Chapter 20.6
Right, time for a break from all of those countries. Before we return to our regularly-scheduled timeline, I thought it might be handy for a quick guide to British political parties. Especially given what is coming in the next update…
Anyway, on to said guide.
*
Of the various parties to the right of centre in the UK, by far the biggest is the Conservative Party, also called the Tories. Despite being the party of the established order, Tory ministries have seen several radical changes to British politics, such as expanding the franchise on two different occasions.
Despite originally being opposed to electoral reform, Irish Home Rule and making India a dominion, they have come to accept all three with (reasonable) good grace. There are such things as manners, after all. Since the PoD, eight of the fourteen men that have been prime minister (some more than once) have been Tories.
Unlike IOTL, there is no “and Unionist” in their name, as a much smaller contingent of Liberal Unionists defected to them compared to OTL.
The Tories are very much in the anti-EFSR camp, but they were too concerned about what might happen domestically to join the Entente. Instead, they concentrated on a policy of containment, to ensure that EFSR’s gains were kept to a minimum. They have instituted a policy of military expansion and modernisation, however, just in case war does break out.
Despite not being fond of coalitions, especially with parties not of like-mind, the Tories swallowed their pride and come to an accommodation with the Liberals to form the most recent government. Their leadership may be caricatured as being stuffed with tweed[1], but they are nothing if not practical.
*
The Tories’ brethren in Ireland have had to reinvent themselves to suit their new situation. Firstly forming an electoral pact with the Irish branch of the Liberal Unionists, they later merged with them to form the Irish Unionist Party. Still firmly Protestant, the membership is now far more Presbyterian than Church of Ireland, which has annoyed the last remnants of the old guard.
Even so, they have had to make numerous accommodations with the other Irish Parties, joining numerous (and rather mixed) coalitions in both the Home Rule and Ulster Assemblies. Their exclusion from the Irish government in 1930 prompted the considerable complaint from the Irish Unionists, but they were invited to join the one of 1935, after some grumbling.
However, they are not the only Protestant unionist party in town – the Orange Party are their main competition for votes, claiming to be more Protestant and more unionist.
*
Then there is the Democratic Party. Formed in 1916, not long after Home Rule was granted, they were one of the first parties to capitalise on the nascent feeling of “well, what do we do now then?” that was growing in Irish politics.
Not that dissimilar to the Conservative Party, they filled a centre-right niche for the Catholic majority that the (mostly Protestant) Tories couldn’t cater for. Since they first gained seats in all four of the Irish Regional Assemblies in 1919, they have been increasing in strength.
When the Conservatives need support for a vote, they are the first port of call…
*
The other significant party of the right is the National Party. Originally founded to support the interests of demobbed soldiers, they drifted further and further to the right, absorbing other groups as they went. Nowadays, their politics are just shy of outright Spartacism, though they would never admit to it. Despite this, they are firmly in favour of war with EFSR, and would like all socialist groups (especially communist ones) and trade unions banned.
When in rallies or on demonstrations, party members tend to wear grey shirts (hence their nickname), black ties and black pinstriped trousers (for men) or grey blouses, black berets, black thigh-length skirts and black stockings (for women). They like marching, and big banners with slogans (normally anti-socialist) on them.
They are supported by the *Daily Mail. Make of that what you will…
*
Now onto the centre. The biggest party in this part of the spectrum is the Liberal Party.
With Gladstone suffering from illness during the 1880s and 90s, and no-one who could adequately take his place, the Liberals were out of power until 1902. During this period, following much soul-searching, Joseph Chamberlain managed to reintegrate the fractured party under his leadership, though a few unreconstructed Liberal Unionists defected to the Tories, and those in Ireland formed the Unionist Party (see above). His premiership saw the establishment of electoral reform and Irish home rule, which has changed Britain forever.
Since 1910, all Liberal governments have been coalitions. Though they are more amenable to them than the Tories, they have various degrees of success depending on which parties have joined them.
Despite having reunified following their spat over Irish Home Rule, the party has split over whether to participate in European Wars. The latest round has led them to being a junior partner in a Tory-led coalition, which isn’t that popular amongst either set of backbenchers.
