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Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State

Think of this as a pilot for something bigger I might do eventually.

The Grundys, and Their Oppressors

Chairmen of the Ambridge Collective

1925-1926: George Grundy (Independent Agriculturalist-Silver Badge backed by the Trade Union Industrial Army and the Worker's, Farmer's and Soldier's Provisional Government)
1926-1930: George Grundy (Democratic Farmer's and Democratic Soldier's)

1926 (United Front with Labour and Democratic Unity) def. George Lawson-Hope (Country), Harold Bellamy (Vigilante Society)
1930-1931: George Grundy (Democratic Farmer-Soldier)
1930 (United Front with Labour and Democratic Unity) def. George Lawson-Hope (Country)
1931-1956: George Grundy (Democratic Farmer-Soldier)
1934 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. George Lawson-Hope (Country), vacant (Labour), Tom Forrest (Democratic Unity), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation)
1938 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. George Fairbrother (Country), vacant (Labour), Tom Forrest (Democratic Unity), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation)
1942 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. George Fairbrother (Country), vacant (Labour), Tom Forrest (Democratic Unity), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation)
1946
(Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. George Fairbrother (Country), vacant (Labour), Tom Forrest (Democratic Unity), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation)
1950 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. Clive Lawson-Hope (Country), vacant (Labour), Jethro Larkin (Democratic Unity), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation)
1954 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. Dan Archer (Country-Democratic Unity), vacant (Labour), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation)
1956-1972: Joe Grundy (Democratic Farmer's)
1958 (Coalition with Labour and Democratic Unity, backed by BTUC) def. Clive Lawson-Hope (Country), Walter Gabriel (Democratic Soldier's), vacant (Labour), Jethro Larkin (Democratic Unity), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1962 (Coalition with Labour and Democratic Soldier's, backed by BTUC) def. Charles Grenville (Country-Democratic Unity), vacant (Labour),
Walter Gabriel (Democratic Soldier's), Jack Woolley (Independent Liberal), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1966 (Coalition with Labour and Democratic Unity, backed by BTUC) def. Ralph Bellamy (Country), vacant (Labour), Jethro Larkin (Democratic Unity), Nelson Gabriel (Democratic Soldier's), Jack Woolley (Independent Liberal), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1972-1974: Ralph Bellamy (Country)
1972 (Coalition with Democratic Soldier's and Independent Liberals) def. Joe Grundy (Democratic Farmer's), Jethro Larkin (Democratic Unity), Jill Archer (Independent Farmer-Labour), vacant (Labour), Nelson Gabriel (Democratic Soldier's), Jack Woolley (Independent Liberal), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1974-1975: Joe Grundy (Democratic Farmer's-Democratic Unity-Independent Farmer-Labour-Labour coalition, backed by the Borchester Trades Union Council)
1975-1976: Brian Aldridge (Country-Democratic Unity-Democratic Soldier's-Independent Liberal coalition)
1976-1978: Joe Grundy (Democratic Farmer's)

1976 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. Brian Aldridge (Country-Democratic Unity), Jill Archer (Labour), Jack Woolley (Independent Liberal), Nelson Gabriel (Democratic Soldier's), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1978-1979: Neil Carter (Democratic Farmer's-Labour coalition, backed by the Borchester Trades Union Council)
1979-1993: Joe Grundy (Democratic Farmer's)

1980 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. Brian Aldridge (United Opposition), Neil Carter (Labour), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1984 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. Brian Aldridge (United Opposition), Mike Tucker (Labour), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1988 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. Brian Aldridge (United Opposition), Mike Tucker (Labour), Nigel Pargetter (Independent Democrat), Godfrey Wendover (New Silver Badge), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1992 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. Brian Aldridge ('Blue' Opposition), Mike Tucker (Labour), Robert Snell / Pat Archer ('Green' Opposition), Nelson Gabriel (Democratic Soldier's), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]

1993-1993: Clive Horrobin (Vigilante Society leading Emergency Junta)
1993-1996: Joe Grundy (Democratic Farmer's-Labour coalition, backed by the Borchester Trades Union Council)


Ambridge celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Second Glorious Revolution this year of 1995, in which the workers, farmers and soldiers of Britain rose up and took the reins of power from the aristocrats and donkey-brained generals who had led them to defeat in the Great War and into economic ruin after it.

And for almost all of those 70 years, Ambridge has been governed by the scions of one family. The Grundys. George Grundy returned from the apocalypse of Flanders to find the countryside changing around him. The nearby Archers had avoided conscription and in his absence had taken on further responsibilities and opportunities for profit from Squire Lawson-Hope, and when the revolution came George was at the forefront of the aggrieved - a simple man who was an exploited farmer and an abandoned soldier all in one.

Following 1931, local government was reshaped and all - even the anti-revolutionists of the Country Party - began to plough a new and soon to be very familiar furrow. George's powerful Farmer-Soldier coalition held a tight grip on power, his only real opposition being the continuity squirearchy unhappy at their considerably diminished high standing and wealth. With his death however, that coalition rapidly fragmented and while his son handily won the Democratic Farmer's leadership, the Democratic Soldier's caucus soon became a thorn in Joe's side.

The 1960s and 1970s were chaotic, as Joe struggled to extract concessions and supply agreements from fellow parties in the Collective and often struggled for a majority even with the backing of the BTUC. The arrival of political dissident exiles from other parts of the country such as Jack Woolley and Brian Aldridge and the return of aristocratic prodigal sons such as Ralph Bellamy from the fortified reactionary hermit state of Guernsey introduced a further chaotic element. The corruption and spinelessness of the weak Labour caucus was virtually displaced by Jill Archer's radically reformist Independent Farmer-Labour group - a displacement that became reality in time.

Two non-Grundy governments were eventually formed, bringing together parties of the right, and in the case of Jethro Larkin those who simply held Joe Grundy in contempt. These governments proved short-lived - Ralph Bellamy had a healthscare that saw him return to Guernsey with his wife Lillian - and Brian Aldridge was simply defeated at an election when Jill Archer took formal control of the Labour caucus and sought common cause with Joe.

Since then, Grundy rule has been interrupted only twice more. The first was due to a severe bout of influenza and depression, during which the young union leader Neil Carter took charge - a position he only occupied due to Jill taking a step back from politics to spend more time with her family. Once Joe's health returned however, he took power once more and Neil gratefully handed over to his more ambitious comrade Mike Tucker. These latter years have seen a consolidation of the opposition behind Brian Aldridge but his authoritarian behaviour and the rise of a younger generation have seen a return to fragmentation in recent elections.

The most recent crisis was the day long reign of Clive Horrobin. Horrobin led the local Vigilante Society - a reactionary paramilitary which has waged an on-and-off war against the revolution since it began - and captured Arkwright Hall, the beating heart of the Ambridge Collective. The boundaries of his influence stretched no farther than the walls of the Hall but everyone was audience to the proclamations he made. After a brief siege Horrobin was arrested and Joe Grundy returned to power, though to an office bearing the scars of its former occupier's care and attention.

Now in his 70s, and with an election approaching next year, it is believed that Joe is considering retirement. His son Eddie, a stalwart anti-capitalist almost from infancy, is waiting in the wings and few expect anything other than a renewal of the traditional mandate. But the denizens of Ambridge always have a few surprises up their sleeves...
 
