TLIAPOD: A Deck of Strange Cards
- Thread starter DAv
- Start date
Ok. I was considering Darcus Howe, but he (like Trevor McDonald) was from Trinidad, not Jamaica.
I'm struggling to think who he could be now.
Is he famous for doing something IOTL?
EDIT: It isn't Eric Irons or Richard Hart, is it?
Good candidates, but no. This one's a bit closer to the last Labour Prime Minister in his OTL role.
Robert Marley
Labour Party
1978-1986
1978-1986
“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.”
If there is a word that can describe Robert Marley's political career and life in general, 'unconventional' would probably be best. Born in Jamaica to a white father and black mother, the ongoing conflict in Britain had led Marley's father to be recalled to Britain during the transition between the Churchill and Attlee governments and changing colonial policies with the latter looking to decolonise the Caribbean in the mid-term. With Britain getting aid from America promising potential wealth, Robert's mother emigrated to the country with Robert in tow, settling down in his father's native Sussex.
The hopes for a better life were to be met with disappointment however as the Marleys were met with poverty and prejudice in their new home. Robert Marley had to deal with the taunts of white and black children alike for his mixed heritage and he was once refused entry into a closed union shop because of his race. These actions only pushed him onwards however, Marley joining the Labour Party due to Herbert Morrison's youth recruitment and social views on race. He dedicated himself to political activism, spending up to eighteen hours a day either reading political works, campaigning or working within the Labour Party to better his standing.
Although lacking a formal university education, Marley's dedication and intelligence showed and he stood for a seat in a by-election in London that held a heavy immigrant population. Winning it handily in 1966, Marley was believed merely to be a a token nod to black people in Britain by the Labour Party leadership. Marley was determined to break out from this mould however and he became noticed for his outspoken beliefs and criticisms of the government. He first came into prominence for opposing Michael Jagger's run for leadership, even if Marley himself stayed out of the contest. He criticised him for being empty on policy, a point of view that was seen as prophetic after a few years time and Marley came into prominence for it.
As part of the youth movement that had taken Labour by storm, Marley realised that if he wanted to take the role of leader of the party after Jagger's failures, that meant he had to stand out and offer a concise vision that would propel him from a malcontent to a real contender. Working with other Labour members, he worked on a 'Three Little Points' set of policies, offering sweeping reforms and key areas to focus on. They would be major reform of National Service to make it less military focused, increased devolution for the UK for better governance and a major focus on social welfare reforms. All three proposals, while infuriating conservative members of society, held brought support in key demographics, especially in the face of the hardening of opinions in the Tory Party.
Adding to his credibility was the fact that Marley was the one to have brought down Jagger and when the leadership contest came, few were surprised when Marley won it, becoming the first black leader of a major British political party. His race was a major showing of how far Britain had come, despite its many issues still around the subject of race. It could perhaps in part be attributed to Nazi Germany showing the logical conclusion of racism undermining the ideology to a great degree, even if there were parts of the country which clinged to such ideals.
Even with this, Marley's election to Prime Minister could have been in doubt if it hadn't been for the string of disasters that made up Enoch Powell's Premiership. Many people voted for the Conservatives as opposed to Labour, Marley had to prove that he could earn those votes on his own merits. With his vision in place and a strong majority, Marley started with looking at the issue of Northern Ireland, issuing a public apology while withdrawing a great British forces from the area. Leaders from both Catholic and Protestant communities were invited to enter talks about Northern Ireland's future while the Republic of Ireland was also drawn in to negotiate. While not halting the violence completely, it was a fresh change that helped dampen tensions greatly, bringing the worst of the fighting to a close.
Next, Marley moved onto the issue of National Service, something which had become a long running issue among younger voters and even the military. The short service people had to do in the armed forces was increasingly seen as outdated in the face of modernisation and its focus on men only serving as combat troops. Even the Armed Forces themselves believed that changes had to be made as constantly taking on reluctant recruits was seen as something of a drag on efficiency and morale. The fact that Nazi Germany had sat and stewed on the continent for decades had greatly diminished its perception as a threat as well.
