United Kingdom with American parties

[Samof94]

How would the UK function with American parties??? Just ignore republicanism is a fringe position there.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Assuming a 50/50 split, this is what I'd guess each party's strength in each region is, in terms of splits.
London 75-25 Dem
South East 60-40 Rep
South West 55-45 Rep
East of E 60-40 Rep
East Midlands 60-40 Rep
West Midlands 55-45 Rep
Wales 55-45 Dem
Yorkshire and H 50-50 Rep
North West 60-40 Dem
North East 60-40 Dem
Scotland 60-40 Dem
Northern Ireland 55-45 Dem

[DaWN]

The problem with the comparison is that we are a very different society to the US and that's reflected in what the parties represent. There is no chance the GOP would do anything like as well as the Conservatives in the affluent suburbia of the Southeast - they wouldn't have done prior to 2016 and certainly not now. Equally, the Democrats probably wouldn't have done as well with the post-industrial vote as Labour  have done. And then there's the question of Scottish nationalism and Northern Ireland...

Still, I might give it a try when I have some time as an experiment.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

The problem with the comparison is that we are a very different society to the US and that's reflected in what the parties represent. There is no chance the GOP would do anything like as well as the Conservatives in the affluent suburbia of the Southeast - they wouldn't have done prior to 2016 and certainly not now. Equally, the Democrats probably wouldn't have done as well with the post-industrial vote as Labour  have done. And then there's the question of Scottish nationalism and Northern Ireland...

Still, I might give it a try when I have some time as an experiment.

My guess was that if you want to get as close as possible in spirit to US parties while keeping it competitive, you have what is essentially a relatively socially liberal-relatively socially conservative sort of divide, with economics being secondary yet still clearly present factor nationwide and of primary importance in places like the North East and more traditionalistic immigrant areas. Immigration would also register, and would poison the well for the GOP in places like East Ham.

[Samof94]

The problem with the comparison is that we are a very different society to the US and that's reflected in what the parties represent. There is no chance the GOP would do anything like as well as the Conservatives in the affluent suburbia of the Southeast - they wouldn't have done prior to 2016 and certainly not now. Equally, the Democrats probably wouldn't have done as well with the post-industrial vote as Labour  have done. And then there's the question of Scottish nationalism and Northern Ireland...

Still, I might give it a try when I have some time as an experiment.

A lot of GOP positions(except for unionists in NI) would be fringe. “Ban abortion” isn’t a mainstream position in Britain. Don’t even get started on guns, which are an outdated idea.

[Property Representative of the Harold Holt Swimming Centre]

The problem with the comparison is that we are a very different society to the US and that's reflected in what the parties represent. There is no chance the GOP would do anything like as well as the Conservatives in the affluent suburbia of the Southeast - they wouldn't have done prior to 2016 and certainly not now. Equally, the Democrats probably wouldn't have done as well with the post-industrial vote as Labour  have done. And then there's the question of Scottish nationalism and Northern Ireland...

Still, I might give it a try when I have some time as an experiment.

A lot of GOP positions(except for unionists in NI) would be fringe. “Ban abortion” isn’t a mainstream position in Britain. Don’t even get started on guns, which are an outdated idea.

It's not that guns are outdated, it's that they were never a trendy thing here, at least not as a kind of romanticised thing. We've never had NRA type clubs here, to my knowledge.

[Alcibiades]

I think it would look fairly similar to the EU referendum map, where Remain=Dems and Leave=GOP.

[Samof94]

The problem with the comparison is that we are a very different society to the US and that's reflected in what the parties represent. There is no chance the GOP would do anything like as well as the Conservatives in the affluent suburbia of the Southeast - they wouldn't have done prior to 2016 and certainly not now. Equally, the Democrats probably wouldn't have done as well with the post-industrial vote as Labour  have done. And then there's the question of Scottish nationalism and Northern Ireland...

Still, I might give it a try when I have some time as an experiment.

A lot of GOP positions(except for unionists in NI) would be fringe. “Ban abortion” isn’t a mainstream position in Britain. Don’t even get started on guns, which are an outdated idea.

