Walpurgisnacht
I'm Mister Blobby, I kill Prime Ministers
- Location
- Banned from the forum
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I need the ability to like posts multiple times. Badly.
This is an incredible piece of work and you should feel proud of yourself.
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Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State
- Thread starter Mumby
- Start date
This is an incredible piece of work and you should feel proud of yourself.
A Thousand Points of Light
1974-1981: George H.W. Bush (Republican)
1976 (with John Connally) def. George C. Wallace (Democratic), George S. McGovern (Independent)
1981-1985: John Connally (Republican)
1980 (with Donald Rumsfeld) def. Henry Jackson (Democratic), Mike Gravel (Citizens')
'Making a new world order'
The day that Richard Nixon resigned as President was the day that the GOP should have died. And yet it did not, and through a mixture of skill, preserverence, and a great deal of luck would go on to win two more presidential elections as a divided and crumbling Democratic Party put up little more than tokenistic opposition. With the nomination of George Wallace by the Democrats in 1976 Bush was able to win re-election to the nation's highest office, in a landslide as the GOP hammered Wallace's former segregation and George NcGovern led a walkout of the party's left. Though not linked to the GOP campaign, the most memorable stickers and posters of the election - probably distributed by disaffected centrist Democrats - bore the phrase "Vote for the crooks, not the fascist." Bush won with 354 electoral votes, and promised a new America, one built on compassion, duty, and public service. What this meant, in practice, was a radical increase in military spending, deeply unpopular tax increases, and a furthering of American-Soviet cooperation. Bush was unable to stand for re-election in 1980, but Vice President Connally would take up the reins as Jackson and Gravel split the left wing vote again, allowing four more years of military buildup, faltering old school Keynesianism, and the much lauded "end of the Cold War" in 1987 with the signing of the signing of the Soviet-American Treaty of Friendship which Connally and Bish had negotiated. Yet with the economy failing at home and the old economic and social order breaking down, the GOP would finally be thrown out in a landslide in 1984.
1985-1993: Jerry Brown (Democratic)
1984 (with Ed Koch) def. John Connally (Republican), Mike Gravel (Citizens') [write-in], Lyndon LaRouche (Citizens')
1988 (with Ed Koch) def. Pat Robertson (Republican), Mark Hatfield (Independent Republican)
'The Neoliberal Revolution'
Jerry Brown's 400 electoral vote landslide was all the mandate that the erratic California Governor needed to transform the country. The budget was to be balanced, at almost any cost, and not even the protestations of the Citizens' Party (destroyed by the nightmare nomination of Lyndon LaRouche and the failed write-in campaign of Mike Gravel) could stop Brown. The GOP's brief embrace of far-right rleigious nationalism and 1988 splinter only gave Brown further scope for change as the military industrial state was rolled back in the face of an ending Cold War, taxes were cut, and the Democrats embraced a heady mixture of social and economic ultraliberalism. If not explicitly isolationist, Brown more or less abandoned the old foreign policy order, and a British led NATO was left to flail in the face of a rising "non-aligned" Germany and as the US adjusted to an economic conflict wth a rising Japan. Such a conflict saw the bizarre u-turn of 1991, and Brown's embrace of protective tariffs and 'dirigiste' economics whilst still attempting to keep taxes low and budgets balanced. This, and the frenzied media speculation around Ed Koch's mysterious private life, would kill the Democrats' attempts to hold onto power in 1988, and though Koch would beat Gary Hart for the Democratic nomination, he lost to Bay Buchanan. After eight years, and as if nothing had happened at all, the GOP was back.
1993-1997: Bay Buchanan (Republican)
1992 (with Michael Huffington) def. Ed Koch (Democratic)
'We can't continue on this path'
When Bay Buchanan declared the above words in her inauguration, she painted a picture of a new America, one which would depart substantially from the old and bring about true change. This was not what came to be. Rather, the Buchanan years represented a period of reaction: an old Reaganite, Buchanan had nevertheless embraced the defeat of the arch conservatives, and embraced a midway point between Nixonism and Reaganism, emphasising both her commitment to former Governor Reagan's supply side economic policies and the realist foreign policy of the Nixon, Bush, and Connally years. Into this mix, Buchanan threw the maintenance of late Brown era protectionism, promising to bring jobs back to America and "win the economic war with Japan". That these policies failed is without doubt, and the 1994 midterms saw the Democrats retake both houses of congress as they railed against protectionist economic policies which had produced a brutal trade war and an agricultural recession as the new "Eurasian Economic Community" was inaugurated by Germany, Japan, and a liberalising Soviet Union, bypassing the need for American grain locked behind tariffs for Japan and Germany, and allowing the USSR to buy consumer goods from Europe and Asia. Indeed, the formation of this alliance led one bold academic to declared "The End of History" as Kojeve's vision of a mixed system between Cold War extremes seemed to triumph in Eurasia. As the economy dipped again in the 95-96 recession, Buchanan was voted out of office and defeated by a rival who pledged to abandon her failure to secure the economy, and to re-emphasise America's role as a global power.
1997-2005: Bruce Babbitt (Democratic)
1996 (with Winthrop P. Rockefeller) def. Bay Buchanan (Republican), George S. McGovern (Citizens')
'Past the end of history'
Under Babbitt the United States has "corrected its course", rejoining the NATO command structure and strengthening its links with Britain and France, whilst also pursuing a detente with a increasingly military ruled China. Likewise, Babbitt has ruthlessly embraced free trade and the "age of neoliberalism" to produce a shock to the economy and rapid "economic rejuvenation". With Japan's economy flagging after a demographic downward spiral and with the Soviet Union now facing brutal insurgencies in Central Asia, semi-violent secession in the Baltics, and a war with far-right Ukrainian nationalists, the Eurasia of the early 2000s, if still a threat to the United Staes has long squandered its moment of "near hegemony". Yet if the "Babbitt miracle" has allowed the US to escape from the economic doldrums of the 1970s and 80s, it has come at a dreadful cost. Unemployment remains high despite a record rate of economic growth, and if the United States has become competitive on the world stage, it has been by outsourcing labour and undercutting domestic labour rights. As Babbitt gears up for the 2000 election, it is clear that he has yet to forge a new consensus: GOP rising stars John Bush and Elizabeth Warren may still be battling it out for the nomination, but they can agree on one thing, no Republican government would allow such flagrant undercutting of the American worker, the backbone of a strong and free United States.