Although unwilling to go so far as to actually do away with National Service, Marley's government focused on its reforms, moving away from infantry training and adding more avenues into it. Medical and mechanical were the focuses of it, along with care work and a rather forward thinking MP even managing to get certain aspects of computer research added into it. The National Service Reform Bill opened up avenues into doing other things besides the military for serving the UK as a concept. While the concept of National Service was subject to behaviour and quotas with people still serving in the military, the opening up of it eased many pressures the army faced.
Devolution was a concept that had partly arisen out of opposition to Powell's centralisation efforts, as well as long standing histories within the countries of the UK. National identities had started to form while Britain watched them being squashed in Europe. Several looked back to their own heritages, hoping to use their own proud traditions to create something new. Marley's government started the move towards devolution, setting up Assemblies in Scotland and Wales that, although were mostly consultative at first, would lead to more independent governments throughout the United Kingdom.
While these reforms were greeted by many, Marley's social reforms were seen as something as a large disappointment. Here, Marley's normally left-wing stances came up against something else that marked him differently from others, his religious convictions and sometimes conservative stances on sex. Although not so willing as to roll reforms backwards, Marley did little to ease up strict laws on abortion, or invite women into high positions in his cabinet, citing his own religious convictions and belief of traditional roles.
Marley's use of religion provided something of an awakening to many people. While the Church of England worked as a cornerstone of the establishment, Marley refused to be pinned down when it came to exact followings, although he fulfilled his duties as Prime Minister in regards to the Church as well as could be expected. His charisma attracted many to his cause with his speeches on compassion and working with God towards a greater goal reigniting interest in religion for many, even if it wasn't the typical Church on Sunday kind. This religious devotion to a cause would lead to great trouble for Labour later on.
While willing to tackle other social issues, increasing the social security net and starting several committees to look into greener technology in the wake of the oil crisis of the mid-70's which had so impacted the economies of other nations, Marley remained conservative in other aspects of social policy, which was to mar his legacy somewhat. Domestic concerns were to be the major focus of Marley throughout his Premiership and his lasting legacy.
In foreign affairs, Marley's biggest concern would be undoing the damage of Powell as he looked to repair the alliance with the USA and USSR. His ethnicity was something of a problem for America, which was still going through its own racial issues and Marley found that he was unable to visit Washington for fear of further aggravating tensions. It wasn't until 1982 with the comprehensive passing of major Civil Rights legislation that Marley visited America and gave a speech before Congress. The Soviet Union, theoretically embracing racial equality of all kinds, welcomed Marley's election and the USSR and UK had a much stronger working relationship from the outset. This came at the same time as the withdrawal of forces from the Middle East as the situation had stabilised enough to allow the militaries of the various powers to pull back. This happened to give a much needed boost to the economy as the costs of occupation and the recovery of oil wells kept the money flowing.
When it came to Nazi Germany, Marley's election flummoxed them. While their propaganda continued to depicted him as lower than human due to his ethnicity, the necessity of Nazi Germany to communicate with the other powers meant that he still held an important place in their estimates. With an entire generation now having been raised on Nazi propaganda, even those high up in the government regarded as dealing with Marley as beneath them and his election marked a point where the SS and other groups thought that acting more brazenly against Britain was a strong possibility. Marley himself would often speak on Radio Free Europe, the Prime Minister talking to those who suffered under Nazi rule wasn't uncommon, but hearing the voice of a man whose ethnicity was considered as sub-human being in that role was. Many who heard him after a lifetime of Nazi propaganda admitted to feeling as if their world had been knocked away from them to a degree.
The decision by some factions within the Nazi leadership to try and work against British influence was deeply opposed by others, typically older members of the Heer who remembered what had happened the last time that they had tried pushing against British interests. Marley's election and presence proved to be a major catalyst towards the eventual collapse of the Third Reich. The reasons were all there, long-term economic decline, political instability between radicalising factions and a political system that had conflict built into it. Marley had no direct influence on the downfall of the Third Reich, but his Premiership proved to be one of several sparks to the kindling that made up the Nazi regime.
With his reforms in effect, Marley's first Ministry was widely regarded as the most successful since Lyttelton's. He won re-election rather handily and went on to work securing his reforms. His dedication to this task marked a darker motivation, his failing health. Marley suffered from cancer in the mid-70's, but managed to get it treated. The cancer had simply remained in remission though and had come back in 1983. Rather than retire, Marley became more determined than ever to continue his work, even has his health failed him. Treatments proved unable to fight the cancer as he quickly weakened throughout his second Ministry, physically ailing.
