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Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State

I had a similar thought when I saw in "If Gordon Banks Had Played" the use of the term "National Conservatives" to describe Tories who had crossed the floor to keep Labour in power - yes it gives you an AH 'aaaaah' feeling, but why on earth would they seek a comparison with Ramsey Mac considering what happened to him? Of course, there is the option of 'not the name they picked, but the one their opponents/the meedja pejoratively gave to them and stuck'.

The author themselves said on this very site that the whole concept there was unfliable on plausibility grounds so you may be overthinking this just a tad.
 
A quick and simple list taken from @Charles EP M.'s wonderful Doctor Who-PM inversion from last year. There was a longer draft that tried to find space for various companions leading a variety of third parties, but there was no way to fit everyone and I don’t know enough DW to know who to cut. Feel free to picture the many actors discussed as alternate Doctors as failed leadership candidates and ministers.

1963–1966: William Hartnell (Conservative)
1966–1969: Patrick Troughton (Labour)
1966 (Minority with Liberal support) Def. William Hartnell (Conservative), Roger Dell (Liberal)
1969–1974: John Pertwee (Conservative)
1969 (Majority) Def. Patrick Troughton (Labour), Rodger Dell (Liberal)
1974–1981: Tom Baker (Labour)
1974 (Majority) Def. John Pertwee (Conservative), Peter Pratt (Liberal)
1979 (Majority) Def. Peter Cushing (Conservative), Geoffrey Beevers (Liberal)

1981–1984: Peter Moffett (Labour)
1984–1987: Colin Baker (Conservative)
1984 (Coalition with Liberals) Def. Peter Moffett (Labour), Anthony Ainley (Liberal)
1987–1996: Percy Kent-Smith (Conservative)
1987 (Majority) Def. Peter Moffett (Labour), Anthony Ainley (Liberal), Frances Carroll (Centre Democrats)
1991 (Majority) Def. John Hurt (Labour), Anthony Ainley (Liberal), Frances Carroll (Centre Democrats)

1996–2005: Paul McGann (Labour)
1996 (Majority) Def. Percy Kent-Smith (Conservative), Eric Roberts (Liberal)
2000 (Majority) Def. David Bradley (Conservative), Derek Jacobs (Liberal)

2005: Chris Eccleston (Labour)
2005–2010: David McDonald (Conservative)
2005 (Majority) Def. Chris Eccleston (Labour), John Simm (Liberal)
2010–2013: Matthew Smith (Labour)
2010 (Minority with Liberal support) Def. David McDonald (Conservative), John Simm (Liberal)
2013–2017: Peter Dougan (Conservative)
2013 (Majority) Def. Matthew Smith (Labour), Michelle Gomez (Liberal)
2017–20??: Jodie Whittaker (Labour)
2017 (Majority) Def. Peter Dougan (Conservative), Michelle Gomez (Liberal)
2021 (Majority) Def. Richard Grant (Conservative), Sacha Dhawan (Liberal), Jo Martin (Green)
 
I was born ready for that conversation.

But nothing with the Greenbacks would be better then the time @Turquoise Blue turned them into a 20th Century Party called The Greens.
You really do flatter me, Japhy. But thanks!

TBH, I do genuinely see any successful Greenback Party dropping the "-back" bit eventually to become a more generic party name and all. Really depends on how far they get and how "establishment" they end up, but yeah.
 
I really like the "The British public would be too smart but Americans are morons" energy in this post. But no I think it would inevitably come up through the press.
Not at all what I meant; more that it would still be well within living memory in the UK in the "Gordon Banks" example. I am much more talking about the media establishment than the general public, who would most probably not recognise the term "National Labour" (after all, that was long before formal party labels appeared on ballots; Edgar Wallace's biography I think describes Lloyd George's Own Family Party as something like 'a faction of the Liberals').
 
Not at all what I meant; more that it would still be well within living memory in the UK in the "Gordon Banks" example. I am much more talking about the media establishment than the general public, who would most probably not recognise the term "National Labour" (after all, that was long before formal party labels appeared on ballots; Edgar Wallace's biography I think describes Lloyd George's Own Family Party as something like 'a faction of the Liberals').
Doesn't it come up in Gordon Banks how people could self-describe as anything at that point as well, with "Labour Loyalists" standing against the Labour splitters in some seats despite Labour officially not?
 
