UK General Election 2019 (Backstory, Rules, & Sign Up)

Backstory:
2012 - 2019

List of British Prime Ministers
Gordon Brown (Labour Majority), June 2007 - May 2010
Gordron Brown (Labour-Liberal Democrat Coalition), May 2010 - October 2011
John McDonnell (Labour Minority), October 2011 - February 2012
Theresa May (Conservative-UKIP-SNP-DUP-UUP Coalition), February 2012 - May 2014
Theresa May (Conservative-UKIP-DUP Coalition), May 2014 - June 2016
Andrea Leadson (Conservative-UKIP-DUP Coalition), June 2016 - July 2019

The election of 2010 threw British politics for a loop. Thanks to a massive show of force by the Liberal Democrats, a compromise was extracted from Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown in order to form a Government: the introduction of a proportional party-list system for British elections. This was first put to the test in 2012 and produced a haphazard election that few could invision working. Theresa May’s Conservatives cobbled together a coalition with a two-vote majority.

The conflicting agendas came to a head in March of 2014, when the Government put forward a bill to call a referendum on the UK’s membership in the European Union. Newly-elected SNP Leader Angus Robertson tabled an amendment to include a referendum on whether or not Scotland would remain in the United Kingdom on Scottish ballots at the same time as the European Union referendum. The Government whip was to vote against the Robertson Amendment. When all 10 SNP MPs voted for the Amendment, Mrs. May had no choice but to force them out of the Coalition, seemingly bringing down her Government, despite the Referendum Bill passing 317-311.

Mrs. May vowed to fight on in a new General Election, held in the early summer of 2014. She faced Ed Miliband-led Labour, Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats, Nigel Farage (who led a successful campaign to regain control of UKIP after the election of 2012) and UKIP, and, for the first time, the Democratic Unionist Party standing in England and Wales. The campaign, the second fought under the proportional voting system, refined the style in Britain. The parties now understood how to fight a proportional election and what to expect when the results were declared.

Mrs. May fought back against many of the stereotypes put up against her and came across as commanding, confident, and bold. She increased the Conservatives seat total to 276 (+17 from 2012), while UKIP ended up with 51 seats (+2) and the DUP with 12 (+5), giving Mrs. May a strong Government with 339 seats. The Opposition, led by Mr. Clegg, was made up of 168 Liberal Democrats (-9), 101 Labour MPs (-19), 20 SNP (+10), 10 Greens (-2), 5 Plaid (+/-0), and 3 SDLP (+/- 0). Only 4 Sinn Fein MP was elected in a shocking blow to the Irish nationalist movement.

With Labour in a tail-spin for the second election in a row under the new style, Mr. Miliband resigned, opening up a civil war for the Labour Party. The leadership race was a brawl between two camps - the centrist Blairites, supporting Andy Burnham, and the radical supporters of former Chancellor Jeremy Corbyn, supporting Diane Abbott. While Mr. Burnham and Ms. Abbott kept their discourse civil, their supporters did not. The comments made online about each candidate led BBC presenter David Dimbelby to call it “the nastiest thing I’ve ever seen.” On the postal vote, Abbott barely eked ahead of Mr. Burnham, 52% to 48%.

As Labour swung far left, Mrs. May did her best to bring the Conservatives to the centre. She shunned hard-liners like Liam Fox and Michael Fallon from her second government and did her best to keep Nigel Farage’s UKIP at arms’ length. This nearly tore her second government apart when the time of the EU referendum came to pass. Mr. Farage, serving as Secretary of State for International Trade, demanded that the Cabinet, in the spirit of collective responsibility, all campaign to leave the European Union. Mrs. May balked, instead arguing that the Cabinet should sit the election out and only promote the importance of the vote, rather than pushing a specific agenda. After several tense meetings between Mrs. May, Mr. Farage, and Arlene Foster, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Cabinet agreed that each minister could campaign for any position they chose as long as they did not speak negatively about any other member of the Government in a personal manner.

Mr. Farage and Mrs. Foster campaigned strongly for the Leave campaign, as did Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, just returned as an MP for London in the 2014 election. The trio, joined by Labour’s Gisela Stuart, were the public face of the referendum’s Leave campaign. The Remain campaign was fronted by Mr. Clegg, as the Liberal Democrats were the only party to formally and officially declare that their position was to Remain in the European Union. Mrs. Abbott did not allow Labour to take a definite position, sometimes speaking in favor of leaving and sometimes speaking in favor of remaining, out of fear of further alienating the voting base after two bad elections. Mrs. May and the Tories took a formal position of neutrality, allowing individual MPs to campaign as they saw fit. Mrs. May did not campaign until the final days, and then did so only half-heartedly, to Remain.

