Callan's Graphics and Things

[moth]

@Callan this is more in relation to your London mayoral map above, but have you considered doing some form of London electoral map/wikibox using the rejected proposed Herbert Commission London boroughs? That might be a similar good example of 'wait, what' to still having Municipal Reform in 1992.

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I adore the Herbert Commission map, but I'm also reminded of anecdotes from people in what is now Newham from the time over the anxiety surrounding the amalgamation, in that they were anxious they would not get included in London again (as obviously when the previous boundaries were drawn, West and East Ham weren't included due to their pro-Labour electorate), with one official claiming that Newham was only formed because "they [London County Council] don't want to have to deal with an independent council when it comes to their sewage pipes".

At the time one of the more 'interesting' proposals that I remember seeing from the Mr Corbyn in the Times archive account (before he went weird and was still doing the "London is in the news so here's all I could get about London) was to annex the Surrey, Middlesex, and Kentish regions (indeed not just what is shown on that map, but to go out into Slough and Gravesham), but not the Essex regions, the rational at the time being that Havering didn't want it and Barking was more wavy hands, and those areas weren't "suited for London".

 

[Thande]

I adore the Herbert Commission map, but I'm also reminded of anecdotes from people in what is now Newham from the time over the anxiety surrounding the amalgamation, in that they were anxious they would not get included in London again (as obviously when the previous boundaries were drawn, West and East Ham weren't included due to their pro-Labour electorate), with one official claiming that Newham was only formed because "they [London County Council] don't want to have to deal with an independent council when it comes to their sewage pipes".

At the time one of the more 'interesting' proposals that I remember seeing from the Mr Corbyn in the Times archive account (before he went weird and was still doing the "London is in the news so here's all I could get about London) was to annex the Surrey, Middlesex, and Kentish regions (indeed not just what is shown on that map, but to go out into Slough and Gravesham), but not the Essex regions, the rational at the time being that Havering didn't want it and Barking was more wavy hands, and those areas weren't "suited for London".

Oh, I'm not suggesting it's a particularly plausible thing that could have happened without modification, but - as with Redcliffe-Maud - I think it's ideally suited for 'wait, what' wikibox material (as opposed to more in-depth TL stuff).

 

[moth]

Oh, I'm not suggesting it's a particularly plausible thing that could have happened without modification, but - as with Redcliffe-Maud - I think it's ideally suited for 'wait, what' wikibox material (as opposed to more in-depth TL stuff).

I think Epsom and Elmbridge would resist actual annexation and you'd end up with the situation Havering was recently in (I've been toying with this myself), but serious this time, although you can certainly do more with the internals of the current borders. Smol Clerkenwell is always fun, for example, as the more northern Enfield (and obviously Twickenham and Richmond being split is a fun "this is an alt history" indicator).

 

[Alex Richards]

I think Epsom and Elmbridge would resist actual annexation and you'd end up with the situation Havering was recently in (I've been toying with this myself), but serious this time, although you can certainly do more with the internals of the current borders. Smol Clerkenwell is always fun, for example, as the more northern Enfield (and obviously Twickenham and Richmond being split is a fun "this is an alt history" indicator).

The one that jumped out immediately for me was City of Westminster with an independent Marylebone.

 

[Comisario]

the words newham, barking, and havering have all been used here recently in a local government boundary reform context

i could smell them from a mile away

 

[Callan]

I enjoyed the Jeffrey Archer wikiboxes, it'd be interesting to do more with political fiction of the past (and works that only tangentially touch on politics - I'm thinking of the election in A Perfect Spy for instance).

Number 10

The United Kingdom general election of 2008 was held on 9 October to elect to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. None of the parties achieved the 326 seats needed for an overall majority. The Conservative Party, led by Peter Chadwick, won the largest number of seats while the Labour Party, led by Adam Armstrong won the most votes while coming twelve seats short of the Conservatives.

Coalition talks lasted for two weeks, and both Labour and the Conservatives attempted to form a government with the Liberal Democrats. An abortive attempt to form a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition fell apart when emails were leaked alleging that Chadwick intended to break a promise to the Liberal Democrat leadership to regarding a possible referendum on electoral reform. The day after the leak, Liberal Democrat leader Gwen Donaghue announced that her party had successfully negotiated a coalition agreement with Armstrong, which was "approved overwhelmingly" by her Parliamentary Party.

