EMQs What If: Ed and George had never entered politics?

For our third summer EMQs we’re returning to our What Ifs. Ed Balls and George Osborne first consider how Britain would change had they never entered politics? Would the Bank of England become independent? Would there be a Manchester mayoralty? Or, would it have had no impact?

What if George got the US Ambassador gig over Peter Mandelson? The pair consider how George would approach the job differently, blowback from within Labour, and whether Keir Starmer would still be in post without the controversy of Mandelson. 

They then go back in time to February 1974, where a hung Parliament saw Labour form a minority government. What if negotiations between the Conservatives and Liberals panned out? How long would this coalition survive? Would it stop Margaret Thatcher becoming PM? Who leads Labour after Harold Wilson? 

Finally, what if Labour were the largest party in 2015? If it’s a hung Parliament who do they go into coalition with? Can they work with the SNP? Does it stop Brexit? What happens with the Tories and UKIP?

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Production: Sam Burton

Producer: Caillin McDaid

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