If Nelson had taken Wellington’s place (Nelson the PM)

[Aznavour]

Not sure where to go with this or how much handwaving it’d need as Wellington had alwayd been more engaged with politics than Nelson, but what if Admiral Horatio Nelson had lived and entered into politics.

Quotes from article below point to a possibly even more conflictive term as a possible Tory PM (Nelson was a conservative IRL, IIRC) and there’s things like Slavery ( which he apparently supported, due to ties with Caribbean Slave-owning economic interests) and Catholic Emancipation (which I assume he’d oppose).

He’s also ten years older than Wellington and with a different set of experiences, which makes for interesting possibilities...


https://www.google.com.ar/amp/s/amp.economist.com/books-and-arts/2005/06/23/conjuror-of-victory

As a young post-captain of blatantly immature political skills, Nelson was fortunate to spend years in the West Indies rather than closer to London's riven party politics, but even abroad he earned the lasting displeasure of the king, George III, by allowing his head to be turned by the boorish, bullying Prince William Henry, later Duke of Clarence and the king's younger son.

Much later, in 1799, it was turned again by the Queen of Naples, Marie-Antoinette's sister, during Nelson's attempted defence of the kingdom, an English ally. Nelson's moral and political judgment were deeply compromised when he allowed English ships to be used as anti-republican kangaroo courts by Neapolitans seeking revenge on their compatriots. Even an admiral was hung, and English officers were appalled that their vessels had become such “engines of turpitude”. The blame was entirely Nelson's, and lay in his infatuation with Emma Hamilton, the queen's confidante.

Yet despite his flaws, Mr Knight contends, Nelson dug deeper at every stage for new skills and talents. His disgrace at Naples was redeemed two years later at the battle of Copenhagen, not just by the famous naval victory, but by a masterly diplomatic settlement immediately afterwards.

Mr Knight describes well how Nelson was, in the words of a contemporary, “in some respects, as trivial a man as ever made a name”. His vanity in always wearing the baubles awarded by foreign powers was ridiculed by his superiors. Vain he was. Yet, just like Winston Churchill with his cigar and boiler suit, Nelson understood better than they the part that decorations played in his style of leadership.

 

[Blackadder Mk2]

Presume same lifespan, so live to 1840s.

I'll admit that I know little of Nelson, Wellington, or much of the politics of early 19th Century Britain outside of ODNB profiles, but I'll give it a go. I presume we'll be giving Nelson a similar lifespan as Wellington and let him live to the early 1840s, Castlereagh's OTL suicide happens, and Canning's brief Premiership too.

Post-3rd Coalition doesn't appear to have many naval battles in the European sphere for Nelson to indulge in, but he may get a few TTL victories in the War of 1812 and more low-level conflicts. Probably won't do anything Nile or Trafalgar hadn't accomplished by far. He was certainly more of a 'character' than Wellington with big displays of wealth and an apparent need for positive attention, so he might be tempted to enter politics. Emma Hamilton may be a source for mockery, but it shouldn't be too much barring financial ruin or a big scandal. Slavery would be abolished just like OTL, but it'd tie Nelson firmly to the Ultras in a way Wellington took a decade to.

Another factor may be if Wellington enters politics as IOTL. The two were of similar politics, but without his connection to Ireland, Nelson could be the hold-out that George IV and Duke of Cumberland were searching for. Not to mention that George never warmed to Wellington IOTL. There were Ultra Tories who wanted to expand the franchise after Catholic Emancipation, so maybe Nelson flips the script and passes reform over Emancipation, but it's unlikely as conversion was limited and restricted to raging over Wellington's 'betrayal.'

1820s politics are again not my area of expertise, but Nelson may be more grasping and able to exploit the opportunity in 1824 to replace Liverpool, but I don't think the PM would have agreed with the King or Duke of York's hopes, even if this military man's open to it. It might be that Nelson is seen as the anti-Canning figure ITTL and has better luck with internal politicking owing to his character. I doubt it'd be enough to keep some Canningites onside though.

He'd be a fun PM if you're looking for a Prime Minister determined to stop Emancipation, but George will die eventually and William may just cut Nelson loose. The question would be if the Ultras are willing to exploit paranoia of Catholics and if it's enough to convince a wider electorate. I lean, however, toward them being unable to make themselves give more people the franchise than OTL's Reform Act.

 

[Md139115]

Post-3rd Coalition doesn't appear to have many naval battles in the European sphere for Nelson to indulge in, but he may get a few TTL victories in the War of 1812 and more low-level conflicts. Probably won't do anything Nile or Trafalgar hadn't accomplished by far.

He would have been a natural choice though to lead the fleet at Second Copenhagen given his familiarity with the waters. I wonder how that might have developed with him in command?