Inspired by discussions recently about what if the LRC never occurred and the possible effect on the Prime Ministers of Britain (Liberal-Labour takes the Liberal whip and is essentially an offshoot of the Liberal Party):

Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom:
1900-1902: Marquess of Salisbury (Conservative)

1900 (Majority) def: Henry Campbell Bannerman (Liberal), Keir Hardie (Independent Labour Party), John Redmond (Irish Parliamentary Party)
1902-1906: Arthur Balfour (Conservative)
1906-1910: Henry Campbell Bannerman (Liberal)
1906 (Majority) def: Arthur Balfour (Conservative), Keir Hardie (ILP), Arthur Richardson (Liberal-Labour), John Redmond (IPP)
1910-1915: H.H.Asquith (Liberal)
1910 (Majority) def: Arthur Balfour (Conservative), Fred Jowett (ILP-SDF Alliance), Arthur Richardson (Liberal-Labour), John Redmond (IPP), William O'Brien (All for Ireland)
1915-1918: David Lloyd George (Liberal leading War Coalition)
1918-1921: Bonar Law (Conservative)

1918 (Majority) def: David Lloyd George (Liberal), George Lansbury (ILP), Ramsay MacDonald (Liberal-Labour), Samuel Perry (Cooperative Party), Henry Hyndman (National Socialist Party), David Robb Campbell (Ulster Labour Party), Joseph Devlin (Irish Nationalist Party), Various Irish Nationalists
1921-1924: Sir William Joynson-Hicks (Conservative)
1921 (Majority) def: Christopher Addison (Liberal), George Lansbury (ILP), Ramsay MacDonald (Liberal-Labour), Samuel Perry (Cooperative Party), Henry Hyndman (National Socialist Party), David Robb Campbell (Ulster Labour Party), Joseph Devlin (Irish Nationalist Party), Micheal Collins (Sinn Fein)
1924: General Strike, Collapse of Joynson-Hicks Goverment

1924-1930: David Lloyd George (Liberal)
1924 (Majority) def: Sir William Joynson-Hicks (Conservative), Clement Attlee (ILP), Ramsay MacDonald (Liberal-Labour), Samuel Perry (Cooperative Party), Tom Kennedy (National Socialist Party), David Robb Campbell (Ulster Labour Party), Joseph Devlin (Irish Nationalist Party), Lintorn Rotha Orman (Action)
1928 (Coalition with Cooperative Party) def: Eric Geddes (Conservative), Clement Attlee (ILP), George Alfred Spencer (Liberal-Labour), Alfred Barnes (Cooperative Party), Oswald Mosley (National Socialist Party), Jack Bettie (Ulster Labour Party), Joseph Devlin (Irish Nationalist Party), Lintorn Rotha Orman (Action)

1930-1932: William Wedgewood Benn (Liberal)
1932-1935: Arthur Steel-Maitland (Conservative)
1932 (Majority) def: William Wedgewood Benn (Liberal), Edgar Lansbury (ILP), Alfred Barnes-G.D.H Cole (Cooperative Party), Oswald Mosley (National Socialist Party), Jack Bettie (Ulster Labour Party), Joseph Devlin (Irish Nationalist Party), Lintorn Rotha Orman (Action), Wyndham Lewis (Futurist), Hugh MacDiarmid (Scottish Socialist Party), Sylvia Pankhurst (Socialist Party of Great Britian)
1935-1937: Neville Chamberlain (Conservative)
1937-1940: Malcolm MacDonald (Liberal)
1937 (Majority) def: Neville Chamberlain (Conservative), Clement Attlee (ILP), Alfred Barnes-A.V.Alexander (Cooperative Party), Oswald Mosley (National Socialist Party), Jack Bettie (Ulster Labour Party), Micheal Collins (Sinn Féin-Irish Nationalist), William Joyce (Action), Wyndham Lewis (Futurist), Hugh MacDiarmid (Scottish Socialist Party), Sylvia Pankhurst (Socialist Party of Great Britian)
1940-1945: Malcolm MacDonald (Liberal leading War Coalition)
1945-1947: Malcolm MacDonald (Liberal)

