Into the Next Millenium

[The Lord Marbury]

FMR. MISS VIRGINIA ADMITS SHE HAD AN AFFAIR WITH CHUCK ROBB

"In an exclusive interview with The Dominion, former Miss Virginia, Tai Collins, tells all about the secret affair she had with Liberal leader Chuck Robb during his time as Premier of Virginia. Read it all about it on pages 2, 3 and 4."
-Frontpage blurb, The Dominion, September 12th 1988


"We had always been happy with Robb as Liberal leader at Prog Con HQ, despite how "centrist" he was, and despite the fact that on several times he had taken more conservative positions than our own MPs, which could've drawn in a lot of swing voters and Reagan Liberals. But the very public turmoil his leadership created within the Liberal Party was just complete gold to us. Every other month, like clockwork, Liberal MPs, MLAs, or Premiers would hit Robb for "betraying Liberal values", and sometimes even real high profile Liberals, like former Labor Minister-[then] Senator Pierre Trudeau, who once said that Robb's leadership was "a slap in the face of every single person who had ever voted for the Liberal Party", would pitch in. Of course Trudeau didn't know the microphone was on at the time, but that didn't matter, and the resulting media frenzy was like Christmas for us Tories. And then of course the whole Miss Virginia thing hit, and that once and for all proved that Chuck Robb was just the gift that kept on giving."
-Lee Atwater, fmr. President of the Progressive Conservative Party (1986-1990), being interviewed by The American Post in January, 1990

[The Lord Marbury]

A CLOSER LOOK AT….

The Progressive Conservative Party leadership election of 1977

The 1977 Progressive Conservative leadership election, nicknamed the "geezer election" by media due to the main contenders being older than the age of 60, took place during August of 1977, during the annual Progressive Conservative National Convention.

Incumbent party leader Nelson Rockefeller ran for reelection, and despite the controversy surrounding his leadership due complaints over his liberals policies by more conservative MPs, many among the media thought that he would be reelected unopposed. However that all changed two weeks out after the de facto leader of the party's conservative wing, Ronald Reagan, who came in second to Rockefeller in the 1974 leadership election, announced his intention to challenge Rockefeller for the leadership of the party. Shortly after Reagan entered the race, backbench MP George Bush, considered to ideologically be in the party's middle, threw his hat into the ring as well, but most of the attention was still directed at Rockefeller and Reagan.

The first ballot resulted in no candidate holding a clear lead among votes cast, with Rockefeller holding a narrow lead over Reagan, however following his failure to attain a clear majority in the first round of votes, Rockefeller surprised everyone by announcing that he would be withdrawing his name from the ballot. Instead he introduced another candidate who he would throw his full support behind. Robert Stanfield was considered to be slightly to the right of Rockefeller, but still in the liberal wing of the party, and still respected enough by conservative, moderate and liberal alike due to his service as Foreign Minister between 1970 and 74. Victory looked like it was in the bag for Stanfield, but then another candidate entered the fray, out of the blue. Shadow Education Minister, and strong liberal, John Anderson joined the race, and this resulted in the second ballot also being tied, followed by the third and the fourth. By the fifth ballot the candidates were getting desperate and started to bargain with each other. Firstly Stanfield attempted to convince Anderson to quit the race, but they were unable to reach a deal acceptable to both camps, while Reagan went to Bush and offered him, in exchange for dropping out, the Deputy leadership as well as the position of Shadow Foreign Minister. Bush thought long and hard about this, and since he no longer saw a chance of getting elected leader, he decided to accept the offer. Bush withdrew his candidacy, and with a majority of just two votes, Reagan was elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party.

This was one of the most tumultuous leadership elections in the history of the Progressive Conservatives at the time, and it was the catalyst in the decision to change the system of electing party leaders to a one where the candidate which placed last in each ballot would be eliminated, thus ensuring that the elections would go more smoothly.



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I was thinking of doing a few of these between updates now and then. You know, factual, but brief, looks into things which aren't that closely connected to the stuff happening at the point in time where the main timeline takes place. Thoughts?