*
The other centrist party is the appropriately-named Centre Liberal Party. The Irish Liberals decided to spin off as their own party, in an attempt to rebrand, and gain support amongst Catholic voters. So far they have been successful, forming several coalitions in Irish Home Rule and Regional Assemblies. The former Home Rule League has since disbanded, with most of its membership joining the Centre Liberals.
*
Of the many left-wing parties in Westminster, the *Labour Party is by far the most popular. They have grown up quite a bit from the early days when they were the Liberal Party’s little buddy(TM).
Unlike IOTL, the mainstream left-wing movements haven’t coalesced into one big party, with multiple factions. Instead there are several – imagine if you will the major factions of the OTL Labour Party as their own parties. The combination of butterflies, more multi-member constituencies following the 1885 reorganisation, electoral reform and a generally more divided left has led to the small parties gaining a lot of support very quickly, and diverging too much to form an orderly merger.
ITTL, Labour is more or less equivalent to the OTL Labour right. The leadership is predominately of the intellectual, technocratic, pipe-smoking, tax-the-rich Robin Hood redistributive, armchair socialist variety; the rank and file are somewhat leftier, and generally of the syndicalist persuasion. They would like to nationalise public transport, utilities and heavy industry, and to have strong trade unions. They are also supportive of a strong welfare state, in as much as it acts as a safety net, and (more recently) a national healthcare system that provides for all. They are, however, not opposed to necessary reforms to industrial practices (emphasis on the necessary).
Labour is supported by the bigger and more conciliatory trade unions (i.e. those who respect the whole mandatory conciliation business, due to Labour’s insistence on the earlier than OTL establishment of industrial tribunals).
Despite being on the left, Labour doesn’t like EFSR one bit, no matter what right-wing propaganda says. At least their leadership doesn’t. Ok, most of the leadership. Anyway, this is something of a hot potato, can we talk about something else now…
More recently, though, Labour has gotten firmly into bed with the ILP (more on them later), and is drifting to the left. Whether this will be successful is yet to be seen.
*
The Labour Unionists are no longer little more than the Irish branch of the Labour Party. Like the Irish Liberals, they are in the process of adapting to the reality of Home Rule, and have even stopped campaigning as a separate party in Irish elections. Instead, they stand on a joint-platform to Irish Labour as the Labour Party of Ireland
*
Much like the Democratic Party and the Tories, Irish Labour is very similar in its politics to the British Labour Party, but with more support amongst the Catholic community.
They have drained support from the left of Irish Parliamentary Party and the Home Rule League, and have formed or joined multiple coalitions in Irish Home Rule and Regional assemblies.
*
The Social Democratic Federation is the second biggest, though it wasn’t always. Electoral reform has been good to the smaller socialist parties, particularly to the SDF. More recently, their strength has ballooned, partially at the expense of the Liberals, who compete with them for second and third preferences.
Having been in government with the Liberals in the 1920s, they found much common cause with the left wing of the Liberal Party, and were generally better behaved than Labour’s backbenchers were. Though they don’t take the Liberal whip, they generally vote in the same way on most issues.
As their name suggests, the Social Democrats are of the social democratic variety of socialism. They gain their support from the quieter unions and from individual donations.
*
The Cooperative Party, the political arm of the cooperative movement, is fairly popular, especially in the south and east of England. They can go toe to toe with Labour in terms of seats gained in those regions; many of these are in the traditionally conservative Home Counties.
They generally gain support from the second or third preferences of Liberal or Tory voters, who are put off Labour, but find the modest socialism of the Cooperative Party easier to swallow.
*
Last, but by no means quietest, is the Independent Labour Party. This is the equivalent to the OTL Labour left and Militant Tendency, and would greet the likes of Tony Benn and Bob Crow with open arms. They want to nationalise practically everything that moves, and everything that doesn’t, price controls to keep things affordable for the common man, and a very strong trade union movement.
They are mostly syndicalist, with a few borderline communists, anarcho-syndicalists and what would be called Trotskyists IOTL. There are also more than a few actual communists in the party – not all Marxists in Britain support EFSR, and they would rather have Britain be the core of a Commonwealth/Anglosphere-wide democratic socialist federation.
They are supported by the middle-ranking trade unions, especially the more truculent ones (i.e. the ones who would rather strike than even consider mediation), and a smattering of hard left organisations who don’t dance to Berlin’s tune.