1945 (Coalition with ILP) def: Harold Macmillan-Oswald Mosley (New Democratic), Ellen Wilkinson (ILP), Jack Bettie (Ulster Labour Party), Micheal Collins (Sinn Féin), John Beckett (Social Credit), Eric Linklater (Scottish Social Democratic Party), Geoffrey Trease-Ted Grant (Socialist Party of Great Britian)
1947-: Harold Macmillan (New Democratic)
1947 (Majority) def: Malcolm MacDonald (Liberal), Nye Bevan (ILP), Jack Bettie (Ulster Labour Party), Micheal Collins (Sinn Féin), John Beckett (Social Credit), Eric Linklater (Scottish Social Democratic Party), Geoffrey Trease-Tom Driberg (Socialist Party of Great Britian), Ted Grant (Socialist Labour)
1951 (Majority) def: Malcolm MacDonald (Liberal), Nye Bevan (ILP), Micheal Collins (Sinn Féin), John Beckett (Social Credit), Eric Linklater (Scottish Social Democratic Party), Geoffrey Trease-Konni Zilliacus (Socialist Party of Great Britian), Ted Grant (Socialist Labour)


1955 Election:
In Government:
Harold Macmillan (New Democratic)


Opposition:
Evan Durbin (Liberal)
Nye Bevan (ILP)
John Beckett (Social Credit)
Eric Linklater (SSDP)
Konni Zilliacus-Jill Craigie (SPGB)
Ted Grant (Socialist Labour)


Abstaining:
Sean MacBride (Sinn Féin)
 
Not at all what I meant; more that it would still be well within living memory in the UK in the "Gordon Banks" example. I am much more talking about the media establishment than the general public, who would most probably not recognise the term "National Labour" (after all, that was long before formal party labels appeared on ballots; Edgar Wallace's biography I think describes Lloyd George's Own Family Party as something like 'a faction of the Liberals').
In the 1910s the Civil War was in living memory.
 
The Champions: Part 2

1963-1968: Lester Pearson (Liberal)
1963 (Minority): John Diefenbaker (Progressive Conservative), Robert N. Thompson (Social Credit), Tommy Douglas (New Democratic)
1965 (Minority): John Diefenbaker (Progressive Conservative), Tommy Douglas (New Democratic), Réal Caouette (Ralliement créditiste), Robert N. Thompson (Social Credit)

1968-1974: Jean Marchand (Liberal)
1968: Robert Stanfield (Progressive Conservative), Tommy Douglas (New Democratic), Réal Caouette (Ralliement créditiste)
1973 (Minority): Robert Stanfield (Progressive Conservative), David Lewis (New Democratic), Réal Caouette (Social Credit)

1974-1975: John Turner (Liberal) †
1975-1980: Jean-Luc Pépin (Liberal)

1976: Paul Hellyer (Progressive Conservative), Pierre Trudeau (New Democratic), Réal Caouette (Social Credit)
1980-1985: Pierre Trudeau (New Democratic)
1980 (Minority): Jean-Luc Pépin (Liberal), Paul Hellyer (Progressive Conservative)
1982 (Minority): Alan Eagleson (Progressive Conservative), Jean-Luc Pépin (Liberal)

1985-1995: John Crosbie (Liberal)
1985: Pierre Trudeau (New Democratic), Alan Eagleson (Progressive Conservative)
1989: Bob Rae (New Democratic), Robert Muir (Progressive Conservative)
1993: Bob Rae (New Democratic), Jack Ramsay (Alliance), David Crombie (Moderate), Rodrigue Biron (Option Nationale)

1995-1997: Lise Thibault (Liberal)
1997-2003: Nelson Riis (New Democratic)

1997 (Minority): Lise Thibault (Liberal), Jack Ramsay (Alliance), Rodrigue Biron (Option Nationale)
1998: Lise Thibault (Liberal), Deborah Gray (Alliance), Rodrigue Biron (Option Nationale)

2003-2007: Frank Stronach (Liberal)
2003 (Coalition with Alliance): Nelson Riis (New Democratic), Diane Ablonczy (Alliance), François Legault (Option Nationale)
2007 (Minority): Judy Wasylycia-Leis (New Democratic), François Legault (Option Nationale), Diane Ablonczy (Alliance), Judy Rebick (Radical)

2007-2013: Lawrence Cannon (Liberal).
2008: Judy Wasylycia-Leis (New Democratic), François Legault (Option Nationale), Frank Klees (Alliance), Svend Robinson (Radical)
2013-2020: Alexandre Boulerice (New Democratic)
2013: Lawrence Cannon (Liberal), Frank Klees (Alliance), Svend Robinson (Radical)
2017 (Minority): Naheed Nenshi (Liberal), Frank Klees (Alliance), Linda McQuaig (Radical)

2020-: Naheed Nenshi (Liberal)
2020: Alexandre Boulerice (New Democratic), Michelle Rempel (Alliance), Yves Levesque (Option Nationale), Avi Lewis (Radical)