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1990-1992: John Major (Conservative majority)
1992-1993: John Major (Conservative minority with UUP confidence and supply)

1992: Neil Kinnock (Labour), David Owen (SDP), Alan Beith (Liberal Democrat), James Molyneaux (UUP), Alex Salmond (SNP)
1993-1994: John Smith (Labour majority)
1993: John Major (Conservative), David Owen (SDP), Alex Salmond (SNP), James Molyneaux (UUP), Alan Beith (Liberal Democrat)
1994-2007: Tony Blair (Labour majority)
1997: Michael Howard (Conservative), Rosie Barnes (SDP), Alex Salmond (SNP)
2002: John Redwood (Conservative), Rosie Barnes (SDP), Bill Newton Dunn (Centre), John Swinney (SNP)

2007-2011: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative-SDP coalition)
2007: Tony Blair (Labour), Norman Lamb (SDP), John Swinney (SNP), Nick Clegg (Centre)
2011-2015: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative majority)
2011: Harriet Harman (Labour), Nick Clegg (Centre), Norman Lamb (SDP), Alex Salmond (SNP), Tommy Sheridan (Independent Workers')
2015-2016: David Davis (Conservative majority)
2016-2017: Roland Rudd (Labour minority with Centre and SNP confidence and supply)

2016: David Davis (Conservative), Anna Soubry (Centre), Fergus Ewing (SNP), Mick Cash (Independent Workers'), Alan Howarth (SDP)
2017-: Esther McVey (Conservative majority)
2017: Roland Rudd (Labour), Anna Soubry (Centre), Mick Cash (Independent Workers'), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP)

The premise here is that the Independent Working Class Association (or some alternate variant thereof) takes off under a far longer Blair leadership of the Labour Party. So, Ashdown fails to take the SLD leadership in '88 and Beith just can't keep up with the continuity SDP led by David Owen, leading to the former party's collapse and the beginning of many Lib Dems migrating to either Labour or the SDP (or, in some cases, the continuity Liberal Party). 1992 sees Labour bolstered enough by Lib Dem voters who seek to kick the Tories out once and for all to push Major to an uneasy minority (aided by the UUP). The government soon falls before the summer of 1993, paving the way for John Smith to come to power with a sizeable majority. Smith unveils plans for devolution referendums, increased spending on public services, and a veritable pick'n'mix of social democratic policies... but he is soon exhausted by the work of government and suffers a fatal heart attack in early 1994. Tony Blair picks up the banner of social democracy and radical constitutional reform, pledging a total reevaluation of the Labour Party's priorities (changing Clause IV, announcing PFI schemes, granting the Bank of England its independence, etc.) that parks Labour right on David Owen's relatively small doorstep. The Conservatives search hard for a purpose during the Blair era, changing leaders with increasing brutality and losing out massively when a group of former Liberals and pro-European Conservatives launch their 'Centre Party' just before Christmas 1999. Blair and McCain make formidable allies during the build-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2002, which is the same year that Labour actually increases its seats due to a mixture of war enthusiasm and the vote-splitting Centre Party (and in spite of Foreign Secretary Ashdown's resignation). Socioeconomic liberalism, global intervention, and a sense of middle-class triumphalism all pervade the political mainstream in a way that masks the truth of the matter: the working classes are dropping off of the electoral register in droves and Labour is building its electoral coalitions on apathy more than anything else, which gets up the noses of many working at the hard-pressed levels of local government and trade union organisation in cities across the country. An 'Independent Working Class Association' grows on local councils across the industrial towns of the North and many of Britain's neglected inner cities, but Blair pays little attention to defections in Barnsley or Oxford or Tower Hamlets. He puts off holding an election in 2006, holding out hope for an even better result in early 2007 (given the increasingly positive correlation between economic growth and Labour poll showings), but a small panic in the office of a credit rating agency in the United States sets off a chain reaction that leads to the near-collapse of Western capitalism and tanks Labour's poll ratings.

The 'quiet man' of British conservatism, Iain Duncan Smith, looks like a safe pair of hands after the showy cosmopolitan liberalism of Blair and promises an efficient plan to reduce the deficit and get Britain back to economic growth. Cuts, cuts, and more cuts take their toll on working-class communities up and down the country, facilitated by a pliable SDP, and the Labour Party turns in on itself as a civil war between the last vestiges of the anti-Blair soft left and the pro-Blair 'modernisers' consumes the party's energies to the point that they suffer repeated by-election losses to the re-branded 'Independent Workers' Party' from 2008 to 2011. By 2010, entire Labour groups on councils up and down the country have been displaced by the IWP (who campaign under the slogan of 'working-class rule for working-class areas') and Harriet Harman's initiatives to promote working-class talent in the party range from the half-heartedly executed to the smugly patronising. The 2011 election sees the Conservatives win a majority and the SDP crash and burn, with the Centre taking the lion's share of their seats and votes. Labour gets a small knock, re-enters civil war mode, and briefly allows Emily Thornberry to take the party into the 2012 local elections... before promptly knifing her when the IWP sweep across South Wales, Hull, and parts of Essex. The future looks increasingly bleak for Labour, but Roland Rudd - a former PR executive who had belonged to the SDP in the Eighties and who'd served as a Labour MP since 2002 - promises renewal for the party as IDS comes under increasing pressure to resign from those within his party who fear another Blair-esque leadership that promises to never end. 2015 sees David Davis take over and junk the relatively soft approach of Iain Duncan Smith, leading the Conservatives into a brash neo-Thatcherite strategy that tears up the few social provisions IDS' leadership had left in place. Privatisation of the London Underground is one of Davis' few headline policies that passes before the next election is called. As the economic situation stagnates under Davis, the Labour gets a shot at redemption and leaps ahead to become the largest party in the Commons in 2016. The only catch is that Rudd is bound by the Centre and the SNP, who are seen as obstructionists to Labour's plans for renewing European-style social democracy in Britain. The jury-rigged government lasts all of 11 months before the country goes back to the polls and puts the Tories back into power. Labour crashes below 200 seats for the first time since the 1930s, conceding many of its more suburban and rural seats to the Centre Party whilst its working-class heartlands throw themselves into the radical left-wing embrace of the Independent Workers' Party.

How the country will forge ahead with its opposition split three ways and the government promising more harsh cuts to welfare and lower taxes across the board is anybody's guess...​
 
Okay, I was going to do a bunch of notes, but it all got lost, so I ended up salvaging a list out of it

The Truth About Liberal Republicans And Populist Democrats
Champ Clark (Democratic) 1913-1917
1912: def. Theodore Roosevelt (Progressive), William Howard Taft (Republican) and Eugene V. Debs (Socialist)

Hiram Johnson (Republican) 1917-1925
1916: def. Champ Clark (Democratic) and John W. Slayton (Socialist)
1920: def. A. Mitchell Palmer (Democratic) and Eugene V. Debs (Socialist)

Herbert Hoover (Republican) 1925-1933
1924: def. Robert L. Owen (Democratic)
1928: def. Carter Glass (Democratic)

John Nance Garner (Democratic) 1933-1941
1932: def. J. Will Taylor (Republican) and Sam Faubus (Socialist)
1936: def. Smedley Butler (Republican)

Wendell Willkie (Democratic) 1941-1945
1940: def. Philip La Follette (Republican) and John L. Spivak (Socialist)

Leverett Saltonstall (Republican) 1945-1953
1944: def. Wendell Willkie (Democratic) and Charles Lindbergh (America First!)
1948: def. Hugo Black (Democratic)

Thomas E. Dewey (Republican) 1953-1957
1952: def. J. William Fulbright (Democratic)

