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Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State

A successful Commonwealth that isn’t just ‘Bennites or CND plus’. Also I used Shirley Williams because she had discussed the idea of Industrial Democracy and Social Market ideals in the Social Democratic manifesto and was definitely on the Left of that party.

I love the way your lists always feel like every single person is perfectly chosen and curated and so often phresh. You are right in meshing multiple ideologies into Common Wealth and it creates something really interesting. Especial favoured pick here is Elaine Burton, who is, of course, the murder superfan who tried to marry Charles Manson while he was in prison and I'm certain this is the Elaine Burton you meant
 
I love the way your lists always feel like every single person is perfectly chosen and curated and so often phresh. You are right in meshing multiple ideologies into Common Wealth and it creates something really interesting. Especial favoured pick here is Elaine Burton, who is, of course, the murder superfan who tried to marry Charles Manson while he was in prison and I'm certain this is the Elaine Burton you meant
I use Gay Labour superstar Illtyd Harrington as leader of the Commonwealth party and this is the thanks I get, oy.
 
An idea for a Story setting;

Leaders of the Nottingham Municipal Corporation Board:
1907-1930: Sir Jesse Boot, 1st Baron of Trent (Liberal endorsed by Progressives & Liberal-Labour)

1907 def: Tom Proctor (Labour), Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (Conservative)
1917 def: Seymour Cocks (Ind. Labour), George Jarrett (National Democratic)
1927 def: Seymour Cocks (Labour), Cecil Caporn (Conservative)

1930-1948: John Campbell Boot, 2nd Baron of Trent (Independent endorsed by Conservative & Liberal)
1930 def: Frank Cousins (Labour), Leslie Hale (Municipal Reform), D.H. Lawrence (Social Credit)
1940 def: Hugh Lawson (Ind. Labour), Leslie Hale (Municipal Reform), Geoffrey Trease (Ind. Socialist endorsed by CPGB)

1948-: Henry Norman Smith (Labour-Municipal Reform)
1948 def: Frank Markham (Independent National), John Peck (CPGB)

The idea is a simple one, Jesse Boot, owner of the Boots Pharmacy Corporation and a donor to the Liberal Party, decides that he could also achieve good through the Municipal running of Nottingham City and essentially uses his connections to buy out Nottingham City Council and turn it into the Nottingham Municipal Board which is mainly ran on Corporatist grounds with very little Democratic input apart Board elections.

Whilst the Socialists of Labour try to break up the corporate stranglehold on Nottingham City and the Conservatives use it as a way to promote there own candidates across Nottinghamshire (before just deciding to support John Boot), the Boots continue to win, with there promises of Social Welfare and Medical Insurance easily appealing to the public who vote for kindly coporstist family who have been a stable of Nottinghamshire.

Things change in 1948, as the Boots finally leave the Board and the opposition finally nominate a candidate who promises Reform and Left Wing values with Henry Norman Smith who runs on a fusion ticket, his only opposition being the tired remnants of the National Government and a young fiery Communist.

The Attlee Government hopes that Smith running Nottingham will ensure a return to normality, but Smith, an advocate of Social Credit, Left Wing causes and one of the few opposed to the Bretton-Woods system that is emerging has his own ideas on the future of Nottingham...
 
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Elderly singles in YOUR area!

Presidents of the Commonwealth of Great Britain and Northern Ireland since 1999

1999-2004: Betty Boothroyd (Independent)
1999 def. Robert Kilroy-Silk (Independent), Rhodes Boyson (Independent), Arthur Scargill (Socialist Labour)
2004-2009: Michael Heseltine (Conservative)
2004 def. Frank Dobson (Labour), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrats), Nigel Farage (UKIP), Robert Kilroy-Silk (Independent)
2009-2014: Malcolm Rifkind (Conservative)
2009 def. Glenda Jackson (Labour), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrats)
2014-2019: Margaret Beckett (Labour)
2014 def. Alan Haselhurst [replacing Malcolm Rifkind] (Conservative), Peter Whittle (UKIP), Derek Wall (Green)
2019-2020: Anne Widdecombe (Brexit) *
2019 def. Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrats), Maxine Peake (Labour), Andrew Boff (Conservative), Derek Wall (Green)
2020-2021: Damian Green (Conservative), Acting
2020; Presidential election postponed due to Coronavirus pandemic
2021-0000: William Hague (Conservative)
2021 def. Harriet Harman (Labour), Molly Scott Cato (Green), Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrats), Piers Corbyn (Independent)

Buckingham Palace fucks up the response to Diana’s death even worse than OTL, and results in Blair smashing the glass and holding a referendum on the future of the monarchy. It passes (barely), and Betty Boothroyd sails into Clarence House without the need for transfers. Her boredom in the role results in her declining to seek re-election, and leads to the first partisan presidential campaign in 2004, although most of the attention was on Kilroy’s vanity bid as Heseltine easily dispatches Frank Dobson. An ill-timed heart attack convinces Heseltine to follow in his predecessor’s footsteps, and Cameron’s worries about nominating John Major leads to the relative calm presidency of another 90s Tory cabinet minister.

Rifkind’s cash-for-access scandal breaks just as his re-election campaign is heating up, and he suspends his bid after CCHQ throws him overboard. Alan Haselhurst tries his best, bless him, but Margaret Beckett sails into office as everyone tries to ignore that Farage would almost certainly have made the second round if he’d stood. Everyone seems prepared to let President Beckett trundle along, right up until the UK votes to leave the European Union and Miliband’s membership reforms result in her unexpected reselection defeat to a True Believer.

It was just poor luck that the 2019 campaign came when it did. Brexit remained stubbornly unresolved, both the PM and the leader of the opposition remained deeply unpopular, and the public had a populist itch that needed scratching. An attempt by the PM to postpone the election until the autumn was roundly shouted down, and the victory of Ann Widdecombe is generally accepted as the death knell for Johnson’s ailing premiership. Not that Widdecombe’s tenure in the top seat would last that long.

The Conservative landslide, the beginning of the pandemic, the imposing of the biggest restrictions on normal life in living memory. That was the plan, at least, right up until President Widdecombe refused to sign various pieces of lockdown legislation and prompted another constitutional crisis. Unlike in the United States though, as even witness testimony proved unable to bring down Donald Trump, it proved surprisingly easy to impeach a British president. A two-thirds vote in the Commons – many noted the slight smirk on the PM’s face when she called the decision a "regrettable act" – sent Widdecombe packing just a year into her tenure, and the succession clause in the 1999 legislation saw Damian Green fill in as acting president. The election wouldn’t come within six months as scheduled, however, due to emergency measures pushed through by the government’s substantial majority.

Keir Starmer’s leadership is on the line after the elections last month. The Tories swept through the north and William Hague won on the first ballot. It’s not a good time to be on the left, although we can be grateful that Jacob Rees-Mogg’s application for the Conservative nomination didn’t gain any traction.
 
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George Rhumes Independent Eugene Mcarthy
Def: Robert Francis Kennedy Democratic John Connloy
Richard M. Nixon Republican John Volpe

George Rhumes was born in 1924 . became Governor of Alabama in 1958. famous for his segregation never speech.
 
"Here were dreadful forewarnings come over the land of Northumbria, and woefully terrified the people: these were amazing sheets of lightning and whirlwinds, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the sky."

1955-1979: Mylnhus Francssun Nicssun (Folclic)

1955. In this year the Northumbrians chose Mylnhus Francssun Nicssun as their leod, and he expelled the Mercians from their land.
1963. In this year leod Nicssun cancelled September's choosing, and led an army to Munster, where he slew that country's king Eóin Ó Cinnéide.
1964. In this year Nicssun won choosing unanimously, so awed were the Northumbrians by his feats.
1965. In this year Nicssun won choosing unanimously.
1973. In this year the former leod of the Northumbrians died at his estate, and Nicssun won choosing unanimously.
1974. In this year Nicssun led an army to Deira and slew Haraldr Vilhjálmrsson.
1978. In this year Nicssun won choosing unanimously.

1979-1984: Yacob Yacobssun Wægnere (Scipfyrd)

1979. In this year in the land of the Northumbrians the heretoga Yacob Yacobssun Wægnere overthrew the tyrant Nicssun, who had many times falsely claimed leodship of that people, and citing the threat still posed by the late tyrant's loyalists cancelled September's choosing
1980. In this year Wægnere, citing the threat still posed by the late tyrant's loyalists, again cancelled September's choosing.
1983. In this year Wægnere, citing the threat still posed by the late tyrant's loyalists, again cancelled September's choosing.

