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"Hipster" Politicians Thread

Halyna Chomiak, a lawyer and activist, nearly won Edmonton Strathcona for the NDP in 1988, and would later help draft the Ukrainian constitution. More interesting, though, is the fact that she’s the mum of current Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland. Say her political career goes in a slightly different direction and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to see Freeland as a New Democrat and/or an Alberta politician.
 
Relatedly, Ed Brown - father of Patrick, the current Conservative leadership candidate and Mayor of Brampton - also ran for the NDP, losing in 1979 and 1980 in the then-safe Liberal seat of Davenport. Say Ed runs in a neighboring riding instead, or the larger political landscape of the 1980s is different (this article indicates that Patrick first became interested in politics after writing a letter to PM Mulroney for a grade school project), it wouldn't be unreasonable to imagine Patrick as either a New Democrat (if he takes after his father) or a Liberal (if they're in power instead of Mulroney).

(Also, that article is pretty interesting for a lot of other reasons: one anecdote it mentions is that in 1994, when Brown was 16, he was visiting his aunt and uncle when he learned that one of their neighbours was Jean Charest, and then immediately walked over and invited himself in for tea. Kind of fun considering the leadership race going on right now).
 
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Bessie Braddock is someone I feel like everyone sleeps on - daughter of socialist trade unionist and suffragette Ma Bramber, her 25 year career as the Labour MP for Liverpool Exchange was described as "pugnacious", because she was known to fight what she believed in. If anyone truely represented the wartime working class, it was Bessie.
 
So you want a Liberian President for a list or story.

You've found the list of Presidents of course and then the list of Vice Presidents. You then scrolled through the list of defeated presidential candidates from the african elections database, so the likes of Samuel Benedict, Edward Blyden, Anthony Williams, Thomas Faulkner and other such radicals who ran against the one party rule of the Republican/True Whigs. And later the likes of Tipoteh, Cheapo, Matthews during the civil war and then Brumskine during the last decade

But all that is a bit too obvious for you, you want to know about the people who never got remotely close to power in otl but could have done.

Well my friend, you've come to the right place.

First of all from 1848 to 1869, you saw uncontested rule by a light skinned merchant elite. This could be challenged, John Day I think is a natural choice for an outsider bid at the presidency, but within those years changing the exact example of the elite to hold the Presidency doesn't matter much. A Republican rule forever is nepotism central, so lots of Roberts, lots of Johnsons, lots of Tollivers etc.

What's more interesting is when the opposition, the party of the farmers and the dark skinned new arrivals, began to come together in the 1860s. They first won the Presidency under Edward Roye, but he was overthrown in a coup for being too radical and it's Hilary Johnson in the 1880s who really ends the light skinned and dark skinned feud and cements the Monrovian settlers as one people represented by one party.

There's a bunch of other possible candidates for Roye and Johnson figures which immediately tells you where this Liberia is. On the one end of radicalness you have Edward Blyden, who wanted to extend the franchise to all the interior liberians and legalise polygamy etc. Also on that Blyden wing of the political spectrum you also have John Payne Jackson, who is best known for running an anti imperialist newspaper in lagos and was one of the founders of Nigerian nationalism, but was born and bought up in Liberia and would be an obvious choice for a 'continuity blydenite'.

On the other wing, you had 'the Christianise and conquer the interior' wing. That would be represented by people like Alexander Crummel (a minister) and Benjamin Anderson (an armed explorer). A good continuity Crummellite is Selim Aga, a freed Sudanese slave raised in Scotland who worked with British explorers like Richard Burton and William Baikie, he lectured on Africa in the UK and USA and campaigned for increasing investment in the continent. He died fighting the Grebo having moved to Liberia to pursue a political career.

In between those extremes, William Spencer Anderson who was assassinated while on trial for corruption would be an obvious successor to Roye if you want to avoid his otl vice president, James Smith.

There's also the Marylander faction from the failed independent state of Maryland. William Prout, Boston Drayton and Joseph Gibson. If any of those come into power, it would indicate a shift of power away from Monrovia.

Talking of which, we also have the native Liberians themselves. In the 19th century you had resistance from the likes of Doblee Zeppey and Fahn Kambo while in the early 1900s you had Suah Koko and Gueh-Gueh. But these are much more likely to burn Monrovia to the ground then run for the President. An extended franchise probably still means a settler dominated state in the same way few of the enfranchised blacks actually voted in the Cape Colony.