1974-1981: George H.W. Bush (Republican)
1976 (with John Connally) def. George C. Wallace (Democratic), George S. McGovern (Independent)
1981-1985: John Connally (Republican)
1980 (with Donald Rumsfeld) def. Henry Jackson (Democratic), Mike Gravel (Citizens')
'Making a new world order'
The day that Richard Nixon resigned as President was the day that the GOP should have died. And yet it did not, and through a mixture of skill, preserverence, and a great deal of luck would go on to win two more presidential elections as a divided and crumbling Democratic Party put up little more than tokenistic opposition. With the nomination of George Wallace by the Democrats in 1976 Bush was able to win re-election to the nation's highest office, in a landslide as the GOP hammered Wallace's former segregation and George NcGovern led a walkout of the party's left. Though not linked to the GOP campaign, the most memorable stickers and posters of the election - probably distributed by disaffected centrist Democrats - bore the phrase "Vote for the crooks, not the fascist." Bush won with 354 electoral votes, and promised a new America, one built on compassion, duty, and public service. What this meant, in practice, was a radical increase in military spending, deeply unpopular tax increases, and a furthering of American-Soviet cooperation. Bush was unable to stand for re-election in 1980, but Vice President Connally would take up the reins as Jackson and Gravel split the left wing vote again, allowing four more years of military buildup, faltering old school Keynesianism, and the much lauded "end of the Cold War" in 1987 with the signing of the signing of the Soviet-American Treaty of Friendship which Connally and Bish had negotiated. Yet with the economy failing at home and the old economic and social order breaking down, the GOP would finally be thrown out in a landslide in 1984.
1985-1993: Jerry Brown (Democratic)
1984 (with Ed Koch) def. John Connally (Republican), Mike Gravel (Citizens') [write-in], Lyndon LaRouche (Citizens')
1988 (with Ed Koch) def. Pat Robertson (Republican), Mark Hatfield (Independent Republican)
'The Neoliberal Revolution'
Jerry Brown's 400 electoral vote landslide was all the mandate that the erratic California Governor needed to transform the country. The budget was to be balanced, at almost any cost, and not even the protestations of the Citizens' Party (destroyed by the nightmare nomination of Lyndon LaRouche and the failed write-in campaign of Mike Gravel) could stop Brown. The GOP's brief embrace of far-right rleigious nationalism and 1988 splinter only gave Brown further scope for change as the military industrial state was rolled back in the face of an ending Cold War, taxes were cut, and the Democrats embraced a heady mixture of social and economic ultraliberalism. If not explicitly isolationist, Brown more or less abandoned the old foreign policy order, and a British led NATO was left to flail in the face of a rising "non-aligned" Germany and as the US adjusted to an economic conflict wth a rising Japan. Such a conflict saw the bizarre u-turn of 1991, and Brown's embrace of protective tariffs and 'dirigiste' economics whilst still attempting to keep taxes low and budgets balanced. This, and the frenzied media speculation around Ed Koch's mysterious private life, would kill the Democrats' attempts to hold onto power in 1988, and though Koch would beat Gary Hart for the Democratic nomination, he lost to Bay Buchanan. After eight years, and as if nothing had happened at all, the GOP was back.
1993-1997: Bay Buchanan (Republican)
1992 (with Michael Huffington) def. Ed Koch (Democratic)
'We can't continue on this path'
When Bay Buchanan declared the above words in her inauguration, she painted a picture of a new America, one which would depart substantially from the old and bring about true change. This was not what came to be. Rather, the Buchanan years represented a period of reaction: an old Reaganite, Buchanan had nevertheless embraced the defeat of the arch conservatives, and embraced a midway point between Nixonism and Reaganism, emphasising both her commitment to former Governor Reagan's supply side economic policies and the realist foreign policy of the Nixon, Bush, and Connally years. Into this mix, Buchanan threw the maintenance of late Brown era protectionism, promising to bring jobs back to America and "win the economic war with Japan". That these policies failed is without doubt, and the 1994 midterms saw the Democrats retake both houses of congress as they railed against protectionist economic policies which had produced a brutal trade war and an agricultural recession as the new "Eurasian Economic Community" was inaugurated by Germany, Japan, and a liberalising Soviet Union, bypassing the need for American grain locked behind tariffs for Japan and Germany, and allowing the USSR to buy consumer goods from Europe and Asia. Indeed, the formation of this alliance led one bold academic to declared "The End of History" as Kojeve's vision of a mixed system between Cold War extremes seemed to triumph in Eurasia. As the economy dipped again in the 95-96 recession, Buchanan was voted out of office and defeated by a rival who pledged to abandon her failure to secure the economy, and to re-emphasise America's role as a global power.
1997-2005: Bruce Babbitt (Democratic)
1996 (with Winthrop P. Rockefeller) def. Bay Buchanan (Republican), George S. McGovern (Citizens')
'Past the end of history'
Under Babbitt the United States has "corrected its course", rejoining the NATO command structure and strengthening its links with Britain and France, whilst also pursuing a detente with a increasingly military ruled China. Likewise, Babbitt has ruthlessly embraced free trade and the "age of neoliberalism" to produce a shock to the economy and rapid "economic rejuvenation". With Japan's economy flagging after a demographic downward spiral and with the Soviet Union now facing brutal insurgencies in Central Asia, semi-violent secession in the Baltics, and a war with far-right Ukrainian nationalists, the Eurasia of the early 2000s, if still a threat to the United Staes has long squandered its moment of "near hegemony". Yet if the "Babbitt miracle" has allowed the US to escape from the economic doldrums of the 1970s and 80s, it has come at a dreadful cost. Unemployment remains high despite a record rate of economic growth, and if the United States has become competitive on the world stage, it has been by outsourcing labour and undercutting domestic labour rights. As Babbitt gears up for the 2000 election, it is clear that he has yet to forge a new consensus: GOP rising stars John Bush and Elizabeth Warren may still be battling it out for the nomination, but they can agree on one thing, no Republican government would allow such flagrant undercutting of the American worker, the backbone of a strong and free United States.
~-~
Just as a bit of background, this isn't an explicitly serious list in the sense that I wanted desperately to track what could happen if Bush had been VP instead of Ford, rather it's an attempt to map out a (hopefully vaguely plausible) way to map out a few different concepts. In this world you have a US even more wedded to the military industrial complex, an explicitly and wholeheartedly neoliberal Democrtaic party (even more so than OTL) in response to a longer period of decline under Nixonian Keynesian economics, a Reaganite nightmare vision of the consequences of detente run amok, and a GOP that's embraced workers' rights as a central plank of a hyper-corporatist military industrial state. I hope you enjoyed it.
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Beata Beatrix
Being true to her malefic destiny
- Location
- Portland, OR
- Pronouns
- she/her/hers
I like this but unless Bush moves back to Maine, he can’t put Connally - a long-time rival, I think, at least from Connally’s point of view - on the ticket.
I’m not sure what you mean about Maine since Bush was from Massachusetts originally and grew up in Connecticut, by the 1970s Bush was living in New York, so could easily switch his registration. Not the most plausible thing, perhaps, but as I said the structures of plausibility weren’t the intended goal of the list. I agree re: Connally rivalry, but my thinking is that this is the influence of residual Nixonism in the GOP (including Nixon’s frequently stated desire to be suceeeded by Connally!)
EDIT: with Maine presumably you mean the Bush Compound (which I’d totally forgotten) but GHW didn’t actually own the compound until the late 70s and I don’t think there’s any suggestion that was ever his main residence.