Jean Marchand wins a tighter leadership election and a tighter election majority, and has to contend with economic crises and rising political violence in Quebec, taking a harder line on Quebec nationalism which draws him into conflict with Bourassa and makes him a target of more radical Quebec nationalists. Exhausted and under attack on both sides- proposals of official bilingualism sinking his popularity in English Canada as well- he retired in 1974 and handed power over to the young, energetic John Turner. What his conciliatory attitude to Quebec nationalism might have amounted to is lost to history, as after just under a year in office, he was killed in a bomb blast in Montreal organised by the FLQ. Deputy Prime Minister Pépin quickly took charge, declared a state of emergency and sent troops into Montreal to root out the organisation. While it had mixed success in that regard- the FLQ being active well into the nineties- Pépin was rewarded with a massive landslide in both English and French Canada.

After becoming the only NDP MP in Quebec by a tiny majority in 1973, Pierre Trudeau quickly emerged as an intellectual powerhouse in the party, taking over party after David Lewis' sudden resignation in 1975 and leading the party to a modest breakthrough in the province in 1976, holding firm against the Liberal landslide. Four years later, with Canada now in a deep recession, Trudeau led the party to another historic breakthrough, winning the majority of seats in Quebec and forming government. Determined to find a constitutional settlement, Trudeau finds allies in the new conservative government of Quebec and his reform-minded predecessor, and through consensus a wide-ranging constitutional patriation and settlement is agreed and approved by referendum in 1984, guaranteeing everything from a special status for Quebec to a social charter to electoral reform- a very Canadian consensus. Canadians were grateful enough to put him in the history books, but not grateful enough to ignore the stagnating economy and spiralling deficit.

Which is how the former Newfoundland Premier was able to seize the Liberal leadership. The Crosbie era brought Canada into the neoliberal consensus taking shape across the Western world: privatisations, sweeping budget cuts, slashed taxes, busted unions. Crosbie's cantankerous attitudes made him either wildly popular or deeply despised among Canadians, and his French language skills solidified the NDP's hold over most of Quebec. He retired on his 64th birthday, undefeated, having shaped Canada as much as Trudeau and almost as much as Pearson. His success was seen in how little his NDP successor did to properly push back against his legacy, using the first ever NDP majority to push through modest expansions of public services and social reforms- same sex marriage, universal childcare and historic funding and reconciliation agreements with indigenous leaders, no grand reshaping of the economy as before.

All through this, Canada's conservatives found themselves going from irrelevance to irrelevance, increasingly hobbled and marginalised by external circumstances and defective leadership, increasingly reduced to a Western rump by the mid-1980s as Crosbie dominated English Canada. Eventually the PCs' leadership was won by right-wing activist Jack Ramsay, representing a tide in western conservative activism angered by the constant focus on Quebec's troubles and the threats Trudeau and Crosbie's environmentalism posed to Alberta's economy. The Red Tories revolted, split and scattered- the MacKays returned to provincial politics, David Crombie ended up in Robillard's cabinet, Flora MacDonald was appointed to the Senate by Ontario Premier Layton. And thus the takeover of the right, newly reformed as the Canadian Alliance, was complete, surviving the national scandal of Ramsay's arrest and conviction.

They survived it so well that Frank Stronach, having seized the Liberal leadership off establishment candidates like Crobsie before him, invited them into a coalition to ensure that the socialists were well and truly kept out of power. While they had much in common in terms of fiscal policy and even on some issues of decentralisation, the coalition was soon consumed by infighting on both sides. The coalition eventually collapsed over a proposal for a carbon tax, forcing an election. While the Liberals came out of the election in a much better state than the Alliance, Stronach lacked the patience for the back-and-fourth of minority government, resigning abruptly in a flounce at the end of the year. With the leadership reclaimed by the Laurentian establishment, the party shifted to the left slightly and decimated the NDP and the soft-nationalist Option Nationale in the process.

But that couldn't last, and Alexander Boulerice was swept in on the back of a deep recession and the youth vote. His term was beset by increasing constitutional challenges and intergovernmental disputes: forced early on to condemn the Quebec branch of his party for going into government with the terrorist-sympathising Rassemblement pour l'indépendance nationale, expensive infrastructure projects becoming a magnet for corrupt contracts and environmental and social reform legislation galvanising the conservative movement, turning pro-oil and social conservative activists into household names.