The election campaign focused mainly on domestic issues: the economic slowdown, inequality, the state of public services and crime. During the campaign, the three main party leaders engaged a televised debate, the first such debates in a UK general election campaign. The Liberal Democrats achieved a breakthrough in opinion polls after the debate, in which their leader was widely seen as the strongest performer. Nonetheless, on polling day their share of the vote increased by only 1% over the previous general election, and only gained six seats. This was still the Liberal Democrats' best result in terms of seats since the party's creation in 1988, and they found themselves in a pivotal role in the formation of the new government.

This government collapsed after a year following the government's defeat on a bill for a Referendum on the Single Transferable Vote System, which caused Armstrong to resign and Conservative leader Simon Laity to form a Conservative Minority Government in its place.

​

(Number 10 was a West Wing knockoff done as a Radio 4 Afternoon Drama from about ten years ago. It's good if you like that sort of thing, and the script was definitely elevated from the cast. In the first three seasons the Prime Minister is Labour's Adam Armstrong (Anthony Sher), kind of a cross between Paddy Ashdown and and Gordon Brown. He's a down-to-earth army veteran who often comes across as more social-liberal than socialist, but over the course of the series he develops Brown's crippling self-doubt and reformist ambitions. The setting appears to be a Blairpunk Twenty Minutes into the Future: Britain is using the Euro and one of the plotlines involves Armstrong supporting a Turkish bid to join the EU. Labour has a restless majority in the low thirties.

At the end of the second series, a snap election is called in the aftermath of the death of Downing Street Chief of Staff Colin Brenner (Colin McFarlane) at the hands of violent criminals released as a result of a policy Armstrong (Anthony Sher) personally advocated. The start of the third season concerns the aftermath of this snap election involving a post-election coalition formation (written two years before the OTL coalition.) Our Heroes in the Labour Party are able to prevent Chadwick (Clive Russell) from becoming PM by leaking top secret emails, given to them by Shadow Cabinet member Simon Laity (Damian Lewis) who wants the Tory leadership for himself.

Enough stats are bandied about through the episode to build up a wikibox very well. Only fictional constituencies are mentioned over the course of the series (one episode has Armstrong go up to his constituency of "Norwich Easterby") so the rest are made up on the fly- Chadwick represents Hinckley because it's mentioned that he has an estate in Leicestershire, and Donaghue just represents somewhere in Cumbria.)

 

[Thande]

Nice work @Callan, I've heard of that but not "seen" it myself.

 

[Callan]

Number 10

The United Kingdom general election of 2011 was held on June 2nd to elect to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. None of the parties achieved the 326 seats needed for an overall majority. The Conservative Party, led by Simon Laity, won the largest number of seats and votes and formed a majority government alongside coalition partners, who suffered a loss of more than half their seats. This was partially due to 25 Liberal Democrat MPs resigning the whip over a bill to party financing and subsequently forming their own Social Liberal Party, led by former Lib Dem Chief Whip Tim Keegan.

While discontent over the government's austerity measures and the continued economic downturn across the Eurozone was high, both the Labour Party and the nascent Social Liberals were seen to underperform compared to election polling, blamed partially on Ridout's support of spending cuts as Chancellor in the previous Armstrong Government.

Laity's Coalition Government lasted until early 2013, where the failure of the government to pass ECB bailout package led to Britain crashing out of the Eurozone and the appointment of a National Government by former Prime Minister Adam Armstrong.

​

(Simon Laity (Damian Lewis) is a cuddly moderniser who sounds like Cameron and has a similar background. The 2011 election is complete fill-in-the-gaps guesswork. The fourth season has him forming an alliance with the Lib Dems while in office.This “alliance” involves Liberal Democrat ministers being appointed and the Tory and Lib Dem leaders canvassing together at a by-election. The fourth series ends with the Lib Dems basically split and this new coalition on the verge of collapsing as well.

