Back in 2004, Duncan Brack and I published a book of political counterfactuals called PRIME MINISTER PORTILLO & OTHER THINGS THAT NEVER HAPPENED. A couple of years later, Duncan edited a follow up called PRESIDENT GORE & OTHER THINGS THAT NEVER HAPPENED.You can read the chapter I wrote for the book on Portillo HERE.
I am delighted to tell you that we're now going to publish a third volume, timed for publication in September 2011. However, we want your help in two ways.
Firstly, we are having difficulty thinking of a good title for the next book. Whatever the title it obviously needs to relate to a chapter. I'd like to call it PM Miliband etc, but that doesn't really work for obvious reasons.
Secondly, can you think of some modern day political counterfactuals you'd like to see us include in the book? You may even want to volunteer to write one!
Please email me if you have ideas or are interested in writing.
35 comments:
What about "Gordon Brown wins an election"
Prime Minister Widdecombe- The dancing years!
What would have happened if those that formed UKIP instead had formed a Tea Party like insurgency inside the Tory Party?
Brown's Second Term (relating to the snap election that didn't happen...)
Political Counterfactual:
MP puts country before self-interest
The End Of Boom and Bust & Other Things Thats Didn't Happen
"Gordon Brown scrapes a majority"
How about "The Lib Dem surge"?
How about "The EU Referendums & other things that never happened"
or should it be referendi ?
;)
Gordon Sweeps To Victory? They Begged Tony To Stay? (now that second one I could write!)
I wonder what would have happened if Ken Clarke had somehow won the Tory leadership contest in 2001. I presume he would have led the Conservative party against the Iraq war (which he voted against), and probably raked it in at the ballot box in 2005/6 - though it wasn't the definitive issue in 2005 the Lib Dem surge showed it could have been the perfect catalyst to a Tory victory. What else would have happened as a consequence? Would there have been a Tory split on the war? Might Tony Blair have resigned earlier than he did, or would he have stayed the course to a 2006 election? Would Gordon Brown have subsequently been leader of the opposition, or might he have achieved the unthinkable and actually won a general election? Or indeed - what if Iain Duncan Smith had led the Conservative party to oppose the war from the outset? Perhaps these questions have been explored in one of the existing books...
"The Lib-Lab Coalition", or "Brown's Second Term".
The end to Boom and Bust and the economic miracle that did not happen
or
The end to Boom and Bust and other political illusions
The end to boom and bust and other economic miracles
or
The end to boom and bust and other political illusions
EU President Blair and other things that didn't happen (phew!)
"Britain in Meltdown - how Labour failed the nation."
Oh sorry this already happened.
But seriously counterfactuals are generally some of the most thought provoking historical articles...
Britain's first coalition.
The Clegg and Milliband story.
BTW. If David Milliband had possessed the sack or the judgement (or lack of it for that matter) to go full square for regicide, there is no reason to think he would not be in number 10, in coalition at least.
David Davis was a decent speech from being PM.
Interesting ones:
- Blair mans up and fires Brown
- Blair does a Wilson and says 'no' to George Bush
- Blair takes Britain into Euro
- Howard launches snap leadership election which David Davis wins
- Brown calls the election that never was in 2007
"Double-dip Recession and ..."
"Saddam Hussein's WMDs and ..."
"Politicians' Contrition and ..."
"Beckham or Rooney or Ferdinand's (etc.) World Cup Glory and ..."
"Blair's War Crimes Trial and ..."
(although one can still wish)
How about.... "Brown didnt bottle it... (in October 2007) and Other Things That Never Happened "
Wow Blair takes us in theEuro,thats great, all i'd ever thought of was.
Gaitskell lives, Scargill etc never infultrate the Party, but resigns as P.M over affair with Mrs Fleming,
Barbara Castle gets through n place of strife,
The GLC is not abolished Livingstone fights the 85' GLC election and loses.
Hatton isn't explelled..
and It may e a bit in bad taste,but Norman scotts dog doesn't get shot and Jeremy thorpe trial doresn't happen,
Had Bobby Kennedy stood for president would he have won too, would have been intersting
'England, World Cup winners 2014'
Dear Michael Heaver - Gordon Brown would still be Prime Minister.
Tony Blair suddenly sees the light and converts to Buddhism. He buys Brownie points for the afterlife by selling off all his possessions and giving the proceeds to an international fund (which Cherie cannot touch) for the reconstruction of Iraq.
There are some interesting sub plots here. I would quite like to write it!
Deputy Prime Minister Clegg: and other things Foggy and Compo thought would never happen.
Britain's first post-war coalition government was formed in 1987 when Roy Jenkins led the SDP / Liberal alliance to No 10.
Alternatively, the Gang of Four never split from Labour, the Liberals continued their steady drift into obscurity, and in 2005 the Conservative leadership election was won by a bright young reformer called Nick Clegg.
Hilary Clinton wins the presidential nomination
Chris Huhne wins the Liberal Democrat leadership election
David Davis wins the Conservative leadership election
If there was a Labour leadership election...
If Lord Hutton had found against the Government
What if Enoch Powell had not left the Conservative Party in 1974 but instead remained on the backbenches to contest and win the 1975 Conservative leadership election? What would Powell's government be like after he wins the next election?
What if Thatcher beat Heseltine in the leadership election? Would she have won the 1992 election?
What if Labour had won the 1992 election?
What if John Smith had fought the 1997 election?
Prime Minister Brown and Other Things That Shouldn't Have Happened.
"Alan Milburn forces Brown to quit"?
President Blair did not happen. He lost out to an unknown Belgian who is still unknown.
There's a rather good counterfactual on the net about a Wilson victory in 1970 and a subsequent Powell Prime Ministership
http://www.btinternet.com/~chief.gnome/
How Gordon Brown Saved the World and Other Things That Never Happened.
President Perot
The nuclear power programme in Major's 3rd Parliament
Thatcher's 4th term
Norman tebbit the best Prime minister we ever had
1960s - The Age of Radiation Hormesis
"Mars by 1965, Saturn by 1970"
Slobodan Milosevic crowns career by being appointed European Foreign minister
Britain & Ireland - 20 years of Europe's tiger economies
"Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines and build more nuclear plants"
An example from Scotland http://a-place-to-stand.blogspot.com/2006/12/scotlands-future-from-2020.html
I think the most important one of recent times you need to focus on is what would have happened if David Milliband had resigned with James Purnell?
The obvious place to start is close elections:
Huhne beats Clegg for LD Leader
President Segolene Royal
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