Weird relationships between party leaders

[Hnv1]

Well, I read a bit the bitter relationship of Brown and Blair and it made me wonder if there were more similar relationships with party leaders bickering for years in a toxic relationship. The US party structure and system doesn't really allow for that so that's more of a question for European countries.

In Israel we had Peres and Rabin who had a hard difficult relationship from the 70s till the mid 90s with consecutive leadership bids from both. Started in the mid 70s when Peres tried to topple Rabin's first government (and succeeded) followed by a toxic 1981 leadership battle, a 1984 rare joint effort to block Navon. afterwards came bickering and bad blood during the unity government years that culminated with the dirty trick of 1990 and Rabin pushing Peres out (and toppling all his aligned mayors with his own - how we got Mitzna). The last great leadership battle of 91 and the strained relationship until Rabin's assassination.

On a personal note this battle had a strong impact on my family with relatives taking sides and having a go at each other.

[RogueBeaver]

In Canada: Chretien-Martin, Turner-Chretien, Diefenbaker-Stanfield-Clark, Manning-Harper, Drew-Diefenbaker.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Clement Attlee and Herbert Morrison both ran for Labour leader in 1935 (as did Arthur Greenwood, but whatever), Attlee won and Morrison blamed a Masonic conspiracy (no, seriously, he actually did). Ten years later he tried to oust Attlee immediately after the 1945 landslide but no one else was having it. Attlee later deliberately delayed his retirement as leader until after the 1955 election in order to guarantee that Morrison had no chance of succeeding him.

[Famous Mortimer]

Jerry Brown had quite the animosity to Jimmy Carter, entering the race specifically as a "Stop Carter" candidate late in 1976 and then primarying him again in 1980. Obviously it was a bigger deal for Brown than for Carter though.

[Zioneer]

Don't Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard over in Australia absolutely despise each other?

[Barnes]

Don't Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard over in Australia absolutely despise each other?

Most certainly now. However, they were actually a bit of a politcal power duo in 2006 when they wrestled the leadership from Kim Beazley. Up until Gillard's toppling of Rudd in 2010, they were regarded as a highly successful team.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Obama and Hillary comes to mind.

[Vega]

Don't Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard over in Australia absolutely despise each other?

Most certainly now. However, they were actually a bit of a politcal power duo in 2006 when they wrestled the leadership from Kim Beazley. Up until Gillard's toppling of Rudd in 2010, they were regarded as a highly successful team.

I think there is a lot more animosity on Rudd's side, and understandably so. I would certainly hope that off camera Gillard is more reasonable than she in on.

Some of the drivel she spouts though about the conflict is just bizarre and slanderous towards Rudd; like saying he somehow manhandled her or whatever.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Zuma vs Mbeki was a marvellous character study of two intriguingly flawed individuals that still overshadows the ANC's internal politics and accomplishments.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Er... Vega... KRudd is well known to be an absolute c**nt in person. Like this is the opinion of basically everyone who has ever interacted with him to any degree who isn't a crony.

[Hnv1]

Jerry Brown had quite the animosity to Jimmy Carter, entering the race specifically as a "Stop Carter" candidate late in 1976 and then primarying him again in 1980. Obviously it was a bigger deal for Brown than for Carter though.

animosity is quite common in politics, I was looking more into longstanding relationships with sincere personal bitterness and rivalry. The US party system doesn't really enables two politicians to be strong within the party for a long period and contest one another.

[Barnes]

Er... Vega... KRudd is well known to be an absolute c**nt in person. Like this is the opinion of basically everyone who has ever interacted with him to any degree who isn't a crony.

Indeed.

[ingemann]

Peter Brixtofte and Anders Fogh Rasmussen had a pretty toxic relationship. To my knowledge Kristian Jensen (the deputy PM) and Lars Løkke Rasmussen (the PM) relationship is also quite ugly. You could also make a argument for Nyrup, Auken and Lykketoft, but while there was some bitterness between them, it was mostly one sided (Auken being bitter on Nyrup and Lykketoft, and Nyrup being bitter on Lykketoft).

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

I genuinely think Rudd had some kind of mental breakdown in power.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

The Swedish Social Democratic one has a few in recent times... Persson and Sahlin didn't get on that well, Persson even saying in an interview that thinking wasn't a personal strength of Sahlin. The relationship between Juholt and Sahlin is also bad. He was of course the number one guy responsible for toppling her, and she admitted that she was gleeful and filled with schadenfreude when the same thing happened to him.

  

[Phony Moderate]

I genuinely think Rudd had some kind of mental breakdown in power.

He was apparently also a cock during his days in Queensland state politics.

[Antonio the Sixth]

The feud between François Mitterrand and Michel Rocard was a defining feature of the French Socialist Party for over two decades. To the point that Mitterrand, as an old and terminally ill lame-duck President, still worked hard to ensure that the Rocard-led PS would crash and burn at the 1994 EP elections (ending Rocard's Presidential hopes for good). Jospin and Fabius also were bitter enemies throughout the 80s and 90s.

On the right, you had Giscard-Chirac (the latter contributing to the former's defeat in 1981), Chirac-Balladur (the two ran against each other in 1995), and more recently Villepin-Sarkozy (Sarkozy once said that he wanted Villepin to be "hung on a meat hook") and Copé-Fillon.

[Famous Mortimer]

Back to Israel, the Peretz/Shelly relationship is pretty weird.

[BaconBacon96]

From what I've read, Rudd was pretty much running the internal affairs of the government into the ground with the way he acted towards people and handled things, hence the sudden and urgent nature of his overthrow.

[Knives]

Rudd is despised by most in the Labor party.

[Barnes]

Harold Wilson and Geroge Brown had quite a tumultous relationship during the 1964-70 Labour government.