No mention is made of an election between the fourth and fifth season but there probably was one, because 1) the Tories still have a nonexistent majority but no mention is made of the Lib Dems, and 2) an Armstrong aide who shows up as a Labour MP in the fourth season shows up again in the fifth season working from !Amnesty International, and mentions that she lost her seat. So the logic being that the split caused a loss of a majority, and thus an election. The "Social Liberal" leader is the Lib Dem whip who orchestrates the split, and the Labour leader is Helen Ridout (Lucy Robinson), Armstrong's Chancellor who makes little secret of her own ambitions. As a !Salmond figure makes an appearance as the Scottish First Minister, hence the low-key SNP surge.

And the final episode ends with an ECB austerity package getting voted down, the cashpoints not working, and Adam Armstrong apparently on the verge of making a comeback.)

 

[moth]

This “alliance” involves Liberal Democrat ministers being appointed and the Tory and Lib Dem leaders canvassing together at a by-election.

owo

 

[Thande]

The United Kingdom general election of 2011 was held on June 2nd to elect to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. None of the parties achieved the 326 seats needed for an overall majority. The Conservative Party, led by Simon Laity, won the largest number of seats and votes and formed a majority government alongside coalition partners, who suffered a loss of more than half their seats. This was partially due to 25 Liberal Democrat MPs resigning the whip over a bill to party financing and subsequently forming their own Social Liberal Party, led by former Lib Dem Chief Whip Tim Keegan.

While discontent over the government's austerity measures and the continued economic downturn across the Eurozone was high, both the Labour Party and the nascent Social Liberals were seen to underperform compared to election polling, blamed partially on Ridout's support of spending cuts as Chancellor in the previous Armstrong Government.

Laity's Coalition Government lasted until early 2013, where the failure of the government to pass ECB bailout package led to Britain crashing out of the Eurozone and the appointment of a National Government by former Prime Minister Adam Armstrong.

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​

(Simon Laity (Damian Lewis) is a cuddly moderniser who sounds like Cameron and has a similar background. The 2011 election is complete fill-in-the-gaps guesswork. The fourth season has him forming an alliance with the Lib Dems while in office.This “alliance” involves Liberal Democrat ministers being appointed and the Tory and Lib Dem leaders canvassing together at a by-election. The fourth series ends with the Lib Dems basically split and this new coalition on the verge of collapsing as well.

No mention is made of an election between the fourth and fifth season but there probably was one, because 1) the Tories still have a nonexistent majority but no mention is made of the Lib Dems, and 2) an Armstrong aide who shows up as a Labour MP in the fourth season shows up again in the fifth season working from !Amnesty International, and mentions that she lost her seat. So the logic being that the split caused a loss of a majority, and thus an election. The "Social Liberal" leader is the Lib Dem whip who orchestrates the split, and the Labour leader is Helen Ridout (Lucy Robinson), Armstrong's Chancellor who makes little secret of her own ambitions. As a !Salmond figure makes an appearance as the Scottish First Minister, hence the low-key SNP surge.

And the final episode ends with an ECB austerity package getting voted down, the cashpoints not working, and Adam Armstrong apparently on the verge of making a comeback.)

That is an extremely 2011-punk scenario, I remember Meadow in 2011 doing a '2019 general election' faux poll which included the two parts of a split Lib Dems.

 

[Mumby]

That is an extremely 2011-punk scenario, I remember Meadow in 2011 doing a '2019 general election' faux poll which included the two parts of a split Lib Dems.

i hunger for this

 

[moth]

But seriously, the 'LibDem/Conservative Coalition by-election candidate' is a criminally underused idea and to even see it just referenced like that makes me flustered.

 

[Thande]

But seriously, the 'LibDem/Conservative Coalition by-election candidate' is a criminally underused idea and to even see it just referenced like that makes me flustered.

Just after the coalition formed, that chap who makes the UK basemaps we use kept quoting polls as "National Government" vs Labour by adding the Con and Lib Dem numbers. I'm not sure what point he was trying to make, as it made Labour look like they were doing worse than they were and he's a Labour supporter.