Stuart Symington (Democratic) 1957-1961
1956: def. Thomas E. Dewey (Republican)

Nelson Rockefeller (Republican) 1961-1969
1960: def. Stuart Symington (Democratic) and John Sparkman (Law and Justice)
1964: def. Albert Gore (Democratic)

Sam Yorty (Democratic) 1969-1977
1968: def. George Romney (Republican) and Warren Burger (Law and Justice)
1972: def. Jacob Javits (Republican)

Jimmy Carter (Democratic) 1977-1981
1976: def. Pete McCloskey (Republican) and Ed Crane (Lincolnite)

Lowell Weicker (Republican) 1981-1989
1980: def. Jimmy Carter (Democratic)
1984: def. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (Democratic)

Slade Gorton (Republican) 1989-1993
1988: def. Larry McDonald (Democratic) and Tom Harkin (Democratic Reform)

Edwin Edwards (Democratic) 1993-2001
1992: def. Slade Gorton (Republican)
1996: def. Connie Morella (Republican)

Arlen Specter (Republican) 2001-2009
2000: def. Rick Perry (Democratic) and Ralph Nader (Socialist)
2004: def. Jeff Sessions (Democratic) and Jesse Jackson (Socialist)

Lisa Murkowski (Republican) 2009-2013
2008: def. Jim Webb (Democratic) and Jill Stein (Socialist)

Rick Santorum (Democratic) 2013-2015*
2012: def. Lisa Murkowski (Republican) and David Ige (Socialist)

Dan Lipinski (Democratic) 2015-2017

Bernie Sanders (Socialist) 2017-
2016: def. Mitt Romney (Republican) and Dan Lipinski (Democratic)

With the populist Democrats drawing back from a flirting with some Left elements under President Edwards in favour of a more religious right aspect and the liberal Republicans similarly drawing back under Murkowski and then Romney, the Left felt more abandoned than ever

Certainly, they knew that both parties never quite liked them. The Democrats were the party of the working-class, but increasingly that's more than ever the white working-class, with them never having the support of African-Americans, but over the last decade they lost the Hispanic vote as well. Under Santorum and Lipinski, they prioritised social issues over "pocketbook" issues, pushing away more industrial working-class voters. And the Republicans, well, they knew that the Republicans always only gave little sops to the Left and that their brand of reformism was always paternalistic and firmly opposed to workers' power. But even that perfunctory reformism was gone, replaced by a more hard-nosed fiscal conservatism

What was the Left, and the unions, and the working-class, and the alienated minorities, to do? Well, the Socialists have been around for a long time, floating around 1-2% of the vote until the remarkable 2000 campaign of Ralph Nader, and they only continued to grow ever since. And under the shabby-haired loud Governor of New York Bernie Sanders, they aimed firmly at the White House

And in the 2016 election, one dominated by a recession and increasing worries from a scared and frustrated electorate, America finally had enough and voted for a change. A real change. As Bernie Sanders walks into the White House as the first Socialist president, Democrats and Republicans alike step back dazed at the "Red Wave" that took over both chambers of Congress and even downballot too. There was to be Change
 
Its the presidential election next year (fucking hell) and here's an entirely unserious take on a possible future.

2017-2019: Donald Trump (Republican)
2016 (with Mike Pence) def. Hillary Clinton (Democratic)
2019-2021: Mike Pence (Republican)
2021-2025: Bernie Sanders (Independent - 'Convention' Democrat/Green)
2020 (with Tulsi Gabbard) def. Donald Trump (National Alternative), Mike Pence (Republican), Joe Biden ('National Union' Democrat)
2025-20XX: Chokwe A. Lumumba (United Progressive)
2024 (with Rashida Tlaib) def. Steve King (National Alternative), Mitt Romney (National Union)
 
The Comeback Kid

2009-2017: Barack Obama (D-IL) / Joseph "Joe" Biden, Jr. (D-DE)
2008: John S. McCain III (R-AZ) / Sarah Palin (R-AK)
2012: Willard "Mitt" Romney (R-MA) / Paul Ryan (R-WI)

2017-2021: C. Carleton "Carly" Fiorina (R-CA) / Richard L. "Rick" Scott (R-FL) [1]
2016: Hillary R. Clinton (D-NY) / Terence R. "Terry" McAuliffe (D-VA) [2]
2021-: Martha M. Coakley (D-MA) / Donna Edwards (D-MD) [3]
2020: C. Carleton "Carly" Fiorina (R-CA) / Richard L. "Rick" Scott (R-FL), Chris Christie (Choose Courage - NJ) / James H. "Jim" Webb, Jr. (Choose Courage - VA)

[1] What remains to be said? The 2016 Republican Primaries were a desultory game of "Anyone But Jeb" - until Fiorina won South Carolina on the back of staunch support among military voters (and strong debate performances) and the Bush campaign ground to a halt. That left Ted "Repulsive" Cruz against an equally determined outsider, and Republicans ultimately picked Reagan-come-again over the oily Senator from Texas.

[2] Pundits in 2015 predicted a showdown between Hillary and Biden, or Hillary and Warren, or, er, just Hillary. But the Obama adminstration's inadequacies in the aftermath of Hurricane Mindy tearing through Puerto Rico - and a longtime family friend's rant about immigrants at a Clinton Foundation event - led to her most unexpected challenger: Luis Gutierrez. Journalists sneered and said the Chicago congressman was too unimportant, too "urban", too left-wing. But he had fought uphill battles before, and on immigration policy, TPP, workers rights, Gutierrez offered a real contrast - unlike the milquetoast former governors and senators that Hillary had graciously let run against her. Luis Gutierrez won 45% and the future of the party, and Hillary picked Terry McAuliffe for VP because she had not learned anything after all.

[3] *REWIND* to October 2014, when torrential rain in the Greater Boston area means that marginally less people are focused on the Globe's surprise endorsement of Baker, and Martha Coakley ekes out a win by 0.2%. Governor-elect Coakley, who had already been haunted by the loss in 2010, is chastened by the narrow win and resolves to do better. It's not just enough to be a more energetic campaigner, to be more open with people - the Globe's right, she needs to set out a concrete policy agenda.

*FAST-FORWARD* to October 2018 and to Governor Coakley, who has presided over a growing economy, refused to fund ICE, and largely prioritized the mental health system and fighting the opioid crisis. And yet she can't shake the feeling that it isn't enough, that she hasn't done enough for the state. Coakley is a frantic campaigner even into the last days of the election - and beats Geoff Diehl easily, 64-36%. Elizabeth Warren herself only gets 55% against Gabriel Gomez and the contrast draws at least a little attention to the dry, understated Governor. It passes. Coakley herself is picked to give the SOTU response largely because she's expected to be a neutral figure in the all-out brawl between Harris, Gutierrez, and Kander.

But Fiorina just has to prioritize further budget cuts (the ACA is long-gone, at this point) and snidely insinuate that it's simply a matter of budgetary priorities - the War in Yemen needs to go on, after all.

"'Balanced budgets' never stopped my brother from committing suicide" Coakley points out, mildly. "You need healthcare for that." She goes on to add that Massachusetts has increased funding for mental health, for clean energy, for pre-K education, and that she'll fight for the Millionaire's Tax to pay for that, if she has to. "These are areas where good government - competent government - means stepping up, not stepping down. You aren't running Hewlett-Packard anymore."

President Fiorina seethes, Minority Leader Crowley claps politely, and Twitter explodes. To list the number of "Fiorina = Thanos" memes would be tedious, so I will skip to the part where Obama puts some questions out quietly and Coakley carefully folds a note saying "Go for it -Mike". She goes for it.