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zaffre
At the same time, a Space Bug
- Location
- Massachusetts
found this cleaning out my computer, might delete later idk
1969-1973: Richard M. Nixon / Randolph A. Crossley (Republican)
1968: Hubert H. Humphrey II / Fred R. Harris (Democratic), George C. Wallace, Jr. / Curtis E. LeMay (American Independent)
1972: John V. Lindsay / Joseph M. Montoya (Democratic)
1973-1973: Randolph A. Crossley / vacant (Republican)
1973-1977: Randolph A. Crossley / James L. Buckley (Republican)
1977-1985: James L. Buckley / William D. Dyke (Republican)
1976: Fred R. Harris / Mario Biaggi (Democratic)
1980: John D. Rockefeller IV / Howard Metzenbaum (Democratic), Eugene J. McCarthy / D. Wayne Owens (New Left)
1985-: George S. McGovern / Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (Democratic)
1984: William D. Dyke / Pietro V. Domenici (Republican)
1969-1973: Richard M. Nixon / Randolph A. Crossley (Republican)
1968: Hubert H. Humphrey II / Fred R. Harris (Democratic), George C. Wallace, Jr. / Curtis E. LeMay (American Independent)
1972: John V. Lindsay / Joseph M. Montoya (Democratic)
1973-1973: Randolph A. Crossley / vacant (Republican)
1973-1977: Randolph A. Crossley / James L. Buckley (Republican)
1977-1985: James L. Buckley / William D. Dyke (Republican)
1976: Fred R. Harris / Mario Biaggi (Democratic)
1980: John D. Rockefeller IV / Howard Metzenbaum (Democratic), Eugene J. McCarthy / D. Wayne Owens (New Left)
1985-: George S. McGovern / Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (Democratic)
1984: William D. Dyke / Pietro V. Domenici (Republican)
BClick
A hand job, not a hand out
- Location
- Little Beirut
- Pronouns
- He/him
I just found out today that during his time as Governor, Babbitt sent in the National Guard to bust the Phelps Dodge miners' strike, so this is a synchronicitous (and very good) pick.
Interesting - why Crossley?
zaffre
At the same time, a Space Bug
- Location
- Massachusetts
Think Crossley was meant as a bit of an Agnew substitute - elected governor in ‘66 in the ATL and had some history with Nixon.
What can I say, “1968 but Humphrey does even worse” sounded fun at the time.
- Location
- Kingston, ON
Lindsay '72 is not something you see a lot of, and old!McGovern and Young!Biden on the same ticket is c r i s p
- Location
- Tamaki Makaurau
The Metro Goldwyn Mayor
Metropolitan Mayors of Auckland
1962-1965: Dove-Myer Robinson (Civic Reform) [1]
1962 def: Hugh Lambie (Independent)
1965-1968: Keith Hay (Independent) [2]
1965 def: Dove-Myer Robinson (Independent), George Forsyth (Labour)
1968-1977: Dove-Myer Robinson (Independent) [3]
1968 def: Keith Hay (Independent), George Forsyth (Independent Labour)
1971 def: Ted Flynn (Civic Action)
1974 def: Jim Anderton (Labour)
1977-1980: Jim Anderton (Labour) [4]
1977 def: Dove-Myer Robinson (Independent), Assid Corban (Independent)
1980-1983: Colin Kay (Ratewatchers) [5]
1980 def: Jim Anderton (Labour), Dove-Myer Robinson (Independent)
1983-1989: Cath Tizard (Labour) [6]
1983 def: Colin Kay (Ratewatchers), Lloyd Elsmore (Independent), Tim Shadbolt (Independent), Dove-Myer Robinson (Independent)
1986 def: Colin Kay (Independent)
[1] - Sir Dove-Myer 'Robbie' Robinson is remembered as the father of modern Auckland, having first involved himself in local politics to oppose a sewage plan that would have resulted in the beaches of the Waitemata Harbour being inundated with refuse whenever the wind came from the east. This took him a decade and a lot of his own money, and resulted in Robbie implementing his alternative (oxidation pools out of sight of his house) as Mayor of Auckland City. Unfortunately, the City Council was one of 32 territorial authorities in the city at the time; a problem which incited his second major campaign. The creation of the Auckland Regional Authority, along the lines of the Toronto Metro, was opposed tooth and nail by the existing local government Establishment, some of whom governed boroughs of as little as 8,500 people, but was finally carried through thanks to the support of Prime Minister Holyoake, who saw in Robbie a similarly self-made man. In 1962, Robinson was elected to command the new body he'd made for himself.
The ARA formed a top tier of local government, covering the 32 territorial authorities and a panoply of special purpose boards, such as the Drainage Board and the Airport Authority, which had already been created to co-ordinate matters too interconnected for the tiny boroughs to manage alone. Each borough elected two members, but Auckland City and Manukau elected more by a ward system, making 70 Councillors plus a Mayor elected at large. The populist Robbie, with his ticket backed by the Labour Party, did poorly in Manukau (upon which he had foisted his oxidation ponds) and in the small boroughs, but defeated the Mayor of Manukau, Hugh Lambie, in a close contest, as voters balked at Lambie's proposal to abolish the ARA before it had even been given a fair trial.
[2] - What ought to have been Robbie's apogee promptly became his annus horribilis. The over-represented conservative boroughs ensured a majority opposed to all of his zany schemes (for instance, bringing the electricity boards into the ARA), while his home life went from hectic to downright scandalous. Always a philanderer, he had married a much younger woman as his fourth wife while only Mayor of Auckland City, but repressed her desire to make a career of her own. In 1965, this resulted in a separation, after which both were hospitalised under mysterious circumstances. One rumour alleged that he'd chased her down the street with a meat cleaver - which is unlikely, as both of them were vegetarians. In any case, Robbie handily lost the Metro Mayor race to Keith Hay, the bible-bashing Mayor of Mount Roskill, while Labour stood a candidate against him for the first time. Hay's reign embarked on no big-ticket items but is well-regarded in hindsight for using the sizeable ARA rates to build social housing. However, his re-election efforts were spectacularly misguided - his hoardings featured a picture of himself and the Mayoress, with the slogan "Auckland Needs Both Of Us". Robbie, now a bachelor once more, was returned to office on a wave of sympathy.
[3] - Old enmities with the Auckland Establishment now healing, Robbie launched himself into his third big project - rapid rail for Auckland. The existing commuter services were run by the Railways Department on the trunk lines, and were infrequent and often delayed as freight had right of way. Robinson proposed a separate, standard-gauge network to go along with the new motorways which were springing up around Auckland, and set up a committee to draw up a proposal. Unfortunately, the General Manager of the ARA (and ex officio member of the committee), Ted Flynn, was resolutely opposed to rapid rail and obstructed the committee for two and a half years. Eventually, the irascible Robbie removed him (with questionable authority), only to be faced by him in the Metro Mayor race in 1968. By this stage, Robinson had both Labour and the Establishment back on-side due to the fact that the extensive rail plans serviced almost every borough, so Flynn was only supported by an anti-rail lobby group and did quite poorly.
Even so, Auckland had to wait for the election of the Third Labour Government in 1972 for the project to get the state funding it needed to get started. The legacy of the ART network is mixed: the standard-gauge lines take up room that could have been used to triple- or -quadruple-track the narrow-gauge freight lines, while speeds aren't appreciably higher than they would have been on narrow-gauge. Other issues include the expense of the underground City Rail Loop (Stage 1 of the project, and only completed in 1984) and the infrequency of the stations, which mean that most passengers have to take a bus to get to their local train station. However, this latter point does make the ART genuinely rapid, with transit times to Whangaparoa or the Airport hovering at around 30 minutes.