1984-1994: Hreodleah Francssun Pehting (Rihtnes)

1984. In this year the Northumbrians overthrew the tyrant Wægnere, and chose the democratic activist Hreodleah Francssun Pehting as their leod.
1985. In this year Pehting won choosing.
1989. In this year the cathedral at Hexham burned and was rebuilt.

1994-1994: Lintun Lintunssun Leah (Rihtnes)

1994. In this year the Northumbrians chose Lintun Lintunssun Leah to succeed their leod Hreodleah Francssun Pehting.
1995. In this year Leah raised many new taxes, and sent an army to Illyria.
1997. In this year Leah sent an army to Mesopotamia.

1998-1998: Yasmin Palsdohtor Hrothgaring (Cnihtengild)
 
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Political History of Dermot Arthur (From 1979-2001)
1979-1983: Nottingham City Councillor, Byron Ward, Labour

1979 def: Small G. (Conservative)
1983 (Kilbourne G., Conservative) def: Dermot A. (Labour), Warrington P. (Alliance)

1979-1983: Chairman of Transport for Nottingham City Council
1983-1984: Private Citizen, Labour
1984-1987: PPC for Nottingham East, Labour
1987-2001: Member of Parliament for Nottingham East, Labour

1987 def: Michael Knowles (Conservative), Stephen Parkhouse (Liberal), Kenan Malik (Red Front)
1991 def: Gary S. Mond (Conservative), Timothy Ball (Liberal Democrats), Andrew Jones (Green), Mark Roylance (Liberal), John Ashforth (Natural Law)
1992 def: Gary S. Mond (Conservative), Timothy Ball (Liberal Democrats), John Peck (Green)
1997 def: Andrew Raca (Conservative), Kevin Mulloy (Liberal Democrats), Dave Cook (Leeds Left Alliance), Alan Sked (Anti-Federalist League)

1988-1990: PPS for Kevin McNamara
1990-1991: Shadow Secretary for Northern Ireland
1991-1994: Northern Ireland Secretary
1994-1997: Secretary of State for International Development and Cooperation
1997-1998: Shadow Secretary for International Development and Cooperation


—///—

1979-1988: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative)
1979 (Majority) def: James Callaghan (Labour), David Steel (Liberal), William Wolfe (SNP)
1983 (Majority) def: Michael Foot (Labour),
Roy Jenkins-David Steel (Liberal-SDP Alliance)
1987 (Majority) def: Neil Kinnock (Labour), David Owen-David Steel (Liberal-SDP Alliance)
1988-1991: Paul Channon (Conservative)
1991-1997: Neil Kinnock (Labour)

1991 (Liberal Democrats Confidence & Supply) def: Paul Channon (Conservative), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrats), David Owen (Social Democrats)
1992 (Majority) def: Tom King (Conservative), Paddy Ashdown (Liberal Democrats), Mike Thomas (Social Democrats)

1997-: Francis Maude (Conservative)
1997 (Majority) def: Neil Kinnock (Labour), Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrats)
2001 (Majority) def: John Prescott (Labour), Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrats)


A possible alternate history for my Grandad, with everything from 79’ to 84 being OTL. In OTL he was declined the PPC for Nottingham East (probably down to an affair he had with a another Labour Party member that started at a Labour Conference) but here this isn’t found out so becomes the candidate and with no controversy over the candidacy for Nottingham East, my Granddad gets in.

From there he raises up the ranks, and despite being a Northern Irish Catholic would probably be a better choice for Northern Irish Secretary than McNamara, given his brother is a Professor on the Troubles and all that. My Grandad stands down following an awkward divorce and becoming a Grandad etc.
 
Presidents of Argentina: 1938-2021

(Notes: The material up until ca. 1990 comes from a series of worldbuilding posts I made for the excellent Washington Wouldn't, Grant Couldn't back on the other site, what comes after is newly written)


Roberto Ortiz (National Democratic)
1938-1942


Dead Man Walking

Heavily diabetic and fraudulently brought into office by the very establishment forces he promised to fight, President Ortiz’s administration was both mercifully brief and deeply controversial. What reformist agenda the President had was quickly vetoed by his conservative backers, and by the time he resigned to die in peace (having spent a full half of his time in office in a sickbed) the country let out a collective ”finally”.


Ramón Castillo (National Democratic)
1942


A Bridge Too Far

Having already served as acting President since 1940, Vice President Castillo was as prepared as they came when he finally took over from the dying Ortiz. More conservative than his predecessor, he immediately provoked the outrage of the opposition when he tapped a sugar magnate to run to succeed him in the upcoming election (the Argentine constitution barring the President from succeeding himself). Having already provoked the pro-Axis military leadership by bringing the country closer to the US (who favored Argentine joining the Allies), the implosion of what popular support the government had gave a clear path forward for the military to clean house, and on December 2nd 1942 General Pedro Ramirez, the Minister of War, had loyal troops occupied Buenos Aires and declared the President deposed.

Pedro Ramirez (Independent)
1942-1949


El Generalissimo

Although aligned with the Germans through both marriage and ideological inclination, President-General Ramirez was not entirely without political acumen. To keep OSS funding and guns away from any intrepid opposition groups he kept towing the neutrality line, and was as gracious as can be towards Ambassador Collins, all while discreetly telegraphing to all affected parties that Argentine had an excellent climate, a friendly people, large German and Italian communities, an underdeveloped extradition program and wouldn’t ask any questions of immigrants with capital, military or scientific experience and a sudden need to relocate. On the domestic front, Ramirez’s agenda would be increasingly dominated by the Secretary (later Minister) of Labor, Colonel Juan Peron. Peron quickly established close relations with all major trade unions, and in exchange for industrial peace (and, it would turn out, personal loyalty) he promised government recognition, support and a pro-labor social program. Ramirez went along at first, since he frankly didn’t need any more enemies, but as events progressed and Peron came to increasingly eclipse his peers and his boss as the most prominent man in politics, the President decided to act. Turning to Peron’s ideological counterpoint within the administration, the fiercely pro-German (even by the standards of the uniformly Germanophile junta) General Perlinger for support, the President launched a (mostly) bloodless self-coup against his own government in March 1947 to remove “anti-state elements”. A number of labor and left wing leaders were arrested, Peron was driven into exile, his supporters within the junta were purged and much of his program was rolled back. The reminder of Ramirez’s time in office would be spent in an increasingly paranoid hunt for enemies, both real and imagined and would come to an end after General Perlinger finally put an end to years of speculations and retired his master.


Luis Perlinger (Independent)
1949-1950


Too Fascist By Half

“Not exactly a nazi, but” is about the best that can be said for Luis César Perlinger. Having seized power with his hard-right faction mostly thanks to the general disillusionment of the rest of junta, the general spent his seven months in power trying to “eradicate international communism” and making a hash of it, offending his domestic supporters and terrifying his international backers. Anti-communism is all well and good, but when you’re doing more to drive the Argentine people into the arms of Stalin than any dastardly agitator ever could something has to be done. The wheels started to turn in both Washington and Buenos Aires, and the days of the Perlinger regime were counted.


Domingo Mercante (Independent)
1950-1951


The People's Placeholder

Just as for his two immediate predecessors, the end of the Perlinger Presidency came in the form of an armed putsch. On the morning of March 21st 1950 the President, his cabinet and the military high command (the same people, really) found themselves under arrest, and as key locations in Buenos Aires came under military occupation the city and the country held their breaths. The unions kept quiet, the liberal opposition kept quiet, and they all held their breath as the plane of the new President made its way up from Ushuaia. Colonel Domingo Mercante had not been the mastermind of the coup (that honor fell to a troika consisting of the General Staff, the US State Department and the General Confederation of Labor), but as a respected military officer untainted by the worse parts of the Junta and whose connections to the unions could only be rivaled by the Big Man himself he made a perfectly suitable figurehead. An old associate of Juan Peron who had been exiled to a dead-end assignment down south after the ‘47 purge, he was well in the clear that his mandate began and ended with the calling of free elections as soon as possible. President Mercante did just that, and while his own government would among the shorter ones in national history he paved the way for perhaps the most influential Argentinian politician since the war of independence.