Coakley is dogged by a reputation as "boring", a "loser", a "Massachusetts liberal" - and Warren has snatched up a lot of her natural support. Long odds. But quite a few people like a candidate that hasn't made a career out of being flashy - that hasn't always won - that will actually run government like government, not like a business. Some of her hype is ironic - and some is sincere. With Chris Christie trying to backstab the President in the behalf of not-very-well-hidden-sexism, some sanity is nice for a change.

I will skip to the part where Coakley looks around the debate stage and notes that between her, Biden, Harris, Gillibrand, Kander, Gutierrez, and Warren - "There are six years of actually governing anything - and that's me." Kander wins Iowa. She wins New Hampshire and subsequently duels Harris, state for state. It only ends when Kander, dropping out for personal reasons, resoundingly endorses her, and Warren follows.

The nominee picks Senator Edwards as a sign of good faith - no use triangulating now. She's not afraid to lose.

And after four hard-fought campaigns, and a constant struggle to do better, be better - Martha Coakley doesn't lose at all.
 
Mission Accomplished

1945-1954: Clement Attlee (Labour)
1945 (Majority) def. Winston Churchill (National Alliance - Conservatives, Liberal Nationals), Archibald Sinclair (Liberal)
1950 (Majority) def. Winston Churchill (National Alliance - Conservatives, Liberal Nationals, Liberals)

1954-1959: Nye Bevan (Labour)
1955 (Majority) def. Harold Macmillan (National Alliance)
1959-1972: Tony Greenwood (Labour)
1960 (Majority) def. Harold Macmillan (National Alliance)
1965 (Majority) def. Reginald Maudling (National Alliance), Enoch Powell (British Social Movement)
1970 (Grand Coalition with National Alliance) def. Reginald Maudling (National Alliance), Enoch Powell (British Social Movement)

1972-1973: Enoch Powell (British Social Movement minority coalition with Independent Nationals)
1973-1975: Jim Callaghan (Labour-National Alliance coalition)
1975-1978: Keith Joseph (Independent Liberal)
1975 (Alliance with BSM) def. Jim Callaghan (Labour-National Alliance), John Tyndall (Communist)
1978-1983: Michael Foot (Independent Labour)
1978 (Popular Front with CPGB) def. Jim Callaghan (National Worker's), Margaret Thatcher (Independent Liberal-British Social Movement)
1982 (Popular Front with CPGB) def. Reg Prentice (National Worker's), Cecil Parkinson (New Social Movement), Andrew Brons (British Front)

1983-1987: Edmund Dell (United Socialist majority)
1987-1997: Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler (National Worker's)
1987 (Coalition with NSM) def. Edmund Dell (United Socialist), Norman Tebbit (New Social Movement), Andrew Brons (British Front)
1992 (Majority) def. Edmund Dell (United Socialist), John McAuley (British Front), Norman Tebbit (New Social Movement)

1997-1999: Tony Blair (United Socialist)
1997 (Majority) def. Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler (National Worker's), Ian Anderson (Democratic Nationalist), John Biffen (Independent Liberal)
1999-2002: Eric Hobsbawm (United Socialist leading Emergency Government)
2002-2007: Eric Pickles (National Worker's)
2002 (Majority) def. Bob Crow (United Socialist)

A simple enough concept. Labour wins in 1950, enjoys the fruits of the post-war boom, compressing its opposition into a single party that moves to the social democratic centre to try and steal Labour's clothes until voter fatigue and right-wing anti-immigration discontent leads to a hung parliament in which a Grand Coalition is formed.

This effectively implodes Britain's comfy two party system as both Labour and the National Alliance are deeply uncomfortable with the arrangement. Maudling's corruption tears his party apart and enough right-wingers fall in behind Powell for him to glue together a government. That lasts about 10 minutes before his own party begins to come apart at the seams, Powell's proto-monetarism not rubbing up very well with the High Tories he's won round. Callaghan reforges the Grand Coalition with the rump National Alliance and totters on until the election.

Keith Joseph's election on a monetarist coupon promised a new rebirth for Britain from the socialism it had endured for so many years. It turned out his prescription was deeply unpopular and his coalition steadily fragmented as the National Socialists in the BSM wrankled at his economic policies even as it eagerly supported his social and eugenic plans.

Callaghan's formal merger of the National Alliance and Labour saw a mass walkout by the Left who marched into the arms of the insurgent Communists and inherited the scorched earth the embittered Joseph left behind. Foot retired having secured a new generation of socialism for Britain. The ILP and CPGB formally united into the USPGB and Edmund Dell continued the policies of Marxism-Greenwoodism. In opposition, the Right finally broke as the Nazis formed the British Front and the monetarists formed the NSM.

The novelty of the United Socialists alone cost them seats in 1987 and Brocklebank-Fowler's led the Neo-Butskellites of the NWP into coalition with Norman Tebbit. And the Tory Party which had gone through so many guises drew its last breath. Tebbit's seeming alignment with the NWP on economic issues despite their rhetoric led to their collapse and ironically a surge for the fascists who wanted the state to be everywhere.

Tony Blair was from the Trotskyite Wing of the USPGB and his election presaged an awesome restructuring of the British economy. He didn't get very far, as he was assassinated by the out of control paramilitary wing of Anderson's Democratic Nationalists, along with much of the rest of the Cabinet. Eric Hobsbawm took control of an Emergency Government, immediately banning the fascists and using wartime legislation to hunt them down. Britain got a taste for Marxism-Leninism but decided against Full Communism Now and plumped instead for that rarest of creatures - a Tory Communist. Pickles has attempted to claim Hobsbawm's legacy for his own and while the Emergency Government is no longer in power, curiously much of legislation remains on the books.
 
Mission Accomplished

1945-1954: Clement Attlee (Labour)
1945 (Majority) def. Winston Churchill (National Alliance - Conservatives, Liberal Nationals), Archibald Sinclair (Liberal)
1950 (Majority) def. Winston Churchill (National Alliance - Conservatives, Liberal Nationals, Liberals)

1954-1959: Nye Bevan (Labour)
1955 (Majority) def. Harold Macmillan (National Alliance)
1959-1972: Tony Greenwood (Labour)
1960 (Majority) def. Harold Macmillan (National Alliance)
1965 (Majority) def. Reginald Maudling (National Alliance), Enoch Powell (British Social Movement)
1970 (Grand Coalition with National Alliance) def. Reginald Maudling (National Alliance), Enoch Powell (British Social Movement)

1972-1973: Enoch Powell (British Social Movement minority coalition with Independent Nationals)
1973-1975: Jim Callaghan (Labour-National Alliance coalition)
1975-1978: Keith Joseph (Independent Liberal)
1975 (Alliance with BSM) def. Jim Callaghan (Labour-National Alliance), John Tyndall (Communist)
1978-1983: Michael Foot (Independent Labour)
1978 (Popular Front with CPGB) def. Jim Callaghan (National Worker's), Margaret Thatcher (Independent Liberal-British Social Movement)
1982 (Popular Front with CPGB) def. Reg Prentice (National Worker's), Cecil Parkinson (New Social Movement), Andrew Brons (British Front)

1983-1987: Edmund Dell (United Socialist majority)
1987-1997: Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler (National Worker's)
1987 (Coalition with NSM) def. Edmund Dell (United Socialist), Norman Tebbit (New Social Movement), Andrew Brons (British Front)
1992 (Majority) def. Edmund Dell (United Socialist), John McAuley (British Front), Norman Tebbit (New Social Movement)

1997-1999: Tony Blair (United Socialist)
1997 (Majority) def. Christopher Brocklebank-Fowler (National Worker's), Ian Anderson (Democratic Nationalist), John Biffen (Independent Liberal)
1999-2002: Eric Hobsbawm (United Socialist leading Emergency Government)
2002-2007: Eric Pickles (National Worker's)
2002 (Majority) def. Bob Crow (United Socialist)

A simple enough concept. Labour wins in 1950, enjoys the fruits of the post-war boom, compressing its opposition into a single party that moves to the social democratic centre to try and steal Labour's clothes until voter fatigue and right-wing anti-immigration discontent leads to a hung parliament in which a Grand Coalition is formed.

