Do the Wright Thing
@Tom Colton found a bunch of pics of the BBC Rehearsing various 2019 election scenarios so I thought I’d run with this one.
Thanks to
@Mumby for the suggestion of Claire Wright (over my suggestion of now-Indpendent Dominic Grieve )
It was this or a frankenstein's monster of all remaining parties against the Tories.
2019: Boris Johnson (Conservative Minority)
Britain just wasn’t in love with Boris Johnson. He had secured a deal which did away with the backstop! He was going to get Brexit done! He hid in a fridge and refused to answer questions. . Pro remain Tories held their noses and voted Lib Dem in droves. North of the border the SNP surged after their losses in 2017.
Britain wasn’t super keen on Jeremy Corbyn but he did well in the leaders debates, painting Johnson as a lightweight and a man with no principles. A quote where Corbyn asked the audience “Its not just about Brexit but what comes afterwards, is this the man you want shape Britain’s future outside of the EU?”. This phrasing seemed to win over some pro-leave voters who might’ve otherwise voted Tory. This tact seemed to work as Labour climbed in the polls and the Tories fell. Swinson also made a good showing, adding “Boris Johnson can’t be trusted, but I don’t know if Labour can be trusted either” further adding to the bad blood between Labour and the Liberal Democrats on the campaign trail.
In the end the two big parties lost seats to the benefit of the Lib Dems and SNP. Boris went even further from a majority, securing a round 300 seats. Labour dropped 17 seats, mostly to the SNP. The Lib Dems gained a range of pro-remain Tory seats such as Cheltenham, Cheadle and Norman Baker’s old seat of Lewes.
As dawn broke on Friday the thirteenth the prospects of a viable government were looking slim. The Conservatives weren’t close enough to a majority to work with the DUP and the UUP (the latter of whom made a return to the House of Commons) and were divided on the concept of working with any of the pro-remain parties. Meanwhile on the more pro remain side the only option was a coalition of all remaining parties. Parties which had just spent the last few weeks bitterly fighting one another. Jo Swinson of the Liberal Democrats immediately put her cards down on the table and said she wouldn’t join a government where Jeremy Corbyn was Prime Minister. Several days passed as various parties met at the headquarters of each of the main parties. Boris Johnson announced his resignation on the 14th of December and Jeremy Corbyn resigned the following Wednesday. Leadership elections would be held but Tom Watson took over as temporary Labour leader.
The news cycle was constant with members of the ERG repeatedly threatening a walkout. The SNP were demanding a second independence referendum
2019-2021: Claire Wright Independent leading “Second Referendum” Grand Coalition (Second Referendum Conservatives & Labour with Support from Lib Dems, SNP, Plaid Cymru, Green Party, SDLP and Independent)
After two weeks of debate a press conference was held by Grant Shapps, Tom Watson, Jo Swinson and to everyone’s surprise the newly elected Independent MP for East Devon, Claire Wright. It was announced that the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats would enter into a grand coalition, supported by the Liberal Democrats, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Greens with the goal extending the deadline of bringing in a second referendum in May 2020 based around the current Brexit deal with the Conservatives supporting leave and the other parties backing remain. Wright would serve as an independent central point for the government.
It became immediate apparent that the Tory party was not unified on this proposition and Shapps had acted independently. Huge numbers of Tory MPs immediately announced their withdrawal from government. Several Labour MPs also protested but didn’t cross the floor. This still left the government with around 400 MPs to get through the legislation although it was unclear how many back bench rebels the Conservatives would
After some deliberation the EU agreed a six month extension to the deadline for leaving the EU but clarified there would be no further changes in the deal. Britain’s second referendum would be on “The Boris Deal”. The cabinet was almost equal parts Conservative and Labour, with various back benchers opposed to Johnson such as Jeremy Hunt being called up to serve again. Labour’s ministers were mostly from the center of the party and some quite opposed to Jeremy Corbyn. McDonnell and Abbot returned to the back benches but stood behind the governments plans for a second referendum and insisted that they would campaign for Remain.
And Then COVID happened
The Second Referendum government became the National Emergency government and Claire Wright, for 2 months quite a reserved, rarely seen prime minister would be seen giving press conferences alongside health secretary John Ashworth or Home Secretary Grant Shapps. Britain entered a lockdown on 16th March to last for three months with a phased return to normality. Legislation was difficult to piece together for this originally single purpose government and media coverage of disagreements between the rump Conservatives (as they were often called) and Labour (and the Supply and confidence parties) was constant but a rough package to help the economic was put together by Chancellor Annalise Dodds and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Gregg Clark (who more than one Conservative dubbed the chancellor in media interviews). A package of Furlough pay plus loans and grants to businesses were introduced as was a temporary pay increase to NHS Staff, something championed by the Prime Minister herself. Testing for people arriving in Britain (already severely limited) was proposed but delayed until July 2020 as the sheer size of the task became apparent. Already Prime Minister by a twist of fate, Claire Wright, the former NHS PR employee became one of the most famous faces in the World.
Lockdown was eased at the end of June 2020 with the high street, pubs and schools reopening gradually with strict precautions in place.
Given the extenuating circumstances the EU agreed a further six month extension in the agreement the Government went ahead with plans for a September 2020 referendum. Under the government's plans, every registered voter would be sent a postal ballot for the referendum. Campaigning was strictly online and via advertising. Several debates were held but neither campaign could agree on a fixed lead figure. Grant Shapps debated Jo Swinson. Keir Starmer debated Jacob Rees-Mogg and several other combinations of politicians. Misinformation and fake news was widespread, mostly on the pro-leave side. In the end there was a 4% swing towards remain as Britain voted 52-48 to revoke article 50 and remain in the EU.
A second lockdown was entered in October 2020 with some easing just before Christmas after widespread rebellion from Government Conservative backbenchers with Britian going into Lockdown again on 28th December. This saw widespread public drinking and unrest on New Years eve.
As Lockdown eases across the UK the government has voted for a May 2021 election alongside Wales and Scottish Devolution votes. Labour leader Lisa Nandy is topping the polls having seen a boost as public perception puts the more popular measures in Labour’s hands, perhaps due to Health Secretary John Ashworth being from the Labour party, perhaps due to the Prime Minister’s strong relationship with Ashworth and previous opposition to the Conservatives as well as a continued media narrative of pushing for support for NHS Workers throughout the pandemic. Lisa Nandy is seen as a moderate left leader, the fires of Corbynism not quite extinguished, as shown by the appointment in government of SCG members such as Rebecca Long-Bailey, Lloyd Russell-Moyle and Richard Burgon.
The Conservatives have reunited under newly elected leader Matt Hancock. Despite much bitterness and calls for a split they’ve put together a policy of economic efficiency and helping businesses grow the economy. Despite this, the remain vote has seen them lose votes to Nigel Farage’s Reform Party and to Jo Swinson’s lib Dems who gained a boost from pro-Remain Tory voters and haven’t managed to lose it yet.
A very local MP turned world leader. Claire Wright is to stand down as MP for East Devon at the next election, as is her predecessor, who is to return to his role as editor of the Spectator