[4] - Robinson also implemented forward-thinking recycling and composting initiatives (he had been President of the NZ Humic Compost Society since before he entered politics) and is remembered today as a talisman of the Green movement, although he was of course an upstanding and successful businessman and keen capitalist. However, he endorsed a vote for Values at both the 1972 and 1975 elections, encouraging Labour to run against him for the Mayoralty. Jim Anderton, a Manukau City Councillor, laid the groundwork in 1974 by painting Robbie as a defanged stooge of the conservative element, but only managed to pull off a victory when the Citizens and Ratepayers endorsed the Westie winemaker Assid Corban to - as it turned out - split the vote. The new Mayor was of a whole new generation to Robinson, who was now in his seventies but still possessing the energy to be a vehement critic of his successor. Anderton waylaid progress on the City Rail Loop and diverted more funds to local suburban hubs as opposed to just making it easier for them to go shopping on Queen Street. He even temporarily redesignated the underground Civic ART station as a swimming pool, although it was drained soon after when nobody dared go down there. But the project went slowly on, amid mounting costs.
[5] - Anderton's high spending (a lot of which he was committed to by his predecessor) sparked the rise of the New Right in Auckland, with the formation of Ratewatchers as a genuine movement for the freezing of rates - which no conservatives had ever actually believed in before, even as they demanded it in the triennial elections. The former Citizens and Ratepayers member of Auckland City Council, Colin Kay, led the charge of the City and small boroughs against the South Auckland interloper Anderton, and defeated him on a very split vote. Meanwhile, Robinson made a doomed play to give his life meaning once more by donning the mayoral chains. Kay, however, quickly discovered that contracting out Council services and selling the Mayoral Daimler didn't actually save enough money to cut rates by as much as his supporters demanded, and was swept away when the conservative Establishment withdrew support.
[6] - Cath Tizard, a relatively youthful woman was part of the Labour aristocracy and had made a name for herself on her own terms by opposing Council house rent increases pushed by Robinson and Kay. Her victory, however, was marred by two things: firstly, the fact that the ailing Robinson called the people of Auckland "gutless, shallow and uncaring" for giving him such a paltry vote; secondly, the majority of conservatives on the ARA, permanent and unimpeachable by dint of representing the tiny boroughs. Under Tizard, the ART network began to really take shape, and the tendency of Auckland to sprawl in the general direction of Hamilton was arrested by high-density building along the rail corridors. These gains came at a price, though, because the boroughs served by the ART were all very much opposed to the intensification and rezoning of all their peaceful suburbs. Over the 1980s, relations between Mayor and Councillors, and between ARA and Councils, declined to historic lows of backbiting and recalcitrance.
On the plus side, the boroughs had never been more united among themselves, and this gave the Fourth Labour Government a unique opportunity to reform local government. Put off by the disputes between the two tiers in Auckland, the Government merged the patchwork of Councils, Boards and Authorities in New Zealand into a much smaller number of unitary authorities, cutting the 32 Auckland Councils down to just four - and most of the 32 were happy to put their differences aside in order to be rid of the Metro Mayor. As such, Cath Tizard served out her term until the Auckland Regional Authority was disestablished at the 1989 local elections.
The first Metro Mayor, Sir Dove-Myer Robinson, had passed away just two months beforehand.
Metropolitan Mayors of Auckland
1962-1965: Dove-Myer Robinson (Civic Reform) [1]
1962 def: Hugh Lambie (Independent)
1965-1968: Keith Hay (Independent) [2]
1965 def: Dove-Myer Robinson (Independent), George Forsyth (Labour)
1968-1977: Dove-Myer Robinson (Independent) [3]
1968 def: Keith Hay (Independent), George Forsyth (Independent Labour)
1971 def: Ted Flynn (Civic Action)
1974 def: Jim Anderton (Labour)
1977-1980: Jim Anderton (Labour) [4]
1977 def: Dove-Myer Robinson (Independent), Assid Corban (Independent)
1980-1983: Colin Kay (Ratewatchers) [5]
1980 def: Jim Anderton (Labour), Dove-Myer Robinson (Independent)
1983-1989: Cath Tizard (Labour) [6]
1983 def: Colin Kay (Ratewatchers), Lloyd Elsmore (Independent), Tim Shadbolt (Independent), Dove-Myer Robinson (Independent)
1986 def: Colin Kay (Independent)
[1] - Sir Dove-Myer 'Robbie' Robinson is remembered as the father of modern Auckland, having first involved himself in local politics to oppose a sewage plan that would have resulted in the beaches of the Waitemata Harbour being inundated with refuse whenever the wind came from the east. This took him a decade and a lot of his own money, and resulted in Robbie implementing his alternative (oxidation pools out of sight of his house) as Mayor of Auckland City. Unfortunately, the City Council was one of 32 territorial authorities in the city at the time; a problem which incited his second major campaign. The creation of the Auckland Regional Authority, along the lines of the Toronto Metro, was opposed tooth and nail by the existing local government Establishment, some of whom governed boroughs of as little as 8,500 people, but was finally carried through thanks to the support of Prime Minister Holyoake, who saw in Robbie a similarly self-made man. In 1962, Robinson was elected to command the new body he'd made for himself.
The ARA formed a top tier of local government, covering the 32 territorial authorities and a panoply of special purpose boards, such as the Drainage Board and the Airport Authority, which had already been created to co-ordinate matters too interconnected for the tiny boroughs to manage alone. Each borough elected two members, but Auckland City and Manukau elected more by a ward system, making 70 Councillors plus a Mayor elected at large. The populist Robbie, with his ticket backed by the Labour Party, did poorly in Manukau (upon which he had foisted his oxidation ponds) and in the small boroughs, but defeated the Mayor of Manukau, Hugh Lambie, in a close contest, as voters balked at Lambie's proposal to abolish the ARA before it had even been given a fair trial.
[2] - What ought to have been Robbie's apogee promptly became his annus horribilis. The over-represented conservative boroughs ensured a majority opposed to all of his zany schemes (for instance, bringing the electricity boards into the ARA), while his home life went from hectic to downright scandalous. Always a philanderer, he had married a much younger woman as his fourth wife while only Mayor of Auckland City, but repressed her desire to make a career of her own. In 1965, this resulted in a separation, after which both were hospitalised under mysterious circumstances. One rumour alleged that he'd chased her down the street with a meat cleaver - which is unlikely, as both of them were vegetarians. In any case, Robbie handily lost the Metro Mayor race to Keith Hay, the bible-bashing Mayor of Mount Roskill, while Labour stood a candidate against him for the first time. Hay's reign embarked on no big-ticket items but is well-regarded in hindsight for using the sizeable ARA rates to build social housing. However, his re-election efforts were spectacularly misguided - his hoardings featured a picture of himself and the Mayoress, with the slogan "Auckland Needs Both Of Us". Robbie, now a bachelor once more, was returned to office on a wave of sympathy.
