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Liberals hold Huddersfield after two recounts

Kirklees Councillor Jodie Whittaker has held Huddersfield for the Liberal Party following two recounts, with 21,679 votes to Labour candidate Paul Salveson’s 21,542, a majority of 137, after sitting MP Ann Denham stood down.

The seat, held by the party since Independent Liberal MP James Harold Wilson stood down in 1986, had been predicted as a Labour gain by a GfK poll last week for the Huddersfield Daily Examiner. This is no doubt one consolation for the Liberals on an otherwise disappointing night that saw them make a net loss of 11 seats.

Wilson was first elected as a Liberal for the predecessor seat of Huddersfield East in 1949, but left the party following its formation of a coalition with the Conservatives in 1960, and thereafter benefited from a pact with the local Labour branch as well as a strong personal vote.
 
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Liberals hold Huddersfield after two recounts

Kirklees Councillor Jodie Whittaker has held Huddersfield for the Liberal Party following two recounts, with 21,679 votes to Labour candidate Paul Salveson’s 21,542, a majority of 137, after sitting MP Ann Denham stood down.

The seat, held by the party since Independent Liberal MP James Harold Wilson stood down in 1986, had been predicted as a Labour gain by a GfK poll last week for the Huddersfield Daily Examiner. This is no doubt one consolation for the Liberals on an otherwise disappointing night that saw them make a net loss of 11 seats.

Wilson was first elected as a Liberal for the predecessor seat of Huddersfield East in 1949, but left the party following its formation of a coalition with the Conservatives in 1960, and thereafter benefited from a pact with the local Labour branch as well as a strong personal vote.

red fens got me like
 
Did a small wikitable for @Time Enough's excellent list of heads of government of a surviving First Republic of Armenia that transitions into a Second one, largely as a way to get acquainted with making tables. Honestly, I don't know what else to say about this.

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ITTL, Sarkis Dkhrouni has a mostly successful first term as Armenia sees four years of economic growth and steady industrialization going hand in hand with trade union growth, as well as a strong relationship with the West (particularly Labour-led Britain) and relative peace abroad. As such, the ASDLP maintains their parliamentary majority; however, the Dkhrouni government finds themselves focusing on foreign affairs as Stalin passes away and tensions brew in Iran, Mahabad and the Arab world. In 1955, Dkhrouni is assassinated during a diplomatic visit to Lebanon amidst a severe political crisis in the country.
 
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Did a small wikitable for @Time Enough's excellent list of heads of government of a surviving First Republic of Armenia that transitions into a Second one, largely as a way to get acquainted with making tables. Honestly, I don't know what else to say about this.
Damn, wasn’t expecting this but it looks great anyway. Good stuff there.
TTL, Sarkis Dkhrouni has a mostly successful first term as Armenia sees four years of economic growth and steady industrialization going hand in hand with trade union growth, as well as a strong relationship with the West (particularly Labour-led Britain) and relative peace abroad. As such, the ASDLP maintains their parliamentary majority; however, the Dkhrouni government finds themselves focusing on foreign affairs as Stalin passes away and tensions brew in Iran, Mahabad and the Arab world. In 1955, Dkhrouni is assassinated during a diplomatic visit to Lebanon amidst a severe political crisis in the country.
That would be unsurprising, Dkhrouni would probably be the kind of fella to get him assassinated due to overreaching when it comes to foreign policy, though I see him still being popular due to his Social Democratic reforms. I could see the subsequent political crisis leading to the creation of the Third Armenian Republic (not much change, though some party changes, different system of PR being implemented as a way to combat the changing world...hmm I may have to do a sequel to my list).
 
That would be unsurprising, Dkhrouni would probably be the kind of fella to get him assassinated due to overreaching when it comes to foreign policy, though I see him still being popular due to his Social Democratic reforms. I could see the subsequent political crisis leading to the creation of the Third Armenian Republic (not much change, though some party changes, different system of PR being implemented as a way to combat the changing world...hmm I may have to do a sequel to my list).

