's push for racial equality under the NSA's new constitution received violent and sustained blowback from conservative southern whites. Racial tensions between blacks and whites in the American South would remain tense throughout Tugwell's term and after it. In western states, many not in favor of Tugwell's economic central planning, there was heightened resistance to the actions of Tugwell's executive branch and those of the planning branch of government. Although Tugwell would be able to assert the NSA's authority out west, hard political fault-lines would be drawn in regional politics.

Besides 1959's 'Little Crash' and its subsequent brief recession, the economy was largely able to stabilize around the government's new Planning Branch and its National Planning Board. The latter part of Tugwell's term would revolve around foreign affairs, however. The fall of Cuba in 1961 to the communist forces of Fidel Castro would make the Cold War a pressing issue to the American public and something that Tugwell would have to deal with immediately. In 1962, the NewStates would join the Western Union Defense Organization (WUDO) then made up of capitalist western Europe and Canada. Standoff between the two superpowers in East Asia would bring the world to the brink of nuclear war in 1963 but Adlai Stevenson, Tugwell's VP for Foreign Affairs, would be able to bring the Americans and the Soviets to the negotiating table.

As Tugwell declined interest in a second term in 1964, a flurry of government supporters and opponents raced to succeed him. However, only one would come out on top...