U.S. with UK candidates

[Phony Moderate]

Something a little different here. In each U.S. presidential election, replace the candidates with a British politician that most closely matches them.

1968-onwards:

1968 - Reginald Maudling (R) vs. James Callaghan (D) vs. Enoch Powell (AIP)

1972 - Reginald Maudling (R) vs. Michael Foot (D)

1976 - Edward Heath (R) vs. Eric Varley (D)

1980 - Margaret Thatcher (R) vs. Eric Varley (D) vs. James Prior (I)

1984 - Margaret Thatcher (R) vs. Tony Benn (D)

1988 - Geoffrey Howe (R) vs. Bryan Gould (D)

1992 - Geoffrey Howe (R) vs. Tony Blair (D) vs. Richard Branson (I)

1996 - Douglas Hurd (R) vs. Tony Blair (D) vs. Richard Branson (I)

2000 - William Hague (R) vs. Gordon Brown (D) vs. Peter Tatchell (G)

2004 - William Hague (R) vs. Jack Straw (D)

2008 - Kenneth Clarke (R) vs. David Lammy (D)

2012 - David Cameron (R) vs. David Lammy (D)

[afleitch]

1968 - Maudling defeats Callaghan

1972 - Maudling defeats Foot. I doubt Foot would be the 'McGovern' here due to age and it would be more likely to be Tony Benn who would also get defeated.

1976 - Interesting choice; Varley was to the right of his party and Heath was to the left of his. He also tried to shut down the Chrysler factory. Can you imagine him doing that in the USA? it would be political suicide,  Heath, who was personable, would defeat him easily.

1980 - If Thatcher were a man she'd win. Given how toxic Varley is (see above) then he'd be up against Heath Mark II in Jim Prior. It would be a three way race but Prior would win.

1984 - Thatcher wins. Even being a woman would count against her here.

1988 - No one likes Bryan Gould. Not even Labour liked Bryan Gould. Howe would win.

1992 - Branson? Cut from a very different cloth to Perot. If anyone stood as an independent that year in the Perot mould it would probably be James Goldsmith. Blair wins

1996 - Blair wins

2000 - Brown wins.

2004 - Hague wins. One of the very few scenarios in which he wins anything.

2008 - Clarke wins. Lammy seems to go out of his way to blunt his own career; he's a happy backbencher.

2012 - Tut, tut, picking Cameron as Romney's matchup. Chalk and Cheese It would be someone more like Liam Fox. Anyway Cameron wins. This would be 'fresh' Cameron who back in 2005 everyone liked. Easy victory.

[Kitteh]

I like this. A few random points:

I think an important question would be whether the two-party system is as entrenched in this scenario as IRL. If not, people like James Prior might have a chance at winning.

A Richard Branson candidacy would be really funny. Not exactly the best equivalent to Perot, but I like it.

David Cameron != Mitt Romney in any sense, other than them both being rich. Given the Tories there are plenty of rich people to fill this role . I'm not sure who's the best British equivalent of Romney. Some relatively bland center-right person who's essentially a generic Conservative in positions?

[k-onmmunist]

I like this. A few random points:

I think an important question would be whether the two-party system is as entrenched in this scenario as IRL. If not, people like James Prior might have a chance at winning.

A Richard Branson candidacy would be really funny. Not exactly the best equivalent to Perot, but I like it.

David Cameron != Mitt Romney in any sense, other than them both being rich. Given the Tories there are plenty of rich people to fill this role . I'm not sure who's the best British equivalent of Romney. Some relatively bland center-right person who's essentially a generic Conservative in positions?

nah i'd say romney and cameron are about equivalent for their countries.

[You kip if you want to...]

I like this. A few random points:

I think an important question would be whether the two-party system is as entrenched in this scenario as IRL. If not, people like James Prior might have a chance at winning.

A Richard Branson candidacy would be really funny. Not exactly the best equivalent to Perot, but I like it.

David Cameron != Mitt Romney in any sense, other than them both being rich. Given the Tories there are plenty of rich people to fill this role . I'm not sure who's the best British equivalent of Romney. Some relatively bland center-right person who's essentially a generic Conservative in positions?

nah i'd say romney and cameron are about equivalent for their countries.

Being a flip-flopping rich guy, Mitt Romney's basically the embodiment of our coalition.

[k-onmmunist]

I like this. A few random points:

I think an important question would be whether the two-party system is as entrenched in this scenario as IRL. If not, people like James Prior might have a chance at winning.

A Richard Branson candidacy would be really funny. Not exactly the best equivalent to Perot, but I like it.

David Cameron != Mitt Romney in any sense, other than them both being rich. Given the Tories there are plenty of rich people to fill this role . I'm not sure who's the best British equivalent of Romney. Some relatively bland center-right person who's essentially a generic Conservative in positions?

nah i'd say romney and cameron are about equivalent for their countries.