EDIT:
Also, the pictured I posted appears smaller than its actual size. Here's a link if it's too small for any of you.
http://i.imgur.com/dWvFT.png

[The Lord Marbury]

ROBB: "I DID NOT HAVE SEXUAL RELATIONS WITH THAT WOMAN"


Following the allegations that he had an affair with a former Miss Virginia, ABS Newsnight caught Mr. Robb just after exiting the Liberal Party headquarters. There he firmly denied all allegations and dismissed them as slander, while saying that he was "excited to get out there and tell the country about the Liberal vision for America".
-The New York Times, September 13th 1988

KENNEDY BARNSTORMS IN RUST BELT; SLAMS REAGAN


Today Labor Party leader Ted Kennedy barnstormed in the two rust belt provinces of Michigan and Ohio, spending the first half of the day visiting a manufacturing plant in Ohio, where half the workforce is being laid off with their jobs being shipped overseas, and the second half of the day he spent in Flint, Michigan, a city which has been hit harshly by unemployment and economic malaise after General Motors chose to close down several of its plants in the city. It was also in Flint where Kennedy chose to hold his big speech of the day.

"This is the Tories' vision of America, people!", Kennedy exclaimed, standing outside of a closed down GM plant. "An America where it's completely fine for a conglomerate making billions in profit, to just cut off the livelihood of an entire city, and ship those jobs overseas. Does that seem fair to you? Of course not! It's time for a change in this country. It's time for a government which doesn't look the other way while big corporations move jobs overseas. It's time for a government which will fight poverty instead of sweeping it under the carpet. It's time for a government which cares about the people it's supposed to serve. It is time for a Labor government!"
-The Globe, September 13th 1988

RON PAUL BOOED AT EVENT IN FLORIDA


At a party event in Florida today, Libertarian leader Ron Paul was booed after he advocated for the gradual dismantlement of the Federal Health Insurance in favor of free market oriented alternatives. The FHI has long been considered the third rail of American politics ever since it was was implemented by Prime Minister Claude Pepper in 1949, and even former Libertarian leader Barry Goldwater didn't argue for the complete dismantlement of the system, he only argued that the operations of the health care system should be devolved to a provincial level, so that the individual provinces could decide if they wanted to keep the FHI in place or not. Mr. Paul on the other hand, has shown that he has very little fear of going against popular opinion on the big issues.
-The American Post, September 15th 1988

[The Lord Marbury]

TAI COLLINS SAYS ROBB IS LYING


With Chuck Robb having denied all accusations that he had an affair with Miss Collins, The Globe asked for her comments on Mr. Robbs denials. This is what she had to say: "While I certainly understand why Chuck is denying it all, I don't think it's fair to his wife, the voters, or himself if he keeps up with it. I think it's time for him to own up for his mistakes just like I'm trying to."
-The Globe, September 15th 1988

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO, CHUCK?

Infidelity scandals in politics is something none of us are unfamiliar with, and therefore, despite all the big headlines about Chuck Robb and his alleged mistress Tai Collins, very few people were surprised that a politician had been cheating on his wife. But now The New York Times can exclusively report that according to sources within his former staff as Premier of Virginia, then-Premier Robb had on several instances been on parties in Virginia Beach, where cocaine was used, however it is currently unknown if Robb actually used the illegal substances while present at the parties. The staff of Chuck Robb has refused to comment on the information.
-The New York Times, September 15th 1988

PAUL ACCUSES THE GOVERNMENT OF ECONOMIC IRRESPONSIBILITY


Following the bad welcome he got while speaking in Florida yesterday, today Ron Paul got right back up on the horse by attacking the Reagan government on their economic record.

"The Tories like to say how they are the only ones you can trust with this country's economy, that they are the only ones able to craft a fair and responsible budget. There is only one problem with that argument: it's all lies. Oh sure, Ronald Reagan and his friends like to say how their being economically responsible, even though the country's deficit is growing bigger by the minute. They like to say how they support the free market, even though they're holding it down with useless legislation. Well I think it's time to make a change in this country. It's time to say no to high taxes, it's time to say no reckless spending, it's time to say no to cumbersome regulations, and it's time to say yes to a Libertarian government!"
-Segment from Ron Paul's speech in Dallas, Texas, September 16th 1988

[The Lord Marbury]

