1968 - Maudling defeats Callaghan
1972 - Maudling defeats Foot. I doubt Foot would be the 'McGovern' here due to age and it would be more likely to be Tony Benn who would also get defeated.
1976 - Interesting choice; Varley was to the right of his party and Heath was to the left of his. He also tried to shut down the Chrysler factory. Can you imagine him doing that in the USA? it would be political suicide, Heath, who was personable, would defeat him easily.
1980 - If Thatcher were a man she'd win. Given how toxic Varley is (see above) then he'd be up against Heath Mark II in Jim Prior. It would be a three way race but Prior would win.
1984 - Thatcher wins. Even being a woman would count against her here.
1988 - No one likes Bryan Gould. Not even Labour liked Bryan Gould. Howe would win.
1992 - Branson? Cut from a very different cloth to Perot. If anyone stood as an independent that year in the Perot mould it would probably be James Goldsmith. Blair wins
1996 - Blair wins
2000 - Brown wins.
2004 - Hague wins. One of the very few scenarios in which he wins anything.
2008 - Clarke wins. Lammy seems to go out of his way to blunt his own career; he's a happy backbencher.
2012 - Tut, tut, picking Cameron as Romney's matchup. Chalk and Cheese
It would be someone more like Liam Fox. Anyway Cameron wins. This would be 'fresh' Cameron who back in 2005 everyone liked. Easy victory.
