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Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State

‘IF A PIRATE I MUST BE’


GOVERNORS OF NEW PROVIDENCE



Benjamin Hornigold, 1713-1714, The Happy Return

Benjamin Hornigold, 1714-1716, Benjamin

Henry Jennings, 1716-1719, Marianne

Thomas Barrow, 1719, St Marie

Charles Vane, 1719, Ranger

Edward Teach, 1719-1720, Queen Anne’s Revenge



The 'Republic of Pirates' was born slowly, hesitantly, a patchwork of jumped-up bandits, mercenaries, drunkards and the odd idealist. Benjamin Hornigold was a veteran of Caribbean privateering. It helped that he had been the Captain of several of the trade's most accomplished leaders- Edward Teach, Charles Vane and 'Black' Sam Bellamy had all been his officers at one time or another.

Work done in the 1880s by the pioneering historian R.L. Stevenson has shown that Hornigold's proclamation of the Republic was probably driven by James Flint, a rare pirate with experience as an officer in the Royal Navy. Flint was ambitious and able, but he was never able to overcome the suspicion of his peers and rise to true leadership. He did, however, play a decisive role in holding the temperamental captains together- in 1716, when Hornigold and Henry Jennings clashed over the prize Marianne, Flint established the 'Council of Captains,' a loose governing structure that allowed the Republic to manage its affairs without a Captain abandoning the islands entirely every time the 'Governor' ruled against them. The voting structure was modelled after the division of prizes- every ship had a number of votes equal to its crew, with captains and officers having more. Its quasi democratic nature has been idealised out of all proportion- yes, pirate crews had a great deal more freedom than their law-abiding counterparts, but they remained a brutal affair. Flint himself was a notoriously dictatorial figure- possibly due to his naval experience- who relied on his prize money to keep his crew happy, and his quartermaster (not a mere 'sea-cook') to keep them scared.

Jennings, like Hornigold, was largely Governor only in name. The Republic might not have lasted had it not been for the renewed outbreak of war in Europe- the War of the Quadruple Alliance (the Restoration War, as its known in English) distracted the great powers from squashing the emerging republic. When Woodes Rogers finally arrived in the islands, his expedition was so underfunded and undermanned, stripped as it was of ships and men that could have been used against the Spanish, that he lost the 'Battle of Eleuthera' when the pirates surprised him while he was still regrouping at the other side of the islands. It was still a lesson in the superiority of naval drill: the Royal Navy, though driven off, inflicted far more casualties than they took- Jennings himself would die of alcohol poisoning shortly after the battle.

Thomas Barrow attempted to steal a march on his rivals by immediately declaring himself the new Governor; he in turn was murdered by the vicious Ned Lowe, who was clever enough to proclaim for Charlie Vane and the Ranger. Vane was Governor for all of three weeks, before it became apparent that the Council intended to depose him. He might have fled with his crew, or stepped down, but instead he attempted to murder his fellow captains and was instead personally strung up (besides Lowe) by the new Governor- Edward Teach, better known as 'Blackbeard.

Teach surprised everyone by his mixture of terror and competence. Instead of abolishing the Council, which would have guaranteed that the Republic's ships were scattered to the winds, he listened to it. He imposed his own captains on the 'rebellious' crews of Barrow, Vane and Lowe- which created a solid voting bloc of Teach's allies under the captains Black Caesar, Stede Bonnet and James Hook. This 'pragmatist' party counterbalanced the 'idealists' of the Flint group. Teach was not short of daring; he declared that the Republic would 'enter the war.' Rather than sacking English colonies- which would guarantee retribution- or attacking the French or Spanish, he calculated which colonial power was the weakest and least likely to be able to attack after the war.

Thus, in 1720, the Republic sacked the Dutch port of Curaçao. The Captains of the Council became wealthier than they had imagined possible. It astonished the world. The 'disappearance' of the Queen Anne's Revenge in a storm on the return trip, a storm that miraculously left the other Republican ships untouched, perhaps led to the supposed demoralisation of the Captains. To the disquiet of their crews, when Woodes Rogers returned to the islands with reinforcements, this time around the Captains were entirely happy to accept the King's Pardon.



GOVERNORS OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS

Woodes Rogers, 1720-1721,

John Hildesley, 1721-1722


Woodes Rogers was Governor of a volcano, and he knew it. An adept commander and administrator, he did not have the resources to keep the republic in check. The expedition to pacify the Bahamas had been planned years before, when it was Hornigold's collection of sea-thieves and New Providence little more than a brothel with a port attached. Now it had a population of thousands, and the ex-pirate crews were more than happy to live off the loot of Curaçao rather than take up honest work. Rogers' subordinates chafed at his willingness to pardon the captains who had humiliated the Royal Navy the year before, but Rogers realised that any refusal to give amnesty would spark a rebellion that, though unlikely to overthrow the British position, would certainly bankrupt the new colonial government. Instead, Rogers hoped to provoke individual captains into stepping out of line and breaking their parole- if a crew turned pirate, they could be hunted and hanged. Hence, Sam Bellamy being chased up the coast of North America before being taken off the coast of New York, and the execution of James Sparrow after a farcical attempt to steal one of Rogers' brigantines. A year after taking the islands, Rogers could feel confident that he was beginning to control the situation.

Then his subordinate John Hildesley demanded satisfaction after a perceived slight. In any other colony, Rogers could have ignored the insult- but the Bahamas were not yet civilised, and the resentful Royal Navy officers- promised prize money that had not eventuated after the general amnesty- were openly disrespectful. Rogers faced the younger man, and died.

Hildesley's plan was to crack down hard on the pirates by arresting the captains on shore and seizing their ships. The crews would be forced onto farms, and order forcibly restored. He fell at the first hurdle, botching the attempt to take the captains by surprise. A series of running battles across the port turned in favour of the pirates; too many of the Royal Navy's crewmen were drunk in the brothels and taverns and unable to rally to the flag- others decided a life of piracy seemed more promising. In a shocking lapse of ill-discipline, the gates to the harbor fort had been left open, and were famously rushed by a party of cutlass-armed women under the command of Mary Read and Elaine Marley. The remaining Royal Navy ships now came under fire, first from the fort and then from the small boats of the harbor that swarmed alongside.

The Pardons from King George had certainly been voided; luckily new ones from King James were on their way.

ADMIRALS OF NEW PROVIDENCE

Edmund Morcilla, 1722-1733, King James Restored

James ‘Jack’ Rackham, 1733-1740, Ranger

Bartholomew Roberts, 1740-1746, Royal Fortune

Anne Bonny, 1746-1752, Providence



Edmund Morcilla was not Edward Teach. Edward Teach was a vicious buccaneer, a giant man with long black hair and beard decorated with fuses. Edmund Morcilla was a patriotic privateer, a giant man with an entirely shaved head. Edward Teach had died in a storm in 1720, whereas Edmund Morcilla was very much alive. Morcilla had suddenly arrived in the Carribean two years before with a letter of marque from the Spanish government; after the Old Pretender had been installed in London, Morcilla had sailed to Charleston and requested a commission to pacify the 'Hanoverian' stronghold of New Providence. After a donation to South Carolina's governor- made in Dutch guilders, curiously enough- he was furnished with such a commission. He was brought to New Providence on strange tides indeed.