*
Then there are the actual, dyed-in-the-wool Marxists, the Socialist Action Party. Their support has gone up and down over the past few elections, but they have yet to drop below a dozen seats.
Naturally, they support EFSR and oppose imperialist capitalism and colonialism. Some even support Britain joining EFSR outright, in order to form a worldwide socialist federation.
They are supported by the most hardline trade unionists, filled with fellow Marxists, and (not entirely covertly) by funds from EFSR.
*
The last two parties don’t readily fall into any particular part of the political spectrum.
Firstly, the Irish Parliamentary Party, once the big beast of Irish politics, propping up successive Liberal governments, has had the wind taken out of its sails. The very thing that it had campaigned for – Home Rule – has actually resulted in its support dropping bit by bit over the years. Their fellow pro-Home Rule party, the Home Rule League, has disbanded itself, largely merging with the Centre Liberals. Once they led coalitions in the Assemblies; now they are lucky to be third fiddle…
Partially, this is because they didn’t have any definite aims beyond securing home rule. Other parties have either entered into the newly fertile political ground, like the Democratic Party, or the defunct Land Reform Party, or have adapted themselves, like the Liberals and Labour. As times change, the Irish Parliamentary Party has found themselves without a purpose.
*
The Paírtí Éirean, on the other hand, has adapted to the new reality, sweeping up most of the mainstream of Irish Nationalism. They want an independent Ireland as a dominion, to be Great Britain’s friend, ally, trading partner and, above all, equal, not joined at the hip. They are happy to be politically aligned with Britain, as a member of the Commonwealth and the anti-EFSR contingent in the League of Nations. (Basically, think more SNP than Sinn Fein.)
There are republicans amongst the party, but they are a distinct minority. Most of the republican nationalists are either members of the Irish Republican Party – which have no seats in Westminster, and are declining in Ireland proper – or the hard-left pro-EFSR Gaelic Worker’s Party. Indeed, the latter is in danger of absorbing the entirety of republican sentiment in Ireland…
--
[1] And have awesome facial hair, but that’s beside the point.
Right, time for a break from all of those countries. Before we return to our regularly-scheduled timeline, I thought it might be handy for a quick guide to British political parties. Especially given what is coming in the next update…
Anyway, on to said guide.
*
Of the various parties to the right of centre in the UK, by far the biggest is the Conservative Party, also called the Tories. Despite being the party of the established order, Tory ministries have seen several radical changes to British politics, such as expanding the franchise on two different occasions.
Despite originally being opposed to electoral reform, Irish Home Rule and making India a dominion, they have come to accept all three with (reasonable) good grace. There are such things as manners, after all. Since the PoD, eight of the fourteen men that have been prime minister (some more than once) have been Tories.
Unlike IOTL, there is no “and Unionist” in their name, as a much smaller contingent of Liberal Unionists defected to them compared to OTL.
The Tories are very much in the anti-EFSR camp, but they were too concerned about what might happen domestically to join the Entente. Instead, they concentrated on a policy of containment, to ensure that EFSR’s gains were kept to a minimum. They have instituted a policy of military expansion and modernisation, however, just in case war does break out.
Despite not being fond of coalitions, especially with parties not of like-mind, the Tories swallowed their pride and come to an accommodation with the Liberals to form the most recent government. Their leadership may be caricatured as being stuffed with tweed[1], but they are nothing if not practical.
*
The Tories’ brethren in Ireland have had to reinvent themselves to suit their new situation. Firstly forming an electoral pact with the Irish branch of the Liberal Unionists, they later merged with them to form the Irish Unionist Party. Still firmly Protestant, the membership is now far more Presbyterian than Church of Ireland, which has annoyed the last remnants of the old guard.
Even so, they have had to make numerous accommodations with the other Irish Parties, joining numerous (and rather mixed) coalitions in both the Home Rule and Ulster Assemblies. Their exclusion from the Irish government in 1930 prompted the considerable complaint from the Irish Unionists, but they were invited to join the one of 1935, after some grumbling.
However, they are not the only Protestant unionist party in town – the Orange Party are their main competition for votes, claiming to be more Protestant and more unionist.