Despite that though, Marley fought on, laying the groundwork for the Solstice Agreement in Northern Ireland, which would lead to a peaceful power-sharing agreement between the communities. He would also watch as Nazi Germany finally erupted into Civil War, the trigger coming from an attempted coup by the SS in 1984. Heer generals were tipped off and they managed to escape, gathering their forces as they were to strike against the Nazi Party. Within weeks, Western and Central Europe fell into a bloody conflict as the factions in Germany were joined by nations struggling for independence.
Marley acted quickly, working with the USA and USSR to prevent the conflict from spreading out of Germany's borders. Pressure was placed on Italy to remain neutral, although the government there was struggling to control their own population as Europe itself seemed to be coming apart with revolutions. Long repressed hopes of freedom seemed to be within grasp as people rose up against the Fascists to claim their own destinies. After long debate between the Allies, Marley helped convince America to go along with the UK and USSR recognising the rebel movement in Spain as the official government, finally giving hope to people that they would be given help in their struggle.
While avoiding interfering directly with Germany itself for fear of nuclear weapons, the Allied powers managed to aid democratic forces in Spain enough to liberate the country and began to covertly funnel weapons towards French groups as well. Throughout this time, Marley was physically ailing as his cancer ate away at his body. Unwilling to step down at a crucial moment in history, it was almost as if Marley had slipped into denial about the full extent of his condition. With rumours swirling around him and even calls to step down coming from his own Party, Marley called for an election to strengthen his position.
Marley's attempt to show strength instead seemed to strike the electorate as irresponsibility and ego as he placed his own position above that of the nation at a time when it needed security more than ever. Marley lost, although it only gave the Conservative Party a slender majority to work with. Marley was resolved to carry on with his political career, but his health finally gave out and his passed away in early 1987, mourned by his many followers.
Robert Marley's legacy has been a hard one to judge for historians, although there are many positives. His successful defusing of the violence in Northern Ireland is perhaps on of his greatest impacts, helping build up the momentum needed for peace that his successors capitalised on. Several critics have pointed out that he ceded a lot of ground to Catholic and Republicans, although considering Powell's bloody legacy in Northern Ireland, it can be argued that it was needed simply to get them to agree to see peace through. He also restored a good deal of Britain's standing in the world, rejoining and strengthening the alliance with the US and USSR in time for the dissolution of the Nazi state.
Marley's actions also helped restore faith in Britain abroad, offering a new symbol of progress in the Commonwealth as he showed how far things had come that he could be elected Prime Minister. Along with this, he brought in sweeping reforms to National Service that rewrote how it was done to much acclaim and helped bring about further social reforms that helped the common person. In general, the 1980's under Marley are remembered as a time of rebuilding strength and optimism while the nation rallied in the face of the German Civil War.
That said, there were many questionable parts to Marley's Premiership that would have long lasting effects. His personal charisma and message brought many to him, as opposed to the Labour Party and he made many feel like he was turning it into his own political following as opposed to what it should have been. In this, his openness about his religious convictions further discomforted many. While a major politician speaking about how his beliefs brought him to his views seemed almost traditionalist, Marley directly linked his faith in God with his view point, often using language akin to a religious crusade that offered little in the way of compromise.
With this, a major faction in the Labour Party arose that mixed politics with religious beliefs, booking no compromise in the face of what they viewed was wrong. This faction would become entrenched into Labour, having dire consequences for the organisation's fortune later on. Similar damage would be done due to Marley's views on women, having an all male cabinet in such a time when women were making their voices heard more and more. As a result, the Conservative Party saw their support grow, as did the slowly regrowing Liberal Party as Marley's actions turned female voters away from Labour.
Marley's refusal to resign as his health failed him was also a mistake. Had he stood down when it became obvious his cancer was terminal, Britain could have taken a stronger stand along with the Allies, having a better suited leadership while Europe disintegrated into a bloody conflict. As it was, precious time was lost during the election to plan for any attempt to undermine the Fascist nations and it gave America and the Soviet a greater say in the future of Europe. By stepping down, Marley could have seen to it that less of the continent fell to Soviet interests.