Morcilla had judged the situation well. The restored Stuarts were fragile indeed, and the 1720s were marked by continual wars in Europe as the alliance system fragmented; Britain joined France and Spain against the Dutch and Austrians, but its colonial empire was fragmented by the Fourth Civil War, and France and Spain turned against each other not long afterwards.

Morcilla commanded the support of the council throughout the decade, and it was no mystery why- the trade networks of the Caribbean were being cut to shreds by privateers and pirates, and even the privateers knew that they could best fence their goods in New Providence. The 'Stuart' loyalties of Morcilla lasted a half decade or so; when it became convenient to take British shipping in the name of 'the True Protestant King,' the pirates did so.

Morcilla died very fat and very happy, a horrendously brutal man who had become the Pirate King. It remains a cherished folk belief in the islands that in time of need, he will return to rule under yet another pseudonym.

He was succeeded by another fat and happy man, Calico Jack Rackham. A notoriously incompetent sailor, Rackham's rule marked the tricky transition towards actual republican government. The other captains were unhappy knowing that power lay in the hands of the Admiral's first mate, and a woman at that- but as peace began to take hold, there was a growing worry that the republic's days were numbered. It seemed wiser not to be the Admiral when the Royal Navy finally, surely, arrived to take the islands.

It never happened. Peace was accompanied by financial collapse. As the wars had slowly wound down and negotiations began in Ghent and Geneva, investors had built great castles on the trade that was to follow. Alas, reality was unkind to the investors in the South Sea and Mississippi Companies, and first France and then Britain saw massive bankruptcies and insolvencies. This spread across western Europe, and eventually across the Atlantic. Navies were cut to the bone.

In 1736, the British and French dictated the Treaty of Nassau: New Providence would be paid to 'secure its waters,' in exchange for recognition of the Republic's independence. The Republic took the deal; many crews were dismayed, but most of the great captains were aging now and beginning to yearn for some sort of secure retirement. The Republic was a horrendously unequal place: its farms and fishing vessels supported the flamboyant captains, but their grinding poverty was not coupled with any representation. The Captains now took on the role of insurance agents- inspecting vessels for the correct paperwork, collecting the 'escort tax,' and accompanying those that complied to safety. The Spanish and Dutch refused to sign the Treaty, and spent several more years being the target of traditional raids- but after decades, the Golden Age of Piracy was coming to an end.

In 1740 another milestone was marked: the peaceful transfer of power through an election. Bart Roberts was fabulously wealthy, having taken over a thousand ships in his career. He also had delusions of culture, and had once abducted a chamber quartet to play while he sailed. His six year reign was a time of generous spending: public monuments, the Gallery of the Republic and even the commissioning of the 'Caribbean Symphony.' It remains a great source of embarrassment to the abolitionist Peaceful Society of Friends that their first member to become a head of state was a slave-trading, murdering, gambling, kidnapper. He died on top of a sex worker, and was given a state funeral that, to the shock of the ambassadors and the few missionaries on the island, became something of an orgy. He remains a staple of fiction set in this period- like Charles Stuart II, a tyrant mitigated by sheer style and amicability.

To general surprise, he was succeeded by Ann Bonny. By the end of Roberts' tenure Spain had finally signed the Treaty of Nassau; the Captains now spent most of their time in port or on patrol, not swapping stories of daring raids and captured prizes. With the need to find ships that could protect the Republic more than the ad hoc collection of brigantines and sloops and refitted frigates that had served for decades, some in the islands realised that there was a chance to buy a franchise. Bonny took her accumulated fortune and pooled it with the subscription of various fishing, farming and labouring families on the islands. It was enough to purchase a- very small- frigate from the shipyards of Portugal. As well as its permanent crew, it had a rotating roster of hundreds of people who could only afford to spend a few weeks at sea a year- enough to count as crew, and therefore receive a vote. Within a few years, most of the Republic's new vessels operated under such an arrangement. It created an effective system of naval reserves, allowed a release valve for the disenfranchised and still kept power largely in the hands of the nautical aristocracy.

Bonny spent less on art than Roberts, but more on the islands. Distrusted by her fellow captains, she relied upon the bulk of the population for the legitimacy of her reign. She opened the Saint Joan Hospital, as well as various schools. Her most risky decision was to press for abolitionism. New Providence had never been much of a slave-trading state, though that was hardly comfort to the poor souls who had been captured and resold by various captains. It had always had an unusually large population of free Africans, and some had even had voting rights- going back to Teach's appointment of the man known only as Black Caesar as a captain. But with the decline in piracy fewer and fewer Europeans were leaving their ships to join the islands, and that meant fewer and fewer people to crew the fleet that kept New Providence alive. Bonny's decision to abolish slavery was only reached when yet another Anglo-French war broke out, lessening the chances of reprisal.

Bonny passed in her sleep in 1752. She is venerated as a saint in Bahamian Vodou, and the portrait of 'Grandmother Bonny' still adorns many a kitchen and clinic wall in the islands.

Over the 1750s and 1760s, New Providence would become the great creole port of the Caribbean. As the century closed, the Age of Revolutions would bring the last great outbreak of Caribbean piracy- but this time, men and women like Admiral Tacky would be liberators as well as thieves.
 
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A bit of a companion piece to my 1890s British pulp list, this.

I started with the premise that the attempts to form the Republic of Pirates were actually in earnest: since that's obviously historical bunk, the next best thing was to use the starting points of On Stranger Tides and Black Sails.

Using Black Sails means that you're using Treasure Island, and that in turn means you might as well have a Monkey Island reference in there. The Pirates of the Caribbean thing is perfunctory, but then again so is the series at this point. I should have thought about a Sabatini shoutout, but oh well.

The rest is drawn from the ridiculousness of actual history, including the bit about the phenomenally successful unQuakerish Quaker who kidnapped musicians.
 