MASSIVE DROP IN LIBERAL SUPPORT IN FRESH POLLS, LAB AND PC MAKING GAINS
With all the drama surrounding Chuck Robb during the past, things are just going from bad to worse for the Liberals, with these fresh polls showing that the Liberals have lost over 8 points during the past week, with most of their support going to the Labor and Progressive Conservative parties. The question is if Robb will be able to turn this slump around in tomorrows debate, or if the party will keep sinking in the polls all the way up to election day.
-The Dominion, September 18th 1988

API Opinion Polling - Who would you vote for if the election was held today?
Progressive Conservative - 40,9% (+3,2%)
Liberal - 20,1% (-9,7%)
Labor - 18,5% (+6,5%)
Libertarian - 9,0% (+0,6%)
American Heritage - 8,8% (+0,4%)
Other/Undecided - 2,7% (-1,1%)

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I realize my updates have been a bit erratic lately, but unfortunately I'm sick at the moment so I haven't exactly felt up to writing. I'm attempting to get some work done on the final debate (which is going to be the next update), but you shouldn't expect to see it for a few days at least.

Any comments on the TL so far?

[The Lord Marbury]

I'm back.

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REAGAN APPEARS DISORIENTATED IN SECOND DEBATE

With the Tories preforming strongly in recent polls, expectations were high for Ronald Reagan in last nights debate, with people wondering if he would be able to continue the governments policies over the past nine years. Well, unfortunately for his supporters, Reagan failed to reach up to all expectations, and his performance during the debate sparked new life into the debate about wether the Prime Minister is getting to old and afflicted by memory problems to continue leading the government.

Transcript:

Moderator: Mr. Reagan, you have come under criticism from both sides of the aisle for not being able to balance the budget. My question is how is how your party will rein in the deficit if you are given a third term in government?

Reagan: Umm… well you see um.. the budget is important and… err.. if you elect me leader of the Progressive Conservative Party -no, wait, um… I vow that the budget deficit will me maintained in my second term, because a strong budget deficit is key…. -no, um… It would be good if the budget deficit… it should be eliminated. Yes. We're getting rid of the budget -no, the budget deficit.

Meanwhile Liberal leader Chuck Robb came under fire following the allegations that he had cheated on his wife with former Miss Virginia, Tai Collins, as well as having been present at several parties where cocaine was used, during the early 80s. Most of the criticism came from American Heritage leader Pat Buchanan.

Transcript:

Buchanan: Personally, I wouldn't trust Mr. Robb to be faithful to this country and the needs of its people, since he couldn't even be faithful to his wife. And now there's that rumor going around that Mr. Robb might have been taking the illegal drug cocaine at parties, or at least stood idly by while others were taking it. And this is rumor which Mr. Robb hasn't even bothered to refute, considering the seriousness of the allegation. I think that the American people deserve to know if an elected official has broken the law, so I'm asking you here and now, Mr. Robb, have you ever used cocaine?

Robb: Look, all the talk about me having taken cocaine is nothing but lies. I don't even know what the stuff looks like, and-

Buchanan: Wait, wait, wait, I just have to stop you there. Are you seriously saying that you don't even know what the substance looks like? So either you're just very bad at lying, or you genuinely have no idea what the drug looks like. A drug which, along with other illegal substances, is a plague upon American youths and the American way of life.

Robb: I resent that those accusations.

Labor leader Ted Kennedy also took centre stage in last nights debate, with his harsh attacks on both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition

Transcript:

Kennedy: It's time for a real change to come to this country, instead of the empty words coming from the other side of the aisle. I know what you at home are thinking when I say that. "Every politician talks about 'change', so what makes him so different?" remember nine years ago when Ronald Reagan debated Ed Muskie and said "it's time for a change here in Philadelphia". Likewise I remember the five years before that when Muskie debated Nelson Rockefeller and said "it's time for a change". Ronnie Reagan and Ed Muskie have two things in common. They both came into office promising sweeping reform, and a great new tomorrow for all Americans, and in the end they didn't change anything at all. And we've all heard what Mr. Reagan and Mr. Robb have said during this election campaign. They've said your only choice is between two old and grey parties which have been running things the same way for the past 50 years, with no true difference between them. I'm here tonight to tell you all that there is an alternative. Tomorrow all of you across this great nation can make the choice to do things differently for once. The choice to say no to the old corrupt back room policies of the Liberals and the Conservatives, and say yes to true change. Together we can make the decision to do things differently in order to create a more fair and open society built upon decent no nonsense politics, which benefit the everyday working American. We need a government which will serve the people that elected it, instead of just itself alone, and I promise you all that a Labor government is that government.
-The New York Times, September 20th