Juan Peron (Labor)
1951-1974


The Peron

1951: def. Ricardo Balbin (Authentic Radical Civic Union), Vincente Lima (National Democratic)
1957: def. Ernesto Bravo (Communist)
1963: def. Arturo Frondizi (Radical Civic Union)
1969: def. Ricardo Balbin (Radical Civic Union), Silvio Frondizi (Popular Republican)

Having gone into exile in Mexico after being forced from office in 1947, Colonel Juan Peron had nevertheless managed to preserve a major presences in Argentine politics. Although not a socialist by any means, he had used his position within the military government to maneuver himself into the position as the premiere champion of the large Argentine labor movement. Nominated for the presidency by the newly formed Labor Party he united the unions, the left and reform-minded liberals into an unstoppable coalition that gave him a landslide victory in the 1951 election, the last Argentinian election in the 20th century to go by without serious controversy or allegations of fraud.

The first term of the Peron Presidency would be dominated by the first, and most ambitious of the Argentinian Five Year Plans. The central bank was nationalized, followed by a number of infrastructures and industries. Favorable policies saw a massive expansion of union membership. Social security reached widespread coverage and through a mix of public, union and employer insurances Argentine would become the first country in Latin America to archive something close to universal healthcare. As the five years approached their end the strong post-war economy and the nation’s unbombed industrial base even allowed Peron to boast of the achievement of full employment without fudging too much with the numbers. Far more controversial was the proposed Constitution of 1956. It guaranteed a number of civil, political rights such as freedom of speech, the right to vote (enfranchising Argentinian women for the first time), the right to organize and the right to social security, education and healthcare. While most of this of course would be dismissed as more socialistic drivel by the usual suspects it was more-or-less in line with the “social democracy with the red rose badly painted over” thing the Labor Party had going for it and was far less controversial than the rest of the constitution. Authority was further centralised into the office of the Presidency, and the sacrosanct one-term limit was removed, enabling Peron to set himself up as President for life (or so the opposition claimed). The outrage grew so large that all serious opposition parties boycotted the 1957 elections, declaring that they would lend no legitimacy to the dictatorially inclined President. And thus Juan Peron won his first reelection by a overwhelming margin (if with an embarrassing turnout), facing only token resistance from the communists.

The protests surrounding the constitution and the election made the surviving anti-Peron faction within the military smell blood. Minister of Defense Mercante had replaced most of the high command, but within the officer corps at-large not much had changed since the days of military government. Clandestine meetings were held and feelers were sent out to the opposition and the Americans. Ambassador Wetherby and the major Argentine financial interests were on board for a coup, but as the set date approached someone within the liberal opposition or the US State Department got cold feet (documents declassified last year points to Secretary Douglas himself), and the plan leaked. What followed would not be pretty. With a well organized coup of the menu a series of minor risings, mutinies and attacks took place as the government struck back hard. President Peron abolished the army-aligned Gendarme by decree and created a new National Guard, whose Laborite members soon had arrested over seventeen thousand individuals suspected of treason and sedition. Most were soon released, but by 1965 the number of Argentinians who had sought political asylum in Stroesser's Paraguay, Franco's Spain and von Thadden's Germany could be counted in the tens of thousands. A third of the officer corps was dismissed, and the trials that were held against the thousand or so accused conspirators (a mix of the more annoying opposition figures and actual coup-plotters) could have carried out with more attention given to judicial procedures. The low-water mark would be Bloody Friday, October 28 1960, when nineteen men and three women were executed by firing squad at the National Penitentiary in Buenos Aires. The Red Years of the late fifties and early sixties did more than anything to secure Peron’s position as the Great Satan of the Argentine right. They also made him all but untouchable, with an opposition so browbeaten that not even a clearly aging President, a stagnating political project where each five year plan turned out less ambitious than the last and a political party which grew increasingly fat and corrupt could do much to prevent him from defeating the Radicals in crushing landslides in both 1963 and 1969.

During his quarter-century reign he had not only for better or worse reshaped Argentine society, he dominated it so thoroughly that to this day the one political question that matters is if one is for or against him. He was hated, and not unjustly so, by a large section of his people, not only by the special interests but also by liberals and democrats disgusted by his authoritarian leanings. But to another demographic, among the rural poor and the urban working class, he is revered almost as a saint. On the international stage he clad himself in the mantle of the third world hero, a champion of the global south in general and Latin America in particular against imperialist machinations, but in practice he would always work hard to maintain strong relation with the United States behind the scenes, a fact which surely contributed to the survival of his regime (rumors of UNIT blacksites on Tierra del Fuego are just that, no you’re not allowed to see those documents and that picture of Nixon saluting the President's grave is both slanderous and taken out of context). On August 8, 1974 President Juan Domingo Peron, the Father of the Nation, entered immortality. Argentina will never see his like again.


Deolindo Bittel (Labor)
1974-1975


The People's Placeholder 2.0

As the Big Man’s health had begun to deteriorate in the late 60’s, the Labor Party nomination for Vice President suddenly became very attractive. With bitter factional lines deepening within the ruling party a compromise was hashed out. The left, upset about the increasingly centrist leanings of the government, would get the position to tide them over, but only if they could put forward a man who would be no threat to anyone in the big free-for-all everyone planned for once Peron was safely in the ground. That man was Deolindo Bittel, and he knew his place. A longtime Senator and former Governor from the northern Chaco province, he had been a staple of the socialist-ish wing of the party for decades and had no ambitions whatsoever for national power. As what in a more peaceful country would have been the fight of the century took place in every union hall, province capital and party headquarter in the country he oversaw the daily affairs of the nation, and when the time came to step aside he did so happily.


Ricardo Cano (Labor)
1975-1981


Too Little, Too Late

1975: def. Rogelio Julio Frigerio (Radical Civic Union)

Although originally of the same ideological leanings as his predecessor, President Cano could not have been more different from President Bittel. A surprisingly skilled inter-factional knife fighter, the Cordoba governor had not only united the left around him but also defeated the more right-wing elements of the party which had dominated the later Peron years. In the general election he dispersed the fears that without Peron the liberal right would see a resurgence (and that the Peronist right would bolt the party) by defeating the the old centrist warhorse the Radicals put up after a nomination contest whose bitterness was rivaled only by its Labor equivalent. In office he would do his best to revive the old quasi-social democratic Labor ideals of full employment and social justice, and for the first time in at least a decade some signs of life and renewal could be seen in the bloated corpse of the Labor Party. Unfortunately for him, signs were all they were. Ricardo Cano might have been of the left, but despite claiming the party’s nomination he still existed within a party and government bureaucracy dominated by men like Lorenzo Miguel, the conservative chief of the General Confederation of Labor. Single payer healthcare died after the unions told him to back off, universal child benefits perished in the Social Welfare Ministry’s consultative committee and the very impressive Southern Irrigation Board was very quickly forgotten when the IMF got nervous about how its funding would impact Argentines credit rating. As the term progressed, what momentum existed turned into a slow crawl towards reelection. A stagnating economy, the wear and tear of four decades of government and the candidacy of perhaps the most formidable poltician since Peron’s glory days would crush and crush hard any plans Labor might have had to retain power. Ricardo Cano would become the first Argentinian President to lose reelection, and he did it in a landslide.