This effectively implodes Britain's comfy two party system as both Labour and the National Alliance are deeply uncomfortable with the arrangement. Maudling's corruption tears his party apart and enough right-wingers fall in behind Powell for him to glue together a government. That lasts about 10 minutes before his own party begins to come apart at the seams, Powell's proto-monetarism not rubbing up very well with the High Tories he's won round. Callaghan reforges the Grand Coalition with the rump National Alliance and totters on until the election.

Keith Joseph's election on a monetarist coupon promised a new rebirth for Britain from the socialism it had endured for so many years. It turned out his prescription was deeply unpopular and his coalition steadily fragmented as the National Socialists in the BSM wrankled at his economic policies even as it eagerly supported his social and eugenic plans.

Callaghan's formal merger of the National Alliance and Labour saw a mass walkout by the Left who marched into the arms of the insurgent Communists and inherited the scorched earth the embittered Joseph left behind. Foot retired having secured a new generation of socialism for Britain. The ILP and CPGB formally united into the USPGB and Edmund Dell continued the policies of Marxism-Greenwoodism. In opposition, the Right finally broke as the Nazis formed the British Front and the monetarists formed the NSM.

The novelty of the United Socialists alone cost them seats in 1987 and Brocklebank-Fowler's led the Neo-Butskellites of the NWP into coalition with Norman Tebbit. And the Tory Party which had gone through so many guises drew its last breath. Tebbit's seeming alignment with the NWP on economic issues despite their rhetoric led to their collapse and ironically a surge for the fascists who wanted the state to be everywhere.

Tony Blair was from the Trotskyite Wing of the USPGB and his election presaged an awesome restructuring of the British economy. He didn't get very far, as he was assassinated by the out of control paramilitary wing of Anderson's Democratic Nationalists, along with much of the rest of the Cabinet. Eric Hobsbawm took control of an Emergency Government, immediately banning the fascists and using wartime legislation to hunt them down. Britain got a taste for Marxism-Leninism but decided against Full Communism Now and plumped instead for that rarest of creatures - a Tory Communist. Pickles has attempted to claim Hobsbawm's legacy for his own and while the Emergency Government is no longer in power, curiously much of legislation remains on the books.

This got more and more phresh and mad as it went on and I loved every second of it
 
Quick little "dystopia" list based around the idea of Theresa May somehow succeeding in everything, including the landslide in 2016

Maytopia
Theresa May (Conservative majority) 2016-2027
2016 (maj.): def. Jeremy Corbyn (Labour), Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP)
2021 (maj.): def. Owen Smith (Labour), Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP-"O") and Alex Salmond (SNP-"S")
2025 (maj.): def. Angela Eagle (Democratic), Owen Jones (Labour Movement), Leanne Wood (Plaid Cymru) and John Swinney (USNP, abstaining)
Tom Tugendhat (Conservative majority) 2027-2031
2028 (maj.): def. Ed Miliband (Progressive League - Democratic/Labour/United Liberal/Social Democratic/Plaid Lafur), Leanne Wood (Plaid Cymru), Humza Yousaf (USNP, abstaining) and Tim Farron (Christian People's)
Ed Miliband (Progressive League (Democratic/Labour/United Liberal/Social Democratic/Plaid Lafur)-Plaid Cymru minority coalition with support and confidence from Christian People's and extraparliamentary support from USNP) 2031-
2031 (coal.): def. Tom Tugendhat (Conservative), Bethan Sayed (Plaid Cymru), Humza Yousaf (USNP, abstaining) and Tim Farron (Christian People's)

The broken and defeated Left finally crawls back into government after twenty years out. Theresa May's landslide victory in 2016 did indeed "count Labour out for a generation". Now as the grey-haired Ed Miliband enters 10 Downing Street as the only person who could feasibly count on the fragmented Progressive League's full support, there is a feeling that even though they won the battle, they lost the war. Sure, they finally re-entered government, but it feels like it was by default and that they will never transform Britain as much as Theresa May did
 
Given that the whole “Queen dies on January 5th” meme is going around, I figured I do a list where the 1980s become a much more chaotic period in British history. The POD for this is Christopher Lewis assassinating Elizabeth on her visit to New Zealand. From there, Argentina ends up controlling the Falklands leading to the fall of Thatcher’s government and an interim rule by Supermac. Jenkins and the SDP end up winning out despite having disputes between the Owen, Jenkins, Steel, and the various paper candidates elected. However, the Allianfe is able to get their important policy of electoral reform through Parliament. Upon Jenkins’ gay relationship with Anthony Crosland being revealed, social conservatism ramps up and David Owen moves into Number 10. Owen’s alliance with the Tories causes a more successful miner’s strike to take place. Eventually, Britian has had enough with a continued period of center-right governments and allows Benn to form a government. Benn holds a referendum to kick out the very unpopular King George VII, who had alienated most of Britian in his decade-long reign. Northern Ireland becomes an independent Commonwealth nation with Lebanon-style power sharing between nationalists and unionists. Scotland is also granted full independence in the late 1990s. Benn’s socialist policies are largely continued under Blair, but the economic downturn causes her to be voted out in a mandate for the Eurosceptic populist right.

1979-1982: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative)
1979 (Majority) def. James Callaghan (Labour), David Steel (Liberal)
1982-1982: Harold Macmillan, Earl of Stockton (Peer leading Caretaker Ministry)
1982-1984: Roy Jenkins (SDP-Liberal Alliance)
1982 (Majority) def. Michael Foot (Labour), Geoffrey Howe (Conservative)
1984-1986: David Owen (SDP coalition with Liberals)
1986-1990: David Owen (SDP)
1986 (Coalition) def. Tony Benn (Labour), John Biffen (Conservative), David Steel (Liberal), Patrick Wall (Law & Liberty), Tom A. Wood (Green)
1990-1997: Tony Benn (Labour)
1990 (Coalition) def. John Biffen (Conservative), David Owen (SDP), Paddy Ashdown (Jenkinsite SDP-Liberal Alliance), Alex Salmond (SNP), Patrick Wall (Law & Liberty), Sara Parkin (Green)
1995 (Coalition) def. Malcolm Rifkind (Conservative), Bill Rodgers (SDP), Paddy Ashdown (Jenkinsite SDP-Liberal Alliance), Edward Leigh (Law & Liberty), Alex Salmond (SNP), Sara Parkin (Green)

1997-1999: Cherie Blair (Labour coalition with the Alliance & Greens)
1999-0000: Edward Leigh (Law & Liberty)
1999 (Coalition) def. Cherie Blair (Labour), Tim Yeo (Conservative), Stephen Milligan (SDP), Matthew Taylor (Jenkinsite SDP-Liberal Alliance), Sara Parkin (Green), Martin Jacques (Post-Fordist)