 

[Mumby]

I really should get back to reading Anorak In Politics, it has an utterly mental and deeply parochial set up;

 

[Callan]

1985-1993: Eleanor Taft Baker / Melvin Liard (Republican)
1984: Fred Hollings / George Rush (Democratic)
1988: Harland Shelley / Jack Willis (Democratic)
1993-1997: Eleanor Taft Baker / Tom Reichs (Republican)
1992: Charles Watt / Jason Susan (Democratic)
1997-2001: Tom Reichs / Dwight Paul (Republican)
1996: Ken Matlis / Reese Duval (Democratic)
2001-2005: Mitch Slater / Carl Danforth (Democratic)
2000: Tom Reichs / Dwight Paul (Republican), Eugene Watt / Ann Reeves (America First)
2005-2006: Mitch Slater / Connie O'Brien (Democratic)
2004: Paul Paradis / Stanley Hodges (Republican) , Ann Reeves / Clint Park (America First)
2006: Connie O'Brien / Vacant (Democratic)
2006-2009: Connie O'Brien / Harris Jacobs (Democratic)
2009-2017: Lee Carlton / Fred Cochrane (Republican)
2008: Wallace Taylor / Devin Neal (Democratic), Marvin Crewe / Ivan Henry (Freedom)
2012: Wallace Taylor / Dell Jones (Democratic)
2017-: David Tripplehorn / Lynn Fox (Democratic)
2016: Sam Khan / Mark Rice (Republican)

 

[Thande]

1985-1993: Eleanor Taft Baker / Melvin Liard (Republican)
1984: Fred Hollings / George Rush (Democratic)
1988: Harland Shelley / Jack Willis (Democratic)
1993-1997: Eleanor Taft Baker / Tom Reichs (Republican)
1992: Charles Watt / Jason Susan (Democratic)
1997-2001: Tom Reichs / Dwight Paul (Republican)
1996: Ken Matlis / Reese Duval (Democratic)
2001-2005: Mitch Slater / Carl Danforth (Democratic)
2000: Tom Reichs / Dwight Paul (Republican), Eugene Watt / Ann Reeves (America First)
2005-2006: Mitch Slater / Connie O'Brien (Democratic)
2004: Paul Paradis / Stanley Hodges (Republican) , Ann Reeves / Clint Park (America First)
2006: Connie O'Brien / Vacant (Democratic)
2006-2009: Connie O'Brien / Harris Jacobs (Democratic)
2009-2017: Lee Carlton / Fred Cochrane (Republican)
2008: Wallace Taylor / Devin Neal (Democratic), Marvin Crewe / Ivan Henry (Freedom)
2012: Wallace Taylor / Dell Jones (Democratic)
2017-: David Tripplehorn / Lynn Fox (Democratic)
2016: Sam Khan / Mark Rice (Republican)

Your 2017 entry either has the wrong party or the wrong colour, I think?

 

[Callan]

I'm so sorry/not sorry.

1973-1977: George McGovern (Democratic) [1]
1977-1981: John Connally (Republican) [2]
1981-1986: Henry M. Jackson (Democratic) [3]
1986-1991: Joe Biden (Democratic) [4]
1991-1997: Harriet Woods (Democratic) [5]
1997-2005: John Engler (Republican) [6]
2005-2009: John F. Kennedy Jr. (Democratic) [7]
2009-2017: Sam Brownback (Republican) [8]
2017-: Cory Booker (Democratic) [9]

 

[Skaven]

I'm so sorry/not sorry.

1973-1977: George McGovern (Democratic) [1]
1977-1981: John Connally (Republican) [2]
1981-1986: Henry M. Jackson (Democratic) [3]
1986-1991: Joe Biden (Democratic) [4]
1991-1997: Harriet Woods (Democratic) [5]
1997-2005: John Engler (Republican) [6]
2005-2009: John F. Kennedy Jr. (Democratic) [7]
2009-2017: Sam Brownback (Republican) [8]
2017-: Cory Booker (Democratic) [9]

I hate everything about it except how it begins.

 

[Callan]

Here, have something from several dozen drafts ago:

 

[AndrewH]

Wasn't Allan a decade-long PM, or am I misremembering that?