REAGAN'S ABILITY TO SERVE AS PM CALLED INTO QUESTION

Following Prime Minister Ronald Reagan's, to say the least, erratic performance during last nights debate, a great deal of people, pundits and regular voters alike, are starting to wonder whether Mr. Reagan is getting to old to continue to serve as this nation's Prime Minister. During the debate the Prime Minister displayed signs of confusion and memory issues, and at one point it appeared as if he was unaware of where he was. The Prime Minister's Office were quick to issue a press release which explained how the events of the night were a result of the Prime Minister accidentally taking the wrong medication before the debate. However overnight polling by Gallup shows that it may be too little, too late. Fourth months ago Gallup polled voters, asking them the question: "do you think Ronald Reagan is fit to continue serving as Prime Minister?". Then 50% answered yes, while 35% answered no, with 15% being undecided. This latest poll shows that the tide has surely turned.

Gallup - Do you think Ronald Reagan is fit to continue serving as Prime Minister?
No - 51% (+16%)
Yes - 38% (-12%)
Undecided - 11%

And the polling on last nights debate is just more bad news for the PC campaign, with the Prime Minister coming in second to last, just above Libertarian leader Ron Paul, who was largely sidelined during the final debate. American Heritage leader Pat Buchanan on the other hand, makes a surprisingly strong second place finish, with voters especially citing his position on law and order as the reason for their support. This is a major success for Buchanan, as in the past few years he has been trying to wash away the old image of the American Heritage Party as a party only for pro-segregation southerners. But the big winner of the night was Ted Kennedy of the Labor Party who rallied against both the Liberal and Progressive Conservative, and referred to them as two sides of the same coin. The question is, with the polls opening today, just how will the election turn out, because one thing is certain, and that's the fact that Reagan's poor preformance and Robb's scandals means that all bets are off.

API Opinion Polling - Who do you think won the second debate?
Ted Kennedy (Labor) - 37%
Pat Buchanan (American Heritage) - 22%
Chuck Robb (Liberal) - 16%
Ronald Reagan (Progressive Conservative) - 15%
Ron Paul (Libertarian) - 10%

-America Today, September 20th 1988

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Questions? Comments? Critiques?

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

This is fantastic. Go Labor!

[Jerseyrules]

This is fantastic. Go Labor Reagan!

[Goldwater]

This is fantastic. Go Labor Reagan!

[Lief 🗽]

This is great! I love the fake Wikipedia updates, since that's how I learned a lot of what I know about foreign politics. It's a little strange that this super America+Canada country would still be ruled, even indirectly, by the British monarchy, but I can suspend my disbelief there.

[The Lord Marbury]

Great to see that you're all enjoying this, guys!

This is great! I love the fake Wikipedia updates, since that's how I learned a lot of what I know about foreign politics. It's a little strange that this super America+Canada country would still be ruled, even indirectly, by the British monarchy, but I can suspend my disbelief there.

Yeah well, the intention is for the reader to suspend his disbeliefs on some issues. The main one being that with a POD way back in the 1700s, our current day politicians probably wouldn't even exist, and if by some chance one or two of them did, they probably wouldn't even be in the same line of work. But a timeline filled with nothing but completely fictional people probably wouldn't be as interesting.


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POLLS OPEN AS PARTY LEADERS ENTER FINAL STRETCH OF CAMPAIGNING

Today the American people will decide which party will govern this country for the next few years, and the leaders  of the main five political parties are kicking their campaigns into overdrive during the day in order to convince you that their party is the right one to govern this nation.

Liberal leader Chuck Robb will be starting the day with voting in his home district of Richmond, followed by a meet and greet with voters. After that he will fly to New York City where he is going to hold his last major campaign speech of this election cycle. He will be joined by former Prime Minister Ed Muskie and Liberal Party chairman, Senator Richard Daley. Following that he will do another brief meet with voters at a small polling station in Queens, before going flying down to Liberal Party HQ in Philadelphia to await the result.  