1952-1981: Elizabeth II (Windsor)
1981-1991: George VII (Windsor)
1991-1998: Peter Shore (Labour)
1991 def. Edward Heath (Conservative), Charles Windsor (Write-In), Shirley Williams (SDP), Enoch Powell (Law & Liberty), Martin Jacques (Post-Fordist)
1998-0000: Gerald Kaufman (Labour)
1998 def. Andrew Lloyd Webber (Conservative), John Cleese (SDP), Patrick Wall (Law & Liberty), Martin Jacques (Post-Fordist)
 
Kings and Queens of Trefor
Macsen I “the Magnificent” (House of Meurig) & Catrin I “the Cunning” (House of Howell) 1211-1230
Macsen II “the Young King” (House of Meurig) & Catrin I “the Cunning” (House of Howell) 1230-1232
Macsen II “the Young King” (House of Meurig) 1232-1238

Owain I “the Lawgiver” (House of Meurig) 1238-1280
Macsen III “the Boneless” (House of Meurig) 1280-1295
Macsen IV “the Sword of Hunkara” (House of Meurig) 1295-1313
Catrin II “the Maiden” (House of Meurig) 1313-1339
Rhys I “the Shadow” (House of Meurig) 1339-1360
Owain II “Storm-Eyes” (House of Meurig) 1360-1391
Rhys II “the King-in-Rags” (House of Meurig) 1391-1403
Macsen V “the Monk” (House of Meurig) 1403-1409

Catrin III “the Great” (House of Meurig) 1409-1458
Gavan I “the Scholar” (House of Morcant) 1458-1489

Gavan II “the Plumed Knight” (House of Morcant) 1489-1503
Owain III “the Frugal” (House of Morcant) 1503-1540

Catrin III “the Laughing Dragon” (House of Morcant) 1540-1558
Gavan III “the Clement” (House of Rhydderch) 1558-1571

Talfryn “the Tenacious” (House of Rhydderch) 1571-1609
Macsen VI “the Mad” (House of Rhydderch) 1609-1613
Owain IV “the Listener” (House of Rhydderch) 1613-1649
Macsen VII “the Mild” (House of Rhydderch) 1649-1668
Owain V “the Warrior” (House of Rhydderch) 1668-1683

Gwen “the Green Queen” (House of Rhydderch) 1683-1687
Interregnum 1687-1691 [Crown held by Parliament]
Lloyd I “the Great” (House of Llywelyn) 1691-1723
Iestyn “the Innocent” (House of Llywelyn) 1723-1724
Macsen VIII “the Terrible” (House of Llywelyn) 1724-1755
Gavan IV “the Quiet” (House of Llywelyn) 1755-1784
Lloyd II “the Loud” (House of Llywelyn) 1784-1803
Macsen IX “the White” (House of Llywelyn) 1803-1805

Llinos “the Diamond” (House of Llywelyn) 1805-1864
Owain VI “the Musician” (House of Jernigan) 1864-1899

Lloyd III “the Bastion” (House of Jernigan) 1899-1911
Lloyd IV “the Lucky” (House of Jernigan) 1911-1937

Dilys “the Holy” (House of Jernigan) 1937-1981
Gavan V “the Modern” (House of Coedwig) 1981-

Basically a sort of "Wales"-analogue in a completely fictional world

Here's the (incomplete) family tree, showing you exactly how [half?] of them are related [all the way back to Gavan III]. There's no birth-dates, sorry
 
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Transfering another old list over here, mostly for reference.

Democracy Delayed

1908-1914: H.H. Asquith (Liberal)
1910 Jan (Minority with IPP confidence and supply) def. Arthur Balfour (Conservative), John Redmond (Irish Parliamentary Party), Arthur Henderson (Labour), William O'Brien (All-For-Ireland)
1910 Dec (Minority with IPP confidence and supply) def. Arthur Balfour (Conservative), John Redmond (Irish Parliamentary Party), George Nicoll Barnes (Labour), William O'Brien (All-For-Ireland)

1914-1923: Andrew Bonar Law (Conservative)
1914 (Minority) def. H.H. Asquith (Liberal), Arthur Henderson (Labour), John Redmond (Irish Parliamentary Party), Arthur Griffith (Sinn Fein)
1919 (Majority) def. William Adamson (Labour),
Reginald McKenna (Liberal), Eamon de Valera (Sinn Fein), John Dillon (Irish Parliamentary Party), Albert Inkpin (Communist)
1923-1929: George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon (Conservative)
1924 (Majority) def. Ramsay MacDonald (Labour), Reginald McKenna (Liberal), Eamon de Valera (Sinn Fein), Albert Inkpin (Communist)
1929-1930: George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon (Conservative leading War Government with Liberals)
1930-1932: Winston Churchill (Conservative leading War Government with Labour and Liberals)
1932-1936: David Lloyd George (Liberal leading War Government with Conservatives and Labour)
1936-1940: Cecil Chesterton (Conservative)
1936 (Majority) def. Stafford Cripps (Labour), David Lloyd George (Liberal), Eamon de Valera (Sinn Fein), Arnold Leese (Patriotic League)
1940-1942: Stafford Cripps (Labour)
1940 (Liberal-Labour Pact majority) def. Cecil Chesterton (Conservative), David Lloyd George (Liberal-Labour Pact), Harry Longbottom (Patriotic and Unionist)
1942-1952: John Hargrave (Conservative)
1942 (Majority) def. Stafford Cripps (Labour), Harry Longbottom (Patriotic and Unionist), David Lloyd George (Liberal)
1946 (Majority) def. Stafford Cripps (Labour), Leslie Hore-Belisha (Liberal), Harry Longbottom (Patriotic and Unionist)
1950 (Majority) def. Hugh Dalton (Labour), Edgar Granville (Liberal)

1952-1959: Oswald Mosley (Conservative)
1954 (Majority) def. John Strachey (Labour), Edgar Granville (Liberal)
1959-1968: John Strachey (Labour)
1959 (Minority with Liberal and Reform confidence and supply) def. Oswald Mosley (Conservative), Gwilym Lloyd-George (Liberal), Harold Macmillan (Reform)
1963 (Majority) def. W.E.D. Allen (Conservative), Gwilym Lloyd-George (Liberal), Harold Macmillan (Reform)
 
ATLF: Number 10

1997-2003: Charlotte Flannery (Labour)
1997 (Majority): James Barkley (Conservative), Martin McDonough (Liberal Democrat)
2001 (Majority): David Hornby (Conservative), Martin McDonough (Liberal Democrat)

2003-2009: Adam Armstrong (Labour)
2004 (Majority): David Hornby (Conservative), Gwen Donaghue (Liberal Democrat)
2008 (Coalition with Liberal Democrats): Peter Chadwick (Conservative), Gwen Donaghue (Liberal Democrat)

2009-2010: Simon Laity (Conservative Minority)
2010-2013: Simon Laity (Conservative- Liberal Democrat Alliance)

2011 (Alliance Majority): Helen Ridout (Labour), Louise Ryan (Liberal Democrat), Andy McGrue (Scottish National), Tim Keegan (Social Liberal)
2013-2017: Adam Armstrong (Labour leading National Government)
2015 (National Majority): Harry Denby (Conservative and Unionist Alliance), Bill Flagg (Labour), Andy McGrue (Scottish National)
2017-: Lewis Smiley (National)

Charlie Flannery was the woman who finally brought Labour out of the wilderness, promising to bring the party into the next millennium. Though not as radical as many would've liked, Scottish and Welsh Parliaments, vast investments into Education and Transport and bringing Britain firmly into the heart of Europe with membership of the Euro is nothing to sniff at. But her personal style, aloof and autocratic, grated significantly and a financial crisis combined with a polling crash led to a jittery party forcing her out in favour of her Home Secretary.