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dumb little format experimentation

2018-2023: Vladimir Putin (Independent, de facto United Russia)
'18: def. Pavel Grudinin (CPRF), Vladimir Zhirinovsky (LDPR), Ksenia Sobchak (Civic Initiative), Grigory Yavlinsky (Yabloko), minor candidates
- Protests over retirement age hike from 60 to 65 for men and 55 to 63 for women
- Kerch Strait Incident; capture of 3 Ukrainian naval vessels by the Russian Border Guard
- 2018 Putin–Trump summit in Helsinki; uproar in the US over perception of Trump accomodating Putin
- Protests in Moscow over rejection of independent candidates' signatures
- 2020 address to the Federal Assembly, call for constitutional reform
- 2020 Russian constitutional referendum (78.56% YES, 21.44% NO)
- 2021 protests surrounding arrest of Alexei Navalny and alleged corruption scheme surrounding "Putin's Palace" at Cape Idokopas
- Tightening of election laws in preview for 2021 legislative elections; United Russia maintains parliamentary supermajority
- Collapse of the ruble's exchange rate during 2023 recession
- Death of Vladimir Putin (1952-2023) during presidential motorcade
2023-2024: Mikhail Mishustin (Independent, de facto United Russia)
- 13 people arrested in "Putin case"
- Death of Aleksandr Bortnikov (1951-2024) amidst allegations of power struggle in the Kremlin
- Decision against participating in the 2024 presidential election
2024-2030: Gleb Nikitin (Independent, de facto United Russia)
'24: def. Maksim Suraykin (Communists of Russia), Vladimir Zhirinovsky (LDPR), Yelena Navalnaya (Independent, de facto Russia of the Future), Leonid Zyuganov (CPRF), minor candidates
- General amnesty of prisoners arrested in the 2019-2023 period
- Allegations of Russian involvement in the Cyprus Insurgency (2025-2026)
- Mariupol Incident; intensification of Donbass crisis
- "Men of the High Road", expose of Donbass' CIS-born and foreign mercenaries, becomes most-watched documentary on Netflix
- 2026 protests over results of legislative elections
- Arrest of multiple "Navalny-aligned" State Duma deputies, later released
- Death of Vladimir Zhirinovsky (1946-2028), disintegration of the LDPR
- Global temperature increase exceeds 1.6°C in 2030
- 2030 coronavirus pandemic, beginning of new economic depression
- Death of Gleb Nikitin (1977-2030) following coronavirus infection
2030-2031: Andrei Belousov (Independent, de facto United Russia)
'30: def. Maksim Suraykin (Communists of Russia), Nikolai Bondarenko (CPRF), Igor Strelkov (Force of Truth), Roman Putin (Russia Without Corruption), other candidates
- Attempt to reverse slump with "New Economic Mobilization"
- Growth of housing, flood control activity in Western Siberia
- Rise of gas prices amidst severe winter in Europe
- Discussions of closer economic ties with People's Republic of China, provoking protests in the Far East
- Imposition of curfew in several Russian regions (2031-2034)
- 2031 legislative elections see United Russia maintain majority by 9 seats; conduct of elections marred with violence
- Resignation of Andrei Belousov owing to "health issues"
2031-2032: Daniil Yegorov (Independent, de facto United Russia)
- Promise of snap elections in March 2032, later revoked
- "New Regionalist" period, severe weakening of presidential authority
- Attempt to stabilize relations with Ukraine, the European Union
- General factory workers' strike (2031-2032)
- Konstantin Malofeyev promises "reckoning" for Yegorov in 2032, reversal of Yegorov's "cosmopolitan, anti-Russian" course
- Disintegration of United Russia
- Murder of Daniil Yegorov (1975-2032) by far-right militiamen
2032-2034: Yevgeny Zinichev (Independent)
- Beginning of insurgency in Northern Caucasus and general far-right insurgency in Russia
- Continued pro-democracy protests across Russia
- Expose revealing how systematic murders of activists and voters during the 2031 legislative elections and curfew were tacitly encouraged by police
- 2033 St. Petersburg speech
- New Constitutional Convention assembled, snap elections called in 2034
- Decision not to run for full presidential term
2034-present: Nikolai Bondarenko (Independent, endorsed by Left Front)
'34: def. Yevgeny Roizman (Independent, endorsed by Russia of the Future), minor candidates
- Relaxation of repression, censorship, electoral restriction and social laws in Russia; beginnings of Russian "Media Revolution"
- 2035 constitutional referendum (65.17% YES, 34.83% NO)
- First same-sex civil unions in Russia
- Flow of refugees into Russia amidst Arab Summer
- Controversy over lustration of pre-Bondarenko administration officials, publication of archived documents, decommunization efforts in oblasts led by Russia of the Future-affiliated governors
- Sledkom issues arrest order for 23 Russian oligarchs and officials, among them Konstantin Malofeyev (missing since 2033, allegedly living in Brazil)
- 2036 Bondarenko–Fetterman summit in Athens amidst considerable thaw in Russian-American relations; discussion of cooperation on space, combat against climate change, "undue influence" by the People's Republic of China and the Sixth French Republic
 
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"A vision of you is following me all around":
1979-1986: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative)
1979 (Majority) def: James Callaghan (Labour), David Steel (Liberal), William Wolfe (SNP)
1983 (Majority) def: Michael Foot (Labour),
Roy Jenkins-David Steel (Liberal-SDP Alliance)
1986-1991: John Moore (Conservative)
1987 (Majority) def: Neil Kinnock (Labour), David Owen-David Steel (Liberal-SDP Alliance)
1991-1998: Ann Clwyd (Labour)
1991 (Coalition with the Dems) def: John Moore (Conservative), Lindsay Granshaw (Democrats), David Owen (Reform), Sara Parkin (Green)
1992 PR Referendum: Yes 38%, No 62%
1993 (Majority) def: Michael Howard (Conservative), Lindsay Granshaw (Democrats)
1995 Maastricht Referendum: Yes 47%, No 53%

1998-2004: Francis Maude (Conservative)
1998 (Majority) def: Ann Clwyd (Labour), Malcolm Bruce (Democrats), Cynog Dafis-Peg Alexander-Mark Ashton (Green Left Alliance), Margaret Ewing (SNP)
2002
(Majority) def: Andrew Smith (Labour), Matthew Taylor (Democrats), Peg Alexander-Lynne Jones (Red & Greens), Margaret Ewing (SNP)
2004-2008: Mark MacGregor (Conservative)
2004 (Coalition with Reform) def: Andrew Smith (Labour), Matthew Taylor (Democrats), Rob Flello (Reform),Peg Alexander-Lynne Jones (Green Left), John Swinney (SNP)
2007 Euro Referendum: For 42%, Against 56%

2008-2014: Peter Hain (Labour)
2008 (Majority) def: Mark MacGregor-Rob Flello (Conservative-'Pro Euro' Reform), Tavish Scott (Democrats), Jeffrey Titford ('Anti Euro' Reform), John Swinney (SNP)
2012 (Majority) def: Alan Howarth replacing Michael Fallon (Conservative), Diana Wallis (Democrats), Mark Ashton-Caroline Lucas (Green Left), Angela Constance (SNP)

2014-2017: Kerry McCarthy (Labour)
2017-: David Gauke (Conservative)

2017 (Majority) def: Kerry McCarthy (Labour), Diana Wallis (Democrats), Mark Ashton-Angela Constance (RISE), Paul Embery (Workers)
2021 (Coalition with Dems) def: Stella Creasy replacing David Prescott (Labour), Julia Goldsworthy (Democrats), Rachel Maskell-Carla Denyer ('Just Transition'-Green Left), Paul Embery (Workers), Dr Bill Wilson-Gray Crosbie (SNP-RISE), Priti Patel (British People's Party)
STV Referendum: Yes 57%, No 43%

Maybe Thatcher could have stayed on if scandals hadn't permutated her end years of her leadership, Middle England was happy with her smashing the Miners and New Age Travellers and she very much did, but the deaths (including a pregnant mother) that came with those events left a sour taste for many as Thatcher rattled on about Law and Order and Keeping the Peace as the Daily Mirror splashed 'Baby Killers' over a picture of the Battle of the Beanfield and ITN broadcast footage of the Police's Brutal methods seem rather out of place with the general mood. This, combined with her paranoid state in the wake of the Brighton Bombings lead to a brief nervous breakdown and following Michael Heseltine's sparring with her during the Westland Affair lead to her giving up, she had done everything she wanted to do more or less and she could trust her underlings to finish things off for her as she managed to enjoy a golden retirement.