Ernesto Guevara (Radical Civic Union)
1981-1987


The Reformer

1981: def. Ricardo Cano (Labor)


Doctor Ernesto Guevara first rose to prominence during the last days of the military regimes of the 1940’s, when he had been a leader of the student opposition to President Pellinger in Buenos Aires. Like most of the rest of the liberal intelligentsia he had supported Peron’s return and first landslide election, but by the time of the President's reelection he had become thoroughly entrenched in the Radical Civil Union. Bouncing back between the Chamber of Deputies and the Cordoba governorship, Guevara first became a contender for the Presidency in 1969 and would remain one from that point on. Dismissed as too left-wing by party powerbrokers he would be exiled to the position of internal opposition leader throughout the 70’s and before the introduction of a Radical primary election ahead of the 1981 Presidential contest he was expected by everyone to stay there. The replacement of the selection convention with a primary election was the result of the tireless work of the reform movement within the Radical Civic Union, and allowed Guevara to swamp his opponents with grassroots support. An all-night party conference prevented any major split, and with a united party and an electrifying campaign of renewal and change he crushed President Cano, 57% to 38%. The President Guevara that took office in 1987 was a very different man than the quasi-socialist troublemaker that had first entered politics four decades earlier. While he didn’t fiddle with the tax rate as much as some of his more conservative supporters might have wanted, his labor reforms, deregulations and privatizations of publicly held industries did much to attract the foreign investments that helped kick off the Argentinian Miracle of the 1980’s. Growth skyrocketed and a new generation of young, educated and well-off professionals would turn Buenos Aires the cultural and nightlife capital of Latin America (or so the Ministry of Tourism claims). A restructured civil code prove less popular in some quarters, but despite pressure from the Church and other political and social groups the President would insist on carrying on with both the introduction of no-fault divorces and strengthening the de-facto legalization of same-sex relations which had been on the books since 1887. With approval ratings in the low 60s, it’s likely that the President would have been easily reelected but with his health failing and an old promise to reintroduce the one-term limit resurfacing (the proposed constitutional reform died in committee in 1985 and was not resurrected), Ernesto Guevara decided to not seek a second term.

Antonio Cafiero (Labor)
1987-1999


The Great Adapter

1987: def. Alejandro Armendáriz (Radical Civic Union), Agustin Tosco (Authentic Labor)
1993: def. Facundo Lastra (Radical Civic Union), Guillermo Estévez Boero (Broad Patriotic Front)



The 1987 election season would go down as one of the more chaotic and farcical in Argentine history. Two bloody, free-for-all nomination contests provided as much fodder for the tabloids as all of the Guevara administration had. The President of the Bank of Argentina was arrested for taking cash from French and Spanish businessmen, as were half a dozen senior labor leaders. The bosses then leaned on half a dozen more who got caught embezzling millions. The original frontrunner to the Radical nomination shot himself after his wife left him for his mistress and fled to Europe with his undisclosed Swiss bank account. The Labor convention crashed after a delegation of leftists unionists and activists simply up and left and sat up shop across the street to nominate their own candidate. The eventual major-party nominees, two senior, serious and centrist political veterans were so boring in their own right that all attention fell on the mud-slinging their far more interesting supporters engaged in. The three-way slugfest came down to the wire, with Labor (or Orthodox Labor, as they were commonly known) and the Radicals clocking in at just under 40% each. The result would be a disappointment for Agustin Tosco’s Popular Movement (Authentic Labor), which when the final vote was counted and Governor Cafiero was declared the victor had proved unable to break out of its base of socialist union workers into the left-liberal middle class or the broader working class. President Cafiero, a pragmatic man if there ever was one, did what was expected of him and after he had reinstated all the right people from the right organizations to the right jobs he went on to do not much at all. Why fix what’s not broken, he wondered, and while the labor movement might complain that they weren’t getting quite the same say as before and more ideologically committed Laborites wonder why the renationalizations aren’t proceeding like they had hoped Antonio Cafiero couldn’t care less. He have foreign investors to keep happy and generous and a boom he can’t afford to end. What’s good for the companies is good for the economy, says President Cafiero, and what’s good for the economy is good for the workers.

And it worked, more or less. How much of that comes down to Cafiero's leadership is debatable, with even the man himself accepting that the opening up of new markets after the admission of the Soviet bloc into the United Nations and the US construction and IT boom was key. But he was a steady hand on the rudder of state, maneuvering his divided country through the end of the first cold war and the start of the second. Although hated (as any Labor President is) by the pro-Franco-Chinese right and despised by the socialist left his death in 2014 would prove a surprisingly genuine moment of collective grief. In a nation marked primarily for its bitter political divide, he would in the end become the closest thing Argentina had to a broadly respected statesman.

Mario Negri (Radical Civic Union)
1999-2005


The Protege

1999: Felipe Solá (Labor), Aldo Rico (Realignment), Patricio Echegaray (Communist)

Mario Negri had always been President Guevarra's man, and while it might've been an insult coming from the mouths of Laboristas or the growing Catholic, anti-UN/pro-ROC right the young President embraced it. He had been his senior aide back in Cordoba since the late 70s, he had organized Dr. Guevarra's victory in the Radical primary back in 1980 and in 1984 he would become the youngest cabinet minister in living memory. Throughout the Cafiero years he had been the champion of the liberal wing of the URC and after a valiant (if failed) stint as Lastra's running mate in 93 he had paid enough dues to take a serious shot at the Radical nomination. On the young side for Argentine politics, he nevertheless (or perhaps thanks to) emerged as the natural successor to what was now being called the Guevarra-Cafiero or Post-Peron consensus. With the right mix of dynamic, safe, fresh and experience he cleaned the board with his far grayer Labor competitor (who had to face off a surprisingly strong communist challenger to his own left) and could waltz into the Casa Rosada with an enviable mandate.

What happened then is a tale that can be told in two ways. One is that of a competent, reform-minded statesman whose many accomplishments in transforming a mid-century economy into one ready to face the internet era and reestablishing Argentina as a serious and constructive player on the international scene (Negri got on particularly well with President Ivins, and would deliver a eulogy on her 2009 funeral) was swept aside by economic forces outside of his control and an almost outright anti-democratic opposition. The other tells the story of an arrogant and elitist technocrat more interested in making fancy friends in Washington, New York, Berlin and Tokyo than looking out for the common man. A man who failed to see the natural consequences of two decades of deregulations. Perhaps if the Labor candidate had been literally any other man government might've been able to sell its own version of events. But he wasn't, so they didn't.



Diego Maradona (Labor)
2005-2021


The Diego

2005: def. Mario Negri (Radical Civic Union - 'Unity for Democracy'), Aldo Rico (Realignment)
2011: def. Gustavo Obeid (Realignment - 'For the Course of the Nation), Roy Nikisch (Radical Civic Union)
2017: def. Marcos Peña (Radical Civic Union - Opposition Labor), Margarita Stolbizer (Radical Civic Union - Socialist), Gustavo Obeid (Realignment)

“In Argentina there is only one God, and His name is Diego,” a Canadian journalist once wrote, and while that’s obviously not correct it does get the general point across. The greatest football player of his generation, possibly ever. An icon by the age of 20, his profile would only grow over the years as he carried Leeds United to back-to-back victories in what was then the Grand League, became the uncrowned king of Sevilla and spearheaded the team that turned A.C. Milan into the champions of european football through the late 80s and early 90s. Then came los hermosos cinco, the five final minutes that turned the outplayed and outmatched Argentinian national team from sure losers to clear winners at the 1990 world cup finale against the gigantic German team. In the words of another commentator, Diego Maradona walked in as a hero among men and walked out the second son of God.

Politically he had always aligned with the Labor Party and the left (in that order), but between a somewhat extravagant and indiscreet lifestyle and a lack of interest in the more serious matters surrounding political life it was probably destined to stay as a general interest. That is, until the machinations of the Labor Party intrigue turned their eyes on him. At the dawn of the 21st century the Peronista left had been on the defensive for a generation. They technically held a plurality of party offices, legislators and Labor-controlled provinces but between infighting, a few unfortunate splits and the tight alliances between the party technocrats, the state bureaucracy and the union leadership they always fell just about short. Tired of the post-Peron consensus (or just of being shut out of serious power) a clique of young(-ish) and ambitious left-leaning laborista politicians began to plot. An attempt to push senior union chief and powerbroker Raimundo Ongaro in 1999 had ended in disaster and none of them had the clout to make a run of their own, so they were forced to think outside the box. The idea to approach the football legend is commonly credited to the talented wife of a then-obscure provincial governor associated with the group, but no matter who supplied the suggestion feelers were sent out, and Maradona proved somewhat open to the idea. Getting him through the Labor nominating convention would prove hard, with both masterful backroom maneuvering and a spontaneous stampede by technically hostile delegates to Maradona after he made it clear that he would accept the Labor Party candidacy if selected.