[3] - Old enmities with the Auckland Establishment now healing, Robbie launched himself into his third big project - rapid rail for Auckland. The existing commuter services were run by the Railways Department on the trunk lines, and were infrequent and often delayed as freight had right of way. Robinson proposed a separate, standard-gauge network to go along with the new motorways which were springing up around Auckland, and set up a committee to draw up a proposal. Unfortunately, the General Manager of the ARA (and ex officio member of the committee), Ted Flynn, was resolutely opposed to rapid rail and obstructed the committee for two and a half years. Eventually, the irascible Robbie removed him (with questionable authority), only to be faced by him in the Metro Mayor race in 1968. By this stage, Robinson had both Labour and the Establishment back on-side due to the fact that the extensive rail plans serviced almost every borough, so Flynn was only supported by an anti-rail lobby group and did quite poorly.
Even so, Auckland had to wait for the election of the Third Labour Government in 1972 for the project to get the state funding it needed to get started. The legacy of the ART network is mixed: the standard-gauge lines take up room that could have been used to triple- or -quadruple-track the narrow-gauge freight lines, while speeds aren't appreciably higher than they would have been on narrow-gauge. Other issues include the expense of the underground City Rail Loop (Stage 1 of the project, and only completed in 1984) and the infrequency of the stations, which mean that most passengers have to take a bus to get to their local train station. However, this latter point does make the ART genuinely rapid, with transit times to Whangaparoa or the Airport hovering at around 30 minutes.
[4] - Robinson also implemented forward-thinking recycling and composting initiatives (he had been President of the NZ Humic Compost Society since before he entered politics) and is remembered today as a talisman of the Green movement, although he was of course an upstanding and successful businessman and keen capitalist. However, he endorsed a vote for Values at both the 1972 and 1975 elections, encouraging Labour to run against him for the Mayoralty. Jim Anderton, a Manukau City Councillor, laid the groundwork in 1974 by painting Robbie as a defanged stooge of the conservative element, but only managed to pull off a victory when the Citizens and Ratepayers endorsed the Westie winemaker Assid Corban to - as it turned out - split the vote. The new Mayor was of a whole new generation to Robinson, who was now in his seventies but still possessing the energy to be a vehement critic of his successor. Anderton waylaid progress on the City Rail Loop and diverted more funds to local suburban hubs as opposed to just making it easier for them to go shopping on Queen Street. He even temporarily redesignated the underground Civic ART station as a swimming pool, although it was drained soon after when nobody dared go down there. But the project went slowly on, amid mounting costs.
[5] - Anderton's high spending (a lot of which he was committed to by his predecessor) sparked the rise of the New Right in Auckland, with the formation of Ratewatchers as a genuine movement for the freezing of rates - which no conservatives had ever actually believed in before, even as they demanded it in the triennial elections. The former Citizens and Ratepayers member of Auckland City Council, Colin Kay, led the charge of the City and small boroughs against the South Auckland interloper Anderton, and defeated him on a very split vote. Meanwhile, Robinson made a doomed play to give his life meaning once more by donning the mayoral chains. Kay, however, quickly discovered that contracting out Council services and selling the Mayoral Daimler didn't actually save enough money to cut rates by as much as his supporters demanded, and was swept away when the conservative Establishment withdrew support.
[6] - Cath Tizard, a relatively youthful woman was part of the Labour aristocracy and had made a name for herself on her own terms by opposing Council house rent increases pushed by Robinson and Kay. Her victory, however, was marred by two things: firstly, the fact that the ailing Robinson called the people of Auckland "gutless, shallow and uncaring" for giving him such a paltry vote; secondly, the majority of conservatives on the ARA, permanent and unimpeachable by dint of representing the tiny boroughs. Under Tizard, the ART network began to really take shape, and the tendency of Auckland to sprawl in the general direction of Hamilton was arrested by high-density building along the rail corridors. These gains came at a price, though, because the boroughs served by the ART were all very much opposed to the intensification and rezoning of all their peaceful suburbs. Over the 1980s, relations between Mayor and Councillors, and between ARA and Councils, declined to historic lows of backbiting and recalcitrance.
On the plus side, the boroughs had never been more united among themselves, and this gave the Fourth Labour Government a unique opportunity to reform local government. Put off by the disputes between the two tiers in Auckland, the Government merged the patchwork of Councils, Boards and Authorities in New Zealand into a much smaller number of unitary authorities, cutting the 32 Auckland Councils down to just four - and most of the 32 were happy to put their differences aside in order to be rid of the Metro Mayor. As such, Cath Tizard served out her term until the Auckland Regional Authority was disestablished at the 1989 local elections.
The first Metro Mayor, Sir Dove-Myer Robinson, had passed away just two months beforehand.
Bolt451
Anxious millenial cowgirl
- Location
- Sandford, Gloucestershire
- Pronouns
- She/Her
3 Predictions for the next 12 months
1.Boris Bottles It (aka "Hey Wayne, lets do the mega happy ending!" )
2019- November 2019: Boris Johnson (Conservative Minority)
November 2019-June 2020: Jeremy Corbyn (Labour-SNP-PC Coalition with LD, Independent, One Nation, and GPEW Support)
Def: Michael Gove (Conservative) Jo Swinson (Lib Dem) Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) Rory Stewart (One Nation) Nigel Farage (Brexit) Arlene Foster (DUP) Mary Lou MacDonald (SF) Adam Price (Plaid Cymru) Jon Bartley and Sian Berry (GPEW)
2020 January EU Deal Referendum:
Remain: 51% Leave 49%
May: Scottish Independence Referendum
Remain 52.5 Leave: 47.5%
(1)June 2020- Present: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat-One Nation-Social Democrat Coalition)
Def: Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) Dominic Raab (Conservative) Jo Swinson (Lib Dem) Tom Watson (Social Democrat) Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) Rory Stewart (One Nation) Nigel Farage (Brexit) Arlene Foster (DUP) Mary Lou MacDonald (SF) Jon Bartley and Sian Berry (GPEW) Adam Price (Plaid Cymru)
(1) First referendum after voting reform
In this (unlikely) scenario Boris goes to Brussels and asks for an extension and immediately resigns as Tory leader. The Opposition hold a vote of no confidence in the government and a general election is held in November. Faced with a Right split between the Pro-Deal One Nation, the floundering Tory party and the pro no-deal Brexit Party Labour get the most seats but fall far short of a majority. They come to an agreement with most parties to hold a second referendum between remain and a Norway style single market deal). They also pass electoral reform. With many pro-no-deal parties boycotting the second referendum the UK votes to remain. Scotland votes to remain in the UK (indyref2 was an agreement for the SNP to support Labour) and the UK goes to the polls again, this time under a Scotland/Wales style Additional member system. Post-election talks between Labour and the Lib Dems break down over Jeremy Corbyn being Prime Minister. Several Labour MPs withdraw from the party to back a Lib-Dem lead centrist government.