Ah, sorry, perhaps my wording was too vague - I meant the Lebanese political crisis. I still haven't really worked out who would assassinate Dkhrouni, though I presume it would either be a Muslim exile wanting to send a message.

That said, I would love to see a sequel to this list!
 
Ah, sorry, perhaps my wording was too vague - I meant the Lebanese political crisis. I still haven't really worked out who would assassinate Dkhrouni, though I presume it would either be a Muslim exile wanting to send a message.
Ah that makes sense. Yeah I could see that, be doubly ironic if Dkhrouni was planning to repeal anti-Muslim laws before he’s killed.
That said, I would love to see a sequel to this list!
Certainly, I’ll have to start using Soviet Armenian folks given how by the 1950’s most of the freedom fighters are dead. But it’ll be fun, hmm may have the Democratic Party and Populist Party merge as an Anti-Social Democratic bulwark during the late 50s and early 60s. That be good.
 
POD: Monte Melkonian survives the Battle of Aghdam

Even before the [1999 National Assembly shooting], Monte Melkonian's relationship with Vazgen Sargsyan and his allies was increasingly strained. While Vazgen deeply respected Monte until his death, calling Avo "the most honest person in the entire world", and the feeling was mutual, their different political views - their outlook on Armenia's future - came to the forefront in the late nineties. In August 1999, despite his alliance with Sargsyan and [People's Party leader and National Assembly President Karen] Demirchyan, Monte Melkonian criticized the Sargsyan government's austerity measures, calling the proposal "a betrayal of the Armenian people's best interests in favor of foreign profiteers", and voted against, becoming one of the few Unity MPs to do so. Karen met with Monte on August 29, 1999 in his residence; he said that he understood Avo's qualms with the measures, but said that Armenia was in no position to do otherwise. Monte said that he wanted to stand by his principles, and found Sargsyan and Demirchyan's "disposal" of Armenia to Western caprice "unjust". What was supposed to be a heart-to-heart conversation grew increasingly heated, with Avo calling out Karen over the "false promises" and lack of concreteness in his presidential campaign, insinuating that he was lying about bringing Armenians "a prosperous life"; Demirchyan felt insulted. It took a week before Monte and Karen fully reconciled, when they held a press conference reaffirming their commitment to the Armenian people's welfare.

[...]

A confrontation between Melkonian and Kocharyan was inevitable. Some say it was a confrontation between the diaspora and the Soviet-grown mainland, but those claims only laid out a part of the political turmoil that Armenia went through. After Sargsyan and Demirchyan's death, Kocharyan understood quickly that Melkonian was his most dangerous enemy - they were starkly different, both in terms of politics and personality, and he would always be overshadowed by the greatest commander of the Nagorno-Karabakh War, no matter how much his men would insinuate that Monte was a radical, a Stalinist, or a terrorist sympathizer. Once Monte stepped up as leader of the People's Party, there was continuous, implicit tension between the Republican Party and the People's Party; Kocharyan held press conferences that contained not just numerous jabs at the "inefficient communist" People's Party, but what Monte perceived to be implicit death threats against him. It was not unreasonable for him to think so, as many felt that Kocharyan was involved in the [1999 National Assembly shooting], and Melkonian himself was almost assassinated in January of 2000. Melkonian's supporters, many of whom grew up in Artsakh or abroad and tended to be left-leaning and reform-minded, chanted that Kocharyan was "afraid" of Melkonian. In some way, they would be proven right when preparations for the presidential election began.