You're looking at the early 20th century before you start seeing western educated natives capable of climbing the ladder. In the 1920s you had Momulu Massaquoi, the Val Liberian diplomat to Germany and Henry Two Wesley, the Grebo Lawyer both of whom were model minority members of the establishment. Massaquoi was African Nobility who converted to Christianity while Wesley was much more of a self made man, but both are interesting choices for the first native Liberian President. In the 1930s, you have Plenyone Gbe Wolo, a Kru Headman, who graduated from Harvard in 1917 and attempted to set up a western style school in the interior before it was shut down. You also have Juah Nimley who fought the Sasstown War against the governments attempts to sell the Sasston Kru as slaves to Spanish colonies. Good friends with both of them and one of the most impressive characters of 1930-40s Liberia, you have Didwho Welleh Twe. Twe was educated in America, having left Liberia at 21 and helped Mark Twain write his anti colonial works. He was the voice of indigenous resistance to the True Whig Party and if the revolution had come three decades earlier, he'd have taken the presidency. He's a genuinely fascinating figure.

In the 60s and 70s, you had Matthews, Cheapo and Tipoteh running the opposition parties but you also had Alfred Porte, the Barbadian journalist, ripping the government to shreds in the Crozerville Observer. He's a good choice for a figurehead in a limited revolution and an attempt to open up slightly.

In the post Civil war era, I think probably the most interesting choices are the anti-logging environmentalists, who have a decent status and would probably have broken through more if Liberia had less more obvious problems. So that's Silas Siakor, Alfred Brownell and Alexander Peal.

And you can also look at the diaspora to see people who might have stayed in Liberia without the civil wars, so Jehmu Greene (the token black democrat on fox news shows) as an alternate Ellen Sirleaf Johnson and in terms of alternate George Weahs, there's always Richelieu Dennis, who ran a fashion company in America before being sacked for running a toxic work atmosphere. Both choices tell you something straight away.
 
So you want a Liberian President for a list or story.

You've found the list of Presidents of course and then the list of Vice Presidents. You then scrolled through the list of defeated presidential candidates from the african elections database, so the likes of Samuel Benedict, Edward Blyden, Anthony Williams, Thomas Faulkner and other such radicals who ran against the one party rule of the Republican/True Whigs. And later the likes of Tipoteh, Cheapo, Matthews during the civil war and then Brumskine during the last decade

But all that is a bit too obvious for you, you want to know about the people who never got remotely close to power in otl but could have done.

Well my friend, you've come to the right place.

First of all from 1848 to 1869, you saw uncontested rule by a light skinned merchant elite. This could be challenged, John Day I think is a natural choice for an outsider bid at the presidency, but within those years changing the exact example of the elite to hold the Presidency doesn't matter much. A Republican rule forever is nepotism central, so lots of Roberts, lots of Johnsons, lots of Tollivers etc.

What's more interesting is when the opposition, the party of the farmers and the dark skinned new arrivals, began to come together in the 1860s. They first won the Presidency under Edward Roye, but he was overthrown in a coup for being too radical and it's Hilary Johnson in the 1880s who really ends the light skinned and dark skinned feud and cements the Monrovian settlers as one people represented by one party.

There's a bunch of other possible candidates for Roye and Johnson figures which immediately tells you where this Liberia is. On the one end of radicalness you have Edward Blyden, who wanted to extend the franchise to all the interior liberians and legalise polygamy etc. Also on that Blyden wing of the political spectrum you also have John Payne Jackson, who is best known for running an anti imperialist newspaper in lagos and was one of the founders of Nigerian nationalism, but was born and bought up in Liberia and would be an obvious choice for a 'continuity blydenite'.

On the other wing, you had 'the Christianise and conquer the interior' wing. That would be represented by people like Alexander Crummel (a minister) and Benjamin Anderson (an armed explorer). A good continuity Crummellite is Selim Aga, a freed Sudanese slave raised in Scotland who worked with British explorers like Richard Burton and William Baikie, he lectured on Africa in the UK and USA and campaigned for increasing investment in the continent. He died fighting the Grebo having moved to Liberia to pursue a political career.

In between those extremes, William Spencer Anderson who was assassinated while on trial for corruption would be an obvious successor to Roye if you want to avoid his otl vice president, James Smith.