While remaining popular to this day, seen as one of the more successful Prime Ministers of the 20th century, Marley's legacy at home and abroad remains mixed, although with a good deal of good to outdo the negative. A piece of satire displaying the more negative traits of Marley's personal image displayed an image with the caption 'God Complex'. The picture showed Jesus Christ claiming to be Robert Marley, a savage swipe at the Prime Minister's religious beliefs and own egotistical tendencies. Others tended to remember the other side of Marley, the young immigrant from Jamaica who overcame poverty to rise to power and changed the world, often for the better.
Interesting. I'll google Bob Marley to find out about the real life version. Great update.
Certainly had an interesting life as it was, well worth looking into. And glad you're enjoying it.
Not as such, I'm just terrible with names for timelines. I was going to go with a 'Muddled Deck' due to different people belonging to different careers show up, but didn't really give a clear idea of it since that could have just meant the deck was out of order.
Maybe you could do something similar to this for US Presidents and Soviet leaders for later TL's.
Doubtful. This one took long enough as it is and there hasn't been enough interest in this one to justify putting that much effort into continuing it.
He was, but he also remained quiet when it came to things like the National Front and other racists using him for their own ends. He wasn't friendly with the Nazis at all in this timeline, he just didn't want to get Britain involved in Europe.
"All that I will say is that in 1939 I voluntarily returned from Australia to this country to serve as a private soldier in the war against Germany and Nazism. I am the same man today... It does not follow that because a person resident in this country is not English that he does not enjoy equal treatment before the law and public authorities. I set my face like flint against discrimination."
"It's not impossible but it's difficult, for a non-white person to be British."
Did he fight against Nazism? Yes. Did he hold utterly repugnant views on race regardless of that? Yes. Is he a fascist or fascist sympathiser in this timeline? No.
Norman Tebbit
Conservative Party
1986-1988
1986-1988
“I'm a hawk—but no kamikaze.”
The Conservative Party was in disarray in the aftermath of Enoch Powell's time as Prime Minister. A messy leadership contest led to a weak leader and electoral defeat. With a popular leader like Marley at the helm of the government, the Conservative Party was torn between what path to follow. Only one man stepped forward and proved to have the steel needed to give a strong focus during the chaos on the continent at at home.
Norman Tebbit was a figure from the right of the Conservative Party. While this normally would have been a hard sell after Powell's Premiership. Tebbit was a strong candidate for leadership though, giving the Tory Party a stable platform while he made concessions in the face of Marley's popular reforms. Although not liking some parts of the National Service changes, he knew that he couldn't hope to roll them back without suffering backlash.
Tebbit was largely seen as a figure to help unite the party and offer it stability while building up for an election against Marley. Then, Marley's health began to fail and his stubborn refusal to step down damaged him enough to give the Tories a real chance of victory. When the election came, the victory was something of a surprise, but Tebbit refused to be caught unawares and soon made himself comfortable at Downing Street.
The major focus of Tebbit's Premiership was foreign as the Third Reich tore itself into pieces and the Allied Powers were cautious on how to move ahead. As Marley's body had failed and Britain's part stalled, the Soviet Union and USA agreed to launch intelligence opertations looking for all of Germany's nuclear weapons. The thought of the SS getting uncontrolled access on them was far too risky for the Allied powers to bare as the effects of the aforementioned weapons being used in Central Europe was becoming evident. Due to the brutality of the German Civil War, intelligence was poor enough in the Third Reich that locating each of the silos and the handful of submarines with nuclear capability was relatively easy.
With Germany destroying itself, its traditional sphere of influence was falling away from it, the Fascist governments struggling against the Allied supported rebellions against them. Despite this, neither side in the German Civil War trusted the other enough to stop the conflict, preferring to see Europe fall rather than let their rivals come out alive. Such disunity allowed the Allies to carry out the Peripheral Doctrine. Focusing on nations in turmoil outside of Germany's direct control, the Allies would support rebel movements to overthrow the Fascist states. They were also quite often co-opted by the Allied nations such as the Communist takeover of Greece in 1987.
Tebbit was eager for Britain to have a stake in this, although it became obvious that it was a junior partner compared to America and the Soviet Union. After its chaotic decade in the 70's, America had entered a new era where it was starting to step into other parts of the world. Tebbit soon attempted to have the US and UK as close partners as the ideological differences between America and the USSR began to intensify in the wake of their joint enemy collapsing.