Pat Buchanan, leader of the American Heritage Party, will be spending most of his day in the midwest, where he will hold two separate campaign rallies. A smaller one will be held at 10PM in Des Moines, Iowa, while the bigger one, where he will be joined by prominent party figures like Jesse Helms, will be held in Kansas City later during the day. Following that he will return to his home district Roanoke where he will vote and campaign for the remainder of the evening until polling stations close, and he returns to American Heritage HQ in Philadelphia.

Libertarian Ron Paul will be voting in his district Galveston this morning, and go on to campaign in his home province Texas during the day, with a major campaign rally being held in Houston during the afternoon. After polling stations close he will await the election results during a party event in Galveston.

Ted Kennedy is kicking off the day by voting in his district Lynn-Suffolk, which will be followed by several last minute campaign stops in the states of Ontario, Michigan, Ohio, and finally Pennsylvania, where he, along with former party leaders Ron Dellums and Birch Bayh, will speak before supporters in Pittsburgh before returning to Labor HQ in Philadelphia.

Prime Minister Ronald Reagan was originally supposed to speak in Detroit at noon, however the Prime Minister's Office has released a statement to the press which says that all of Prime Minister Reagan's engagements during the first part of the day have been cancelled to allow the Prime Minister to rest and regain his energy after weeks of harsh campaigning. His planned trip home to Los Angeles has also been cancelled, which means that he will only campaign in Philadelphia during the day. According to his new schedule, he will first vote at a local polling station and then go on to speak at a campaign rally alongside Defense Minister Jeane Kirkpatrick and Lee Atwater, President of the Progressive Conservative Party, followed by returning to 1 America Avenue to finish some work and have dinner with his wife, before going to the PCHQ later during the evening. Foreign Minister and PC Deputy Leader George H.W. Bush will replace Reagan at the event in Detroit.
-The American Post, September 20th 1988

FORMER PM THATCHER STEPS DOWN AS LEADER OF CONSERVATIVE PARTY


In some political news from across the pond, Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 1978 and 1980, has announced her intent to step down as leader of the Conservative Party, following three election losses in a row. Thatcher became the first female UK Prime Minister after leading the Conservatives to a narrow victory over James Callaghan's Labour Party in the 1978 General Election. However her short time in office proved to be a controversial one, with Thatcher often backing many unpopular reforms which drew ire from the other side of the aisle, as well as members of her own party. In January of 1980 she lost her already small majority in a by-election, and a few months later her government would be narrowly defeated in a confidence vote. In the subsequent election the Conservatives finished second after the SDP-Liberal Alliance which won in a major upset, gaining nearly 300 seats compared to their seat total prior to the election. Thatcher was succeeded as Prime Minister by current PM Shirley Williams, but she held on to the leadership of the Conservative Party through the next two elections, despite a leadership challenge by Michael Heseltine in 1983, which Thatcher barely managed to win. Now however, she has decided to step down without a fight.
-The Globe, September 20th 1988

_______

Next up is the first part of the election night coverage, which will most likely be up some time tomorrow.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I really look forward to seeing the election night coverage Can't wait.

[Jerseyrules]

I really look forward to seeing the election night coverage Can't wait.

Me too; I really have no idea how parliamentary style systems call elections and how news networks project them; will be an interesting learning experience

[Lief 🗽]

I wonder if we would call our races the British way, where all the candidates get on stage and the returning officer announces who got the most votes once all the ballots have been counted, in this timeline.

[The Lord Marbury]

I really look forward to seeing the election night coverage Can't wait.

Me too; I really have no idea how parliamentary style systems call elections and how news networks project them; will be an interesting learning experience

Well if you're interested in knowing more, you could always watch this for educational purposes.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiF1D7Uh1QA

Hmmm.... Is it weird that I actually enjoy watching old election nights from other countries just for entertainment purposes?

I wonder if we would call our races the British way, where all the candidates get on stage and the returning officer announces who got the most votes once all the ballots have been counted, in this timeline.

Well that would most likely be the case for the constituencies, however it's important that I've made the choice to have ATL America use a voting system used by Germany ITTL, where roughly half of the Members of Parliament are elected as representatives from individual constituencies or districts, just like the UK or Canadian House of Commons or the US House of Representatives IOTL, while the other half are elected by a party list system where a number of seats are divided proportionally amongst the parties getting more than 5% of the vote nationally, based on their national popular vote totals.