There's also the Marylander faction from the failed independent state of Maryland. William Prout, Boston Drayton and Joseph Gibson. If any of those come into power, it would indicate a shift of power away from Monrovia.

Talking of which, we also have the native Liberians themselves. In the 19th century you had resistance from the likes of Doblee Zeppey and Fahn Kambo while in the early 1900s you had Suah Koko and Gueh-Gueh. But these are much more likely to burn Monrovia to the ground then run for the President. An extended franchise probably still means a settler dominated state in the same way few of the enfranchised blacks actually voted in the Cape Colony.

You're looking at the early 20th century before you start seeing western educated natives capable of climbing the ladder. In the 1920s you had Momulu Massaquoi, the Val Liberian diplomat to Germany and Henry Two Wesley, the Grebo Lawyer both of whom were model minority members of the establishment. Massaquoi was African Nobility who converted to Christianity while Wesley was much more of a self made man, but both are interesting choices for the first native Liberian President. In the 1930s, you have Plenyone Gbe Wolo, a Kru Headman, who graduated from Harvard in 1917 and attempted to set up a western style school in the interior before it was shut down. You also have Juah Nimley who fought the Sasstown War against the governments attempts to sell the Sasston Kru as slaves to Spanish colonies. Good friends with both of them and one of the most impressive characters of 1930-40s Liberia, you have Didwho Welleh Twe. Twe was educated in America, having left Liberia at 21 and helped Mark Twain write his anti colonial works. He was the voice of indigenous resistance to the True Whig Party and if the revolution had come three decades earlier, he'd have taken the presidency. He's a genuinely fascinating figure.

In the 60s and 70s, you had Matthews, Cheapo and Tipoteh running the opposition parties but you also had Alfred Porte, the Barbadian journalist, ripping the government to shreds in the Crozerville Observer. He's a good choice for a figurehead in a limited revolution and an attempt to open up slightly.

In the post Civil war era, I think probably the most interesting choices are the anti-logging environmentalists, who have a decent status and would probably have broken through more if Liberia had less more obvious problems. So that's Silas Siakor, Alfred Brownell and Alexander Peal.

And you can also look at the diaspora to see people who might have stayed in Liberia without the civil wars, so Jehmu Greene (the token black democrat on fox news shows) as an alternate Ellen Sirleaf Johnson and in terms of alternate George Weahs, there's always Richelieu Dennis, who ran a fashion company in America before being sacked for running a toxic work atmosphere. Both choices tell you something straight away.
This is some gourmet shit right here Gary
 
I also forget to mention Edward Blyden III, the original blyden's grandson, who was one of the reasons I wanted to make that post and then I ended up leaving out.

He grew up in Sierra Leone where Blyden was exiled and formed the Sierra Leone independence movement which ran on immediate independence and one party rule. If Blyden isn't exiled than his grandson would be a good choice for a Nkrumahesque figure within Liberia.
 
D. G. Martin - Former green beret and Yale graduate. Came within a hair of being elected to Congress in the eighties, he later went on to challenge John Edwards in 1998 in the Democratic primary. (He didn't come anywhere near as close as his congressional runs, but he got nearly a third of the vote) Could very easily have served in either house (or both) and become a national figure. I've had difficulty finding anything on his politics, (If anyone in NC wants to chip in, please do) but he seems to have had an interest in two very New Democrat issues - the environment and education.
 
I was involved in a now defunct Timeline in the other place which, among other things, posited a Germany without one Adolf Hitler. I extensively discussed the implications for both German and British politics and have decided to post the advice that I have given (by PM) here with only minimal editing in respect of responses to specific questions in the hope that others will find my thoughts and suggestions useful. But remember the initial premise on which I was working.

Firstly, right wing German revanchist regimes -military led

I think von Ludendorff is an unlikely candidate to head up a revanchist German government due to his unpopularity with his fellow officers and his lack of a personal following. Basically, when Hindenburg's support was removed Ludendorff fell and he was involved in a lot of mystical nonsense involving the Thule society and neo-paganism. So were Hitler and Himmler you might well retort but they were somewhat more discreet about it and Hitler at least was a charismatic politician. It is difficult to know who best to recommend not knowing where you might wish to take the revanchist German regime but my thoughts would be (I have confined my remarks to those German generals/admirals whose military prestige was high at the end of WW1 and who showed some evidence of political capacity :-
Cautious Conservative Nationalist:-
von Hindenburg
Groener
Ludwig von Schroder (Admiral commanding coastal artillery WW1, so-called "Lion of Flanders". Had the wit not to attempt severe measures against the Kiel mutineers)