All this buoyed the Alliance, which had left the doldrums by forming an electoral pact with the increasingly right-wing Option Nationale. This pact failed to sustain it's strong polling numbers, falling far behind the victorious Liberals in the end, it left a clear mark on Canada, with the pact together holding more seats than the battered NDP. They are probably better off out of government for this term, as Nenshi faces combative premiers egging on his opponents and constitutional fights- Alberta's Leela Aheer and Quebec's Maxime Bernier being the worst offenders- a stagnant global economy, and dog-whistle attacks from both sides. But to diffuse such difficult situations and force the nation into the future is what the Liberal Party has always done.
 
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Liberal PM Malcolm MacDonald is a very inspired hipster choice.
Thanks, I like the idea that in this universe Malcolm MacDonald is seen as being of Webb’s Bright Young Things that brought Radical Fabianism to the Liberal Party.

Liberals are divided over whether he was the man that managed to sustain the Liberal Party against the rise of the ILP and the SPGB or whether he was a dangerous radical socialist who destroyed the key fudementals of the Liberal Party to keep himself in power.
 
'The Empire is America 10 years from now' v3

"Theme: Aquilae is a small independent country like North Vietnam threatened by a neighbor or provincial rebellion, instigated by gangsters aided by empire. Fight to get rightful planet back. Half of system has been lost to gangsters . . . The Empire is like America ten years from now, after gangsters assassinated the Emperor and were elevated to power in a rigged election . . . We are at a turning point: fascism or revolution".

1969-1974: Richard Nixon (Republican)
1968 (with Spiro Agnew) def. Hubert Humphrey (Democratic), George Wallace (American Independent)
1972 (with Spiro Agnew) def. George McGovern (Democratic)

1974-1977: Carl Albert (Democratic leading Non-Partisan Administration of National Reconciliation and Unity)
1977-1977: Larry McDonald (Anti-Administration Right)
1976 (VACANT); James L. Buckley (Anti-Administration Right), John Lindsay (Pro-Administration Unity), Ron Dellums (Anti-Administration Left)
1977-0000: Larry McDonald (Anti-Communist)
1980 (with John K. Singlaub) def. Michael Harrington (Democratic Socialist), John B. Anderson (Independent)

I've had two takes on this in the past; v1 and v2; the first was intended as a straight parallel to events in Star Wars, the second was more an attempt to capture George's fears. This attempt is similar to the second, except the POD is actually when George was speaking in 1973, rather than going about a decade previous to try and give a longer build up to dictatorship.

The Actual POD is Samuel Byck successfully assassinating Nixon was flying a plane into the goddamn White House. Carl Albert becomes President, Gerald Ford is appointed Vice President. Attempts to try and smooth over the fissues that had opened up in 1970s America do not go to plan. All that 'The Administration' succeeds in doing is rubbing everyone up the wrong way. Anti-Administration candidates, of both the right and left flood into Congress in 1974, robbing The Administration of Congressional majorities and Albert is essentially made into a lameduck.

Unable to respond to a bitter economic crisis in the mid 1970s, The Administration put their energy behind Lindsay, one of the few success stories of the centre, managing to keep NYC tamped down against political radicalism. Unfortunately, there was an October Surprise of the 'Autumn of Blood' as the Black Liberation Army emerged to exact its revenge on the NYPD in an extremely organised campaign. It was clear the quiet that had made Lindsay's name was almost entirely illusory. It was exactly the shot in the arm the Anti-Administration campaigns needed.

The end result of 1976 was controversial to say the least. The electoral college was hung, and there was no majority to be found in the House. In the Senate however, it was much easier to bolt together a coalition of hard-right conservative Republicans and Democrats behind Larry McDonald. McDonald entered the White House and many expected him to fade from sight pretty soon - either the House would get its act together and Buckley would take his place, or the 1978 midterms would put Lindsay in the White House.

In actuality, the young head of John Birch Society had no intentions of leading a caretaker Administration. Gathering up his followers, he founded the Anti-Communist Party, cutting across the traditional lines of Democrat and Republican. He benefited from the assistance of old Nixon staffers like Pat Buchanan, Roger Stone and Paul Manafort, as well as a former campaigner from Youth For Wallace, one Willis Carto. In the name of national security, McDonald brought the authority of the Commander-in-Chief down upon the United States. The likes of the Black Liberation Army were bloodily rooted out. And those who spoke out against the increasingly authoritarian state were tarred with the brush of being terrorist sympathisers.

In 1980, McDonald won a term in his own right, though few would consider the victory democratic. The opposition socialist movement was officially declared unconstitutional and a recalcitrant Supreme Court was packed with Anti-Communists. The only legal opposition, backed by the old pro-Administration ranks of the Democrats and Republicans, won over a quarter of the vote but failed to win a single state.