John Moore managed to beat Michael Heseltine in the ensuing leadership election but the slimmer margin than expected should have been an indication for many that Moore wasn't as clever or charismatic as Thatcher. Moore still did well enough in the 1987, though Labour's seat total reaching up to 240 seats leads to some in the Conservative party to question Moore's usefulness as leader. But the Conservatives still have a massive majority and within a year any worry of Neil Kinnock as Labour leader evaporates when after suffering a depressive episode resigns.

The 1988 Labour leadership election originally seemed like John Smith's to win, but his rhetoric around abortion and the ongoing Alton Bill debate leads to Smith crumbling rather quickly, combined with the SCG backed Denis Healey and with the Gould-Cook (to avoid a Soft Left split) backed candidate Ann Clwyd being pushed as a unity candidate means she wins by a slim if solid margin. The first couple years of her tenureship were rough with the joke being that 'she's a Continuity Kinnock candidate down to the accent' becoming popular amongst some in the Shadow Cabinet.

John Moore turns out to not be a very good Prime Minister, taking mainly advice and support from a gaggle of like minded individuals his attempted privatisation of the NHS and the implementation of the poll tax goes down like a cup of cold sick with the electorate, but with the Democrats in the throes of a brutal birth processes (with the Continuity Liberals and David Owen Reform party leading to a number of headaches) one of the main people to gain any form of success is the Green party lead by Sara Parkin who combines Environmentalist Issues, Anti-Poll Tax rhetoric and Euroscepticism into a platform that could be best described as a Liberal Populist platform which appeals to both Labour and Conservative voters annoyed with there respective leaders. The 1991 General election is for lack of any better term, a mess, as Labour manages to become the largest party in the House of Commons as John Moore's Conservatives plummet downwards in the wake of a successful Reform campaign and the Green's entering electoral alliances with a number of regional parties and other parties allowing it to gain 3 MPs.

As both parties have similar manifestos, support devolution and both (relatively) supported the Europe Community, Labour and the Democrats form a coalition, though the Democrats demand a referendum of Proportional Representation, an idea supported by the Greens and Owen's Reform. The referendum occurs but the result is a decisive result against PR in Britain, much to the Democrats annoyance. This combined with the Chancellor Bryan Gould's open Euroscepticism influencing his policies, leads to an argument over the coalition and it's aims. Despite some successes, like devolution for Scotland, Wales, London and the Yorkshire-Humber regions and the creation of the National Investment Bank the coalition wouldn't be remembered for much else. Ann Clwyd decided to call a snap election instead of dealing with a fractured cabinet that couldn't get anything.

The 1993 General Election would generally see the retreat of the small parties, Reform would collapse down to 5 MPs, the Greens would lose all but there Green-Plaid Cymru MP Cynog Dafis and the Democrats whilst not as badly beaten as the others, would head back down to about 24 MPs after the heady heights of 35 MPs. Meanwhile the Conservatives despite some gains wobbled under Michael Howard, a not particularly charismatic leader who's dry economic outlook confirmed to the Conservative Party that Thatcherism wasn't the mood music of Britain anymore. Ann Clwyd would gain a majority of about 30 which allowed her to implement the policies she wanted. But at this point cracks had emerged within the Labour cabinet.

Bryan Gould had been an awkward member of the cabinet and despite being a competent operator in his role, his grand plans and ambitions were causing the cabinet a number of headaches, whilst his devaluation rhetoric rubbed some of the older guard the wrong way as those on Left and Right saw him undermining the Labour Party and future with his grand schemes of modernisation. The Maastricht Referendum of 1995 compounded it, a narrow victory for the Anti-Maastricht crowd angered the Pro-Europeans in the party and following a brief panic in his 'Internet Consumer Democracy' system that nearly lead to a recession he would be moved aside in 1996. His replacement would be Andrew Smith, a competent operator who managed to keep the economy afloat and managed to keep enough of Gould's Market Socialist ideas to be popular with the Modernisers without scaring the Old Guard as it were. In the end though Ann Clywd wouldn't be done in by the economy, instead her hatred towards Saddam Hussein would be the pitfall.

In 1997 a civil war would spark between Saddam Hussein and a coalition of forces lead by Hussein Kamel al-Majid would occur, Ann Clwyd was Anti-Hussein and based upon shoddy evidence distributed by Hussein Kamel al-Majid's coalition, of WMD's decided to support the 'Progressive' forces with British troops with the lacklustre support of President Kerrey. It would rapidly become an awkward weight around Clwyd's neck, as it became apparent that Majid was the beacon of 'Progressive Democracy' he claimed to be and allegations of his forces committing war crimes against Kurdish forces. A nascent Left was revived as Labour MP and passionate Gouldite Lynne Jones would defect to the Green Left Alliance which had managed to gain steam in the dying days of the Clwyd Government.

Clwyd would lose the 1998 election due to a factor of Left vote splitting caused by a revived SNP and the Green-Left Alliance as Francis Maude's Conservative's swept into power. Maude's Conservative's were a more modern force than the dryer Moore and Howard affairs, Maude who belonged to the 'Centre-Left' of the party presented a more socially liberal Conservative party which caused many people who had once been worried about casting there vote to another party feel more at ease giving there vote to the Green-Left Alliance. Maude kept much of Gould's structures though 'adjusted' to a more Market heavy direction, he reformed various Government departments to make them more efficient and spoke big of the new Big Society idea which guided his premiership. A popular Prime Minister he forced the Conservative party to confront the modern world in some respects. His first term was considered by many to be rather dull in a number of respects, as many focused upon the chaos that occurred in the Labour party, which following the unexpected death of leader Derek Fatchett lead to a battle between the forces of Right and Left opened up by Lynne Jones's defection as Margaret Beckett of the Socialist Campaign Group fought Andrew Smith and Charles Clarke for the Labour Leadership, Smith would win but after a gruelling slog which sullied his leadership from then on.