It's not that guns are outdated, it's that they were never a trendy thing here, at least not as a kind of romanticised thing. We've never had NRA type clubs here, to my knowledge.

True. Neither did Canada.

[Agonized-Statism]

The problem with the comparison is that we are a very different society to the US and that's reflected in what the parties represent. There is no chance the GOP would do anything like as well as the Conservatives in the affluent suburbia of the Southeast - they wouldn't have done prior to 2016 and certainly not now. Equally, the Democrats probably wouldn't have done as well with the post-industrial vote as Labour  have done. And then there's the question of Scottish nationalism and Northern Ireland...

Still, I might give it a try when I have some time as an experiment.

A lot of GOP positions(except for unionists in NI) would be fringe. “Ban abortion” isn’t a mainstream position in Britain. Don’t even get started on guns, which are an outdated idea.

It's not that guns are outdated, it's that they were never a trendy thing here, at least not as a kind of romanticised thing. We've never had NRA type clubs here, to my knowledge.

Maybe this is going really far back in time, but didn't Britain's elites at least have a thing for hunting?

As others have said, a big difference between our systems is that the Republicans have been able to manage working class appeal on social issues since the 1960s (a working class made far more conservative by religious revivals throughout American history and resentment of minorities) and protectionism since 2016. The Democrats are like if Labour was literally just New Labour- even Sanders is no Corbyn. Unlike Britain, the left has never had any representation at the top. We've never had a major labor party, just labor interests voting as a part of broader coalitions. One of the reasons we're so right-wing is because the electoral college has never made an urban industrial workers' party mathematically feasible. That's not the only leftward path, of course, but it's not like rural-friendly Mao Zedong Thought has been imported to anyone but grassroots movements like the Black Panthers. Anyway, in this alternate universe, Britain would need systems of representation similar to ours to have a two-party system. Like a world where Oliver Cromwell successfully created a republican Britain.

I suspect our politics will resemble each other a lot more going forward. The Internet is making things like the right-wing populist movement truly international.

[Samof94]

The problem with the comparison is that we are a very different society to the US and that's reflected in what the parties represent. There is no chance the GOP would do anything like as well as the Conservatives in the affluent suburbia of the Southeast - they wouldn't have done prior to 2016 and certainly not now. Equally, the Democrats probably wouldn't have done as well with the post-industrial vote as Labour  have done. And then there's the question of Scottish nationalism and Northern Ireland...

Still, I might give it a try when I have some time as an experiment.

A lot of GOP positions(except for unionists in NI) would be fringe. “Ban abortion” isn’t a mainstream position in Britain. Don’t even get started on guns, which are an outdated idea.

It's not that guns are outdated, it's that they were never a trendy thing here, at least not as a kind of romanticised thing. We've never had NRA type clubs here, to my knowledge.

Maybe this is going really far back in time, but didn't Britain's elites at least have a thing for hunting?

As others have said, a big difference between our systems is that the Republicans have been able to manage working class appeal on social issues since the 1960s (a working class made far more conservative by religious revivals throughout American history and resentment of minorities) and protectionism since 2016. The Democrats are like if Labour was literally just New Labour- even Sanders is no Corbyn. Unlike Britain, the left has never had any representation at the top. We've never had a major labor party, just labor interests voting as a part of broader coalitions. One of the reasons we're so right-wing is because the electoral college has never made an urban industrial workers' party mathematically feasible. That's not the only leftward path, of course, but it's not like rural-friendly Mao Zedong Thought has been imported to anyone but grassroots movements like the Black Panthers. Anyway, in this alternate universe, Britain would need systems of representation similar to ours to have a two-party system. Like a world where Oliver Cromwell successfully created a republican Britain.

I suspect our politics will resemble each other a lot more going forward. The Internet is making things like the right-wing populist movement truly international.

A lot of those people, due to race and religion to an extent, are also socially reactionary and against anything that resemble socialism.

[Lechasseur]

I think it would look fairly similar to the EU referendum map, where Remain=Dems and Leave=GOP.

Agreed