UK General Election 1997 - Robin Cook as Labour Leader

[Phony Moderate]

Let's say that Robin Cook is elected Labour Leader in 1994 instead of Tony Blair.

Would he have been able to win as big a majority? I don't think it would have been much different, even though he was to the left of Blair. Cook was probably one of the best debaters in post-war British politics, and he most likely would have owned John Major at the disbatch box (as well as pretty much any other senior Tory).

[Dr. Cynic]

Labour was going to win anyway, so it wouldn't much matter who they chose as party leader. Cook was preferable to Blair though.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Labour would have won, of course, though not quite as overwhelmingly. And then the media would have used his personal problems to hound him out of office.