~ A Man's Rebirth, Mardar Melkonian

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POD: Monte Melkonian survives the Battle of Aghdam

Even before the [1999 National Assembly shooting], Monte Melkonian's relationship with Vazgen Sargsyan and his allies was increasingly strained. While Vazgen deeply respected Monte until his death, calling Avo "the most honest person in the entire world", and the feeling was mutual, their different political views - their outlook on Armenia's future - came to the forefront in the late nineties. In August 1999, despite his alliance with Sargsyan and [People's Party leader and National Assembly President Karen] Demirchyan, Monte Melkonian criticized the Sargsyan government's austerity measures, calling the proposal "a betrayal of the Armenian people's best interests in favor of foreign profiteers", and voted against, becoming one of the few Unity MPs to do so. Karen met with Monte on August 29, 1999 in his residence; he said that he understood Avo's qualms with the measures, but said that Armenia was in no position to do otherwise. Monte said that he wanted to stand by his principles, and found Sargsyan and Demirchyan's "disposal" of Armenia to Western caprice "unjust". What was supposed to be a heart-to-heart conversation grew increasingly heated, with Avo calling out Karen over the "false promises" and lack of concreteness in his presidential campaign, insinuating that he was lying about bringing Armenians "a prosperous life"; Demirchyan felt insulted. It took a week before Monte and Karen fully reconciled, when they held a press conference reaffirming their commitment to the Armenian people's welfare.

[...]

A confrontation between Melkonian and Kocharyan was inevitable. Some say it was a confrontation between the diaspora and the Soviet-grown mainland, but those claims only laid out a part of the political turmoil that Armenia went through. After Sargsyan and Demirchyan's death, Kocharyan understood quickly that Melkonian was his most dangerous enemy - they were starkly different, both in terms of politics and personality, and he would always be overshadowed by the greatest commander of the Nagorno-Karabakh War, no matter how much his men would insinuate that Monte was a radical, a Stalinist, or a terrorist sympathizer. Once Monte stepped up as leader of the People's Party, there was continuous, implicit tension between the Republican Party and the People's Party; Kocharyan held press conferences that contained not just numerous jabs at the "inefficient communist" People's Party, but what Monte perceived to be implicit death threats against him. It was not unreasonable for him to think so, as many felt that Kocharyan was involved in the [1999 National Assembly shooting], and Melkonian himself was almost assassinated in January of 2000. Melkonian's supporters, many of whom grew up in Artsakh or abroad and tended to be left-leaning and reform-minded, chanted that Kocharyan was "afraid" of Melkonian. In some way, they would be proven right when preparations for the presidential election began.

~ A Man's Rebirth, Mardar Melkonian

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Monte Melkonian becoming President I guess will be both good and a bit bad given this Armenia and no one can have nice things. Good work though.
 
Monte Melkonian becoming President I guess will be both good and a bit bad given this Armenia and no one can have nice things. Good work though.

Thanks! I do wonder if I can come up with something that can outline Melkonian's views and conduct as President better, though

I do envision a Melkonian-led Armenia becoming a bit Bolivia-like at worst.
 
I do envision a Melkonian-led Armenia becoming a bit Bolivia-like at worst.
That wouldn’t be surprising, I could see Melkonian gaining a Evo Morales style ‘cult of personality’ and I could see his leadership being rather Left Wing Populist in tone.

Probably have frosty relations with Putin’s Russia.
 
"And as Big Ben strikes ten, the polls close, and we can give you the results of our exit poll. We've spoken to fourteen thousand people in two hundred constituencies tonight, and, er, we hope they've been telling us the truth."

Big Ben strikes ten.

"There it is, ten o'clock, and we say John Major is to remain Prime Minister and a majority is possible but not certain. And reaction from Huntingdon already up there on the right in the Conservative club, all applauding there. Labour Party headquarters, rather more sombre scenes. So, here are the details, John Major is to remain Prime Minister and this is why: Conservatives 40%, Labour 34% according to our exit poll, that would be around the same vote that they got five years ago in 1992, and possibly even worse. The Liberal Democrats on 20 percent, that's an increase of a couple percent from the last election, others on 6."
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James Bartholomew Olsen, better known as "Jimmy" Olsen, was a Delaware photographer, journalist, and investigative reporter. In his youth he was well known for his friendship with Metropolis' premier hero, Superman, and throughout his life he was known for his reporting both on citywide events, and superheroic undertakings throughout the state, county, planet, and at times universe.