On election night, the results were 53% to Leave, largely concentrated in the Midlands, the Northeast of England, and Yorkshire, to 47% to Remain, fueled by turnout in London, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Mrs. May, shocked by the results, resigned the day after the election. The Conservative election to replace her was less divided than the Labour election to replace Mr. Miliband, but did go to a postal vote for the first time.

Andrea Leadsom, who had served as Mrs. May’s Home Secretary since 2014, emerged as the clear favorite of the Parliamentary Party and won 54% of their support on the final Parliamentary ballot. Mr. Fox, the Foreign Secretary from 2012 to 2014, was her opponent after capturing 31% of the Parliamentary Party’s support. The campaign between Mrs. Leadsom and Mr. Fox was cordial and polite, with both making the pitch on how they could secure the best deal for Britain with the European Union. Both of the candidates campaigned for Leave, meaning that regardless of who won the race, a Brexiteer would be in command. Mrs. Leadsom ended up winning with 58% of the postal vote. For the first time, a female Prime Minister had handed Number 10 over to another female Prime Minister.

Mrs. Abbott and Mr. Clegg were also forced out over Brexit, with many members upset over her inability to take a firm position on the Referendum and him for losing the vote. She found herself replaced by Gordon Brown’s former Chancellor Alistair Darling, one of the loudest voices for Labour Remain and for Scotland remaining in the UK. There was not a vote of the Labour membership, as no one other than Mr. Darling were able to secure the required support from the Parliamentary Party. Mr. Clegg was replaced by Shadow Foreign Secretary Jo Swinson.

As Prime Minister, Mrs. Leadsom tried to surround herself with strong Brexit-supporting voices. Mr. Farage was named Foreign Secretary, Mr. Johnson assumed the newly-created Office of the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, and Mr. Fox was made Chancellor of the Exchequer. With her team in place, Mrs. Leadsom set out to spar with the European Union and beat the formidable alliance into submission.

Quickly, she learned how much harder of a task it would be than she expected. Mrs. Leadsom’s flaws became obvious, having only served as Home Secretary for two years prior to becoming Prime Minister. Her cabinet, filled to the brim with strong personalities, was impossible to manage. Philip Hammond, the Home Secretary, was the only Remainer in a senior cabinet position and frequently clashed with both Mr. Farage and Mr. Johnson. Mr. Hammond resigned in February of 2017 after only a few months on the job, citing the difficulties in the Cabinet.

Mrs. Leadsom, Mr. Farage, and Mr. Johnson held their final negotiations with the EU in the early part of 2018. The plan that Mrs. Leadsom agreed to was not the one that the trio had intended. After the Cabinet voted to approve the agreement at Chequers, Mr. Farage, Mr. Johnson, and Mrs. Foster resigned from the Cabinet in protest over the terms Mrs. Leadsom had agreed to. In order to create any kind of deal, Mrs. Leadsom caved on key promises, including the creation of an Irish backstop, which would keep the UK in the EU if arrangements over the Northern Irish border could not be agreed to, and the granting of UK citizenship to millions of EU nationals residing in Britain in order to avoid disruption to the integrated economy. The sticking point that led Mr. Farage to specifically resign was the promise that the UK would pay a “divorce fee” to the EU totaling over 39 billion pounds.

With a reshuffled Cabinet and a Government held together by a shoe-string, Mrs. Leadsom presented the deal to Parliament on January 15, 2019. The Government was defeated 432 to 202. Mrs. Leadsom held on against a No Confidence Motion from Mrs. Swinson, 317 to 315, with several defections from the Government. The plan, essentially unchanged, received a second vote in the Commons on March 12. It was again defeated, 391 to 242. Calls for Mrs. Leadsom to go were loud, with the baying from the Government backbenches during PMQs almost louder than those from the Opposition benches. But she held on and went back to the EU in a last-ditch attempt to secure a better deal.

This process was made even more complicated by the emergence of The Independent Group, a splinter branch of 9 MPs, three from Labour, three from the Conservatives, two from the Liberal Democrats, and one from the SNP. These 9 MPs were united in their support for the European Union and the UK remaining in it, as well as the British people having a second referendum on the final Brexit withdrawal agreement. Soon after its founding, the party was forced to change its name to Change UK, because of the ban on political parties with the word "independent" in their name. Originally, The Independent Group was co-led by former Conservative Heidi Allen and former Labour MP Chuka Umunna but, since June of 2019, Change UK has been led by former Conservative Anna Soubry.

EU negotiators held firm against Mrs. Leadsom and refused to revise the Withdrawal Agreement in a substantive manner. On March 29, the vote on the Agreement was defeated for a third time, 344 to 286. The next morning, Mrs. Leadsom announced her intention to step down as leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister. The race to replace her was on.