Despite - or perhaps thanks to - a number of gafes which would kill any other candidate (the first in a long, long line) getting the most popular man in the country to destroy one of the least would prove an easy task. El Diego delivered a message that hadn’t been heard in Argentina with quite that fervor for 50 years that it made the great mass of voters ignore the warnings of Sensible Men in the media regarding his actual qualifications to run a nation and the integrity of the men behind him. And they were right, to a point. No one would ever claim that Diego Maradona was ever very involved with the actual running of government. He made public appearances (never with any cocaine in his bloodstream, that’s Radical slander), interacted with his people, played football with the Pope and Chancellor Stoiber, shook hands with President Huan, joked around with President Petty Wolf and publicly embarrassed Premiere Pugo. Public policy? He had people for that, all he had to do was fight for the people and the cause of old Juan and his Evita. And he did have people for that. First came Cabinet Chief Kirchener, then after his death (with his widow safely posted as Ambassador to Dublin) came Vice Presidents Bongiorno and the Gang of Three. They pursued a - in the non-partisan sense - radical agenda of renationalising much of Argentina’s natural resources, empowered the labor movement (run by their allies), oversaw a relatively consistent rise in the standard of living and effectively eliminated child poverty. That their economic policies missed almost as often as not, or that they lined their own pockets wherever they could (all charges dismissed by the supreme court) would not matter as much as one would expect. Perhaps it was because of the real results they delivered for the Argentinian working class, or perhaps it was due to the increasingly authoritarian methods and rank populism employed by the ruling party, but the Labor Party have enjoyed consistent majorities since 2005 and reelected President Maradona time and time again. The Radical line that all the government needs to do in the face of any scandal or difficult election is simply to send out the President to kick some ball is perhaps a tad unfair, but it’s not really inaccurate.

Unfortunately, building a political movement around a man with a at best distant relationship with his own health must always be a temporary project, and on January 21 2021 it came to an end. Diego Armando Maradona, a man loved and despised as few others faced his creator, and was escorted to his final rest by millions of mourners.


Juan Abal Medina (Labor)
2021-


The Partisan

Juan Medina have the movement in his blood, quite literally. His father was a key member of the last Peron administration, and he won his first election to the Chamber of Deputies at the age of 25. A junior member of the original Maradonaista clique, he had served loyally throughout several Major Domos (as the person holding real power in the Maradona governments were called) until he, as Government leader in the lower chamber took part in a coup against Vice President Bongiorno and took her place on the 2017 ticket. Forming the Gang of Three with the Goija brothers, he had already served as the de-facto leader of the country at the time of his ascension. But the role of the man behind the throne is quite different from that of the man who wears the crown, and few would call him a favourite for next year's Presidential election.
I was punching the air by the end of it
You seem to have built an argentina that's far better and far more interesting than otl lol
 
Starmerpunk

2019-2022: Boris Johnson (Conservative)
2019: Boris Johnson (Conservative) [365] Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) [202] Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) [48] Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat) [11] Arlene Foster (DUP) [8] Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Fein) [7] Adam Price (Plaid Cymru) [4] Colum Eastwood (SDLP) [2] Sian Berry and Jon Bartley (Green Party England & Wales) [1] Naomi Long (Alliance) [1] Lindsay Hoyle (Speaker) [1]

Boris Johnson left office of his own volition having got the country through Brexit and COVID and also several nasty financial and sex scandals involving members of his cabinet, usually himself. By 2022 questions were piling up about the COVID Independent Investigation into government actions and how many died. Boris decided, of his own choice and with no compulsion, to leave office.

2022-2024: Priti Patel (Conservative)

Initially popular; Patel pushed a strategy she described as "The British Reawakening" - the Festival of Britain; enforcing a law that all schools should fly the Union Jack; the new Ministry of British Values worked on promoting British culture and values in areas where it was considered to have negative associations, such as Pride, mosques, youth groups, etc. The new Migration Ministry was tasked with looking for ways to tackle the skills shortage and new options were created such as residential work placement programmes in farming for the long term unemployed, and an opportunity for students to offset course costs by participating in work placement programmes.

The death of the Queen and the ensuing funeral and coronation tested the utility of new crimes such as indirect online abuse (designed as a online version of the rule protecting public statues) and the new legal responsibility for schools to promote British values. Shortly after, a ban on VPNs and encryption came into place.

While all this was relatively popular, many felt that Priti Patel herself was untrustworthy, too weak, too unemotional, and finally, too indecisive. She was seen as weak for allowing a second Scottish referendum to take place in 2023 and while Scotland remained in the UK it was seen as no thanks to her. By September 2024 everyone had been expecting an election for two and a half years and her failure to call one was seen as weakness.

2024-2032: Keir Starmer (Labour)

2024: Keir Starmer (Labour) [305] Priti Patel (Conservative) [274] Michael Matheson (SNP) [39] Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat) [9] Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Fein) [7] Naomi Long (Alliance) [6] Adam Price (Plaid Cymru) [4] Edwin Poots (DUP) [3] Doug Beattie UUP [2] Cleo Lake and Jon Bartley (Green Party England & Wales) [1]

Starmer did not win a majority, but he had a confidence and supply arrangement with the SNP and was able to maintain a basic government achieving much of what he wanted. On trans issues, the need to prove mental sufferring caused by dysphoria was replaced with a requirement for a doctor to prove the person is of sound body and mind, and two consultations into the Gender Recognition Act took place. On patriotism issues, Scottish and Welsh schools won the right to fly national flags, and got greater devolution. A further £80 billion was released for HS2 to complete phase 1 by 2035.

The NHS received a boost in funding, as did the new green investment bank, however the government offset the cost of this by unrestricting tuition fees, scrapping the house of commons refit plans, and other cost-saving measures.

2028: Keir Starmer (Labour) [332] Liz Truss (Conservative) [287] Nualla McAllister (Alliance) [12] Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) [11] Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat) [9] Helen Mary Jones (Plaid Cymru) [6] Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Fein) [5] Magid Magid and Alexandra Philips (Green Party England & Wales) [4] Rishi Sunak (One Nation) [3] Emma Little Pengally (UUP) [1]

Starmer's second term, with a majority, was taken as his opportunity to finally implement his vision for Britain. The commitment for schools and public bodies to promote British values was replaced by a comprehensive anti-radicalisation and mental health plan, individual to each student. An independent enquiry into COVID began in 2030. New internet passports made it more possible to track individual users and wipe out online abuse and formed the basis for new free ID cards people could use to vote. A third consultation on the Gender Recognition Act promised more than any other, including recognition of non-binary people and 16-18 year olds. New government backed private degree loans allowed people to pay the excess costs of a degree not covered by the Student Loan Company. In 2029, the House of Lords was replaced with a senate that was 50% directly elected and 50% appointed by the House of Commons.

However, Starmer was himself increasingly unpopular, and his government was riven with disputes. Particularly in his handling of eco-terrorism, radicalisation, police brutality, and the Barnsley Massacre. The final nail in his coffin was his inability to prevent Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland from holding simultaenous independence referendums. This was the final nail in his coffin, particularly as Northern Ireland elected to become an Autonomous Republic within Ireland.

2030-2040: Andy Burnham (Labour)

2030: Andy Burnham (Labour) [342] Esther McVey (Conservative) [249] Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat) [18] Helen Mary Jones (Plaid Cymru) [15] Jo Cherry (SNP) [13] Zack Polanski (Green Party England & Wales) [9] Rishi Sunak (One Nation) [5]
Burnham was elected with a landslide over Angela Rayner and put forward a plan for rebuilding. More importantly, he immediately called an election and won easily against a divided Conservative Party, whose moderates had recently split.

The new government implemented a National Police Service and a new Data Analysis Cross-Referencing Identification and Retention Act (DACRIR) which allowed the government to store voice and video recordings and form digital profiles of individuals attached to their Internet Passport. A new multi-tiered approach to radicalising organisations recognised the idea that radicalisation is a pipeline and attempted to monitor and control access to pre-criminal stages.

On a social welfare note, Burnham's government introduced a University Voucher system that substantially reduced the cost of education, and abolished residential workfare. The rail network was renationalised, with the plan that it would be ready for the first stage of HS2 to open in 2038. The school service was also renationalised. With schools offered the option to remain as private companies or rejoin the public sector under the new National Education Service.
2035: Andy Burnham (Labour) [353] Charlie Wilson (Democratic Party) [219] Roza Salih (SNP) [26] Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat) [22] Heledd Fychan (Plaid Cymru) [19] Charlie Caine (Green Party England & Wales) [14] Rosie Duffield (One Nation) [8]

Burnham's second term started, for the fourth time, with an increased majority, The Tories had begun to reform under their billionaire leader with a still incoherent policy platform.