Less cautious Nationalist but no Nazi:-
von Seekt
Liman von Sanders (rather burnt out by the Armenian massacres OTL and stresses of his role in Turkey OTL but showed a bit of political nous)
Eugen Ott
Max Bauer (involved in engineering fall of Ludendorff OTL)
von Lettow-Vorbeck
Alexander von Freytag-Loringhoven (though his book might rather frighten the horses in France and the UK)

Military Technocrat with probably conventional nationalistic views:-
von Einem

Pragmatic Nationalist disliked by the Far Right for being too conciliatory:-
von Beseler
von Schleicher (probably pragmatic monarchist too)

Pragmatic monarchist:-
von Hammerstein-Equord

Extreme monarchist:-
von Luttwitz (but reasonably honest and law abiding for a putschist)
Ludwig Ehrhardt (ruthless)

Only moderately competent Proto-Nazi:-
Franz Seldte

Reasonably competent Proto Nazi:-
von Mackensen
Alfred Fletcher
Ludwig Maerker
 
Right wing German revanchist regimes Continued
Max Bauer or Max Hoffmann. Conveniently both of them died in 1929 if memory serves me correctly. And both competent men without too many...esoteric..notions, though Bauer slightly less cautious (i.e. likely to give the Far Right more rope) than Hoffmann. Von Hammerstein-Equord I can't quarrel with (presumably recession and lack of the common touch forces him out?). Ehrhardt having a short tenure is feasible too, he was quite reactionary and I couldn't see him lasting long but von Fritsch had no interest in politics outside defence and foreign policy. And was a very cautious conservative in those areas (which is why the Nazis drummed up a fake homosexual scandal to get rid of him OTL) I think there you might be better with Groener or von Schleicher. Groener died in 1939 so a 1937 or 38 retirement is quite plausible. Neither would be particularly far to the Right though (relatively speaking, these are German generals we are talking about!). Quite pragmatic figures.
Keitel didn't really get to where he was on military (or political) talent, he was a yes man who idolised Hitler and was known (despised) in the Wehrmacht as "Lackeitel" (lackey). When von Blomberg asked Hitler who was going to replace him, Hitler said "Keitel". Von Blomberg said "But that's just the man I have to organise the office". "That's right" said Hitler "That is exactly what I want". No Hitler and Colonel Keitel never advances beyond Colonel unless they bump him up to command an army base the year before he retires to boost his pension. I think by 1938 your best bets might be Walther Wever (obviously not dying in a 1936 air crash), Eduard Wagner or Eugen Ott or maybe a right wing civilian. Edgar Jung and Herbert von Bose should both be in their early forties by this point (no Hitler, not shot in 1934) or Carl Goerdeler . And without Hitler there are some quite bright second tier Nazis -Fritz Todt, Josef Burkel, Werner Best, Philipp Bouhler, Karl Wolff, Gottlob Berger, Martin Luther. Or Henning von Treskow or the elder von der Schulenburg from the July plotters. The younger von der Schulenburg wouldn't yet be regarded as old and tried enough in 1938 I would imagine.
 
D. G. Martin - Former green beret and Yale graduate. Came within a hair of being elected to Congress in the eighties, he later went on to challenge John Edwards in 1998 in the Democratic primary. (He didn't come anywhere near as close as his congressional runs, but he got nearly a third of the vote) Could very easily have served in either house (or both) and become a national figure. I've had difficulty finding anything on his politics, (If anyone in NC wants to chip in, please do) but he seems to have had an interest in two very New Democrat issues - the environment and education.
Using my school's databases I found a few articles, but again, incredibly vague politics. His big pet issue was "special interests" and specifically being against PACs which I suppose makes him a pioneer in that regard. Democratic advisors and even some of his supporters felt that he was too fixated on this issue and failed to take advantage of other local issues. Many also felt he was too scholarly and soft-spoken to be a real big-time player, but of course, that demeanor has its advantages as well and many traditionally Republican business groups in Charlotte supported him. The only other thing of note I could find on him was that he beat Harvey Gantt's preferred candidate in the '84 primary and did well in the general, in part because he appears to be one of the first white Democrats in the state to set up operations to turnout Black voters and work with local community leaders. Democrats also attempted to recruit him to run in 1986 and 1990 for the Senate. His son, Grier, a State Representative was also initially considered to be the prime recruit against Liddy Dole in 2008 before he declined.
 