2. Crashing the heck out
2019- October 2020: Boris Johnson (Conservative Minority)
October 2020-April 2020 Sajid Javid
April 2020-Present: Jeremy Corbyn (Labour Majority)
Def: Sajid Javid (Conservative) Jo Swinson (Lib Dem) Tom Watson (Social Democrat) Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) Rory Stewart (One Nation) Arlene Foster (DUP) Mary Lou MacDonald (SF) Jon Bartley and Sian Berry (GPEW) Adam Price (Plaid Cymru)
Boris sacrifices himself to avoid asking for an extension. He is arrested for contempt of Parliament in the confusion of it all the UK crashes out of the EU. Sajid Javid is selected as a temporary Prime Minister and eventually is elected leader of the Conservative party. Protests and riots are seen across the country as many see food and medicine shortages and the pound tanks. There’s a surprising amount of cooperation in the months following no-deal to get food and medicine into the country but the fairly impotent Javid government doesn’t get through any legislation over taxation reform. By April with things calmly down slightly the opposition parties call for a general election. While the Liberal Democrat lead Democratic ticket does well Labour secure a small majority. Labour has great plans for Britain, but first they have to secure food supplies and medication.
3.The Long Awaited Unity Government
2019- October 2019: Boris Johnson (Conservative Minority)
October 2019- November 2019: Sir Kier Starmer (Labour leading National Emergency government)
November 2019-Present: Boris Johnson (Conservative Majority)
Def: Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) Jo Swinson (Lib Dem) Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) Rory Stewart (One Nation) Arlene Foster (DUP) Mary Lou MacDonald (SF) Jon Bartley and Sian Berry (GPEW) Adam Price (Plaid Cymru)
Kier Starmer is chosen as Prime minister to head up a National Unity government and goes to Brussels to ask for an extension to the Brexit Deadline. Following this an election is called and Boris Johnson uses the full power of his populist narrative to drain the Brexit Party of support and secure a decent majority and Britain leaves the EU at the end of January 2020. By September 2020 Labour are leading the Conservatives in the polls they lack the seats to call for a general election
1.Boris Bottles It (aka "Hey Wayne, lets do the mega happy ending!" )
2019- November 2019: Boris Johnson (Conservative Minority)
November 2019-June 2020: Jeremy Corbyn (Labour-SNP-PC Coalition with LD, Independent, One Nation, and GPEW Support)
Def: Michael Gove (Conservative) Jo Swinson (Lib Dem) Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) Rory Stewart (One Nation) Nigel Farage (Brexit) Arlene Foster (DUP) Mary Lou MacDonald (SF) Adam Price (Plaid Cymru) Jon Bartley and Sian Berry (GPEW)
2020 January EU Deal Referendum:
Remain: 51% Leave 49%
May: Scottish Independence Referendum
Remain 52.5 Leave: 47.5%
(1)June 2020- Present: Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat-One Nation-Social Democrat Coalition)
Def: Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) Dominic Raab (Conservative) Jo Swinson (Lib Dem) Tom Watson (Social Democrat) Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) Rory Stewart (One Nation) Nigel Farage (Brexit) Arlene Foster (DUP) Mary Lou MacDonald (SF) Jon Bartley and Sian Berry (GPEW) Adam Price (Plaid Cymru)
(1) First referendum after voting reform
In this (unlikely) scenario Boris goes to Brussels and asks for an extension and immediately resigns as Tory leader. The Opposition hold a vote of no confidence in the government and a general election is held in November. Faced with a Right split between the Pro-Deal One Nation, the floundering Tory party and the pro no-deal Brexit Party Labour get the most seats but fall far short of a majority. They come to an agreement with most parties to hold a second referendum between remain and a Norway style single market deal). They also pass electoral reform. With many pro-no-deal parties boycotting the second referendum the UK votes to remain. Scotland votes to remain in the UK (indyref2 was an agreement for the SNP to support Labour) and the UK goes to the polls again, this time under a Scotland/Wales style Additional member system. Post-election talks between Labour and the Lib Dems break down over Jeremy Corbyn being Prime Minister. Several Labour MPs withdraw from the party to back a Lib-Dem lead centrist government.
2. Crashing the heck out
2019- October 2020: Boris Johnson (Conservative Minority)
October 2020-April 2020 Sajid Javid
April 2020-Present: Jeremy Corbyn (Labour Majority)
Def: Sajid Javid (Conservative) Jo Swinson (Lib Dem) Tom Watson (Social Democrat) Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) Rory Stewart (One Nation) Arlene Foster (DUP) Mary Lou MacDonald (SF) Jon Bartley and Sian Berry (GPEW) Adam Price (Plaid Cymru)
Boris sacrifices himself to avoid asking for an extension. He is arrested for contempt of Parliament in the confusion of it all the UK crashes out of the EU. Sajid Javid is selected as a temporary Prime Minister and eventually is elected leader of the Conservative party. Protests and riots are seen across the country as many see food and medicine shortages and the pound tanks. There’s a surprising amount of cooperation in the months following no-deal to get food and medicine into the country but the fairly impotent Javid government doesn’t get through any legislation over taxation reform. By April with things calmly down slightly the opposition parties call for a general election. While the Liberal Democrat lead Democratic ticket does well Labour secure a small majority. Labour has great plans for Britain, but first they have to secure food supplies and medication.
3.The Long Awaited Unity Government
2019- October 2019: Boris Johnson (Conservative Minority)
October 2019- November 2019: Sir Kier Starmer (Labour leading National Emergency government)
November 2019-Present: Boris Johnson (Conservative Majority)
Def: Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) Jo Swinson (Lib Dem) Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) Rory Stewart (One Nation) Arlene Foster (DUP) Mary Lou MacDonald (SF) Jon Bartley and Sian Berry (GPEW) Adam Price (Plaid Cymru)
Kier Starmer is chosen as Prime minister to head up a National Unity government and goes to Brussels to ask for an extension to the Brexit Deadline. Following this an election is called and Boris Johnson uses the full power of his populist narrative to drain the Brexit Party of support and secure a decent majority and Britain leaves the EU at the end of January 2020. By September 2020 Labour are leading the Conservatives in the polls they lack the seats to call for a general election
Bolt451
Anxious millenial cowgirl
- Location
- Sandford, Gloucestershire
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Not sure about Jo Swinson being PM TBH
- Location
- Teignmouth, Devon
- Pronouns
- She/Her
2017-2019: Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) confidence and supply with Nicola Sturgeon (SNP)
98th Thread Run-Down
Major Parties
Labour: Starmer really struggled in the debates - not being able to go all out Revoke like the Lib Dems and Greens but also not being considered an out and out leader in these divided times. It;s hard to imagine that anyone would like anyone the person who is actually delivering Brexit
Conservative: Boris is still pausing for that studio laughter, any day now.
Brexit Party: Standing down in any constituency where the Tories promisie to renegotiate a deal so... what? Nigel's Party is opposing the Tories in Broxtowe and wherever Boles represents and that's it?
Liberal Democrat: Are now the party of revoke. They're not calling for a third referendum. Referendums are apparently broken now. They're just not going to vote for Brexit ever which I guess is at least honest.