Labour, however, was also struggling to form a coherent platform. With the development of a full set of regional mayors and unitary councils, Labour's constitutional goals were completed, HS2 stage 1 was progressing nicely, and a new tranche of NES schools were coming together. A new National Investigation Service was created to manage growing illegal immigration, eco-terrorism, and organised crime. A new social housing initiative was launched and a new government backed saving plan was set up to help millennials without housing/pensions to save for retirement.

Burnham made the decision to remain uninvolved in the Estonian War, citing memories of Iraq in his biography. The decision did, however, cause a rift between the UK and the EU-US alliance that would grow more massive as time went on and was the beginning of British isolationism.

Labour made attempts to deal with the growing forces of the far-right and left. By 2040, support for the Monarchy was a minority opinion, while the far-right ultra nationalist Movement For Britain won councils in some areas. part There was growing agitation for vast political and social reform. Labour moved to a 100% elected House of Lords. The Gender Identity Act passed in 2036 and made Britain the 36th country to recognise gender self-id without a doctor's assessment. Britain also became the 21st country to recognise non-binary identities. They also started a consultation to launch a form of national service, which they hoped would both curtail the growth of the far-left and placate the far-right.

2040-2045: Paris Lees (Democratic Party)

2040: Paris Lees (Democratic Party) [355] Andy Burnham (Labour) [212] Roza Salih (SNP) [24] Charlie Caine (Green Party England & Wales) [21] Chris Annous (Liberal Democrat) [15] Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru) [17] Ruth Smeeth (One Nation) [4] Jack Buckby (Movement For Britain) [4]

Elected on the back of policy missteps, ecological collapse and recession, Paris Lees was the first transgender Prime Minister of the UK and a moderate within the Democrats - one who would never have been at home in the old Conservatives. The new government had a radical set of policies - abolishing DACRIR, reforming the National Police Force to follow a federal structure, a new Ministry of Geoengineering was established to deal with global climate change and in 2041 HS2 was officially shelved and replaced with a plan for a National Maglev Network which was hoped would link London to Birmingham in six minutes and would be operational by 2061.

The Government's new Rent Prioritisation Policy changed housing - it allowed renters to buy and earn shares in rental firms and benefit from the housing market. In 2040 31.7% of people still owned their own home. By 2045 this was down to 20.5% and over half of UK housing stock was owned by housing companies.

Paris pushed ahead on social matters. By putting transgender healthcare into the hands of GPs the average wait time for HRT went down from 5 years to a matter of months. Intersex infant genital surgeries were banned, Britain became the third country in the world to legalise polyamorous marriage, and marijuana was legalised. Pris has even pushed the COVID enquiry, which reported in 2047 to the embarrassment of many older members of the party's right.

Constitutionally, the Democrats are replacing the mess of English mayoralties and Unitary Councils with regional parliaments. But the biggest achievement was the Monarchy Referendum of 2044, which implemented "soft republicanism" - The Senate will elect a President from candidates selected by the Commons. King William retained the crown in a purely ceremonial capacity, with some rights to claim funding through the Crown Estate Trust.

Arguably the biggest achievement was the election of Ollie Middleton, from the right of the Labour Party. Labour has been on board with a large number of Democratic policies and has even assisted in dealing with Paris' own right wing rebels. Political commentators are talking about a new era of consensus in politics. Middleton, keen on feminism, has placed women into positions shadowing all the great offices of state. Many commentators believe it is likely that Labour's first female leader will be elected before 2060.
 
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1932:Edgar Lincoln Democratic John Nance Garner
def:Herbet Hoover Curtis Republican
1960: Edgar Lincoln Democratic Hubert Humphrey

A senator from Illinois like his famous grandfather elected to the presidency at age 45.bowed out of reelection recovering from a assaigns bullet.suceeded by Fdr then Eisenhower. defeated Richard Nixon to win non consecutive term at age 72.
 
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@Sideways: This is a nice change from your previous lists. Characteristically Sideways still, and definitely your best yet.

The Tories having a trans Prime Minister is very Starmerpunk, lmao. I could actually see myself voting Conservative Democratic in this world.

I do have to say I do love the solution you did to the monarchy question. It is very "have your cake and eat it", a very Tory answer.
 
1992: George H. Bush Republican Dan Quayle
Def: William Jefferson Clinton Democratic Albert Gore j.r.
Def: Ross Perrot Independent Dan Choate

1996: Albert Gore j.r.Democratic Bill Bradley
Def: Jack Kemp Republican Liz Dole
2000: Albert Gore Democratic Bill Bradley
Def: John Mcain Republican Richard Cheney
 
@Sideways: This is a nice change from your previous lists. Characteristically Sideways still, and definitely your best yet.

The Tories having a trans Prime Minister is very Starmerpunk, lmao. I could actually see myself voting Conservative Democratic in this world.

I do have to say I do love the solution you did to the monarchy question. It is very "have your cake and eat it", a very Tory answer.

Thank you, that means a lot, coming from you.

Yeah, I'm kind of imagining the Democrats as a party that's eyeing the rise of the left and leftist ideas carefully and is trying to get the jump on changes that are starting to seem inevitable before they get taken up in some uncontrolled way. Also, a good chunk of "pissed off with the general malaise of British politics" voters/activists
 
Thank you, that means a lot, coming from you.

Yeah, I'm kind of imagining the Democrats as a party that's eyeing the rise of the left and leftist ideas carefully and is trying to get the jump on changes that are starting to seem inevitable before they get taken up in some uncontrolled way. Also, a good chunk of "pissed off with the general malaise of British politics" voters/activists
So in a sense they're actually One Nation Tory, unlike the bullshit One Nation Toryism May and Boris claimed to be.
 
1976-1980: James Callaghan (Labour)
1978 (Majority) def: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative), David Steel (Liberal)
1980-1982: Eric Varley (Labour)
1982-1989: Peter Walker (Conservative)
1982 (Majority) def: Eric Varley (Labour), David Steel (Liberal), Douglas Henderson replacing Gordon Wilson (SNP)
1986 (Majority) def: Neil Kinnock (Labour), David Penhaligon (Liberal), Douglas Henderson (SNP)

1989-1991: Tom King (Conservative)
1991-: David Blunkett (Labour)

1991 (Majority) def: Tom King (Conservative), David Penhaligon-Sara Parkin (Alliance 90’), Margaret Ewing (SNP), David Owen (Reform)

Callaghan decides to call and manages to win the 78’ election and gain a decent majority as a result. Not long after the men in grey suits push Thatcher aside and the Unity candidate of Walker wins decisively. Callaghan eventually throws in the towel after a couple of years and after a leadership election that see’s the Soft Left and the Right beat the shit out of each other the wonky Unity candidate of Eric Varley wins on a message of bland Gaitskellite Euroscepticism.

Economic problems still occur and whilst Varley does manage to pull the country out of recession (through unpopular austerity measures) problems with Unions and Crime in the inner cities causes the Conservative’s to win on a policy of law and order and greater economic strength. The SNP manage to rocket back too as Gordon Wilson stumbles and is replaced by Douglas Henderson.

Peter Walker brings about Monetarist Lite policies, austerity is curtailed after awhile with money being pumped into inner cities as part of Home Secretary Heseltine’s ‘City Rejuvenation Scheme’. Unions are still curtailed though Scargill’s grand plans for a Miners Strike with Flying Pickets as main attack force are put on hold when he’s ousted in a leadership election brought about by a vote of no confidence, which is won by Moderate Rival Tommy Bartle who commits to a more traditional strike in 84’ and loses.

Meanwhile in Labour, Neil Kinnock wins the Post 82’ leadership election against the Bennite persuasion but is unable to push through the modernisation agenda he would want, if anything it’s worse as the Bennites manage to find a more capable leader in Ken Coates who steers the Left away from State Socialism of the 70s towards a more Municipal style model under the guise of the ‘Labour Action Group’.

The 1986 election is another victory for Walker, with only minor gains for Labour, with mainly the Liberals under David Penhaligon being the main benefactors of that election. Walker is ecstatic as he carries on his Monetarist plans to Liberalise Britain. As Kinnock sinks into depression and the factional fighting begins again, Walker seems unstoppable.