Lloyd George in Coalition with the Conservatives in the 1920s or the National Government, problems with

Stanley Baldwin was relatively honest and straightforward as politicians go and David Lloyd George, while a creative and visionary political thinker, was a bit of a crook. Baldwin one of the moving spirits in 1922 in bringing down the coalition and had a history of ensuring that "cads" should not be allowed near political office - Oswald Mosley and Robert Horne being two examples. Kept some honest and talented people (like Geddes) who had worked well with LG away from office as well. Possibly an earlier PoD where Baldwin is replaced by Austen Chamberlain following the 1924 Labour Government coming to power? AC doesn't like or trust Lloyd George either but was prepared to work with him (and might thus be prepared to make use of Tories tarnished by association with LG as well like Robert Horne, the Geddes brothers and Lord Lee of Fareham). This might have significant butterflies. Winston Churchill doesn't get to put Britain back on the Gold Standard and create a recession, LG gets to be Chancellor as part of coalition deal? Britain probably doesn't cut back on armaments spending quite as much as OTL, LG being a Keynesian and Lord Lee having a voice on matters military. Winston Churchill possibly at Admiralty and doesn't end up in the political wilderness unless he resigns over India?
 
Earlier Attlee leadership of the Labour Party-
Possible to get Attlee if Clynes doesn't lose leadership to McDonald. Close run thing OTL. Lib/Lab coalition 1924-27 under Clynes with Ramsay Mac in ministerial office. Ramsay Mac doesn't do that well- always looked and sounded the part without being that good and erodes his credibility. Lansbury seen as too radical if Bolsheviks make a few espionage or foreign policy blunders. Stress of office starts Greenwood on the bottle earlier. 1931 Labour squeaks in but only Attlee who was good in Ministerial office seen as capable of delivering Liberal confidence and supply .
 
Philip Snowden in a Ministerial office other than Chancellor of the Exchequer-
Don't forget Philip Snowden who was a big beast in the party. OTL his career was destroyed by going into the National Government with McDonald and Thomas and then acting as a hunger Chancellor. He had a dreadful socially ambitious wife but the more I read of him the more time I have for the man. He was personally honest and extremely patriotic - didn't join the National Government from interested motives but because he thought it his duty and always put the national interest before his personal ambitions and party interest. Wasn't a good Chancellor - lacked economic expertise and followed the economic orthodoxy of the day. Not as bad a Chancellor as Churchill though that isn't exactly a high bar! But iron willed and determined! Put him in another job where he can play to his strengths like Home or Foreign Secretary and you are probably looking at McDonald's successor prior to Attlee.
 
Using my school's databases I found a few articles, but again, incredibly vague politics. His big pet issue was "special interests" and specifically being against PACs which I suppose makes him a pioneer in that regard. Democratic advisors and even some of his supporters felt that he was too fixated on this issue and failed to take advantage of other local issues. Many also felt he was too scholarly and soft-spoken to be a real big-time player, but of course, that demeanor has its advantages as well and many traditionally Republican business groups in Charlotte supported him. The only other thing of note I could find on him was that he beat Harvey Gantt's preferred candidate in the '84 primary and did well in the general, in part because he appears to be one of the first white Democrats in the state to set up operations to turnout Black voters and work with local community leaders. Democrats also attempted to recruit him to run in 1986 and 1990 for the Senate. His son, Grier, a State Representative was also initially considered to be the prime recruit against Liddy Dole in 2008 before he declined.

This is very cool, thank you. I knew about the 1986 attempts to phone round just about all of the NC Democratic Party but that was it.
 
Malcolm McDonald
If there is no National Government and no National Labour split then you have Ramsay's son Malcolm - a much more capable man than his father in my opinion and likely to be a first rate Foreign or Colonial Secretary and active from late 1930s to early1960s OTL. If foreign or colonial affairs are important, he might even make Labour Party leader.
 
Succession to Clynes or Snowden as Labour Party leader (Ernie Bevin was ruled out for plot reasons but would also be a contender, so would A V Alexander but the American TL author knew little about him)-
Probably Atlee who was at least tough minded if not very charismatic. Morrison was talented but seen as too clever for his own good and Ernie Bevin hated his guts. Someone said "Herbert Morrison is his own worst enemy" and Bevin retorted "Not while I'm alive he isn't". Greenwood was charismatic and had ideas but also fond of the bottle and didn't cope well with pressure.
 
