You've Always Had It This Good

By Tom Black and Jack Tindale

A NEW NOVELLA FROM THE TEAM BEHIND 'AGENT LAVENDER'

At time of writing, Britain has been led by thirteen men and two women since the Second World War. But not all countries have this kind of turnover - some, like Italy, have had dozens of leaders. 

But others still have seen sustained periods of democratic governance by a single individual. What if Britain, a country in which a decade in office is seen as a long spell, had a post-war Prime Minister who found himself able to govern for far longer than that? A man able to dominate his party, and in turn make his party utterly dominant?

Britain has never had it so good. Or for so long.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sea Lion Press
• Release date: Aug 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393644101

Book preview

This book is a work of fiction. While ‘real-world’ characters may appear, the nature of the divergent story means any depictions herein are fictionalised and in no way an indication of real events. Above all, characterisations have been developed with the primary aim of telling a compelling story.

Published by Sea Lion Press, 2019. All rights reserved.

Winston Churchill

Conservative and Unionist

1951-1955

His wartime years and period in opposition already covered in earlier volumes, all that remains to be said of Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill’s political career is its lacklustre final act.

Considering retirement as early as 1951 (a stroke in 1949 slowed him down year-on-year), he held onto power for reasons unknown. Using the young Queen’s coronation arrangements as a reason to stay in power from 1952 to 1953, he then appeared to genuinely prepare to retire in favour of his long-serving deputy and able Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden. However, this plan fell apart when Eden died thanks to errors made during an operation on his bile duct. Churchill was personally and professionally devastated. His circle contained many able men, but Eden had been his chosen successor since before he had even returned to the front line of British politics. For the first time in fifteen years, Winston Churchill could not say with certainty what would happen if he were to resign.

Eventually, even Churchill’s bulldog-like tenacity could not enable him to cling to power when his health almost completely failed in the winter of 1954-55. With his behaviour increasingly erratic and of great concern to his staff (the Cabinet governed the country as a de facto leaderless collective for approximately three months), Churchill’s last night in Downing Street was disturbed by a night terror in which he claimed he saw the ghost of ‘Anthony’ standing at the foot of his bed. He may have blamed himself – he certainly wrote years later in private correspondence of his guilt that while Eden received the care of the finest doctors in the land, had Churchill departed earlier, they would have been operating on a Prime Minister. Perhaps they would have taken even more care and, perhaps, avoided the mistakes which killed him. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

However sound the medical science behind his self-flagellation may or may not have been, Churchill retired to Chequers the following morning and, his successor agreed largely out of his hands by the Magic Circle, only returned to London to travel to the Palace.

Churchill’s reputation would be preserved, his final few months completely absent from the public record and a secret until decades after his death. His state funeral in 1965 saw the largest gathering of past and present leaders the globe had ever seen, and there can be no doubt that however he may have left the stage, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill did more than all but one of his fellow Prime Ministers to write Britain’s part in modern history.

Harold Macmillan

Conservative and Unionist

1955-1959

On Wednesday 2nd March , 1955, Clement Attlee stood at the despatch box to lavish praise on a man many were glad to see the back off. The Leader of the Opposition noted Churchill’s departure from the political arena as epoch defining. He was, of course, the last Prime Minister to have been elected as an MP during the reign of Queen Victoria and to have held senior office during both world wars. Attlee’s heartfelt words were followed by brief comments from other members of the Chamber, including the Father of the House, senior backbenchers representing the Scottish Unionists and both sets of Liberals, and a note of thanks from The Speaker. In the press gallery, Hansard Reporters and Parliamentary Sketch Writers dutifully filed copy of the last hour in office from the Prime Minister. The other galleries were also rammed, representing Ambassadors, High Commissioners, Peers and members of the Public.

The only notable absence from the tributes to Winston Churchill was the old lion himself. In his diary, he dismissively referred to them as ‘Pre-Mortem Eulogies’. In a more bitter entry later that day, he also spoke grumpily of the reports regarding the words of his successor, who had barely mentioned him.

There was probably good reason for this, for Maurice Harold Macmillan found himself captaining an unsteady ship indeed. Less than a year prior, the Member for Bromley had been diligently touring construction sites across the country as part of his duties as Minister for Housing. Whilst tremendously adept in the role, his rapid promotion to the Foreign Office following Eden’s death, passing above the heads of more experienced figures such as Rab Butler and David Maxwell Fyfe, had irked many. Nevertheless, he had proved more than suited in the role, quickly establishing a close working relationship with Secretary Dulles in Washington, and with the various denizens of the Quai d'Orsay. His urbane manner and general popularity with the Conservative Party at large also endeared him to the Magic Circle above the notoriously scruffy Butler, eight years his junior.

Immediately upon taking office, rumours began to swirl regarding a snap election. The new Queen’s youthful image, coupled with Gwilym Lloyd George’s scrapping of the last of the rationing restrictions in his first Budget had given a boost to the Government’s popularity, and the country promptly went to the polls on Thursday 5th May. However, the results were somewhat of a disappointment to the new Prime Minister, who had seen his hopes of gaining sixty seats dashed. In the end, the Conservative and Unionist Party had gained little more than twenty. A number of senior Conservatives grumbled at this, disparagingly wondering if ‘Captain Harold’ had been the right choice after-all. Rab Butler, by now firmly ensconced at the Foreign Office, certainly felt that his snubbing for the premiership had been shown up for the mistake it had been, and lobbied constantly for more control over domestic policy. Macmillan, aware of his weakened position, promptly appointed him Deputy Prime Minister.

Domestically, the Conservative Government of 1955-1959 is not remembered for many great achievements. Inflation hovered around the watch out old chap levels, whilst the newly-liberated Federal Republic of Germany began to make slow incursions into the British manufacturing base. Under normal circumstances, the Labour Party would have begun to enjoy mid-term leads above the Government, but the sudden resignation of Clement Attlee had unleashed twenty years of pent-up pressure from many