Tebbit also made the step of sending British forces into Spain via Gibraltar to help prop up the new government there, able to get agreements to have American and British bases placed there in exchange for aid to help repair the damage. Out of all the nations of Western Europe though, Spain's conflict was the least painful. The Fascist government was overthrown swiftly while Portugal's quickly stepped aside, sensing which way the wind was blowing, having not gone through much in the way of upheaval. With their forces built up in Spain, the British, Free French and American militaries crossed over to France once they were sure that no German forces would respond. There, they found the true extent of Fascist rule as France was impoverished, stripped of its cultural and material wealth by Germany who had used its conquests to enrich the German elite at the expense of all other peoples.
The full horrors of Fascist rule soon became known to the public as Allied forces pressed on, the depleted forces before them sometimes fighting fanatically, but losing badly. By late 1988, Allied troops were on the verge of capturing Paris and the Soviet Union was looking to turn its armies towards Germany proper. While still wary to tackle Germany, it was felt that the nation had been weakened enough to finally take on the issue and bring an end to the hated regime once the nuclear issue could be sorted. The collapse of Italy to a revolution supported by the Allies only highlighted the weakness of the Fascist regimes.
Throughout this, Tebbit had focused on the war effort. The Allied intervention expanding onwards as he helped push for the advance into France. He was determined to bring an end to the Third Reich, but only after it was certain that the country's nuclear weapons were no longer a factor and the biological and chemical weapons had been depleted to almost be a non-factor. He offered strong leadership at a time of national crisis, but little in the way of comfort. Unlike Churchill, Tebbit wasn't a man able to rally the masses or endear personal popularity. He was respected, but he wasn't admired.
Tebbit's coldness and image of a hard man was seen further as he looked to roll back many of the social reforms of Marley's government, hoping to use the money saved from benefits to instead fund the military, as well as continuing with privatisation efforts. Successfully selling off the last rail lines to help fund the war effort, Tebbit looked to other industries as he hoped to sell off the remaining gas and electric holdings of the British government. His uncaring demeanour while doing this came under criticism as it came across that he cared more about feeding the war machine and establishing dominance over Europe than caring for the British people.
It was Tebbit's force of personality that also made him a target. In November of 1988, the Allied powers had a meeting in Tunisia to discuss the future of Europe as the Soviet Union was preparing for an assault on the Third Reich's eastern territories. It was at this meeting that German commandos struck, launching a mortar into the room where the heads of state were debating what shape Europe would be in. The explosion destroyed the room and killed three people, including the American Secretary of State, a secretary for the Soviet Foreign Minister and Norman Tebbit himself.
The attack shocked many who had assumed that the German Civil War had been the major focus of both factions. It soon became apparent that SS leaders believed that if the leaders of the Allies could be killed in one fell swoop, then they would retreat and allow Germany to dominate Europe once more. The misreading of the situation was the death knell of the Third Reich as it only galvanised the Allies and the Soviet Union began its invasion shortly afterwards while America and Britain started bombing Germany proper to help destroy what remained of Heer and SS forces.
Being the first Prime Minister to be assassinated since Spencer Perceval, Tebbit held a memorable place in British history as the timing of his death came on the cusp of victory in Europe. The question of what Tebbit would have done in the aftermath of Europe's liberation would remain a cause of speculation for years to come, as would his domestic agenda once given the opportunity to pursue it properly came. The image of Tebbit the war leader, hard and unflinching in the face of the destruction in Europe would become his enduring image. A hard man, although his supporters would simply call him 'strong'.
When it came to how Tebbit was perceived and remembered, a political cartoon summed up the thoughts of many of his political opponents as it depicted the Prime Minister deliberating on privatisation and what it would do to people. Depicted on his shoulders were a devil and another devil, each pushing him on to privatise as much as he could and ignore the ill effects. Tebbit was a man who cared little for how he was perceived by his political rivals and was happy to be seen as a strong leader, not caring how it could also be perceived as heartless.
For his legacy, Tebbit left a stronger Britain, one that was helping define the future of Europe as it kept it its traditional alliance with Free France. Having sold of several pieces of Britain's infrastructure had left the country with money enough to face the challenge before it, but whether or not this actually led to better service for people is a debate that still rages in pubs across the UK. Tebbit would leave a country that had to be strong and stronger still in the decades to come.
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