Orphaned at the age 3, he spent years living with relatives and grew up in Depression-era Metropolis. As a teenager he was hired as an office-boy by Perry White, Sr. for the Daily Planet, where he would eventually work his way up as a photographer and reporter. There he would eventually meet Superman, being one of the first reporters able to interview the hero. In 1949, Olsen was the one who gave the famous interview where Superman detailed his history as an alien named Kal-El, rocketed to Earth as a baby from a dying planet named Krypton, and how he became a superhero.

At the age of 25, he was kidnapped by Edward Clariss, the original Reverse-Flash and a member of the inaugural Secret Society of Super-Villains. Due to Olsen's known connection to Superman, his kidnapping was done as part of an elaborate scheme to simultaneously gather and murder multiple American superheroes. Due to the interference of Mr. Mind, another member of the Secret Society, Clariss was sent running into the "Speedforce" with Olsen in tow, both of whom were sent hurdling ten years into the future. In the intervening years, Olsen was presumed dead by many despite the claims by Superman and the original Flash, Jay Garrick, that he was alive but "lost" in the "Speedforce".

In 1962, both Clariss and Olsen emerged, with Olsen claiming to have been unconscious throughout his trip into the "Speedforce". After a year spent readjusting to a world that had progressed a decade without him, Olsen returned to work at the Daily Planet, married teacher Linda Lee Danvers (a cousin of friend and long time fellow Daily Planet reporter, Clark Kent), and resumed life, despite the hardships. Many years later, Olsen would confess to having many emotional and mental turmoils adjusting to the new world, including nervous breakdowns and bouts of alcoholism. He credited his recovery to the support of his friends, and especially his wife Linda.

The last major news story that he broke was that of his 1995 expose of Project Cadmus, which had illegally harvested the DNA of the deceased Superman and clandestinely cloned him, without knowledge or orders from higher-ups. This resulted in international outcry, a widely publicized Congressional investigation, the arrest of all members involved, including Director Amanda Waller, and the discovering Project Cadmus' other attempts to clone superpowered individuals, human and alien.

Olsen died in 2014, with the chronological age of 87, but a biological age of 77. He is survived by his daughter, Karen, and several grandchildren.


I know it's a bit ironic to take Jimmy out of most of the 1950's, where he had many of his most (in)famous Silver Age stories, but I wanted to do something a little bit different. Worldbuild further, develop some internal ideas (such as ITTL's initial SSSV, him ending up with Supergirl who also was displaced...in a way, allude to how Conner Kent ended up being created etc.), and so forth. Tell me what you think.
 
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I do like the implication that Superman's identity as Clark Kent just isn't a known thing in this world even now.

26,000 dead would be easy enough to slip an additional name into after all.

Some heroes come forward, some have it leaked, and some manage to keep it well hidden long after the fact.
 
((I would like to thank @Alexander Helios, Zhukov and @Gonzo for helping me out with info on the Napoleon-Toussaint relationship and giving suggestions for the map respectively. Thank you all!

I feel like this took way longer than it should have, but I got driven off to dacha and then got very sick, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯))


