The Iron Lady - 1995 General Election

[MAINEiac4434]

I could see a New Labour-led Government in coalition with Eadical Labour, Democrats and Ecology emerging.

[Lumine]

A day left. So far it's either a Minority Conservative Government with supply and confidence from Reform and various Unionists, or a large "Rainbow Coalition" (which would require at least 5 to 6 parties to have a
majority).

Things may get even more crazy in the future.

[Lechasseur]

Democrats!
Also, I love how the marxist, hard left party is always guaranteed at least a big chance for victory even after almost breaking Britain with their policies, and the only way to stop them is completely splitting the left Glad Atlas isn't deciding elections IRL.

Yep. Atlas is very left-wing.

[Zioneer]

I've always wanted to make an "independent Deseret" alternate election, but the results I see in every alt-election here has made me not want to do it.

[Lumine]

I've always wanted to make an "independent Deseret" alternate election, but the results I see in every alt-election here has made me not want to do it.

With the gods as my witnessess, I shall find a way to make a TL where the results are actually different. This might not be the one, but I trust "The Iron Lady" still has quite a few interesting developments to emerge.

[Lumine]

Results so far:

CON: 247
RAD LAB: 204
NEW LAB: 107
DEM: 52
REFORM: 19
UUP: 11
ECOLOGY: 4
SDLP: 3
SNP: 2
PC: 2
DUP: 2
SF: 2

Have fun suggesting potential coalitions, but remember several parties dislike both Bernie Grant and Michael Caine.

[Kingpoleon]

Results so far:

CON: 247
RAD LAB: 204
NEW LAB: 107
DEM: 52
REFORM: 19
UUP: 11
ECOLOGY: 4
SDLP: 3
SNP: 2
PC: 2
DUP: 2
SF: 2

Have fun suggesting potential coalitions, but remember several parties dislike both Bernie Grant and Michael Caine.

CON/NEW LAB/DEM/UUP sounds fair enough. The anti-Caine three could also rely on SDLP, SNP, and parts of RAD LAB in cases where they can’t get the votes from the Conservatives.

[Dereich]

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

BERNIE GRANT AND THE LOONY LEFT EAT GRANNIES AND WILL SPEND ALL YOUR RATES ON BLACK LESBIAN THEATRE COMPANIES. VOTE FOR CAINE, NOT THE LOONY LEFT.

[Lumine]

1995 General Election:

May 1995 - Caine wins a fragmented election

Conservative Party: 27.2% (288 MP's)
Radical Labour Party: 20.8% (168 MP's)
New Labour: 15.2% (93 MP's)
Democrats: 13.0% (48 MP's)
Reform Party: 14.8% (36 MP's)
Ecology Party: 5.5% (4 MP's)
Scottish National Party: 0.8% (2)
Others: 2.7% (20 MP's)

The election had been called, and a short campaign ensued as the old and new political parties sracmbled to seize power.

Whilst the Ecology Party (hurt by the defection of its entire right wing) and the Scottish National Party (undermined by a lack of funds and support) soon proved to be non-factors in the election, the other five main parties all showed distinct strenght in the polls, leading many pundits to imagine an unworkable hung parliament as the most evident result. The old Labour remnants could count on significant support, but divided among two different parties and leaders who spent a great part of the campaign fighting each other as the true heirs to the defunct party. The Conservatives made significant gains, only to lose almost the same numbers to James Goldsmith's surging Reform Party. The Democrats, despite having had a serious shot at a first place, soon realized Beith was everything but an effective campaigner, botching the entire effort.

An interesting addition to this election was the introduction of debates at the suggestion of Michael Caine and Bernie Grant, leading to a heated exchange about the merits of the past five years and some memorable one liners. Particularly memorable was Caine's dismissal of Grant as a "Loony Bernie" and the comment from Goldsmith that Blair was a "wolf in sheep's clothing", which Grant countered by stating Blair was actually a "sheep in wolf's clothing". The debates had little effect beyond confirming the steady fall of the Democrats and Ecology and turning the election into an even more confused affair in the media, as the newspapers championed a particular party to the extent that headlines were more divided than ever.

One fact that the pundits did underestimate was the resillience of First Past the Post. On Election Night it became evident that even though the "six party system" was virtually incompatible to FPTP, a difference of a few points could still lead to disproportionate results for particular parties. The largest benefitiaries of this were the Conservatives, who reached 288 MP's on a mere 27% of the vote, and Grant's Radical Labour, who reached 168 on almost 21%. Blair and Goldsmith had some very respectable showings at around 15% each, although New Labour would boast almost as three times more MP's as Reform's vote was evenly spread. The Democrats under Beith crashed from their record of 26% all the way to 13%, returning only 48 MP's as their leader resigned that very night.

While the Parliament was indeed a divided one, it was clear a "Rainbow Coalition" would be an impossible affair. Blair would not stomach Bernie Grant as Prime Minister, and neither would the Armed Forces allow his appointment. On the other hand, during the next week the Conservatives held talks with Goldsmith and with the UUP, deciding to negotiate a "Supply and Confidence" deal of two years after a few policy concessions. The so called "transition to democracy" began with Michael Caine, actor turned politician, appointed as Prime Minister by King Charles III.