Mr. Johnson was the first to throw his hat into the ring, and the first to receive significant support from members of the Parliamentary Party. David Cameron, who had been leader from 2005 until standing down after the 2010 election, emerged as a serious candidate after returning to Parliament in 2014, after stepping down in 2012, and serving as Mrs. Leadsom’s Home Secretary after Mr. Hammon resigned. Mr. Cameron’s chief supporters were Ken Clarke and Ian Duncan Smith, signaling Mr. Cameron as the candidate of the Old Guard, regardless of Brexit position. Education Secretary Michael Gove, International Trade Secretary Dominic Raab, and Brexit Secretary David Davis were also on the ballot for the Parliamentary Party, but Mr. Johnson and Mr. Cameron were presented to the Conservative Members via postal ballot after alternating topping the Parliamentary Party vote.

On July 18, after a three-week campaign, it was announced the Mr. Cameron would be returning to lead the Conservative Party over his rival, and former friend, Mr. Johnson. Mr. Cameron promised to return to the negotiating table with European Leaders. This, coupled with the fact that Mr. Farage was named Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Minister in Cameron’s First Ministry, led to the downfall of the Government. Mr. Cameron called for an election on August 1, after only two weeks in office, describing the position he had inherited as “purely unmanagle and unstable; a disservice to the British people.'' He hoped that calling an election would “provide clear guidance to the Government on the course of Brexit that is desirable.”

Much has changed since the last election, in 2014. Britain has voted to leave the European Union, but can not agree how to do it. The Conservatives are on their third leader and Prime Minister in that time. Labour are now led by a centrist Scotsman who support the UK remaining in the EU and Scotland remaining in the UK. Mr. Clegg, who domineered the creation of the proportional voting system, was also out and replaced by a fresh face. In Scotland, the SNP are trying to build a come-back under First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who replaced Mr. Robertson in 2017, and in Northern Ireland, Mrs. Foster’s DUP have cemented themselves as the dominant political force with also finding a home in England (at least a temporary one). Even Mr. Farage’s UKIP hasn’t been smooth sailing, with former UKIP Deputy Leader Paul Nuttall leading a splinter faction to form the Brexit Party, arguing that Mr. Farage’s two decades in (and out of) command of UKIP has turned the party into a cult of personality around the bombastic Brit rather than a party commited to British independence.

Rules

Borrowed, with support and minor changes, from Lumine’s UK General Election 2012

General Election Rules:

Number 10 Downing Street is the headquarters and London residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
British Army, via Wikimedia Commons

Time: This election campaign will take place from August 1st to September 12th, 2019, a six week campaign. Each turn will last 72 hours, each covering one week of campaigning.

Turns: Campaigning will be held on a regional level for simplicity, your characters going to the 12 regions of the UK:

European Parliament constituencies in the United Kingdom (since 2004)
Zmiley, via Wikimedia Commons

Campaigns: You're free to make your own schedules and speeches, with normal campaigning being free. Each party will be able to PM the Game Moderator and ask for internal polls, canvassers/volunteers (to boost your campaign), endorsements (newspapers/organizations/celebrities) and advertising. The quality of these features will depend on a) the quality of the ask, b) the quality of the campaign being run, and c) the infrastructure of the party making the ask. The UK doesn't have the sort of TV attack ads the US does, so you'll have to be creative on the messages you put in billboards or images. You can of course also hold events or "interviews" to attack each other or promote yourself.

Debates: There will be debates, on turns 2 and 5. You can choose whether to show up or not (it can benefit you or hurt you depending on the circumstances), but the winner of each debate will receive a bonus in polling and enthusiasm.

Manifestos: At the end of the first turn each party must publish a manifesto. In order to make this easy and simple, you will be required to write a list with your five main pledges. For example, UKIP can write on their manifesto "- Leave the European Union without a Deal” and so on. Manifestos will have a relevant impact and may be used by other players to attack you.

Polls: Some polls will be released to you each turn. But those polls are not 100% reliable, so be mindful of possible bias!

Electoral System: This is the biggest difference. The new system operates on party list PR, based on the regional system. There is a 5% threshold, which you must overcome if you wish to receive MPs in a given region.

Players

Prime Minister David Cameron (Conservative) - YPestis
Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrats) - SO19
Alistair Darling (Labour) - Jackson Hitchcock
Sadiq Khan - Hummus_con_Pita
Nigel Farage (UKIP) - ChairmanSanchez
Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) - Thumb21
Caroline Lucas (Greens) - GoTFan
Arlene Foster (DUP) - Terp40
Mary Lou McDonald (Sinn Fein) - Harry S. Truman
Adam Price (Plaid Cymru) - Ishan
Paul Nuttall (Brexit) - NYIndy
Anna Soubry (Change UK) - Lumine

Other members of the Big Four parties may become available as needed.

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