It is 1983, and America experiences the closest thing possible to dictatorship. The Constitution has been amended allowing McDonald to stand again, and the House of Representatives, riddled with accused Communists as it was, has been folded up. Under the banner of 'State's Rights', Governors have been invested with broad powers, whilst ensuring every Governor is firmly under the thumb of the Anti-Communist Party. A bloody insurgency persists on the fringes, while the US continues to invest itself in the charnel house of Southeast Asia.
 
National Coordinators of the Cooperative Commonwealth:
1896-1906: Edward Bellamy (Nationalist)

1896 def: Frank Stephens (Georgist)
1901 def: Victor Berger (Socialist), Joseph Jay Pastoriza (Georgist)

1906-1911: Eugene V. Debs (Socialist)
1906 def: Julius Wayland (Nationalist), Joseph Jay Pastoriza (Georgist)
1911-1916: Norman Wallace Lermond (Nationalist)
1911 def: Eugene V. Debs (Socialist), Jay Pastoriza (Georgist)
1916-1917: Eugene V. Debs (Socialist)
1916 def: Norman Wallace Lermond (Nationalist), Frederic C. Howe (Georgist), Bill Haywood (Syndicalist)
1917-1922: Cooperative Coordination Committee
1922-1932: John Reed (Syndicalist)
1922 def: Norman Wallace Lermond (Nationalist), Eugene Debs (Socialist), Sara Bard Field (Georgist), Howard Scott (Technocratic), Cyril Briggs (African American Cooperative)
1927 def: Norman Wallace Lermond (Nationalist), Upton Sinclair (Socialist-Georgist), Howard Scott (Technocratic), Cyril Briggs (African American Cooperative)

1932-1937: Rexford Tugwell (Nationalist)
1932 def: Upton Sinclair (CommonWealth), Howard Scott (Technocratic), James P. Cannon (Syndicalist), W.E.Dubois (African American Cooperative)
1937-1942: Howard Scott (Technocratic)
1937 def: Upton Sinclair (CommonWealth), Rexford Tugwell (Nationalist), Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (Syndicalist), Harry Haywood (African American Cooperative)
1942-: Gavin A. Arthur (CommonWealth)
1942 def: Howard Scott (Technocratic), Rexford Tugwell (Nationalist), Earl Browder (Syndicalist), Harry Haywood (African American Cooperative)
1947 def: Mary van Kleeck (Technocratic-Nationalist), Earl Browder (Syndicalist), James Ford (African American Cooperative)


Bellamy’s conception Socialism wasn’t going to be won through politics, he and others of the Nationalists clubs realised. So a new solution was founded to create Socialism in America. Socialist Communes had emerged as an alternative to reform or revolution but these disparate groups weren’t particularly organised or connected.

Bellamy and the Cooperative Commonwealth Coordination Committee would seek to rectify that, Communes would be connected through new technologies and the power of mass print and coordinated to
ensure that the Communes would be able to survive the ravages of Capitalism. For the most part this worked out and by 1896 it would beat fruit with Bellamy being elected in as National Coordinator. This was at first a mostly ceremonial role, much of the actual work was done on the ground or by committees and Bellamy spent most of his time in and out of sanatoriums and writing. Still Bellamy’s hopeful vision of an American form of Socialism seemed to resonate, as the People's Party fizzled out and America was left between the choices of Bourbon Democrats or Conservative Republicans for the most part. As a result once Bellamy stepped down a dramatic raise in Communes had occurred and it needed a man who could lead and be a forceful voice for change. Eugene V. Debs was that man.

Under Debs, the coordinator role was actually about coordinating as he mustered his years of Labour Union work to his advantage. Increasing links between Communes, improving transportation and generally making the Communes feel like they were part of a collective whole in some way was the aim of his leadership. Whilst Debs would increase the feeling of mutual support and cooperation between the Communes he was also seen as having increased the powers of National Coordinator to levels not seen before. This scared a number of the more old fashioned members of the committee and deals with various Communes allowed for a Nationalist win.