Churchill without Hitler-
If Churchill has been as OTL a disastrous Chancellor and espoused a frankly reactionary and unsustainable policy in respect of India, he is essentially a discredited "has-been". It is his being right about distrusting Germany and (leaving aside the small technical details) broadly right about the need for re-armament that rehabilitates him as a political force OTL.
Now this is going to play rather differently in a world where Germany has no Hitler. Part of the reason why appeasement got such traction OTL was that contemporaries saw the Austrian anglophile and admirer of the British Empire (which perceptions were actually true OTL, Hitler genuinely wanted amicable relations with Britain, he wasn't faking it) as a welcome respite from the Prussian tradition of German leadership (isn't hindsight a wonderful thing!). So who is going to lead the Germans during the 1930s? A restored Kaiserreich, a junta of generals, Gregor Strasser or a Prussian with duelling scars is going to be more distrusted than Hitler initially was and rearmament is likely to start a bit earlier and appeasement to be a bit less generous than OTL. So Churchill isn't likely to get quite the same kudos as OTL, others won't be as "wrong" as OTL for him to be as clearly "right".
Best to call Edward Wood Lord Halifax to distinguish him from Kingsley Wood (also a big beast in the National/Conservative governments OTL). Halifax was a good negotiator and made a good Colonial and Foreign Secretary -he had a much clearer idea of Britain's strategic and economic limitations than Churchill. He could fill either shadow role with distinction and would probably lead the Conservative Party in the House of Lords. Eden is the telegenic young rising politician. He got rearmament largely right OTL and resigned over Munich but he was a rising star before that.

Much depends upon what Germany will do this time round. If Germany is a relatively peaceful trading partner with only modest revanchist ambitions then Churchill is finished. Neville Chamberlain, Kingsley Wood and Walter Eliott likely to be rising men as OTL. All were very good at actually getting things like public housing or health schemes or Tube expansion done but hesitant on foreign policy. Halifax would be good on foreign policy and the retreat from Empire and, I suspect, could negotiate quite well between Union and Industry leaders. Eden a rising young star.
If Germany takes a parallel course without Hitler, Britain is likely to be somewhat more suspicious and re-arm a bit more and no "guilty men" trope. So Churchill won't be able to portray himself as a lone voice. So, if a cold war with Germany, Lord Halifax or Lord Swinton with Eden moving to a senior Cabinet position like Foreign Secretary. A hot war with Germany where Germany doesn't do as well in 1939/40, Halifax would succeed Chamberlain. A hot war with Germany where Germany does nearly as well as OTL in 1939/40 probably Eden (Churchill back at the Admiralty didn't save France or Norway and TTL he isn't the only man who was right about Hitler's Germany.
 
Following on from Mosley and Gaitskell as Labour leader and PM, plus unlikelihood of a long Ramsay Mac premiership-
That is quite possible, Benn moved steadily to the left from an initially moderate stance OTL. I don't see him as a ten year PM though. OTL he was demoted under Wilson for trying to fiddle figures to make some of his initiatives work and his Permanent Secretary went to the PM about it. And that is with Wilson being quite dodgy himself and having lots of crooked associates. When the facts didn't fit the ideology Benn tried to change the facts. And Mosley though an unpalatable character OTL would I think have had a higher standard of ministerial conduct than Wilson He would have been more likely to sack him than move him sideways and bar further promotion. What about Michael Stewart or Roy Mason? Or Denis Healey? All much more capable than Benn in my opinion. And more likely to have developed a solid reputation under Mosley. And don't forget Geoffrey de Freitas who Attlee and Gaitskell liked but Wilson didn't.
Some problems with Ramsay Mac lasting as long as 1936 in a purely Labour government. He was starting to lose it a bit from the early to mid 1930s. Now that suited a Tory dominated National Government - it provides a fig leaf of national unity and doesn't interfere with Baldwin and the Tories really running the show. In a purely Labour government that is not going to be as easy to cover up. He was still reasonably with it 1931-2 at least part of the time but was not quite with it by 33-34. And was obviously suffering from some form of dementia thereafter. What about Clynes rather than McDonald? He would be tired and ready to retire by 1936 without being obviously unsuited for office by that date.
 
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