Armstrong won on his record in government and his attractive background in the military, not his left-wing creds. He sent troops into the Eurasian state of Ihkrazia in order to prevent genocide- a move that was lauded in hindsight but left him isolated in the international sphere at the time. His greatest achievement in government was probably the most ambitious climate change policies that existed at the time; although many other radical policies notoriously fell by the wayside or found themselves scrapped or heavily modified at the last minute based on the personal whims of Armstrong and his close team. A snap election called in 2008 led to a hung parliament where the Tories won the most seats but Labour the most votes; a Lib-Lab coalition was only formed after backroom manoeuvring and leaks led to the implosion of hard-right Tory leader Chadwick at the hands of his Shadow Cabinet. The coalition suffered severe unpopularity as the economy fell into recession and spending cuts became mandatory; the collapse of the coalition over the failure to pass a bill for STV led to Armstrong's resignation.

New Tory leader Simon Laity was an aggressive moderniser from the liberal wing of the party; the first openly-gay Prime Minister and the nineteenth Etonian. Pursuing an even more aggressive programme of austerity than Armstrong, he was able to govern relatively easily in a minority government as both Labour and the Lib Dems went through aggressive internal factional battles. Aside from austerity Laity showed a reformist bent: creating the posts of elected "Sherrifs" to deal with policing and crime on county levels and several half-hearted policies aimed at predatory capitalism. In 2010, he shocked the political world by announcing a political and electoral alliance with the Liberal Democrats, one which survived a split in the smaller party and a general election. However, the Eurozone continued to languish in recession, forcing ever-harsher austerity measures onto Britain as Laity's Alliance Majority was whittled away through by-elections, defections and rebellions. Surviving scandals, the odd constitutional crisis with Scotland's SNP Government and declaring war on Hendrick Rudolf's media empire, the government finally collapsed over the failure to pass an ECB loan package which mandated even further austerity measures. The failure of this vote led to the implosion of the banking industry and failure of cashpoints to dispense money. The chaos of that week ended with Laity resigning quietly (officially to spend more time with his dying husband), and Adam Armstrong being invited by the Queen to form a National Government.

Armstrong had long plotted his political rehabilitation over the Laity years, and cast his return in the midst of great crisis as an act of duty. He formed a national government, initially Labour dominated, of like-minded figures across political lines. Managing Britain's abrupt exit from the Euro, he fought hard to restore the economic credibility of Britain and restore order the country. Outside the Euro he was able to ease up on austerity, but not fast enough for some. Knowing he was already a second Ramsay MacDonald to many in his party, Armstrong stood in the 2015 election on a "National Alliance", an effective endorsement given to MPs and candidates that supported the National Government across the political divide. The rump Labour and Conservative Parties lurched to the left and right respectively, with the Tories forming an Alliance with a variety of hard-right headbangers, fringe groups and the DUP. The Nationals narrowly won a majority, and in 2017 Armstrong handed over to Lewis Smiley, a former Lib Dem who had a history of co-operation with Labour and Armstrong's right-hand man in government.
 
I think in the series it was the other way round, those were the days when received wisdom was Labour get more seats for their votes than the Tories
It isn’t- I listened to that specific episode a few days ago, and it’s explicitly said that Labour won more votes but twelve seats fewer than the Tories.
 
I found this old thing gathering dust on an old computer of mine. Based on the half-finished footnotes I believe I had based it to some degree on a TLIAD by @Ares96 from a few years ago. I made some adjustments to the list and just wrote a few quick paragraphs tonight, not a full story but a bit of a look at the world and some of the history from the perspective of the current PM. I'm thinking about fleshing this out more in the future, perhaps in a wikibox format or something like that, but I'm not completely sure yet.

Prime Ministers of Sweden
1946-1948: Tage Erlander, Social Democrats
-Erlander Ministry, Social Democratic minority government
1948-1950: Bertil Ohlin, People’s
1948: def. Tage Erlander (Social Democrats), Axel Pehrsson-Bramstorp (Farmers’), Fritiof Domö (National Organisation of the Right), Sven Linderot (Communist)

-First Ohlin Ministry, People’s minority government (1948-1950)
1950-1959: Per Edvin Sköld, Social Democrats
-First Sköld Ministry, Social Democratic-Farmers’/Centre majority coalition (1950-1955)
1952: def. Bertil Ohlin (People’s), Jarl Hjalmarsson (Rightist), Gunnar Hedlund (Farmers’), Hilding Hagberg (Communist)
-Second Sköld Ministry, Social Democratic minority government (1955-1960)
1956: def. Bertil Ohlin (People’s), Jarl Hjalmarsson (Rightist), Gunnar Hedlund (Centre), Hilding Hagberg (Communist)
1959-1970: Gunnar Sträng, Social Democrats
-First Sträng Ministry, Social Democratic minority government
1960: def. Bertil Ohlin (People’s), Jarl Hjalmarsson (Rightist), Gunnar Hedlund (Centre), Inga Thorsson (Socialist Left), Hilding Hagberg (Communist)
-Second Sträng Ministry, Social Democratic-Centre majority coalition (1960-1966)
1964: def. Bertil Ohlin (People’s), Jarl Hjalmarsson (Rightist), Gunnar Hedlund (Centre), Inga Thorsson (Socialist Left), Alf Lövenborg (Communist)
-Third Sträng Ministry, Social Democratic-People’s-Rightist-Centre grand coalition (1966-1968)

-Fourth Sträng Ministry, Social Democratic minority government (1968-1970)
1968: def. Bertil Ohlin (People’s), Gösta Agrenius (Rightist), Gunnar Hedlund (Centre), Inga Thorsson (Socialist Left), Alf Lövenborg (Communist)
1970-1975: Bert Lundin, Social Democrats
-First Lundin Ministry, Social Democratic minority government
1972: def. Per Ahlmark (People’s), Johannes Antonsson (Centre), Gösta Agrenius (Rightist), Inga Thorsson (Socialist Left)
1975-1979: Per Ahlmark, People’s
1975: def. Bert Lundin (Social Democrats), Johannes Antonsson (Centre), Eric Krönmark (Rightist), Birgitta Dahl (Socialist Left)

-First Ahlmark Ministry, People’s-Centre minority coalition
1979-1980: Bert Lundin, Social Democrats
1979: def. Per Ahlmark (People’s), Eric Krönmark (Rightist), Johannes Antonsson (Centre), Birgitta Dahl (Socialist Left)

-Second Lundin Ministry, Social Democratic minority government
1980-1983: Margot Wikström, Social Democrats
-First Wikström Ministry, Social Democratic minority government
1983-1984: Per Ahlmark, People’s
1983: def. Margot Wikström (Social Democrats), Eric Krönmark (Rightist), Karin Söder (Centre), Birgitta Dahl (Socialist Left)

-Second Ahlmark Ministry, People’s minority government
1984-1987: Margot Wikström, Social Democrats
1984: def. Per Ahlmark (People’s), Karin Söder (Centre), Eric Krönmark (Rightist), Birgitta Dahl (Socialist Left), Per Gahrton (Future)

