- Pronouns
- it/its (you'll get used to the third person thing)
There was nothing more emblematic, if less directly threatening than the democratic uprisings in the North-East and the South-East, of the failure of John Prescott's English Devolution than the seven year fall of the South-West Assembly. Built to appease the minor calls for Cornish regionalism with an extra sprinkle of ensuring progressive control in the South-West, a new assembly was declared in the great city of Exeter. Andrew George, first elected in 1997 for the Cornish constituency of St. Ives, was brought into power under the Liberal Democrats, thanks to extensive Labour tactical voting and the popular incumbency of Blair's greater second landslide.
As the years went by for the George regime, there were almost constant rumblings in the Eastern part of the region that George was mostly focused on old Kernow, especially considering his dealings with his old comrades in the Cornish regionalists. After all, what does a Cornish regionalist know about farming in Salisbury? As the Abolition movement, given the catchy name "Abolish!" was set up in regional assemblies nation-wide, they immediately gained a large following among communities disillusioned with control from Exeter. And of course, the Tories, under Somerset-born hard-right former parliamentarian Ann Widdecombe began courting the farmers and the second-home owners. The Labour leader, Dawn Primorolo, was widely considered to have been planted there to get rid of her, and she resigned in 2006 to try (and fail) to re-enter the Commons, before being given a peerage for her efforts.
2008 came, and 2008 hit hard. The Libdems were expecting to maintain their majority, but some canvassers could feel the disillusionment in their bases in Bristol and Cornwall, and the Tories swept in with a narrow plurality. Widdecombe of course put out feelers to Abolish! which were gladly accepted if they could work towards centralising power back to Westminster. Unfortunately, the best-laid plans of Widdecombe and Abolish were not to be seen through, as the genuine regionalist element within the Tories struck back with force, delaying all plans until an unnamed "later date". Abolish, not being the most patient of sorts, dropped from the coalition two years in, and Widdecombe resigned effective immediately as Leader of the South-West England Conservative Group.
The unfortunate thing is that Widdecombe's successor, whiz-kid and semi-regionalist George Eustice, could probably have taken back the reins of government, were it not for the unfortunate fact that it was leaked that his chosen new coalition partners were Mebyon Kernow, the Cornish regionalists.
This was not a good idea.
Immediately, those who had gravitated towards the Tories felt abandoned, and turned towards the next best thing, now lead by the woman who they had previously voted for. Widdecombe was called a turncoat every which way, but she lead Abolish into a full majority in the next election. And so it became. Abolish did as it said it would, and held a referendum to abolish the South-West Assembly. And Prescott's dream was done for a generation.
As the years went by for the George regime, there were almost constant rumblings in the Eastern part of the region that George was mostly focused on old Kernow, especially considering his dealings with his old comrades in the Cornish regionalists. After all, what does a Cornish regionalist know about farming in Salisbury? As the Abolition movement, given the catchy name "Abolish!" was set up in regional assemblies nation-wide, they immediately gained a large following among communities disillusioned with control from Exeter. And of course, the Tories, under Somerset-born hard-right former parliamentarian Ann Widdecombe began courting the farmers and the second-home owners. The Labour leader, Dawn Primorolo, was widely considered to have been planted there to get rid of her, and she resigned in 2006 to try (and fail) to re-enter the Commons, before being given a peerage for her efforts.
2008 came, and 2008 hit hard. The Libdems were expecting to maintain their majority, but some canvassers could feel the disillusionment in their bases in Bristol and Cornwall, and the Tories swept in with a narrow plurality. Widdecombe of course put out feelers to Abolish! which were gladly accepted if they could work towards centralising power back to Westminster. Unfortunately, the best-laid plans of Widdecombe and Abolish were not to be seen through, as the genuine regionalist element within the Tories struck back with force, delaying all plans until an unnamed "later date". Abolish, not being the most patient of sorts, dropped from the coalition two years in, and Widdecombe resigned effective immediately as Leader of the South-West England Conservative Group.
The unfortunate thing is that Widdecombe's successor, whiz-kid and semi-regionalist George Eustice, could probably have taken back the reins of government, were it not for the unfortunate fact that it was leaked that his chosen new coalition partners were Mebyon Kernow, the Cornish regionalists.
This was not a good idea.
Immediately, those who had gravitated towards the Tories felt abandoned, and turned towards the next best thing, now lead by the woman who they had previously voted for. Widdecombe was called a turncoat every which way, but she lead Abolish into a full majority in the next election. And so it became. Abolish did as it said it would, and held a referendum to abolish the South-West Assembly. And Prescott's dream was done for a generation.