By now things were changing in America as Lermond stepped into office. America had experienced many years of Trusts and Conservative politicians as many of the Left decided to create there own nations to run in affect. But tensions were rising, Lermond would see the American Government battle Trade Unions and in some case this would literally occur. Even though he wasn’t a Trade Unionist Lermond decided to help those groups that needed help, often supporting hasty miners Communes and the like. These would often end poorly as the National Guard came in and destroyed them. Across the Commonwealth, various Communes feared for there safety and a slow rise in them collecting arms and preparing for a possibility of armed conflict arose. Lermond wasn’t the leader for that, he was more concerned with nature half the time (his time as National Coordinator was mainly increasing attempts to help Communes use sustainable fuels and harvesting methods as well as conserving green spaces if possible). It was no real surprise when Debs won the more divided 1916 Coordinator election.

Debs would prepare the Commonwealth for the possibility of armed conflict which wouldn’t be long. When America joined the First World War in 1917, many of Communes declared they wouldn’t be taking part. For the Federal Government, this was the last straw. But when several federal agents tried to arrest Debs, things went south, gun battles ensued and even though Debs would be arrested a conflict between the Commonwealth and the Federal Government ensued.

It was a five year slog as the Commonwealth’s Committee’s decentralised nature lead to the Federal Government dealing with a slippery enemy. New Communes would be created and destroyed, atrocities would be committed, the Federal Government and Trusts tried every weapon in there arsenal to destroy the Commonwealth. But in the end it meant nothing and eventually a treaty would be signed, recognising the sovereignty of the Commonwealth. It was a humiliation for the USA and would begin it’s downfall on the world stage as it was getting started.

In the 1922 election, John ‘Jack’ Reed, a Syndicalist reporter and hero of the Seattle Commune would win. Taking a more Anarcho-Syndicalist approach to the Commonwealth, the Communes would be given more autonomy and the role of Coordinator stripped back in favour of various Workers coops, syndicates and Union running various sections of the Commonwealth. Whilst this worked well at first, corruption and political squabbles would begin to seep in and many of the more radical members of the Commonwealth started questioning Workers control at all.

And so once Reed stepped down, into the breach stepped Rexford Tugwell. An avid Nationalist who belivied in the Utopian ideas of Nationalism and also the belief in Central Planning Tugwell would take power away from the syndicates and place the power into various Planning Branches. The Communes industries would be Nationalised and grand projects from rail links to dams would occur. But to the engineers and scientists behind these projects, the Planning branches were filled with civilian leaders who didn’t understand the complexities of modern science.

Tugwell would be ousted by his former close allies the Technocrats lead by Howard Scott. Scientist and Engineers would run the Commonwealth from now on, then and only then would Bellamy’s vision of Utopia be achieved. This didn’t work out. Cold pragmatism and Scientific Socialism would grate with more Libertarian Communes. The fact that Scott’s own idea often collapsed on contact with reality didn’t help. Under the brief rule of the Technocrats, stagnation would begin to occur. A revival was needed.

Gavin A.Arthur, using Sinclair’s Socialist machine that was Commonwealth would oust Scott and return back to a more decentralised form of Socialism to give the Commonwealth breathing space. Whilst certain industries would remain Nationalised they would become less managerial and technocratic. Also Libertarian ideas like various equal rights for all races, genders and sexualities and reforms inspired by the work of Magnus Hirschfeld would be implemented. Having just won re-election, Arthur proposes decentralising even more whilst also trying to connect it even more as modern technologies like radio, television and the miracles of modern media communication are to be implemented across the Commonwealth. It may have not been what Bellamy had in mind but it’s a start.
 
Why does above feel like I tried to do a @Mumby list but odder.

Still I want to do more stuff inspired by the list above because the idea is fun.
 
I preferred Fatherland.


Damn it Robert Harris, look what you made me do:
2019-2020: Boris Johnson (Conservative)
2019 (Majority) def: Jeremy Corbyn (Labour), Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrats), Nicola Sturgeon (SNP)
2020-2024: Jeremy Hunt (Conservative leading National Unity)
2024-2032: Liz Truss (National Unity)

2024 (Majority) def: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrats), Rebecca Long-Bailey (Socialist Labour), Rory Stewart (Reform), Nigel Farage-George Galloway (Alliance for Brexit), Jo Cherry (SNP)
2028 (Majority) def: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrats), Rebecca Long-Bailey (Socialism Now), Rory Stewart-Anna Soubury (New Democrats), Nigel Farage-George Galloway (Alliance for Brexit), Jo Cherry (SNP)

2032-: Wes Streeting (National Unity)
2032 (Coalition with New Democrats) def: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrats), Zarah Sultana (Rebellion), Rory Stewart-Chukka Umunna (New Democrats), Micheal Gove (Brexit), Jo Cherry (SNP)
 
Damn that's pretty terrifying. Crisis reinforcing the government hegemony (with the right wing of labour complicit in it) is not something I really thought about too hard. Not sure about them cancelling Brexit at this stage though.
It’s incredibly unlikely to happen, probably because in this situation the Liberal Democrat’s and ‘Rebellion’ would become the Major party of opposition. I doubt this would ever happen though, unless we get like a Third World War...
 
