- Location
- Municipal Commune of Bourne
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I very rarely write scenarios in which the Labour Party does better than OTL, not because I particularly dislike them but just because my political formative years were at a time when the party was so nationally superdominant that it feels almost obscene on a gut level to help them further. However, let's set that aside and try to write what I would see as a potential best-case scenario for the Labour Party while still leaving it somewhat recognisable. One caveat is that the party holding on in 1950/51 might turn out better than this, but that's debatable.
List of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom since 1945
1945-1951: Clement Attlee (Labour)
1945 def: Winston Churchill (National), Sir Archibald Sinclair (Liberal)
1950 def: Winston Churchill (Conservative), Clement Davies (Liberal)
1951-1955: Winston Churchill (Conservative)
1951 def: Clement Attlee (Labour), Clement Davies (Liberal)
1955-1957: Anthony Eden (Conservative)
1955 def: Clement Attlee (Labour), Clement Davies (Liberal)
1957-1963: Harold Macmillan (Conservative)
1959 def: Hugh Gaitskell (Labour), Jo Grimond (Liberal)
1963-1968: Rab Butler (Conservative, then Conservative minority)
1964 def: Hugh Gaitskell (Labour), Jo Grimond (Liberal)
1968-1979: Harold Wilson (Labour)
1968 def: Rab Butler (Conservative), Emlyn Hooson (Liberal)
1972 def: Reginald Maudling (Conservative), Emlyn Hooson and Gwilym Lloyd George (New Liberal - joint leadership), Enoch Powell (British Unionist)
1979-1984: Barbara Castle (Labour)
1979 def: Lord Hailsham (Conservative), Stina Robson (New Liberal), Enoch Powell (British Unionist)
1984-1989: Julian Amery (Conservative-New Liberal coalition)
1984 def: Barbara Castle (Labour), Stina Robson (New Liberal), Enoch Powell (Keep Britain British)
1989-1997: Peter Shore (Labour)
1989 def: Julian Amery (Conservative), Stina Robson (New Liberal)
1993 def: Francis Maude (Conservative), Michael Heseltine (Liberal)
1997-2002: Gordon Brown (Labour)
1997 def: Francis Maude (Conservative), Michael Heseltine (Liberal)
2002-2007: Lord Ancram (Conservative-Liberal coalition)
2002 def: Gordon Brown (Labour), Kenneth Clarke (Liberal)
2007-2015: Paul Boateng (Labour)
2007 def: Lord Ancram (Conservative), Kenneth Clarke (Liberal)
2011 def: Theresa May (Conservative), Navnit Dholakia (Liberal)
2015-20??: Jon Cruddas (Labour)
2016 def: John Bercow (Conservative), Norman Baker (Liberal)
Rather than do footnotes, I'll just answer questions - but hopefully you can see roughly what I was going for (the Tories manage to unluckily be in power when all the unpopular decisions are made, Labour benefit from a split opposition vote, etc.)
The New Liberal bit is I'm assuming the National Liberals severing ties with the Tories (and presumably bringing a load of OTL wet Tories with them) so giving the anti-Tory vote in the shires a bit of a boost.