Maude would easily win the 2002 election with a majority as the Labour party was side swiped yet again by the reformed Red & Greens and the SNP and Matthew Taylor's Democrats presented a more professional image to the bickering Labour party for the swing voters. It was in his second term that Maude ran into the forces of the Old Right when he proposed the creation of Civil Partnerships for Same Sex couples. Already he had been lambasted by his party when in his first television interview following his election as leader in 1995 he announced his support Labour's ridding of Section 28 and apologised for helping in it's implementation, influenced by the death of his brother Charles from AIDs. Whilst Civil Partnerships had cross party support for the most party, there was a gaggle of individuals that disagreed with the implementation believing it to be against there beliefs. These people would congregate in David Owen's moribund Reform organisation and would become a Small c Conservative organisation which talked about upholding British 'values'. A series of embarrassing By-Election defeats, the defection of Ann Widecombe and the Right of the Party calling for Maude's head lead to him resigning after the implementation of the Civil Partnerships bill in 2004.

Many expected that Iain Duncan Smith would win the ensuing leadership election and bring the party back on course, but the modernisers would push forward the former Thatcherite and now core Maude supporter Mark MacGregor and with the support of Former Thatcherite heavy weight and now Mayor of London Michael Portillo he would win the leadership election. MacGregor would call a snap election, but a resurrected Labour party and a competent campaign from the Democrats lead to a hung parliament. Discussions with the Democrats would go nowhere, implementation of PR was never going to be the remit of the Conservative party no matter how desperate, in the end MacGregor would awkwardly form a coalition with Reform lead by Rob Flello. Despite not agreeing with Flello's stance on Civil Partnerships and Same Sex relationships on almost everything else they very much agreed which could be consider a form of bland Conservative Centrism. In the end the MacGregor government would be considered by many to be four wasted years.

For starters, the Euro. The European Communities integration was inspiring for the Neoliberal ‘Controlled Capitalism’ of MacGregor and Flello. But the Conservatives and Reform were split on the issue. Rapidly the issue of the Euro would dominate MacGregor's tenure leading to the damp squib of a referendum for Euro Integration in 2007, the hope being to reverse the mistakes of the 1995 Maastricht Referendum. The same mistakes were repeated and the unpopularity of the MacGregor Government, combined with Reform and Conservative Ministers campaigning against the Euro meant it that the referendum would be a bust for the Pro-Euro side, with a higher margin than the Maastricht referendum much to MacGregor's embarrassment. Alongside that came a series of scandals ranging from Bullying allegations to Harassment that came out about the Conservative party and a few Minster including Minister for Health, Grant Shapps who had to awkwardly resign for taking part in the bullying of a Young Conservative activist, this combined with several Conservatives being found making racist comments put a dampener on the self proclaimed 'Modern Conservatives' that Maude and MacGregor had built.

Finally in 2007, a gas explosion at a Russian Gas Works would lead to amongst many other things cause a brief stock market crash. Proclamations of the finical sector ensuring a healthier more stable Britain would turn out to be nought as Britain suffered a recession, which caused MacGregor to implement recession. This, combined with the Reform party ripping itself to shreds in the aftermath of the Referendum would lead to the formation of the 'Pro-Euro' coupon for the next election. A brief high in the polls for the Tories when Peter Hain had a poor debate performance with Lynne Jones would see Mark MacGregor hoping for yet more vote splitting but it wasn't to be. Green Left collapsed, the Reform split the Right Wing vote and poor performances for the Democrats and SNP lead to a Labour surge in Scotland (with Democrats lead Tavish Scott even losing his seat to a Labour competitor).

Peter Hain was far away from the Gouldite Radical that had first appeared in 1991, but despite having offered a more conventional Labour appearance in tone, a sense of Goudlist radicalism still clung around. Instead of committing to austerity measures, Hain decided to engage in a rate of public spending unseen since the Gould years, putting it into job creation schemes and similar. The National Investment bank which had atrophied in the Maude and MacGregor years, found itself flushed with cash as part of the 'Build Back' schemes which were to invest in Cooperatives and Worker owned businesses alongside traditional businesses. Hain stuck to an Anti-Austerity message and it seemed to pull through.

Britain’s economy bounced back and Hain was considered to be hero to many, though those on the Eco-Left frontier complained about Hain’s building back program involving a large amount of fracking and gas works (whilst ignoring the wind farms being sprawled across Scotland) and Hain not pushing for Same Sex puzzled many who didn’t know that the Labour Party was having it’s own battle between Social Conservativism and Progressives over the future of the party.

Hain easily won another majority, the Conservative’s losing seats as Alan Howarth awkwardly became an interim leader due to Michael Fallon’s sexual harassment scandal. The second term of the Hain premiership was going to be the big one he assured everyone...but then nothing happened. Much of this can be put down to a series of slow moving scandals related to Hain becoming leader, which John Hutton never forgave Hain for. Seeing his opportunity, Hutton would use parliamentary privilege to tell the world that Hain had become Labour leader through illegal means.

This would eventually turn out to be Hain had spent more than he was allowed, but the way he had become leader and having made his campaign advisor John Redwood, a member of the House of Lords angered the political establishment. Hain resigned and would be forced out the Labour. Whilst this seemed like justice for the establishment, for many ordinary who’s jobs had come back thanks to Hain’s projects there was a sense of bafflement. This would be compounded by the next leader.

Kerry McCarthy was a dull and uninspiring Prime Minister, her moderate tone pissed off the Left as she scaled back some of Hain’s more ambitious schemes (including a £10 living wage) but her push for Same Sex marriage and her attempts to try mandate an increase in veganism pissed off the base seats. In the end both would break, Paul Embery would start his Workers Party and Mark Ashton, hoping to finally knock Labour off it’s perch, helped formulate RISE, a coalition of Nationalist, Eco-Socialist and Socialist groups which hoped to push Labour off the top perch. It seemed the country didn’t want a Moderate Progressive who liked Cabaret Voltaire and was vegan, they wanted something different.

David Gauke wasn’t meant to be Prime Minister, he was seen as a stop gap who’s Pro-EU, eccentric behaviour and Technocratic aspirations keeping the party together whilst a suitable replacement was found. But Labour’s collapse in 2017 would mean that Gauke became PM. Having a Prime Minister who loved unicorns and a incredibly bizarre sense of behaviour would have him be labelled the ‘banter PM’ and whilst the economy chugged along and much of Hain’s scheme brought under ‘Managerial Control’, Gauke was able to take selfies with President Patrick and President Navalney and presented a breezy image to the Prime Minister.

It was a surprise when the Conservative’s did worse than expected in 2021, much of the that due to the Workers Party about face to Right Wing Populism and a Democrats surge in the wake of a lacklustre Labour campaign with Stella Creasy hastily replacing David Prescott after it turned out he had been involved in sexual harassment case meant that Gauke was forced into a coalition with the Democrats. The success of the STV referendum (caused by people being used to the model thanks to the Regional Assemblies that had popped in the Hain years) seems to be ushering in a new decade of British politics.