That is until he’s crippled by an PIRA bomb aimed at Northern Irish Secretary Ian Gow. The country is thrown into disarray and the Conservative leadership election that follows is a bitter one that leads to no one being particularly happy with the result as Tom King manages to edge himself into No 10 against a crowded field. Around the same time, Kinnock battles a leadership election against John Smith and when he does worse than expected he resigns. The hope for the Labour Right that John Smith will take over is sullied by his sudden death whilst Munro Bagging. In the vacuum that ensues, David Blunkett becomes the Unity candidate who’s lack of parliamentary experience is outweighed by his successful gig in charge of Sheffield Council.

1990 brings with it new opportunities and trials for Labour, as the appearance of the so called Poll Tax leads to widespread rioting and civil unrest. King retreats from the tax but finds himself losing support and is only saved by the fact that the potential leadership challenger ends up being Jerry Hayes. But Labour’s fortunes briefly hit a speed bump when David Owen, a pariah within the Labour Party decides he’s had enough and starts the Reform Party with a number of similar likeminded Labour MPs.

At first Reform bites into Labour as polls see a slow rise for King’s Conservative’s. But Reform’s message of Radical Centerism and Lite Euroscepticism takes root in the Suburbs and the Conservative’s see a massive dip in support, which is increase by the successful creation of the Alliance 90’ between the Liberals and Greens who manage to gain support from the rural areas.

When the 1991 election comes around for many there is a sense that whoever will win will be a minority government. When Blunkett manages to win a majority of 7 it surprises many but Blunkett takes to government with zeal. But his Soft Left credentials mean little as his government becomes a force of grumpy mildly socially conservative Social Democracy.

It’s now 1993, Blunkett now has a majority of 5 due to a by election defeat and ‘Lol’ Duffy being forced out of the Labour Party leading to him sitting as an Independent Labour MP. The Labour Action Group now has more power than ever, but many in the Labour Right like John Spellar and Gordon Brown would rather see them purged from the party than rely on there support.

As a Government hangs in the balance, a by election looms as Nottingham East MP, Dermot Arthur resigns due to family trouble. Hopes amongst the local parties for a local candidate are dashed when Geoff Hoon, a Blunkettite Staffer is imposed on the CLP. Seeing an opportunity, a group of Socialists implore Nottinghamshire Left Wing Legend, John Peck to stand, but content with his council position he declines. But he does suggest a replacement.

Mark Ashton, a veteran of LGSM, of Anti-Poll Tax demonstrations and one of the few to join Dave Cook’s nascent Green Left Alliance, Ashton has made a name for himself on the British Left. Through the support of his former Communists comrades, the local Alliance group and even a Labour Action Group MP Alan Simpson, Ashton seems ready to pull off the impossible...
 
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So I wrote a timeline.

Presidents of Liberia
Country declared independence from the American Colonization Society in 1847:

1848-1856: Joseph Jenkins Roberts (Independent/Republican)

1847: def Samuel Benedict (Anti-Administration)
1849: uncontested
1851: uncontested
1853: uncontested

1856-1864: Stephen Allen Benson (Independent/Republican)
1855: uncontested
1857: uncontested
1859: uncontested
1861: uncontested

1864-1868: Daniel Bashiel Warner (Republican)
1863: uncontested
1865: uncontested

1869-1870: James Spriggs Payne (Republican)
1867: def Edward James Roye (True Whig)
1870-1871: Edward James Roye (True Whig)- Killed during Republican Uprising
1869: def James Spriggs Payne (Republican)
1871: James Skivring Smith (True Whig) - Killed during Republican Uprising
1871-1872: Hilary Richard Wright Johnson (True Whig)- Resigned mid term
1872-1881: Edward Wilmot Blyden (True Whig)

1873: uncontested
1877: def Selim Aga (Independent)

1881-1889: Benjamin Joseph Knight Anderson (Christian)
1881: def William Spencer Anderson (True Whig)
1885: def William Spencer Anderson (True Whig)

1889-1893: Joseph James Cheeseman (Christian)
1889: def Joseph J. Ross (True Whig)
1893-1897: Doblee Zeppey (True Whig)
1893: def Joseph James Cheeseman (Christian)
1897-1913: Momulu Massaquoi (True Whig)
1897: def Arthur Barclay (Christian)
1901: def Joseph D . Summerville (Christian)
1905: def James A Toliver (Christian)
1909: def Garretson W. Gibson (Christian), Gueh-Gueh (All-Liberia)

1913-1921: Henry Too Wesley (Patriotic Union)
1913: def Momulu Massaquoi (True Whig)
1917: def Gabriel Moore Johnson (True Whig)

1921: Gabriel Moore Johnson (True Whig) - Resigned mid term
1921: def Henry Too Wesley (Patriotic Union)
1921-1926: Marcus Garvey (True Whig) - Killed during the French Occupation
1925: def Mulbah Yongo (Patriotic Union)
1926-29: Allen Yancy (True Whig)
1929-36: Thomas Jefferson Richelieu Faulkner (Patriotic Union) - Died of Natural Causes

1929: def Allen Yancy (True Whig)
1933: def Isaac Theophilus Akunna Wallace-Johnson (Socialist)

1936-37: Clarence Gray (Patriotic Union)
1937-45: Abdourahmane Sinkoun Kaba (True Whig)

1937: def Clarence Gray (Patriotic Union), Isaac Theophilus Akunna Wallace-Johnson (Socialist)
1941: def Clarence Gray (Patriotic Union), Isaac Theophilus Akunna Wallace-Johnson (Socialist)

1945-53: Nathaniel Varney Massaquoi (True Whig)
1945: def Clarence Gray (Patriotic Union), Isaac Theophilus Akunna Wallace-Johnson (Socialist)
1949: def Plenyolo Gbe Wolo (Patriotic Union), Isaac Theophilus Akunna Wallace-Johnson (Socialist)

1953-57: Alexander Harper (Patriotic Union)
1953: def Nathaniel Varney Massaquoi (True Whig), Ahmed Sékou Turé (Socialist)
1957-64: Hortense Sie (True Whig) - Resigned mid term
1957: def Alexander Harper (Patriotic Union), Ahmed Sékou Turé (Socialist)
1961: def Ahmed Sékou Turé (Socialist), Edwin Barclay (Patriotic Union)

1964-69: Albert Porte (True Whig)
1965: def Bennie Dee Warner (Patriotic Union), William Tolbert (Socialist)
1969-73: Henry Fomba Moniba (True Whig)
1969: def William Tolbert (Socialist), Bennie Dee Warner (Patriotic Union)
1973-81: Togba-Nah Tipoteh (Socialist)
1973: def Henry Fomba Moniba (True Whig), Cletus Wotorson (Patriotic Union)
1977: def Chea Cheapoo (True Whig), Cletus Wotorson (Patriotic Union)

1981-85: Angie Brooks (Socialist)
1981: def Ruth Sando Fahnbulleh Massaquoi (True Whig), Gabriel Kpolleh (Patriotic Union)
1985: Lansana Conté (True Whig) - Killed during the Agacher Strip War
1985: def Angie Brooks (Socialist), Gabriel Kpolleh (Patriotic Union)
1985-93: Kafumba F. Konneh (True Whig)
1989: def Angie Brooks (Socialist), Enoch Dogolea (Patriotic Union)
1993-97: Oscar Jaryee Quiah (True Whig)
1993: def Joseph Woah-Tee (Socialist), Thomas Gankama-Quiwonkpwa (Patriotic Union), Alpha Condé (Guinea Nationalist Party), Alexander Louis Peal (Country Party), Thierno Abdourahmane Bah (Islamic party), Ismael Gushein (Landless People's Party), Pearl Brown Bull (Progressive Christian party), Charles Taylor (Liberian Capitalist Party)

Country dissolved into the West African Federation in 1997.

Leaders of Sierra Leone
British Colony until 1961: 1947 constitution expanded the Legislative Council to 35 members.

1951-64: Prime Minister Milton Margai (Sierra Leone People's Party) - Died of Natural Causes
1951 (coalition with independents): def C M A Thompson (National Council), Herbert Bankole-Bright (True Whig)
1957 (coalition with independents): def Herbert Bankole-Bright (True Whig), C M A Thompson (National Council), J C O Crowther (Independence Movement)
1962 (coalition with independents): def Tamba Sungu Mbriwa (True Whig), Siaka Stevens (All Peoples Congress)


Independence in 1961 as Monarchy with Elizabeth II as head of state.