Green: The real tragedy of this election is that it's interfered with the Green Party Conference just when we were going to debate a motion on gender self-ID. You'd think at least the big parties would respect conference season
National Parties
SNP: Salmond's legal challenge continues. They're playing heavy revoke, but it's not clear if this is actually as popular in Scotland as they think. Sturgeon must be glad Ruth is gone - so at least they might keep some of those Tory votes.
DUP: Came back to Assembly fast enough when equal marriage and abortion was threatened - it remains to be seen if they can actually prevent them
Sinn Fein: A guy in Wales called Billy Hampton died and left £1.5 million to Sinn Fein as a fuck you to the establishment
Plaid Cymru: Adam Price did okay in the seven lectern debate yesterday. But any Welsh people with any dignity will no doubt be glad he's not on again next week.
UKIP: By the look of Kipper Central the General Election is basically being treated as one small front in Ben Walker's biggest political goal - to abolish UKIP's NEC.
Minor Parties (Devolved government representation only)
Redacted due to time soz. but we just finished a thread overnight due to the gods damned debate and I didn't get around the finishing.
Minor Parties
For Britain: The candidate in my constituency apparently had a musical career at one stage before he became basically a professional racist. I didn't realise, he wrote poetry. I didn't realise he wrote such bloody awful poetry.
Yorkshire Party: All hands n deck for a few constituencies basically chosen at random
Liberal: 20 general election candidates, two of whom are women. Good job, guys.
Women's Equality Party: Sophie Walker is standing against Boris this time. I'm not sure when the last time was a party leader stood against another party leader.
Democrats and Veterans: The candidate in Sheffield Hallam claimed to have been beaten up for his beliefs but basically shat himself in a pub toilet and knocked his nose on the door hook, passing out. That's... that's special.
English Democrats: Are running candidates on the platform that Britain left the EU without a deal on 29 March and nobody realised which... I mean it's a unique stance on Brexit.
2017: Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) [294] Theresa May (Conservative) [282] Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) [35] Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat) [17] Arlene Foster (DUP) [10] Gerry Adams (Sinn Fein) [7] Leanne Wood (Plaid Cymru) [2] Caroline Lucas and Jon Bartley (Green Party England & Wales) [1] Sylvia Herman (Independent) [1] John Bercow (Speaker) [1]
Conservative Leadership Election:
Boris Johnson: 52.2%
Justine Greening: 47.8%
4 October 2018: Meaningful Vote 1 - Yes: 247 No: 390 - Labour's deal was for a customs union and free movement of people.
8 November 2018: Meaningful Vote 2 - Yes: 226 No: 374 - A customs union and common market, as a transitional agreement - the political statement making it clear that this will be reviewed within two years
7 January 2019: Having failed to win a majority for his deal there was speculation on whether Corbyn would make a deal with the SNP and Liberal Democrats to get a majority for a second referendum. However, it was becoming clear that he was, instead, planning to develop a harder Brexit deal. After the Christmas recess Labour MPs called for a new leadership election
4 March 2019: Labour Leadership Election
Round 1
Jeremy Corbyn: 46.1%
Keir Starmer: 35.1%
Jess Phillips: 15.3%
Kate Hooey: 3.5% - Eliminated
Round 2
Jeremy Corbyn: 47.5%
Keir Starmer: 35.7%
Jess Phillips: 16.8% - Eliminated
Round 3
Keir Starmer: 51.6% - Elected
Jeremy Corbyn: 49.4%
2019-: Kier Starmer (Labour) confidence and supply with Nicola Sturgeon (SNP)
11 March 2019: Meaningful Vote 3 - Deal-v-Remain People's Vote
Yes: 367 No: 273
18 April 2019: EU Referendum
Leave: 50.2%
Remain: 49.8%
Turnout: 59.6%
23 May 2019 EU Election: Nigel Farage (Brexit) [31] Boris Johnson (Conservative) [14] Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat) [11] Kier Starmer (Labour) [9] Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) [2] Arlene Foster (DUP) [2] Sian Berry and Jon Bartley (Green Party England & Wales) [2] Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Fein) [1] Gerrard Batten (UKIP) [1]
12 September: Vote of no confidence passes.
17 October: Date of the next general election.
98th Thread Run-Down
Major Parties
Labour: Starmer really struggled in the debates - not being able to go all out Revoke like the Lib Dems and Greens but also not being considered an out and out leader in these divided times. It;s hard to imagine that anyone would like anyone the person who is actually delivering Brexit
Conservative: Boris is still pausing for that studio laughter, any day now.
Brexit Party: Standing down in any constituency where the Tories promisie to renegotiate a deal so... what? Nigel's Party is opposing the Tories in Broxtowe and wherever Boles represents and that's it?
Liberal Democrat: Are now the party of revoke. They're not calling for a third referendum. Referendums are apparently broken now. They're just not going to vote for Brexit ever which I guess is at least honest.
Green: The real tragedy of this election is that it's interfered with the Green Party Conference just when we were going to debate a motion on gender self-ID. You'd think at least the big parties would respect conference season
National Parties
SNP: Salmond's legal challenge continues. They're playing heavy revoke, but it's not clear if this is actually as popular in Scotland as they think. Sturgeon must be glad Ruth is gone - so at least they might keep some of those Tory votes.
DUP: Came back to Assembly fast enough when equal marriage and abortion was threatened - it remains to be seen if they can actually prevent them
Sinn Fein: A guy in Wales called Billy Hampton died and left £1.5 million to Sinn Fein as a fuck you to the establishment
Plaid Cymru: Adam Price did okay in the seven lectern debate yesterday. But any Welsh people with any dignity will no doubt be glad he's not on again next week.
UKIP: By the look of Kipper Central the General Election is basically being treated as one small front in Ben Walker's biggest political goal - to abolish UKIP's NEC.
Minor Parties (Devolved government representation only)
Redacted due to time soz. but we just finished a thread overnight due to the gods damned debate and I didn't get around the finishing.
Minor Parties
For Britain: The candidate in my constituency apparently had a musical career at one stage before he became basically a professional racist. I didn't realise, he wrote poetry. I didn't realise he wrote such bloody awful poetry.
Yorkshire Party: All hands n deck for a few constituencies basically chosen at random
Liberal: 20 general election candidates, two of whom are women. Good job, guys.
Women's Equality Party: Sophie Walker is standing against Boris this time. I'm not sure when the last time was a party leader stood against another party leader.
Democrats and Veterans: The candidate in Sheffield Hallam claimed to have been beaten up for his beliefs but basically shat himself in a pub toilet and knocked his nose on the door hook, passing out. That's... that's special.
English Democrats: Are running candidates on the platform that Britain left the EU without a deal on 29 March and nobody realised which... I mean it's a unique stance on Brexit.
Walpurgisnacht
I'm Mister Blobby, I kill Prime Ministers
- Location
- Banned from the forum
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The realism here is astounding.
How Change UK Could Have Become The Government
30th April 2019: CHUK members worry that Lib Dems will do well in upcoming elections and undermine their reason to be. A crisis meeting is organised for tomorrow. Yorkshire village of Tethersby noticed to have vanished.