As Labour’s Sarah Owen seems to be providing some challenge to Gauke as the Workers party collapses into infighting and GreenLeft discuss a possible electoral allaicne with there rival, there is a possibility that things maybe more chaotic and intriguing than expected.

I will have to say, @Oppo and @Callan were a strong influence here.
 
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"A vision of you is following me all around":
1979-1986: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative)
1979 (Majority) def: James Callaghan (Labour), David Steel (Liberal), William Wolfe (SNP)
1983 (Majority) def: Michael Foot (Labour),
Roy Jenkins-David Steel (Liberal-SDP Alliance)
1986-1991: John Moore (Conservative)
1987 (Majority) def: Neil Kinnock (Labour), David Owen-David Steel (Liberal-SDP Alliance)
1991-1998: Ann Clwyd (Labour)
1991 (Coalition with the Dems) def: John Moore (Conservative), Lindsay Granshaw (Democrats), David Owen (Reform), Sara Parkin (Green)
1992 PR Referendum: Yes 38%, No 62%
1993 (Majority) def: Michael Howard (Conservative), Lindsay Granshaw (Democrats)
1995 Maastricht Referendum: Yes 47%, No 53%

1998-2004: Francis Maude (Conservative)
1998 (Majority) def: Ann Clwyd (Labour), Malcolm Bruce (Democrats), Cynog Dafis-Peg Alexander-Mark Ashton (Green Left Alliance), Margaret Ewing (SNP)
2002
(Majority) def: Andrew Smith (Labour), Matthew Taylor (Democrats), Peg Alexander-Lynne Jones (Red & Greens), Margaret Ewing (SNP)
2004-2008: Mark MacGregor (Conservative)
2004 (Coalition with Reform) def: Andrew Smith (Labour), Matthew Taylor (Democrats), Rob Flello (Reform),Peg Alexander-Lynne Jones (Green Left), John Swinney (SNP)
2007 Euro Referendum: For 42%, Against 56%

2008-2014: Peter Hain (Labour)
2008 (Majority) def: Mark MacGregor-Rob Flello (Conservative-'Pro Euro' Reform), Tavish Scott (Democrats), Jeffrey Titford ('Anti Euro' Reform), John Swinney (SNP)
2012 (Majority) def: Alan Howarth replacing Michael Fallon (Conservative), Diana Wallis (Democrats), Mark Ashton-Caroline Lucas (Green Left), Angela Constance (SNP)

2014-2017: Kerry McCarthy (Labour)
2017-: David Gauke (Conservative)

2017 (Majority) def: Kerry McCarthy (Labour), Diana Wallis (Democrats), Mark Ashton-Angela Constance (RISE), Paul Embery (Workers)
2021 (Coalition with Dems) def: Stella Creasy replacing David Prescott (Labour), Julia Goldsworthy (Democrats), Rachel Maskell-Carla Denyer ('Just Transition'-Green Left), Paul Embery (Workers), Dr Bill Wilson-Gray Crosbie (SNP-RISE), Priti Patel (British People's Party)
STV Referendum: Yes 57%, No 43%

Maybe Thatcher could have stayed on if scandals hadn't permutated her end years of her leadership, Middle England was happy with her smashing the Miners and New Age Travellers and she very much did, but the deaths (including a pregnant mother) that came with those events left a sour taste for many as Thatcher rattled on about Law and Order and Keeping the Peace as the Daily Mirror splashed 'Baby Killers' over a picture of the Battle of the Beanfield and ITN broadcast footage of the Police's Brutal methods seem rather out of place with the general mood. This, combined with her paranoid state in the wake of the Brighton Bombings lead to a brief nervous breakdown and following Michael Heseltine's sparring with her during the Westland Affair lead to her giving up, she had done everything she wanted to do more or less and she could trust her underlings to finish things off for her as she managed to enjoy a golden retirement.

John Moore managed to beat Michael Heseltine in the ensuing leadership election but the slimmer margin than expected should have been an indication for many that Moore wasn't as clever or charismatic as Thatcher. Moore still did well enough in the 1987, though Labour's seat total reaching up to 240 seats leads to some in the Conservative party to question Moore's usefulness as leader. But the Conservatives still have a massive majority and within a year any worry of Neil Kinnock as Labour leader evaporates when after suffering a depressive episode resigns.

The 1988 Labour leadership election originally seemed like John Smith's to win, but his rhetoric around abortion and the ongoing Alton Bill debate leads to Smith crumbling rather quickly, combined with the SCG backed Denis Healey and with the Gould-Cook (to avoid a Soft Left split) backed candidate Ann Clwyd being pushed as a unity candidate means she wins by a slim if solid margin. The first couple years of her tenureship were rough with the joke being that 'she's a Continuity Kinnock candidate down to the accent' becoming popular amongst some in the Shadow Cabinet.

John Moore turns out to not be a very good Prime Minister, taking mainly advice and support from a gaggle of like minded individuals his attempted privatisation of the NHS and the implementation of the poll tax goes down like a cup of cold sick with the electorate, but with the Democrats in the throes of a brutal birth processes (with the Continuity Liberals and David Owen Reform party leading to a number of headaches) one of the main people to gain any form of success is the Green party lead by Sara Parkin who combines Environmentalist Issues, Anti-Poll Tax rhetoric and Euroscepticism into a platform that could be best described as a Liberal Populist platform which appeals to both Labour and Conservative voters annoyed with there respective leaders. The 1991 General election is for lack of any better term, a mess, as Labour manages to become the largest party in the House of Commons as John Moore's Conservatives plummet downwards in the wake of a successful Reform campaign and the Green's entering electoral alliances with a number of regional parties and other parties allowing it to gain 3 MPs.

As both parties have similar manifestos, support devolution and both (relatively) supported the Europe Community, Labour and the Democrats form a coalition, though the Democrats demand a referendum of Proportional Representation, an idea supported by the Greens and Owen's Reform. The referendum occurs but the result is a decisive result against PR in Britain, much to the Democrats annoyance. This combined with the Chancellor Bryan Gould's open Euroscepticism influencing his policies, leads to an argument over the coalition and it's aims. Despite some successes, like devolution for Scotland, Wales, London and the Yorkshire-Humber regions and the creation of the National Investment Bank the coalition wouldn't be remembered for much else. Ann Clwyd decided to call a snap election instead of dealing with a fractured cabinet that couldn't get anything.

The 1993 General Election would generally see the retreat of the small parties, Reform would collapse down to 5 MPs, the Greens would lose all but there Green-Plaid Cymru MP Cynog Dafis and the Democrats whilst not as badly beaten as the others, would head back down to about 24 MPs after the heady heights of 35 MPs. Meanwhile the Conservatives despite some gains wobbled under Michael Howard, a not particularly charismatic leader who's dry economic outlook confirmed to the Conservative Party that Thatcherism wasn't the mood music of Britain anymore. Ann Clwyd would gain a majority of about 30 which allowed her to implement the policies she wanted. But at this point cracks had emerged within the Labour cabinet.