[The Lord Marbury]

Unfortunately real life prevented me from getting much work done on this today, so I'm only able to post the preface (along with exit polls) to the actual election night. But the real thing with some actual results should be up some time tomorrow.

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ABS ELECTION NIGHT 1988



"Good evening and welcome to ABS' coverage of the 1988 Federal Election. It's been one of most unpredictable and exciting elections in years, and tonight, we here at ABS will tell you what happens, as it happens. It's been a long and arduous campaign for both politicians and voters alike, and during this evening we will all see the culmination of the past four weeks of campaigning. And we will find out if Ronald Reagan will be the first Tory Prime Minister since the 1920s to win a third term in office, or if Chuck Robb will be able to lead the Liberal Party back into government after 10 years out in the cold, or if one of the underdogs, like Ted Kennedy, Pat Buchanan, or Ron Paul, will be able to lead his respective party to success? Those questions will all be answered here tonight.

In 353 districts across the nation, voters will elect their individual members of parliament to represent their interests at Parliament House in Philadelphia, and together with the 354 list seats which will be divided proportionally between all the parties based on their national popular vote totals, they make up the House of Commons. The polls have just closed on the eastern seaboard at this time, however no results are in yet. But despite this, we here at ABS are able to give you the results of our exit poll. Thousands of voters across the nation have been asked about their voting preferences, and remember, this is not an opinion poll where we have asked how people intend to vote, this is a poll where we have asked how people have actually voted. However it's important to remember that, as with any poll, there is a small margin of error.

But now let's take a look at the results of the exit poll, starting with the popular vote."


"As we can see here, the Progressive Conservatives would end up at around 37 percent of the vote, which is four points down from their result in 1984, and also down from the result predicted in opinion polls. However we do need to keep in mind that the last opinion poll was released prior to the final debate. On second place, in a perhaps the biggest political shake-up of the century, we find the Labor Party at 22 percent, nearly doubling their vote total from 1984, and achieving their best result in party history, beating the record set in 1916 during the leadership of Eugene Debs, when the party got 19 percent. Moving on to the Liberals, our exit poll places them at 20,5 percent, meaning that should this poll be correct, the Liberals will have fallen to their lowest result in all the 160 years for which the party has existed. And looking at the minor parties, the American Heritage Party appears to be performing better than in the last election, with gains of 3 to 4 percent being projected, while a 2 percent drop in support has been projected for the Libertarians under new leader Ron Paul.

Now we'll have a look at what the House of Commons would look like based on these figures."


"As expected, the Tories lose a significant number of seats, and while they are currently in a supply and confidence deal with the Libertarians in order to achieve a workable majority in the Commons, even the Tories and Libertarians together would fall one seat short of a majority at this time. Meaning that in order to continue governing, the Tories would need to reach an agreement with one additional party, such as American Heritage. However it is possible that they would be able to convince Wally Hickel, a former Tory turned Alaska Independence Party member, who is projected to become the next MP from Alaska in a landslide victory, to throw his support behind them. But perhaps the most interesting part is that we can see that despite that the Labor Party is projected to win almost two percent more of the popular vote than the Liberals, they will still fall more than 20 seats short of surpassing the Liberal Party as the main opposition party. What do you make of this, Bruce?"



"Well for starters I would say that if the commons end up looking roughly like this with those popular vote numbers, tomorrow there's going to be a lot of angry Labor voters out there who will feel that they've been cheated of the Official Opposition status by the Liberals, and I think we'll start seeing strong pushes for further voting reform coming from those droves of disappointed Labor supporters around the country. And while all that is happening, the Liberals will be in almost complete disarray, because all their work to get back the image of the Liberals as being the natural governing party of the nation, has been completely shattered. And the big question is if this 'Labormania', that seems to be happening right now, is just a one time flash in the pan, or if it's signifying the next big political shift in this country?"

[Jerseyrules]

I'm guessing a Tory-Liberal coalition is out of the question?

[The Lord Marbury]

I'm guessing a Tory-Liberal coalition is out of the question?