-Second Wikström Ministry, Social Democratic-Centre majority coalition
1987-1991: Anne Wibble, People’s
1987: def. Margot Wikström (Social Democrats), Carl Cederschiöld (Rightist), Karl-Erik Olsson (Centre), Harry Franzén (Freedom), Birgitta Dahl (Socialist Left), Per Gahrton (Future)

-First Wibble Ministry, People’s-Rightist-Centre minority coalition
1991-1997: Margot Wikström, Social Democrats
1991: def. Anne Wibble (People’s), Carl Cederschiöld (Rightist), Birgitta Dahl (Socialist Left), Karl-Erik Olsson (Centre), Harry Franzén (Freedom), Per Gahrton (Future)

-Third Wikström Ministry, Social Democratic minority government
1995: def. Anne Wibble (People’s), Carl Cederschiöld (Rightist), Per-Ola Eriksson (Centre), Åsa Domeij (Socialist Left), Harry Franzén (Freedom), Per Gahrton (Future)
1997-1999: Björn von Sydow, Social Democrats
-First von Sydow Ministry, Social Democratic minority government
1999-2000: Anne Wibble, People’s
1999: def. Björn von Sydow (Social Democrats), Anders Björck (Rightist), Per-Ola Eriksson (Centre), Harry Franzén (Freedom), Anders Wijkman (Future), Åsa Domeij (Socialist Left)

-Second Wibble Ministry, People’s-Centre-Future minority coalition
2000-2003: Olle Wästberg, People’s
-First Wästberg Ministry, People’s-Centre-Future minority coalition (2000-2001)
-Second Wästberg Ministry, People’s minority government (2001-2003)
2003-2011: Björn von Sydow, Social Democrats
2003: def. Harry Franzén (Freedom), Olle Wästberg (People's), Margot Wallström (Socialist Left), Anders Björck (Rightist), Per-Ola Eriksson (Centre), Anders Wijkman (Future)

-Second von Sydow Ministry, Social Democratic-Socialist Left majority coalition
2007: def. Carl Fredrik Graf (New Right), Olle Wästberg (People’s), Harry Franzén (Freedom), Margot Wallström (Socialist Left), Per-Ola Eriksson (Centre), Anders Wijkman (Future)
-Third von Sydow Ministry, Social Democratic-Socialist Left-Centre majority coalition
2011-2015: Carl Fredrik Graf, New Right
2011: def. Björn von Sydow (Social Democrats), Anna Kinberg Batra (People’s), Lars Adaktusson (Freedom), Gunvor G. Ericson (Future), Kristina Jonäng (Centre), Margot Wallström (Socialist Left)

-Graf Ministry, New Right-People’s-Future minority coalition
2015-20??: Terese Bengard, Social Democrats
2015: def. Lars Adaktusson (Freedom), Carl Fredrik Graf (New Right), Anna Kinberg Batra (People’s), Kristina Jonäng (Centre), Daniel Bernmar (Socialist Left), Gunvor G. Ericson (Future)

-Bengard Ministry, Social Democratic-Centre minority coalition
Next election, September 2019: Terese Bengard (Social Democrats), Lars Adaktusson (Freedom), Martin Wannholt (New Right), Karin Svanborg-Sjövall (People’s), Kristina Jonäng (Centre), Daniel Bernmar (Socialist Left), Maria Weimer (Future)


Only a little more than a week of 2019 had passed and Terese Bengard was already dreading the huge amounts of stress that this year would bring, as she looked out of the windows of the armoured Saab while it drove through the darkness of the early morning towards Rosenbad. Christmas and New Year’s back home in the peace and calm of Ragunda had granted her some well deserved rest to prepare her for a year dominated by a general election campaign that was slowly but surely gathering steam. Actually, it had probably kicked off on December 31st when Lars Adaktusson continued his party’s New Year's tradition of writing a scathing attack on the alcohol retail monopoly, perhaps this time even surpassing party founder Harry Franzén in rhetoric by referring to it as a “near-dictatorial form oppression” to hinder consumers from buying a bottle of champagne after 18.00 on New Year’s Eve. Still, it only took the Young Socialists five days to top that piece of poetry by equivalenting her to Saudi Arabia’s human rights abusing leaders for the crime of gradually divesting the government’s shares in Volvoil rather than closing down all of the company's wells, ignoring the fact that it would be pretty difficult to accomplish as a minority shareholder. This was going to be a long year.

As the country’s 36th Prime Minister she was always the one responsible for every decision made, no matter how big or how small, and no matter if she actually had any power to control the events. The first one to blame and the last one to praise wasn’t a fun position to be in, but looking at the portraits of her predecessor as she walked down the corridors towards her office she still felt lucky when she compared her problems to some of theirs. She may have a coalition partner with a youth league that was a constant source of annoyance, but at least she didn’t have to deal with an actual split in the governing party like Sköld and Ahlmark were saddled with in their days. She may have opposition politicians either more concerned with their own image than practical policies or in the process of slowly turning their grand old party into a special interest club for Greater Gothenburg, but at least she didn’t face the pressure and scrutiny of being the country’s first female Prime Minister like Margot Wikström did. There was no upper house with a hostile majority to handle, along with an increasingly hostile lower house. Looking back, it was almost baffling how Ohlin had managed to hold on for those two years.

In only his first five years in office Bert Lundin had accomplished things which still shape Swedish society by passing landmark employee rights legislation and a new constitution. He and Olle Wästberg were also the only two Prime Ministers in recent memory with the duty of leading the country through the death of a monarch and the first years of a new one. Wästberg in particular, who not only had to deal with the death of a King but also the loss of a friend and Prime Minister to cancer all in the midst of the worst financial crisis in decades had a tenure that she certainly didn’t envy. The hand Wibble was dealt while in good health during her first term was not particularly appealing either; having to cobble together a majority in the Riksdag with a brand new populist party that had 30 MPs, each with 60 different positions on policy any given day nearly gave her a headache just thinking about it. Dealing with them three decades later from the other side of the political spectrum was difficult enough.

Her immediate predecessor as leader, Björn von Sydow, was someone she often rang when she had difficulties making a decision, and whether it regarded foreign relations, campaign strategies or his big passion railways she could always trust him to deliver sound advice. Her first response when he asked her to take up where he left off and lead the party back into government after his heart attack in 2014 was to say no, but he persisted. She let him convince her then and she would still let him convince her in their conversations four years later. In contrast, Carl Fredrik Graf, her immediade predecessor as Prime Minister was someone she had a considerably frostier relationship with, which wasn’t that surprising considering she was the one who snatched his job away from him. Though out of all the people who had sat in the same office as her in the years and decades before there was one person that she truly wished she could have the opportunity to talk with. What had it been like for Gunnar Sträng during those stressful weeks and months when 1966 turned into 1967, Sweden joined the Nuclear Club and an international crisis was sparked? What was it like to have every journalist in the world focusing on little Sweden whilst President Rockefeller and General Secretary Podgorny were more eager to talk to the Swedish Prime Minister than every previous Soviet or American leader combined? In comparison her problems just seemed so tame.

*RING*RING*

Deep in her train of thought, she was thrown right back into reality by an obnoxiously loud phone.

*RING*RING*

Reaching to pick up the phone before the ringtone gave her a migraine, she snuck a quick glance at the old copper clock on her desk. 05.54. Maybe it really was for the best if she spent less time pondering the tumultous times of the office’s previous occupants. She had enough excitement to deal with anyway.

-click-

“Hello?”
 
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