Being a flip-flopping rich guy, Mitt Romney's basically the embodiment of our coalition.

not to mention they're both fake moderates.

[Leftbehind]

2012 - Tut, tut, picking Cameron as Romney's matchup. Chalk and Cheese It would be someone more like Liam Fox.

Nah, it really isn't. It'd only have been Fox if the Republican Right had been more successful.

[k-onmmunist]

2012 - Tut, tut, picking Cameron as Romney's matchup. Chalk and Cheese It would be someone more like Liam Fox.

Nah, it really isn't. It'd only have been Fox if the Republican Right had been more successful.

it's worth remembering that the tories are probably to the right of the republicans economically while being to the left of the republicans socially.

[Leftbehind]

Even then their social liberalness is completely overplayed. Both parties are so right-wing it makes little difference distinguishing between the two.

[Phony Moderate]

PV estimates:

1968 - Maudling - 48%, Callaghan - 34%, Powell - 18%
1972 - Maudling - 64%, Foot - 36%
1976 - Heath - 52%, Varley - 48%
1980 - Prior - 38%, Thatcher - 35%, Varley - 27%
1984 - Thatcher - 60%, Benn - 40%
1988 - Howe - 57%, Gould - 43%
1992 - Blair - 45%, Howe - 36%, Branson - 19%
1996 - Blair - 50%, Hurd - 35%, Branson - 15%
2000 - Brown - 49%, Hague - 48%, Tatchell - 3%
2004 - Hague - 51%, Straw - 49%
2008 - Clarke - 55%, Lammy - 45%
2012 - Cameron - 54%, Lammy - 46%

[k-onmmunist]

Even then their social liberalness is completely overplayed. Both parties are so right-wing it makes little difference distinguishing between the two.

well, the tories are trying to become a carbon copy of the gop as much as possible.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Why Eric Varley?

[Phony Moderate]

Why Eric Varley?

To be honest, I couldn't think of any Labour politician from the 70s who even slightly resembled Carter....so I chose Varley because I find him to be one of the more interesting figures of that era.

[morgieb]

For someone that isn't British, explain the similarities between those politicians and the US candidates.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

To be honest, I couldn't think of any Labour politician from the 70s who even slightly resembled Carter

George Thomas maybe? Even if he was done (as a career politician) by the mid 70s, and even if it's impossible to imagine him winning an internal Party contest for anything (of course they said that about Carter. But that was because Carter was an outsider, which Thomas was certainly not by this point).

Or, heading into deeply bizarre territory, perhaps a more successful Elystan Morgan; certainly someone like that would have a better chance of being successful in an Americanesque political system.

Your '68 is hilariously perfect, by the way.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

No. Wait. Peter Shore?

[Phony Moderate]

Ah, well for whatever reason I kept Welsh politicians out of my mind almost entirely. Shore does seem like a decent fit actually.

Yeah, I thought 1968 was my most accurate too. Some of the later ones were pretty tricky, especially 2000.

[k-onmmunist]

No. Wait. Peter Shore?

peter shore doesn't really fit with any us politician imo

[You kip if you want to...]

I would've gone with Chuka as Obama, since the media will never put that comparison down.

[Phony Moderate]

I would've gone with Chuka as Obama, since the media will never put that comparison down.

Chuka was only 30 in 2008 though. Lammy is a few years older.

[defe07]

I think I'm not the only one here who's asking "Who's going to put a map of those elections?"

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

PV estimates:

1968 - Maudling - 48%, Callaghan - 34%, Powell - 18%
1972 - Maudling - 64%, Foot - 36%
1976 - Heath - 52%, Varley - 48%
1980 - Prior - 38%, Thatcher - 35%, Varley - 27%
1984 - Thatcher - 60%, Benn - 40%
1988 - Howe - 57%, Gould - 43%
1992 - Blair - 45%, Howe - 36%, Branson - 19%
1996 - Blair - 50%, Hurd - 35%, Branson - 15%
2000 - Brown - 49%, Hague - 48%, Tatchell - 3%
2004 - Hague - 51%, Straw - 49%
2008 - Clarke - 55%, Lammy - 45%
2012 - Cameron - 54%, Lammy - 46%

I think I'm not the only one here who's asking "Who's going to put a map of those elections?"

Here are my maps of these elections, based on Hank Schrader's PV estimates, and actual election data:
NOTE: The results are merely uniform primary vote swings from the actual results, in practice you might see Powell winning SC and TN in '68, for example.

1968

1972

1976

1980

1984

1988

1992

1996

2000

2004

2008

2012

[Phony Moderate]

Thanks for those Anton. I haven't viewed this thread in a while so I only just noticed that.

Might do a vice-versa version of this soon.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Thanks for those Anton. I haven't viewed this thread in a while so I only just noticed that.

Might do a vice-versa version of this soon.

No problem, would like to see the vice-versa version too!

[King of Kensington]

Tony Benn = Walter Mondale?