Bryan Gould had been an awkward member of the cabinet and despite being a competent operator in his role, his grand plans and ambitions were causing the cabinet a number of headaches, whilst his devaluation rhetoric rubbed some of the older guard the wrong way as those on Left and Right saw him undermining the Labour Party and future with his grand schemes of modernisation. The Maastricht Referendum of 1995 compounded it, a narrow victory for the Anti-Maastricht crowd angered the Pro-Europeans in the party and following a brief panic in his 'Internet Consumer Democracy' system that nearly lead to a recession he would be moved aside in 1996. His replacement would be Andrew Smith, a competent operator who managed to keep the economy afloat and managed to keep enough of Gould's Market Socialist ideas to be popular with the Modernisers without scaring the Old Guard as it were. In the end though Ann Clywd wouldn't be done in by the economy, instead her hatred towards Saddam Hussein would be the pitfall.

In 1997 a civil war would spark between Saddam Hussein and a coalition of forces lead by Hussein Kamel al-Majid would occur, Ann Clwyd was Anti-Hussein and based upon shoddy evidence distributed by Hussein Kamel al-Majid's coalition, of WMD's decided to support the 'Progressive' forces with British troops with the lacklustre support of President Kerrey. It would rapidly become an awkward weight around Clwyd's neck, as it became apparent that Majid was the beacon of 'Progressive Democracy' he claimed to be and allegations of his forces committing war crimes against Kurdish forces. A nascent Left was revived as Labour MP and passionate Gouldite Lynne Jones would defect to the Green Left Alliance which had managed to gain steam in the dying days of the Clwyd Government.

Clwyd would lose the 1998 election due to a factor of Left vote splitting caused by a revived SNP and the Green-Left Alliance as Francis Maude's Conservative's swept into power. Maude's Conservative's were a more modern force than the dryer Moore and Howard affairs, Maude who belonged to the 'Centre-Left' of the party presented a more socially liberal Conservative party which caused many people who had once been worried about casting there vote to another party feel more at ease giving there vote to the Green-Left Alliance. Maude kept much of Gould's structures though 'adjusted' to a more Market heavy direction, he reformed various Government departments to make them more efficient and spoke big of the new Big Society idea which guided his premiership. A popular Prime Minister he forced the Conservative party to confront the modern world in some respects. His first term was considered by many to be rather dull in a number of respects, as many focused upon the chaos that occurred in the Labour party, which following the unexpected death of leader Derek Fatchett lead to a battle between the forces of Right and Left opened up by Lynne Jones's defection as Margaret Beckett of the Socialist Campaign Group fought Andrew Smith and Charles Clarke for the Labour Leadership, Smith would win but after a gruelling slog which sullied his leadership from then on.

Maude would easily win the 2002 election with a majority as the Labour party was side swiped yet again by the reformed Red & Greens and the SNP and Matthew Taylor's Democrats presented a more professional image to the bickering Labour party for the swing voters. It was in his second term that Maude ran into the forces of the Old Right when he proposed the creation of Civil Partnerships for Same Sex couples. Already he had been lambasted by his party when in his first television interview following his election as leader in 1995 he announced his support Labour's ridding of Section 28 and apologised for helping in it's implementation, influenced by the death of his brother Charles from AIDs. Whilst Civil Partnerships had cross party support for the most party, there was a gaggle of individuals that disagreed with the implementation believing it to be against there beliefs. These people would congregate in David Owen's moribund Reform organisation and would become a Small c Conservative organisation which talked about upholding British 'values'. A series of embarrassing By-Election defeats, the defection of Ann Widecombe and the Right of the Party calling for Maude's head lead to him resigning after the implementation of the Civil Partnerships bill in 2004.

Many expected that Iain Duncan Smith would win the ensuing leadership election and bring the party back on course, but the modernisers would push forward the former Thatcherite and now core Maude supporter Mark MacGregor and with the support of Former Thatcherite heavy weight and now Mayor of London Michael Portillo he would win the leadership election. MacGregor would call a snap election, but a resurrected Labour party and a competent campaign from the Democrats lead to a hung parliament. Discussions with the Democrats would go nowhere, implementation of PR was never going to be the remit of the Conservative party no matter how desperate, in the end MacGregor would awkwardly form a coalition with Reform lead by Rob Flello. Despite not agreeing with Flello's stance on Civil Partnerships and Same Sex relationships on almost everything else they very much agreed which could be consider a form of bland Conservative Centrism. In the end the MacGregor government would be considered by many to be four wasted years.

For starters, the Euro. The European Communities integration was inspiring for the Neoliberal ‘Controlled Capitalism’ of MacGregor and Flello. But the Conservatives and Reform were split on the issue. Rapidly the issue of the Euro would dominate MacGregor's tenure leading to the damp squib of a referendum for Euro Integration in 2007, the hope being to reverse the mistakes of the 1995 Maastricht Referendum. The same mistakes were repeated and the unpopularity of the MacGregor Government, combined with Reform and Conservative Ministers campaigning against the Euro meant it that the referendum would be a bust for the Pro-Euro side, with a higher margin than the Maastricht referendum much to MacGregor's embarrassment. Alongside that came a series of scandals ranging from Bullying allegations to Harassment that came out about the Conservative party and a few Minster including Minister for Health, Grant Shapps who had to awkwardly resign for taking part in the bullying of a Young Conservative activist, this combined with several Conservatives being found making racist comments put a dampener on the self proclaimed 'Modern Conservatives' that Maude and MacGregor had built.

Finally in 2007, a gas explosion at a Russian Gas Works would lead to amongst many other things cause a brief stock market crash. Proclamations of the finical sector ensuring a healthier more stable Britain would turn out to be nought as Britain suffered a recession, which caused MacGregor to implement recession. This, combined with the Reform party ripping itself to shreds in the aftermath of the Referendum would lead to the formation of the 'Pro-Euro' coupon for the next election. A brief high in the polls for the Tories when Peter Hain had a poor debate performance with Lynne Jones would see Mark MacGregor hoping for yet more vote splitting but it wasn't to be. Green Left collapsed, the Reform split the Right Wing vote and poor performances for the Democrats and SNP lead to a Labour surge in Scotland (with Democrats lead Tavish Scott even losing his seat to a Labour competitor).

Peter Hain was far away from the Gouldite Radical that had first appeared in 1991, but despite having offered a more conventional Labour appearance in tone, a sense of Goudlist radicalism still clung around. Instead of committing to austerity measures, Hain decided to engage in a rate of public spending unseen since the Gould years, putting it into job creation schemes and similar. The National Investment bank which had atrophied in the Maude and MacGregor years, found itself flushed with cash as part of the 'Build Back' schemes which were to invest in Cooperatives and Worker owned businesses alongside traditional businesses. Hain stuck to an Anti-Austerity message and it seemed to pull through.

