WI: 7/7 before 2005 election
- Thread starter Meadow
- Start date
People could buy in to Tony's Great Cause and he gets more seats, or blame him for bringing it upon our heads.
Either way he's sticking ID cards in the manifesto, and he's winning as per. He might retain a few more seats as people see him as a hard man willing to do hard things against this threat.
Thande
Donor
Hard to say, as Ingsoc says. Rally around the flag like the US in 2002, or punish the government like Spain in 2004 - either is possible.
The Tories might end up squeezed either way, come to think of it: option A boosts Labour, option B probably mostly boosts the Lib Dems as the anti-war standard bearers.
To some extent it might depend on how the government handles the aftermath. Blair's obviously the master of managing a crisis for a favourable media outcome, but every time he appears he leaves himself open to being accused of his foreign policy bringing it down on us.
There's also the point that reaction to the OTL 7/7 attacks was I think influenced by the fact that the second wave two weeks later failed, whether in terms of reassuring people because they failed or worrying them that it wasn't a one-off attempt.
The Tories might end up squeezed either way, come to think of it: option A boosts Labour, option B probably mostly boosts the Lib Dems as the anti-war standard bearers.
To some extent it might depend on how the government handles the aftermath. Blair's obviously the master of managing a crisis for a favourable media outcome, but every time he appears he leaves himself open to being accused of his foreign policy bringing it down on us.
There's also the point that reaction to the OTL 7/7 attacks was I think influenced by the fact that the second wave two weeks later failed, whether in terms of reassuring people because they failed or worrying them that it wasn't a one-off attempt.
Lost Freeway
Banned
Depending on the political outcome, conspiracy theories about the attacks may become stronger.
My impression was this reduced his popularity as he was blamed for it, so 2005 could end up a hung parliament, maybe like this:
Blair-Labour: 320 32.3%
Howard-Conservative: 226 33.4%
Kennedy-LibDem: 68 23.8%
Labour didn't want to discuss Iraq in 2005, it wanted the economy to be on the agenda but after a big terrorist attack foreign policy and Iraq will be even more visible. Of course it's possible Blair waits until 2006 but that might not go well for him either.
Of course this is the worst-case scenario for Labour, most likely it just gets over the line but it's possible Brown could come to power 1 year eralier if the anti-blair forces in the party are even stronger.
Blair-Labour: 320 32.3%
Howard-Conservative: 226 33.4%
Kennedy-LibDem: 68 23.8%
Labour didn't want to discuss Iraq in 2005, it wanted the economy to be on the agenda but after a big terrorist attack foreign policy and Iraq will be even more visible. Of course it's possible Blair waits until 2006 but that might not go well for him either.
Of course this is the worst-case scenario for Labour, most likely it just gets over the line but it's possible Brown could come to power 1 year eralier if the anti-blair forces in the party are even stronger.