1st May 2019: CHUK holds meeting at Wollastone's home in Totnes, as she's well respected by all members. PM May arrives at bunker to be informed of Tethersby situation, which appears to be a contagion which is now spreading fast.
2nd May to 3rd May 2019: Martial law declared in UK. Bulk of Crossed and refugees from the north are being contained; Yorkshire written off. Outbreaks that have spread elsewhere include London.
4th May 2019: PM's bunker confirmed infected. A severely wounded Prince Harry, now automatically King Henry IX, has as many surviving MPs as possible taken to emergency command on HMS Queen Elizabeth to imply there's still civilian control. Change UK MPs make up half of the unity government and Heidi Allen is made Prime Minister.
5th May to 11th May: Pacification of Crossed infection. Between nine to eleven million dead. PM Allen promises elections will be held as soon as possible and the country will be restored.
12th May: Chuka Ummunah launches breakaway British New Deal Party. Government loses majority.
30th April 2019: CHUK members worry that Lib Dems will do well in upcoming elections and undermine their reason to be. A crisis meeting is organised for tomorrow. Yorkshire village of Tethersby noticed to have vanished.
1st May 2019: CHUK holds meeting at Wollastone's home in Totnes, as she's well respected by all members. PM May arrives at bunker to be informed of Tethersby situation, which appears to be a contagion which is now spreading fast.
2nd May to 3rd May 2019: Martial law declared in UK. Bulk of Crossed and refugees from the north are being contained; Yorkshire written off. Outbreaks that have spread elsewhere include London.
4th May 2019: PM's bunker confirmed infected. A severely wounded Prince Harry, now automatically King Henry IX, has as many surviving MPs as possible taken to emergency command on HMS Queen Elizabeth to imply there's still civilian control. Change UK MPs make up half of the unity government and Heidi Allen is made Prime Minister.
5th May to 11th May: Pacification of Crossed infection. Between nine to eleven million dead. PM Allen promises elections will be held as soon as possible and the country will be restored.
12th May: Chuka Ummunah launches breakaway British New Deal Party. Government loses majority.
Major Crimson
Here occasionally and quietly
Oak and Ash and Thorn
or
TOLKIEN PUNK
or
TOLKIEN PUNK
Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
1908-1916: HH Asquith (Liberal Majority)
def 1912. Arthur Balfour (Conservative and Unionist), John Redmond (IPP), George Barnes (Labour)
1916-1919 J. E. B. Seely (Liberal, then National Wartime Government)
def. 1916 George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (Conservative), John R. Bell (Labour), John Redmond (IPP)
September 1916: Start of the Great European War
1919-1921 George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys (National Government)
August 1921: Peace of Vienna, Status Quo Ante Bellum
Dec 1921: Start of the British Civil War
Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (Khaki Government)
1921-1923 George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys (National)
1923-1923 Winston Spencer Churchill (National) †
1923-1925 George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (Independent) †
June 1925: Fall of London
Chairman of the Irish Provisional Government
1922-1923 Michael Collins (Sinn Fein)
August 1923: Treaty of Belfast, Irish Independence
Director of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Government of the British People (First Red Government)
1921-1923 Manny Shinwell (Independent Labour) †
1923-1924 Captain A. V. Alexander (Labour, later United Socialist)
1923 def. John MacLean (Socialist Revolutionary), Albert Inkpin (CPGB), Victor Grayson (Independent Labour), Samuel Perry (Cooperative People's)
1924-1926 Major Clement Attlee (United Socialist)
1924 def. John MacLean, Jack Bailey, G. D. H. Cole
June 1925: First Battle of London, Victory over the Khaki Government
1926-1928 G. D. H. Cole (United Socialist - Freedom)†
1926 def. Albert Inkpin (United Socialist - Left), Willie Gallacher (United Socialist - Workers)
March 1928 Crimson Coup, Left faction take control. Cole killed.
1928-1929 Wal Hannington (United Socialist - Left)†
June 1929: Second Battle of London
Director of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Government of the Celtic People (Second Red Government)
1929-1930 John Maclean (United Socialist)
December 1930: Peace of Coventry. Establishment of the Celtic Council Republic.
Commander-In-Chief of the Free English Army (Green Government)
1925-1926 Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (Army)
1925-1929 Captain, later Supreme Commander John Tolkien (Independent, later English Arcadian)
March 1926: Captain's Coup, Haig Deposed.
June 1929: Second Battle of London, Red Government Defeated in England.
December 1930: Peace of Coventry. Establishment of the English Domain.
--
High Alderman of the English Domain
1929-1950 His High Glory John Tolkein (Arcadia)
Acclaimed by Council of Elders
1950-1964 His Eminence Clive Lewis (Arcadia - Oak)
Acclaimed by Council of Elders, def: Michael Ramsey (Ash), Richard Hull (Thorn)
1964-1990 His Grace J.E. Powell (Arcadia - Thorn)
Acclaimed by Council of Elders, def: Ralph Bakshi (Oak) Alexander Nadson (Ash), Tony Whittaker (Elm)
1990-2019 His High Majesty Christopher Tolkien (Arcadia - Oak)
Acclaimed by Council of Elders, def: Michael Ramsey (Ash), D.W. Healey (Thorn), ACL Blair (Elm)
2019-Present Her Resplendence Rebecca Berry (Arcadia - Elm)
Acclaimed by Council of Elders, def: Libby Lane (Ash), Phillip Pullman (Oak), Johnny Mercer (Thorn)
- Location
- Derbyshire
Tolkein as leader of some sort of Eco-Paternalist State using tree names as factions is amazing.
Wait...
Ralph Bakshi? That's brilliant.
I'm assuming the 'Oaks' are sort of a broadly conservative faction on the new political centre, the 'Ashes' are the more socially liberal inclined sort, the 'Thorns' are a sort of workers first hardline protectionist grouping and the 'Elms' are a sort of 'Progressive' party in the modern sense of the term?
Wait...
Ralph Bakshi? That's brilliant.
I'm assuming the 'Oaks' are sort of a broadly conservative faction on the new political centre, the 'Ashes' are the more socially liberal inclined sort, the 'Thorns' are a sort of workers first hardline protectionist grouping and the 'Elms' are a sort of 'Progressive' party in the modern sense of the term?
Major Crimson
Here occasionally and quietly
I'm glad you liked it!
The central idea is one I've had bouncing about my brain for ages, I dabbled in it a bit at the other place like 2 years ago with an infobox but decided a list would be fun.
General idea is Oaks are indeed the mainstream, conservative dominant faction but with spiritual overtones that blur the line between Anglicanism and a few bits of druidic aesthetics. Ashes are the reformists and proper Christian Democrats, most come from the CoE. Thorns again yeah, protectionist and militarist and most of their leaders have military experience. Elms finally are yeah progressives, feminists, internationalists who want to open the dominion up a little.
Kaiser Julius
Well-known member
Has anyone done ATLF for Agent Lavender?
Mumby on the Other Place,muh boi.
- Location
- Albany, NY
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Just because someone else has done it doesn't mean you can't. Go for it. Hell every time I look at my old ones I get ideas about redoing some.