Britain’s economy bounced back and Hain was considered to be hero to many, though those on the Eco-Left frontier complained about Hain’s building back program involving a large amount of fracking and gas works (whilst ignoring the wind farms being sprawled across Scotland) and Hain not pushing for Same Sex puzzled many who didn’t know that the Labour Party was having it’s own battle between Social Conservativism and Progressives over the future of the party.

Hain easily won another majority, the Conservative’s losing seats as Alan Howarth awkwardly became an interim leader due to Michael Fallon’s sexual harassment scandal. The second term of the Hain premiership was going to be the big one he assured everyone...but then nothing happened. Much of this can be put down to a series of slow moving scandals related to Hain becoming leader, which John Hutton never forgave Hain for. Seeing his opportunity, Hutton would use parliamentary privilege to tell the world that Hain had become Labour leader through illegal means.

This would eventually turn out to be Hain had spent more than he was allowed, but the way he had become leader and having made his campaign advisor John Redwood, a member of the House of Lords angered the political establishment. Hain resigned and would be forced out the Labour. Whilst this seemed like justice for the establishment, for many ordinary who’s jobs had come back thanks to Hain’s projects there was a sense of bafflement. This would be compounded by the next leader.

Kerry McCarthy was a dull and uninspiring Prime Minister, her moderate tone pissed off the Left as she scaled back some of Hain’s more ambitious schemes (including a £10 living wage) but her push for Same Sex marriage and her attempts to try mandate an increase in veganism pissed off the base seats. In the end both would break, Paul Embery would start his Workers Party and Mark Ashton, hoping to finally knock Labour off it’s perch, helped formulate RISE, a coalition of Nationalist, Eco-Socialist and Socialist groups which hoped to push Labour off the top perch.

David Gauke wasn’t meant to be Prime Minister, he was seen as a stop gap who’s Pro-EU, eccentric behaviour and Technocratic aspirations keeping the party together whilst a suitable replacement was found. But Labour’s collapse in 2017 would mean that Gauke became PM. Having a Prime Minister who loved unicorns and a incredibly bizarre sense of behaviour would have him be labelled the ‘banter PM’ and whilst the economy chugged along and much of Hain’s scheme brought under ‘Managerial Control’, Gauke was able to take selfies with President Patrick and President Navalney and presented a breezy image to the Prime Minister.

It was a surprise when the Conservative’s did worse than expected in 2021, much of the that due to the Workers Party about face to Right Wing Populism and a Democrats surge in the wake of a lacklustre Labour campaign with Stella Creasy hastily replacing David Prescott after it turned out he had been involved in sexual harassment case meant that Gauke was forced into a coalition with the Democrats. The success of the STV referendum (caused by people being used to the model thanks to the Regional Assemblies that had popped in the Hain years) seems to be ushering in a new decade of British politics.

As Labour’s Sarah Owen seems to be providing some challenge to Gauke as the Workers party collapses into infighting and GreenLeft discuss a possible electoral allaicne with there rival, there is a possibility that things maybe more chaotic and intriguing than expected.

I will have to say, @Oppo and @Callan were a strong influence here.
god dammit you got to “The Democrats” before I did

Great list though!
 
god dammit you got to “The Democrats” before I did

Great list though!
List Making Waits for No Person. Thanks, genuinely enjoyed this rather madcap list, I think Rob Flello becoming the leader of a Social Conservative Reform party maybe my best pick yet.
 
SCG backed Denis Healey
I will never get tired of hearing about this
Hussein Kamel al-Majid
uhhh how did i not know about this guy

Got to love the West backing Saddam's actual cousin as the hero of liberal democracy
Finally in 2007, a gas explosion at a Russian Gas Works would lead to amongst many other things cause a brief stock market crash.

Rob Flello (Reform)
throwback to when he became a libdem but got immediately disowned by them
 
I will never get tired of hearing about this
It’s one of those ‘hahaha, what?!’ things to find out. I could see Denis being up for it, if for shits and giggles if anything.
Got to love the West backing Saddam's actual cousin as the hero of liberal democracy
“C’mon folks, he’s a progressive liberal, he told us about those WMD’s and all that. He definitely isn’t the same corrupt Baathist as Saddam, No...”

To be fair to him, he doesn’t seem as bad as Saddam but like, he was a member of that regime, I doubt he was a cuddly hero of progressive democracy.
throwback to when he became a libdem but got immediately disowned by them
That happens when you don’t support Same Sex marriage and act like a tit.
 
Revolution in the Revolution

Executives of the National Government

1925–1925: Liao Zhongkai (KMT – United Front), provisional
1925–1926: Tan Pingshan / Liao Zhongkai / Dai Jitao (KMTCPC United Front)
1926–1927: Tan Pingshan / Liao Zhongkai / Xu Chongzhi (KMTCPC United Front)
1927–1928: Tan Pingshan / Deng Yanda / Wang Jingwei (KMTCPC United Front)
1928–1930: Li Dazhao / Deng Yanda / Wang Jingwei (KMTCPC United Front)

Presidents of the Republic of China

1930–1933: Wang Jingwei (KMT – United Front)
1930 def: Li Dazhao (CPC – United Front), Feng Yuxiang (KMT – United Front), Hu Hanmin (KMT), Hong Xiangxi (KMT), Li Lisan (CPC)
1933–1944: Wang Jingwei (KMT)
1937 def: Deng Yanda (KMT – United Front), Zhou Enlai (CPC – United Front)
1944–1972: Zhou Enlai (CPC – United Front)
1944 def: Song Qingling (KMT – United Front), He Yingqin (KMT), Chen Gongbo (KMT)
1951 def: Li Shizeng (KMT), Liang Shuming (Independent)
1958 def: Wang Shijie (KMT), Liang Shuming (Independent)
1965 def: Zheng Yanfen (KMT)

1972–0000: Hu Qiaomu (CPC – United Front)
1972 def: Lin Biao (CPC – United Front), Zhang Xueming (KMT – United Front), Deng Yingchao (CPC – United Front), Teng Jie (KMT)
 
Maybe Thatcher could have stayed on if scandals hadn't permutated her end years of her leadership, Middle England was happy with her smashing the Miners and New Age Travellers and she very much did, but the deaths (including a pregnant mother)

Imagine a world where the Beanfields had made a difference to voters. Gosh.

I've got to commend you for the number of hipster choices here
 
Imagine a world where the Beanfields had made a difference to voters. Gosh.
And it would have taken is the death of several people including a pregnant mum. I’m surprised a Worse Beanfield isn’t used more, the ramifications would probably be interesting.
I've got to commend you for the number of hipster choices here
After a number of lists with more normal choices, there is a lot fun to be derived from a hipster list. I have to say, my favourite is probably Ann Clwyd since she never appears much in alternative history but was in the 84-88 Kinnock Shadow Cabinet.

Then there’s also Mark Ashton, who appears once in a blue moon in alternate history despite the fact that his death wasn’t inevitable.
 
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