Pretty much. The Tories and the Liberals have been bitter rivals for more than a century, so short of something like wartime coalition, it'd be very hard to get them to band together without significant problems.

BTW, the reason why I didn't post the next part of election night when I said I would, is because I'm suffering from a minor case of writer's block. But I'll attempt to have the next update up by the end of the week.

[Jerseyrules]

I'm guessing a Tory-Liberal coalition is out of the question?

Pretty much. The Tories and the Liberals have been bitter rivals for more than a century, so short of something like wartime coalition, it'd be very hard to get them to band together without significant problems.

BTW, the reason why I didn't post the next part of election night when I said I would, is because I'm suffering from a minor case of writer's block. But I'll attempt to have the next update up by the end of the week.

Interesting, because it seems like they're closer to each other than Tory is to American Heritage or Labor is to Liberal.  Just my opinion though.

Anyway looking forward to an update!

[The Lord Marbury]

I'm guessing a Tory-Liberal coalition is out of the question?

Pretty much. The Tories and the Liberals have been bitter rivals for more than a century, so short of something like wartime coalition, it'd be very hard to get them to band together without significant problems.

BTW, the reason why I didn't post the next part of election night when I said I would, is because I'm suffering from a minor case of writer's block. But I'll attempt to have the next update up by the end of the week.

Interesting, because it seems like they're closer to each other than Tory is to American Heritage or Labor is to Liberal.  Just my opinion though.

Anyway looking forward to an update!

Well both parties are actually fairly big tent, and while there are centrist factions in both parties which are very close together ideologically, any possibility of a Liberal-Tory coalition is made impossible due to the precense of strong left and right wings in each party, which would make any closer cooperation between the two parties too hard, since those wings would much rather work with either Labor or the Libertarians/American Heritage. And the Liberal's identity used to be far more leftwing (considering that LBJ was once leader) than under the leadership of Chuck Robb, who is the most rightwing leader that the party has had for a long time.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I'm eagerly awaiting the election night coverage

[The Lord Marbury]

Here's finally a new update. I decided the really cut down on election night and not do the whole map thing because it would just be too much work. Therefore I just chose to do some brief updates like this one, instead of just listing results seat by seat. There's going to be another update like this one, which will wrap up election night, and then we'll move on to what happens afterwards.

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"I hereby declare Richard John Santorum of the American Heritage Party, to be the duly elected Member of Parliament for the constituency of Chambersburg-Johnstown."
-Returning officer, 1988 election in Chambersburg-Johnstown

Election Night Part Two: Electric Boogaloo

RATHER: "Welcome back, we are now just over one hour into Election Night 1988, and while several seats have already been called, we are still far from seeing just what the full result will look like. But one thing that is for certain is that the Liberals are not having a great night, and here to comment on that we have Richard Daley Jr., Senator from Illinois and campaign coordinator for the Liberal Party. Welcome"

DALEY: "It's great to be here."

RATHER: "Now Senator Daley, I guess it's been pretty rough for your party tonight?"

DALEY: "Well the night is far from over, so we can't be sure about what the House of Commons will look like when all the votes have finally been counted, and I am confident that by tomorrow morning the people of this great nation will have resoundingly rejected the irresponsible policies of the Progressive Conservative Party, and embraced the many great ideas that we in the opposition have put out there."

RATHER: "But you can't deny that based on our exit poll, as well as the results we have seen so far, it would appear to your party is actually set to lose a great deal of seats. In fact, more seats than you lost in 1980 or 1984 combined. Do you honestly think that there's even chance for a Liberal government after such a major defeat?"

DALEY: "Well an exit poll doesn't determine the election, and we'd prefer to wait and see just how all Americans will vote. And I wouldn't say that things have been all bad for us Liberals tonight, because we've actually gained some seats as well.

RATHER: "You are of course referring to the election in Middletown-Connecticut, the one seat you have gained so far, where Liberal candidate Joseph Lieberman narrowly defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative Lowell Weicker."

DALEY: "That is correct, and I think that the victory of Mr. Lieberman proves that there's a great deal of people out there who still want strong Liberal values of good government in parliament."

RATHER: "But what does it say about the future of the Liberal Party, when your only new MP had to go to the right of his main opponent in order to get elected?"