*
Then there is the Democratic Party. Formed in 1916, not long after Home Rule was granted, they were one of the first parties to capitalise on the nascent feeling of “well, what do we do now then?” that was growing in Irish politics.
Not that dissimilar to the Conservative Party, they filled a centre-right niche for the Catholic majority that the (mostly Protestant) Tories couldn’t cater for. Since they first gained seats in all four of the Irish Regional Assemblies in 1919, they have been increasing in strength.
When the Conservatives need support for a vote, they are the first port of call…
*
The other significant party of the right is the National Party. Originally founded to support the interests of demobbed soldiers, they drifted further and further to the right, absorbing other groups as they went. Nowadays, their politics are just shy of outright Spartacism, though they would never admit to it. Despite this, they are firmly in favour of war with EFSR, and would like all socialist groups (especially communist ones) and trade unions banned.
When in rallies or on demonstrations, party members tend to wear grey shirts (hence their nickname), black ties and black pinstriped trousers (for men) or grey blouses, black berets, black thigh-length skirts and black stockings (for women). They like marching, and big banners with slogans (normally anti-socialist) on them.
They are supported by the *Daily Mail. Make of that what you will…
*
Now onto the centre. The biggest party in this part of the spectrum is the Liberal Party.
With Gladstone suffering from illness during the 1880s and 90s, and no-one who could adequately take his place, the Liberals were out of power until 1902. During this period, following much soul-searching, Joseph Chamberlain managed to reintegrate the fractured party under his leadership, though a few unreconstructed Liberal Unionists defected to the Tories, and those in Ireland formed the Unionist Party (see above). His premiership saw the establishment of electoral reform and Irish home rule, which has changed Britain forever.
Since 1910, all Liberal governments have been coalitions. Though they are more amenable to them than the Tories, they have various degrees of success depending on which parties have joined them.
Despite having reunified following their spat over Irish Home Rule, the party has split over whether to participate in European Wars. The latest round has led them to being a junior partner in a Tory-led coalition, which isn’t that popular amongst either set of backbenchers.
*
The other centrist party is the appropriately-named Centre Liberal Party. The Irish Liberals decided to spin off as their own party, in an attempt to rebrand, and gain support amongst Catholic voters. So far they have been successful, forming several coalitions in Irish Home Rule and Regional Assemblies. The former Home Rule League has since disbanded, with most of its membership joining the Centre Liberals.
*
Of the many left-wing parties in Westminster, the *Labour Party is by far the most popular. They have grown up quite a bit from the early days when they were the Liberal Party’s little buddy(TM).
Unlike IOTL, the mainstream left-wing movements haven’t coalesced into one big party, with multiple factions. Instead there are several – imagine if you will the major factions of the OTL Labour Party as their own parties. The combination of butterflies, more multi-member constituencies following the 1885 reorganisation, electoral reform and a generally more divided left has led to the small parties gaining a lot of support very quickly, and diverging too much to form an orderly merger.
ITTL, Labour is more or less equivalent to the OTL Labour right. The leadership is predominately of the intellectual, technocratic, pipe-smoking, tax-the-rich Robin Hood redistributive, armchair socialist variety; the rank and file are somewhat leftier, and generally of the syndicalist persuasion. They would like to nationalise public transport, utilities and heavy industry, and to have strong trade unions. They are also supportive of a strong welfare state, in as much as it acts as a safety net, and (more recently) a national healthcare system that provides for all. They are, however, not opposed to necessary reforms to industrial practices (emphasis on the necessary).
Labour is supported by the bigger and more conciliatory trade unions (i.e. those who respect the whole mandatory conciliation business, due to Labour’s insistence on the earlier than OTL establishment of industrial tribunals).
Despite being on the left, Labour doesn’t like EFSR one bit, no matter what right-wing propaganda says. At least their leadership doesn’t. Ok, most of the leadership. Anyway, this is something of a hot potato, can we talk about something else now…
More recently, though, Labour has gotten firmly into bed with the ILP (more on them later), and is drifting to the left. Whether this will be successful is yet to be seen.