In many ways, Napoleon Bonaparte and Toussaint Louverture were practically made from the same mold - they were men of low birth who, wielding great ambition and perseverance, rose to the highest stations available to them, taking every opportunity that came across them to achieve their vision, even despite their oft-contradictory attitudes. It is unsurprising, then, that Toussaint, was nicknamed "Napoléon Noir" by people who had the chance to observe his military skill first-hand, and it is even less surprising that both Toussaint and Napoleon immediately recognized each other's capabilities. Amidst the turmoil surrounding the downfall of slavery in Saint-Domingue, Napoleon sought to keep France's most profitable colony by tempering Toussaint Louverture's ambition and affirming the territory's autonomy; Toussaint, in turn, wanted to assure Napoleon of his loyalty and be personally assured of his domain's safety from metropolitan troops. In 1800, Napoleon sent a flattering letter to Toussaint confirming the metropole's "great confidence" in one of France's finest generals and citizens, and stating his hopes for Toussaint to "promote agriculture" and "enlarge the glory and possessions of the Republic". Historians conclude that this letter would prevent the invasion of Santo Domingo that Toussaint Louverture had been planning for so long, and ultimately bring an end to the violence that had plagued Saint-Domingue for so long. From then on, Toussaint Louverture would maintain a steadfast loyalty to the French nation, in exchange for little to no interference from the metropole unless specifically requested and "agreeable" commissioners. As remaining independentist sentiment was pacified and war with Great Britain erupted once more, Toussaint was given effective control over the larger, but less densely settled colony of Louisiana as its military protector and de facto Governor-General.

This transition of power was not without problems, however, as whites and creoles in New Orleans took issue with Toussaint Louverture wielding such power over New France. Although Napoleon wrote to Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte that "[Toussaint] would be little more than New France's gendarme" and Toussaint Louverture professed his compliance with Napoleon's wishes, he sought to actively govern New France, developing various industries in Saint-Domingue to make the island self-sufficient, inviting migrants - mainly non-planters or slaveholders, that is - to settle in Upper Louisiana, strengthening Saint-Domingue and Louisiana's economic ties, and taking steps to limit the New Orleans slave trade, earning him the ire of wealthy sugarcane planters and frequent civil disturbance. Numerous letters were sent to Paris, requesting that Toussaint be recalled; these were usually ignored, given Toussaint Louverture's expert manipulation of the various colonial factions and the heavy burden of the war in Europe. Toussaint's compromise with Napoleon did see the return of several former foes, namely Rigaud supporters Alexandre Petion and Jean-Pierre Boyer, who quickly acquainted themselves with the gens de couleur of New Orleans and felt obliged to stymie Toussaint Louverture's control over New France.

As the War of the Sixth Coalition drew to a close, the New French colonial government distanced itself from the metropole, and the carefully crafted independence would eventually become part of New French law in May 1814, as the realm's varied political establishment opposed the Bourbon Restoration. Although New Orleans was fraught with rumors that Napoleon would escape to Louisiana and rebuild his empire on American soil - and that Jean Lafitte was already on his way to Elba to rescue the Emperor - the Constitutional Convention of 1814, mainly represented by white planters and gens de couleur from both Louisiana and Saint-Domingue, would ultimately establish a republic. As the esteemed Governor-General of New France, a man of strong democratic inclinations, a man who was palatable to both the sugarcane planter in New Orleans and the black artisan in Le Cap, Alexandre Petion was easily elected the first President of New France.

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The French presence just across the Mississippi River, coupled with an "unpredictable" ex-slave insurrection leader as the colony's leader, frightened the American public. President Thomas Jefferson, who sought to wrest control of the Mississippi River from Paris, found his plans routed by the pacification of Saint Domingue and Toussaint's appointment to Governor-General and was particularly alarmed about reports of New France's colonial military reform. Toussaint Louverture did not plan to invade the United States, viewing it as an unnecessary and troublesome venture; regardless, the South exploded with fearmongering, with pamphlets spread from Knoxville to Richmond presenting the terrible vision of an army of Napoleonic brigands and black mercenaries marching towards Washington D.C., leaving behind plundered plantations and famished families facing the wrath of savage slaves. While such sentiments would calm down in a few months, continued border skirmishes between American and Louisianan settlers (more often than not accidental despite press reporting otherwise) did not ease relations between the two governments. Along with the Embargo of 1807 and its devastating effects on the Northeast, the Mississippi border skirmishes provided a surge of support for the otherwise moribund Federalists, with Alexander Hamilton and the party's rapidly modernizing press system attacking the Jefferson administration's policies as weak, destructive, Francophilic and anti-American, their ultimate result being the ruination of America's developing industry and eventual loss of independence. This scathing criticism of Jefferson's presidency did not make the Federalist Party more popular than their Republican foes, but it did give them control of the White House once it became clear just who did the congressional caucus nominate.