DALEY: "Well I wouldn't say that this signals a big ideological shift in the Liberal, it is merely a testament to Joe Lieberman and his ability to unite people from both sides of the political spectrum, and both Mr. Robb and I are very excited to have him as part of our parliamentary caucus."

RATHER: "Speaking about Chuck Robb, there's no denying that all the rumors about his extramarital affair and alleged cocaine use, have been a serious detriment to the Liberal national campaign, but what most national political commentators forget is the effect the scandals have had in Mr. Robb's home constituency of Richmond. No polling was held in the constituency during the actual campaign since it was believed that Robb would win the constituency with a solid majority since he won it by over 60% in the 1986 by-election, so because of that us journalists got quite the shock after the exit poll came in earlier this evening, which showed Mr. Robb only holding a narrow two point lead over his main opponents, Progressive Conservative Thomas Bliley Jr., and Labor candidate Henry L. Marsh III. With his narrow reelection race in his own constituency, are you worried that Chuck Robb might not be reelected to parliament?"

DALEY: "Not at all, Dan. For the past two years Chuck Robb has been a great MP for the people of Richmond, who's wishes and ideas he always places into consideration when making a decision. Chuck Robb is a man who cares deeply about the people he has been elected to serve in the House of Commons, and I have no doubt at all that tonight the people of Richmond will reelect the man who always serve their interests in Philadelphia. Because Chuck Robb is-

RATHER: "I'm sorry, Senator, I have to cut you off there, because I'm now hearing that a winner has been announced in Richmond. We now go to Leslie Stahl who is present at the count in Richmond."

--



STAHL: "Thank you Dan. Just moments ago, on the stage behind me, the returning officer walked up and declared that the winner and new MP for Richmond was to be Labor Party candidate Henry L. Marsh III, who by a margin of just over a thousand votes, defeated Liberal Party leader Chuck Robb and PC candidate Thomas Bliley, for the seat. Chuck Robb himself was not present as the results were announced, but he was able to listen over the phone. One wonders just where the Liberal Party, and Chuck Robb, will go from here. The party is looking to make their worst election result in history, and how their leader has lost his seat, something which a hasn't happened to a political party in the House of Commons since 1933, when then-Prime Minister Calvin Coolidge lost reelection. Back to you, Dan."

--

RATHER: "Well there we have it. Senator, this sure didn't go as well as you expected it to."

DALEY: "Uh…"

-----

Richmond (federal electoral constituency), 1988 Election
Henry L. Marsh III (Labor) - 33,9%
Chuck Robb (Liberal) - 33,1%
Thomas J. Bliley, Jr. (Progressive Conservative) - 31,2%
Others - 1,2%

[The Lord Marbury]

I'm eagerly awaiting the election night coverage

Yeah I decided not to do a big traditional election night like you see in a lot of threads on this forum, since it'd just be too much work.

[Peter the Lefty]

This is an awesome TL!  Ted Kennedy would be an awesome Labor leader.  Just one question: Would the Kennedy family be multi-party?  Joe Kennedy seems like he'd be a Tory, and John seems like he'd be more of a liberal (a left-leaning one, no doubt).  Robert and Ted seem like Labor types, but it's tricky to see how it'd work out in this system. 

[The Lord Marbury]

This is an awesome TL!  Ted Kennedy would be an awesome Labor leader.  Just one question: Would the Kennedy family be multi-party?  Joe Kennedy seems like he'd be a Tory, and John seems like he'd be more of a liberal (a left-leaning one, no doubt).  Robert and Ted seem like Labor types, but it's tricky to see how it'd work out in this system. 

Well things are quite different for the Kennedys ITTL since Ted Kennedy is actually the only member of the family to be actively involved in politics. Joe Kennedy was actually nobility, holding the title 'Duke of Suffolk', which then passed on to John after he died. Because of that Joe didn't see much of a reason to get all that involved in politics. Though you are correct that he would primarily sympathize with the Tories. John on the other hand got a bit involved as big contributor and advisor to the Liberal Party, and he later served as the AC Ambassador to Ireland from 1968 to 1979. Bobby meanwhile didn't get much involved in politics at all. He supported and advised his brother Ted in his work as the Premier of Massachusetts, but ITTL he primarily chooses to focus on charitable work.