*
The Labour Unionists are no longer little more than the Irish branch of the Labour Party. Like the Irish Liberals, they are in the process of adapting to the reality of Home Rule, and have even stopped campaigning as a separate party in Irish elections. Instead, they stand on a joint-platform to Irish Labour as the Labour Party of Ireland
*
Much like the Democratic Party and the Tories, Irish Labour is very similar in its politics to the British Labour Party, but with more support amongst the Catholic community.
They have drained support from the left of Irish Parliamentary Party and the Home Rule League, and have formed or joined multiple coalitions in Irish Home Rule and Regional assemblies.
*
The Social Democratic Federation is the second biggest, though it wasn’t always. Electoral reform has been good to the smaller socialist parties, particularly to the SDF. More recently, their strength has ballooned, partially at the expense of the Liberals, who compete with them for second and third preferences.
Having been in government with the Liberals in the 1920s, they found much common cause with the left wing of the Liberal Party, and were generally better behaved than Labour’s backbenchers were. Though they don’t take the Liberal whip, they generally vote in the same way on most issues.
As their name suggests, the Social Democrats are of the social democratic variety of socialism. They gain their support from the quieter unions and from individual donations.
*
The Cooperative Party, the political arm of the cooperative movement, is fairly popular, especially in the south and east of England. They can go toe to toe with Labour in terms of seats gained in those regions; many of these are in the traditionally conservative Home Counties.
They generally gain support from the second or third preferences of Liberal or Tory voters, who are put off Labour, but find the modest socialism of the Cooperative Party easier to swallow.
*
Last, but by no means quietest, is the Independent Labour Party. This is the equivalent to the OTL Labour left and Militant Tendency, and would greet the likes of Tony Benn and Bob Crow with open arms. They want to nationalise practically everything that moves, and everything that doesn’t, price controls to keep things affordable for the common man, and a very strong trade union movement.
They are mostly syndicalist, with a few borderline communists, anarcho-syndicalists and what would be called Trotskyists IOTL. There are also more than a few actual communists in the party – not all Marxists in Britain support EFSR, and they would rather have Britain be the core of a Commonwealth/Anglosphere-wide democratic socialist federation.
They are supported by the middle-ranking trade unions, especially the more truculent ones (i.e. the ones who would rather strike than even consider mediation), and a smattering of hard left organisations who don’t dance to Berlin’s tune.
*
Then there are the actual, dyed-in-the-wool Marxists, the Socialist Action Party. Their support has gone up and down over the past few elections, but they have yet to drop below a dozen seats.
Naturally, they support EFSR and oppose imperialist capitalism and colonialism. Some even support Britain joining EFSR outright, in order to form a worldwide socialist federation.
They are supported by the most hardline trade unionists, filled with fellow Marxists, and (not entirely covertly) by funds from EFSR.
*
The last two parties don’t readily fall into any particular part of the political spectrum.
Firstly, the Irish Parliamentary Party, once the big beast of Irish politics, propping up successive Liberal governments, has had the wind taken out of its sails. The very thing that it had campaigned for – Home Rule – has actually resulted in its support dropping bit by bit over the years. Their fellow pro-Home Rule party, the Home Rule League, has disbanded itself, largely merging with the Centre Liberals. Once they led coalitions in the Assemblies; now they are lucky to be third fiddle…
Partially, this is because they didn’t have any definite aims beyond securing home rule. Other parties have either entered into the newly fertile political ground, like the Democratic Party, or the defunct Land Reform Party, or have adapted themselves, like the Liberals and Labour. As times change, the Irish Parliamentary Party has found themselves without a purpose.
*
The Paírtí Éirean, on the other hand, has adapted to the new reality, sweeping up most of the mainstream of Irish Nationalism. They want an independent Ireland as a dominion, to be Great Britain’s friend, ally, trading partner and, above all, equal, not joined at the hip. They are happy to be politically aligned with Britain, as a member of the Commonwealth and the anti-EFSR contingent in the League of Nations. (Basically, think more SNP than Sinn Fein.)
There are republicans amongst the party, but they are a distinct minority. Most of the republican nationalists are either members of the Irish Republican Party – which have no seats in Westminster, and are declining in Ireland proper – or the hard-left pro-EFSR Gaelic Worker’s Party. Indeed, the latter is in danger of absorbing the entirety of republican sentiment in Ireland…
--
[1] And have awesome facial hair, but that’s beside the point.