1964-67: Prime Minister Albert Margai (Sierra Leone People's Party)


Coup by the army after the 1967 Election sees a True Whig victory.

Martial Law under David Lansana
David Lansana
overthrown by National Reformation Council
National Reformation Council
overthrown by Anti-Corruption Revolutionary Movement

Democratically elected leader invited back into the country in 1968.

1968-1971: Prime Minister Sorie Ibrahim Koroma (True Whig)
1967 (Majority): def Albert Margai (Sierra Leone People's Party)

Monarchy abolished in 1971 and replaced with Presidential system.

1971-1979: President Sorie Ibrahim Koroma (True Whig)

1971: def Robert Granville Ojumiri King (Sierra Leone People's Party)
1975: def Albert Demby (Sierra Leone People's Party)

1979-1987: President Albert Demby (Sierra Leone People's Party)
1979: def Sorie Ibrahim Koroma (True Whig)
1983: def Sorie Ibrahim Koroma (True Whig)

1987-1997: President John Karefa-Smart (Transformation)
1987: def Albert Demby (Sierra Leone People's Party)
1991: def Abdulai Osman Conteh (Sierra Leone People's Party)
1995: def Solomon Berewa (Sierra Leone People's Party), John Arouna Karimu (Union Party)


Post 1971 Prime Ministers are simply Majority Leaders within the Assembly and so not always in Government

1971-76: Prime Minister Solomon Seisay (True Whig)
1973: def Salia Jusu-Sheriff (Sierra Leone People's Party)
1976-88: Prime Minister Salia Jusu-Sheriff (Sierra Leone People's Party)
1976: def Solomon Seisay (True Whig)
1982: def Momodu Munu (True Whig)

1988-97: Prime Minister Mana Kpaka (Transformation)
1988: def Salia Jusu-Sheriff (Sierra Leone People's Party)
1994: def Francis Obai Kabia (Sierra Leone People's Party), John Arouna Karimu (Union Party)


Country dissolved into the West African Federation in 1997.

Leaders of Guinea-Conakry
French Colony until 1960
Part of Mali Federation from 1960 to 1968

1968-1969: President Saifoulaye Diallo (Socialist) - Killed during the Portuguese Invasion

1968: uncontested
1969-1975: President Diallo Telli (Socialist)
1974: uncontested

Country dissolved into Liberia in 1975.

Leaders of Guinea-Bissau
Portuguese Colony until 1973

1973-80: President Luís Cabral (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde)

1977: uncontested
Cabral overthrown by Coup in 1980
1980-94: President João Bernardo Vieira (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde)

1984: uncontested
1989: uncontested

1994-97: President Carmen Pereira (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde)
1994: def Domingos Fernandes (Batefa Party), Kumba Ialá (Democratic Party), Veríssimo Correia Seabra (Struggle Front)

Country dissolved into the West African Federation in 1997.

Executive Council members of the West African Federation
Decisions made by a five person executive council of the elected leaders from each nation. Ceremonial Executive President role is rotating.

Guinea-Bissau

1997-2004: - Carmen Periera (African Party)

1999: def Domingos Fernandes (Batefa Party), Kumba Ialá (Democratic Party), Veríssimo Correia Seabra (Struggle Front)
2004-2014: - Francisco Fadul (African Party)
2004: def Batista Tagme Na Waie (Struggle Front), Idrissa Djaló (Batefa Party)
2009: def Aregado Mantenque Té (Struggle Front)

2014-2019: - Malam Bacai Sanhá (African Party)
2014: def Aregado Mantenque Té (Struggle Front), Kumba Iala (Social Renewal)
2019-: Nuno Gomes Nabiam (Struggle Front)
2019: def Malam Bacai Sanhá (African Party), Mamadu Iaia Djaló (Social Renewal)

Guinea-Conakry

1997-: Alpha Condé (Guinea Nationalist Party)

1996: def Mamadou Boye Bah (True Whig), Ismael Gushein (Landless People's Party), Mahawa Bangoura (Socialist Party)
2000: def Ismael Gushein (Landless People's Party), Mamadou Boye Bah (True Whig)
2004: def Ismael Gushein (Landless People's Party), El Hajj Aboubacar Somparé (True Whig)
2008: def Rabiatou Serah Diallo (Landless People's Party), El Hadj Camara (Islamic Party)
2012: def Rabiatou Serah Diallo (Landless People's Party), El Hadj Camara (Islamic Party)
2014: def Rabiatou Serah Diallo (Landless People's Party), El Hadj Camara (Islamic Party)
2018: def Ismael Gushein (Landless People's Party)


Liberia-Kankan

1997-2004: George Doré (True Whig)

1996: def Thomas Lansana Beavogui (Socialist Party), Thierno Abdourahmane Bah (Islamic party)
2000: def Koutoub Moustapha Sano (Islamic party), Hortense Martin Cissé (Socialist Party)

2004-2012: Charles Niankoye Fassou Sagno (True Whig)
2004: def Koutoub Moustapha Sano (Islamic party), Kabiné Komara (Socialist Party)
2008: def Koutoub Moustapha Sano (Islamic party), Kabiné Komara (Socialist Party)

2012-: Moussa Camara (Islamic Party)
2012: def Charles Niankoye Fassou Sagno (True Whig), Ibrahima Fofana (Socialist Party)
2016: def Djéné Kaba (True Whig), Yamadou Turé, (Socialist Party)
2020: def Djéné Kaba (True Whig), Nancee Bright (Country Party), Yamadou Ture (Socialist Party)


Liberia-Monrovia

1997: Oscar Jaryee Quiah (True Whig)
1997-2005: Amos Sawyer
(Socialist)

1997: def Oscar Jaryee Quiah (True Whig), Thomas Gankama-Quiwonkpwa (Patriotic Union), Alexander Louis Peal (Country Party), Pearl Brown Bull (Progressive Christian Party), Charles Taylor (Liberian Capitalist Party)
2001: def George Eutychianus Saigbe Boley (True Whig), Alfred Lahai Gbabai Brownell (Country Party), Thomas Gankama-Quiwonkpwa (Patriotic Union), Pearl Brown Bull (Progressive Christian Party), Jewel Howard (Liberian Capitalist Party)

2005-2008: Sekou Conneh (Socialist) - Resigned mid term
2005: def Jaybloh Nagbe Sloh (Traditional Alliance/True Whig)
2008-2017: Ellen Carney Woewiyu (Socialist)
2009: def Jaybloh Nagbe Sloh (Traditional Alliance/True Whig)
2013: def Leymah Gbowee (True Whig), Harry Varney Gboto-Nambi Sherman (Patriotic Union), Silas Kpanan'Ayoung Siakor (Country Party), George Weah (Liberian Capitalist Party)

2017- Jehmu Greene (Green Alliance/True Whig)
2017: def MacDonald Wento (Socialist), Benoni Urey (Patriotic Union), MacDella Cooper (Progressive Christian Party), Richelieu Dennis (Liberian Capitalist Party)

Sierra Leone

1997-1999: John Karefa-Smart (Transformation)
1999-2007: Edward Turay (Transformation)

1999: def Solomon Berewa (Sierra Leone People's Party), John Arouna Karimu (Union Party)
2003: def Ernest Bai Komora (Union Party), Abdul Kady Karim (Sierra Leone People's Party)

2003-2011: Ernest Bai Komora (Union Party)
2003: def Edward Turay (Tranformation), Julius Maada Bio (Sierra Leone People's Party)
2007: def Alhaji Samuel Sidique Sam-Sumana (Transformation), Julius Maada Bio (Sierra Leone People's Party), Nemata Majeks-Walker (Women's Party)

2011-2015: John Onoje (Union Party)
2011: def John Caulker (Transformation), Samura Kamara (Sierra Leone People's Party), Femi Claudius Cole (Women's Party)
2015-: John Caulker (Transformation)
2015: def John Onoje (Union Party), Bernadette Lahai (Sierra Leone People's Party), Salamatu Kamara (Women's Party)
2019: def Bernadette Lahai (Sierra Leone People's Party), Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh (Union Party)
 
So Liberia was more successful in taking the interior and then ate the smaller coastal French Guinea but the WAF allowed the Guinean nationalists to win back power there?

Yeah, basically. But also the formation of the WAF gave Monrovia an excuse to give further control to Conakry and preempt a civil war,
 
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