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Jack Napier, better known as Joker (or sometimes The Joker), was an American businessman, gangster, and supervillain operating out of Gotham City, New Jersey. Napier was born in Motor, Iowa to farming parents, who relocated first to Camden, New Jersey, and then later to Gotham City, where they would spend the rest of their lives as factory workers. Little is known about his life prior to his arrival to Gotham. His father is believed to have died from complications regarding syphilis around 1910, and his mother from suicide in 1914.

As a teenager, Napier often got involved in fights with teachers and other students, being expelled twice before his mother's death. From then on, he picked up odd jobs and performed minor thefts for neighborhood gangs until around 1921, when he was believed to have joined the original Red Hood Gang, where he would rise up in prominence over the next several years. As a grunt, he was responsible for transporting copious amounts of alcohol, drugs, and money throughout the city of Gotham. During this time he made many friends and contacts within the Red Hood Gang, their distributors, and in the Gotham City Police Department. Despite committing brutal assaults and murders in broad daylight, at times undisguised by his gang's signature red hoods, he was never arrested or formally charged, even as other members were.

By 1937, he is believed to have become the undisputed boss of the Red Hood Gang, after many of the old guard were arrested by the Gotham Police (headed by a new Commissioner, Jim Gordon), died in shootouts with the police, or were assassinated by rival gangs hoping to make a move on their turf. At this time, Napier was publicly known as a businessman dealing with expensive imported clothes, watches, and various novelty toys for children. Those who did know his identity as a major crime boss were either killed, often in brutal ways, or left terrified into silence.

The next year, he became involved in a gang war with the Falcone Crime Family, headed by then-patriarch Carmine Falcone, that resulted in hundreds dead or wounded, mostly civilian casualties. In 1940, during a confrontation with the original Batman, who declared war on all crime in Gotham, and set his sights on the Red Hoods, Napier fell in a vat of chemicals at the Ace Chemical Processing Plant, where he was believed to have died. Months later he re-emerged, body bleached white and face trapped in a permanent smile, and took back control of the Red Hoods, then in disarray without him.

Napier, now calling himself the Joker, turned his attentions from money and power into a war against all those who had wronged him or the Red Hoods, from Batman, who had left him scarred and deformed, to the police, the judicial system, and the Falcones (whose leader, Carmine, he personally killed with the same chemical he was tossed into, leaving him dead with the same smile that the Joker held). While Napier's last two years as leader of the Red Hoods saw them establish themselves as Gotham's most violent, feared, depraved, and dangerous gang, a reputation shared by Napier, they also completely alienated the public, other gangs, and even members within the gang, many of whom committed suicide rather than risk displeasing Napier. In March of 1942, during a scuffle with Batman, Napier accidentally impaled himself with his own knife and bled to death before the police could arrest him.

Prior to his transformation into the Joker, Napier was known as a quiet and unglamorous man. As a crime boss, he rarely wore any flashy clothes or expensive jewelry, rarely smoked, and never drank. Despite this, he was known to have a fearsome temper, beating members unconscious in front of others as an example. His few years as the Joker saw him as his most cruel and deranged, leaving behind a trail of bodies both as a warning to the world, and just for the sadistic pleasure that the actions brought him. While only known as the Joker for a couple years, his actions and reputation as the Clown Prince of Crime left a permanent mark on Gotham City. Several gangs in the decade since have called themselves the Red Hoods, none of which were ever as successful as Napier's gang. More infamously, several criminals in Gotham have appropriate the names Red Hood and Joker for their own benefits, ranging from petty thieves, public nuisances, bank robbers, crime bosses, and serial killers. Some have used the Joker as an image representing anarchy and nihilism, positively or negatively.

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