The Iron Lady - 1981 General Election

[Lumine]

October 1981 - Thatcher aims to hang on

Prelude: Facing threats of revolt by the Tory left and in the middle of economic strife and high unemployment (but with signs of recovery), Margaret Thatcher has been forced to call an election to regain her mandate. Can she?

Labour Party: Deeply split after the election of Michael Foot as leader in December 1980, the Labour Party is fighting this election in a hardline left-wing manifesto that pledges the abolition of the House of Lords, immediate withdrawal from the EEC and NATO, unilateral nuclear disarmament, banking control, a minimum wage and a policy of massive spending increases to fight unemployment. While many inside the party oppose Foot's policies and fear electoral disaster, most believe the unpopularity of the Conservatives could give Labour a serious chance to win.

Conservative Party: Battered by two and a half years of government and hurt by the defection of some Wet MP's to the Alliance, Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives have nonetheless gone all out on the campaign trail to defeat Labour and the Alliance and retain power, Thatcher herself depending on a victory to survive. Despite high unemployment the Conservatives point out that industrial output is rising and inflation going down, promising to achieve a complete recovery through the next term. The Conservative manifesto promises continued support for NATO and the EEC, limited privatization of some services, trade union reform and a robust national defence.

SDP-Liberal Alliance: The new electoral coalition that has shaken British politics, the Liberal Party and the new Social Democratic Party (SDP) have joined forces as a radical centrist third-force, led by David Steel and Roy Jenkins. The Alliance is riding high in the polls after several high profile defections from Labour and the Tories, but the question remains on whether they can seize the moment. The Alliance manifesto stands for electoral and lords reform, a plan to lower unemployment by a million, increased welfare benefits, an industrial democracy act, significant devolution to Scotland and Wales, and a moderate stance on defence.

Two days.

[Intell]

Labour.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Thatcher obviously

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Alliance!

[Lumine]

Foot currently at 60%, which would mean more than 600 MP's for Labour.

[The Govanah Jake]

Labour

[MAINEiac4434]

#FEELTHEFOOT

[Lumine]

Fun fact: with the current margin, Ian Paisley (DUP) becomes the next leader of the Opposition (if we can call it an opposition).

[Intell]

Fun fact: with the current margin, Ian Paisley (DUP) becomes the next leader of the Opposition (if we can call it an opposition).

How are you going to explain this?

[Lumine]

Fun fact: with the current margin, Ian Paisley (DUP) becomes the next leader of the Opposition (if we can call it an opposition).

How are you going to explain this?

I'm... not sure. I had Cecil Parkinson and a botched situation in Northern Ireland in mind, but even with that...

[MAINEiac4434]

Fun fact: with the current margin, Ian Paisley (DUP) becomes the next leader of the Opposition (if we can call it an opposition).

How are you going to explain this?

Thatcher gets exposed for covering up pedophiles?

[Intell]

Fun fact: with the current margin, Ian Paisley (DUP) becomes the next leader of the Opposition (if we can call it an opposition).

How are you going to explain this?

Thatcher gets exposed for covering up pedophiles?

Thatcher says working class people are scum of the world?

[America Needs R'hllor]

Easily Alliance! I'd rather have Thatcher than leaving NATO.

[Lumine]

Current projection:

Labour: 588 (+319)
Alliance: 36 (+25)
Conservative: 4 (-335)

[Lechasseur]

Thatcher obviously

[President of the great nation of 🏳️‍⚧️]

Current projection:

Labour: 588 (+319)
Alliance: 36 (+25)
Conservative: 4 (-335)

Kim Campbell style.

[Mr. Smith]

Labour.

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

My mother is a business owner so probably Thatcher and the Conservatives. Sorry.

[IceAgeComing]

My mother is a business owner so probably Thatcher and the Conservatives. Sorry.

like i've said before; please change your avatar

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

My mother is a business owner so probably Thatcher and the Conservatives. Sorry.

like i've said before; please change your avatar

Because of one opinion I have I should be a Republican. Great logic there!

[IceAgeComing]

supporting thatcher suggests a lot about more than one opinion, pal

[Dr Oz Lost Party!]

supporting thatcher suggests a lot about more than one opinion, pal

It really doesn't, sorry bud.

[IceAgeComing]

if you support thatcher then you would have support reagan since both were identical

[Intell]

supporting thatcher suggests a lot about more than one opinion, pal

It really doesn't, sorry bud.

It really does, it means that you would support the most right-wing and reactionary british PM ever, which means you would support right-wing republican presidents, meaning you're probably a republican.

If you support thatcher, there's no fathomable reason why you'd oppose Trump anyway.

[heatcharger]

It really does, it means that you would support the most right-wing and reactionary british PM ever, which means you would support right-wing republican presidents, meaning you're probably a republican.

If you support thatcher, there's no fathomable reason why you'd oppose Trump anyway.

Didn't you, for an extended period of time, support Trump? I don't think you'd appreciate such deductive reasoning applied to you, would you?

I would've supported Alliance from the perspective of an American. Labour under Foot would not have represented the best interests of Americans (leaving the EEC and cancelling Trident come to mind), and I don't see why some people believe that a party in one country occupies the same ideological space as a party in another, even if they are the most analogous the way UK Labour and U.S. Democrats are.

What parties people support internationally isn't even particularly important, but people also have different values when it comes to the politics of countries not of their own.