It’s incredibly unlikely to happen, probably because in this situation the Liberal Democrat’s and ‘Rebellion’ would become the Major party of opposition. I doubt this would ever happen though, unless we get like a Third World War...

I think we really overestimate our current world order's stability. You don't need a world war, just a massive economic crisis, which I'm quite convinced we're close to. And Starmer has already made calls to national unity, despite the current government being what it is so I wouldn't rule it out if the situation is dire enough.

I think the main reason why this won't happen is the large Tory majority and the fact that they tend to always stick together as a party when push comes to shove, especially with 2019 purging most of the dissidents and giving enough of a safety margin to ignore any new ones.

But I could see a canny Tory government taking advantage of Starmer's desire to appear stately and responsible by taking in Labour in a national union government and ensuring they fall with them rather than profit from the crisis being solely handled by the Tories.
 
theres a trend over on the other place thats sorta that trend we had a while ago - this is less based on my own personal politics, and more based on what i felt would happen at each presidential election i can remember

2001-2005: George W. Bush (Republican) [1]
2000 (with Dick Cheney) def. Al Gore (Democratic)
2005-2008: John Kerry (Democratic) [2]
2004 (with John Edwards) def. George W. Bush (Republican)
2008-2013: Barack Obama (Democratic) [3]
2008 (with Joe Biden) def. John McCain (Republican)
2013-2017: Joe Biden (Democratic) [4]
2012 (HUNG); Barack Obama / Joe Biden (Democratic), Sarah Palin / Rick Santorum (Republican), Jesse Ventura / Buddy Roemer (Independent)
2017-2017: Evan McMullin (Independent) [5]
2016 (with Michael Flynn) def. Donald Trump (Republican), Joe Biden (Democratic), Bernie Sanders (Independent)
2017-2021: Evan McMullin (Democratic)
2021-0000: Michael Flynn (Republican) [6]
2020 (with Louie Gohmert) def. Evan McMullin (Democratic), Jesse Ventura (Green)

[1] Doylist: i had no idea who these people were, but i do remember a man dressing as a cowboy on newsround :)

[2] Doylist: I was convinced that John Kerry would win, the Iraq War was just too nasty, Bush was so obviously an imbecile, there's no way anyone would vote for him?
Watsonian: In the aftermath of the worsening charnel house of the Middle East, it came as no surprise when Kerry triumphed over the moribund Republican campaign.

[3] Doylist: I was smitten with Obama the moment he appeared on TV screens.
Watsonian: Kerry's Presidency proved less than what people expected - the Middle East conflict dragged out, and then the financial crash struck in 2007. It seemed likely the Democrats would lose re-election, so the prospects of a primary challenger appeared plausible. Obama ultimately triumphed, and upon his election, Kerry organised to have the President-elect be made Speaker of the House in order to expedite his accession.

[4] Doylist: I was in my first year at university, and was convinced that a third party would get a big chunk of the vote and complicate matters. i also was getting into parks and rec, and my disenchantment with obama was joined with a sort of celebrity fascination with biden.
Watsonian: A hung electoral college led to Biden's accession to the Presidency. Obama conceded his claim in order to not complicate his successor's term.

[5] Doylist: I thought both Trump and Clinton were disastrous, and that McMullin stood a real chance of winning at least Utah - and I grasped onto straws of an electoral college rebellion or Congress locking behind a centrist.
Watsonian: Between an incoherent hard-right populist and a centrist who seemed the apotheosis of everything people had grown tired of in the Democrats since 2005, McMullin managed to worm his way through a series of constitutional hoops. Things were more smooth for his Vice President who shot into power with the backing of a Republican Congress with little to convince them to vote for a Democrat instead.

[6] Doylist: Instinct says Biden will win, but I can't help feeling that Trump has more motivated voters and might still pull the cat out of the bag.
Watsonian: The 'corrupt bargain' of 2016 was seized upon by Vice President Flynn, and my an emergent conspiratorial, quasi-religious movement. McMullin won the Democratic nomination, signalling the party's transformation since its election 2004 on a platform of peace. With a strong left-wing movement stealing the wind from the Democratic campaign, the Republicans won an outright electoral majority; the first since 2008.
 
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