The first line for this fictional short story was supplied by film blogger Otsky, from https://overtheshoulder129848657.wordpress.com/
He looked into the camera, knowing this may be watched by millions, and cleared his throat: “Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini – I label these… tyrants as some of the worst humans to ever dwell on our Earth; so today is a very sad day to see myself included, by some, on this list.
There were times when Tom Carswell wondered how it had got to this. Many times, in fact. He had started out like most people, reasonably unconcerned about politics. He voted for the same party as his dad used to, and complained a bit when they lost. Then he just got on with life. What else could you do?
Something changed when they decided to build a motorway junction close to the small town where he lived. The local people were outraged at the loss of an ancient forest, and some started up an online campaign to oppose the construction. Tom got involved, in a small way at first. That escalated into blocking traffic heading for the site, and some minor scuffles with the police trying to remove the protestors. He was asked to give an interview on local news, and that was later shown on the national news too.
After that, it was as if the floodgates opened.
Two women came up from London, and asked him to stand in the Council elections for their party. It was the party he always voted for, and one he had been a member of since he was eighteen. The women made it clear that they wanted to radicalise the policies of that party, take it back to the Socialist roots, and remove the middle of the road old guard that was running it. Tom felt inspired, and agreed.
After all, he was a respected History teacher at the local senior school, and he had no skeletons in any closets that he could think of. Jack was starting at university, and Mandy thought he would make a good candidate.
Family support was crucial, of course. But the local education authority was less than impressed. They didn’t like the idea of one of their teachers being seen to be a radical, advocating ideas that hadn’t been around since the seventies.
But Tom did it anyway.
He won the seat with a huge majority, boosted by voters who appreciated his work against the motorway junction. Then he became something of a firebrand at Council meetings, rocking the foundations of the stuffy and long-established group who had been running the town since he was a boy.
That got him noticed in London again. This time, he was asked to go down to the capital, where they discussed him standing in the general election the following year. His town constituency had been represented by the other side for most of his life, and they convinced Tom he was the right man to change that. He accepted, and campaigned hard. His opponent had little to offer, save for his almost twenty years doing little to represent the town in parliament, and that man’s approval of the motorway scheme was the last straw for voters.
Carswell won a memorable victory, unseating the incumbent and achieving a majority in excess of ten thousand. And his party won nationally, with a sixteen seat majority.
Huge life changes followed. Resigning his teaching post, renting a flat in London, coming back to the town on Fridays to hold meetings, and learning the ways of government in the House of Commons. Tom didn’t like what he saw going on there, and soon became part of a left-wing splinter group determined to get rid of the moderate centrists that had infected the party of the people.
The media latched on to this younger, outspoken man who wasn’t afraid to go against the dull policies of his own party. He was on the front pages of newspapers, and asked on to TV political debates and even chat shows. Very soon, everyone in Britain knew who Tom Carswell was. By the time the next general election was still two years away, he was approached to stand against the party leader after a vote to force a leadership election.
At the time, he was still being painted by the media as a kind of British version of JFK. Nice wife, a son who had done well at university, and that small-town appeal that avoided any big city financial connections.
Then he won the leadership election.
Once in control, Tom started to formulate policies that alienated forty percent of the country. Heavy taxation on the rich, and less influence from royalty and aristocracy. A massive programme of cheap social housing to combat the problems of homelessness, and a big boost in benefits to the unemployed and disabled. On top of that he removed Britain from NATO, scrapped the nuclear weapons programme, and asked America to remove all its weapons and aircraft from any bases in Britain.
It was a busy couple of years, but he had done enough for his party to win again, and increase its majority ten fold.
Tom looked older, and felt the weight of responsibility. But he wasn’t about to give up. Scotland was granted another referendum, and chose independence. Discussions with Ireland resulted in a promise to return the six counties in the north within ten years. That would just leave England and Wales, and Great Britain would become a thing of the past.
Now the media turned against him, and so did many of the people. He was nicknamed ‘Castro Carswell’ by the tabloids. Northern Ireland degenerated into daily rioting, and some areas in northern England started to talk about becoming part of Scotland. It all began to fall apart.
Tom’s marriage fell apart too, and his son went to live and work in Australia. It seemed his own family thought he had gone too far. But he carried on.
New police powers cracked down on rioters and demonstrators. Many in his own party started to call for his removal, and he had to survive a leadership election by the skin of his teeth. The tabloids railed against him and his most loyal supporters, calling them The Gang of Ten. So Tom brought in new laws to muzzle the press. As the public outrage continued to build, and the police fought running battles on the streets outside, he decided to make a broadcast on national television.
After declaring that he was sad to see himself compared to historical dictators, he continued.
“Yes, I am sad indeed. But it will not soften my resolve. I will do what must be done, whatever the consequences”.
Before Tom could continue, the camerman turned to the sound man, a quizzical look on his face.
“Was that gunfire I heard outside?”
This is incredible Pete, I finally have a day to read and catch up on older post. How do you know all this stuff? The detail is so realistic I forgot I was reading fiction! Amazing, C
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There was a time in my life when I actually lived that stuff. Far-left politics, and being a union organiser. I just used my life experience on this occasion. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Wow!
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Thanks, Jennie. My view on what could happen here if a real Socialist won an election.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Exactly!
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This reminded me a little of the political dictator in Stephen King’s book Dead Zone. An interesting premise, Pete.
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Thanks, Robbie. I based it very loosely on what might have happened if Jeremy Corbyn had won an election as Labour party leader.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Very cool.
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Wow! How a common man becomes a dictator!
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They all have to start out somewhere, Shaily. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thats a wonderful repainting of the normal way of politicans, Pete. I think you did a good job of tracing a politician’s path here, Pete! Sometimes parties also look for a scapegoat. xx Michael
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They certainly do, Michael.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Oh yes, Pete! I just watching one of these pre-election shows on German TV. Now, the right-winged are also well seen. ;-/ The aversion to migration really seems to be cross-party in Germany. Best wishes, Michael
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Reblogged this on OPENED HERE >> https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
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All too believable. Well done.
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Thanks, Elizabeth. January weather here is often awful.
Best wishes, Pete.
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We expect a snowy winter this time around apparently. My snowblowing loving husband told me that this morning. We now know he won’t be bored to tears when the garden is in deep freeze.
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This one should be on Red Flag Flying 🙂
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Yes, it would make a suitable ‘crossover’ post. 🙂
Cheers, Pete.
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Brilliant, Pete!
Funny how time and again in real life ‘good intentions’, mixed with ‘bad actions’ make quite the recipe for disaster. . .
He Kicked out “The Yanks”? Bloody Hell! If it wasn’t fiction I’d be a bit hurt being the spawn of an “Elephant girl” and an American soldier who met at the Lyceum back in the day when it was quite the Palais. 😉
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One of the old Socialist policies here was to leave NATO and ask the US to leave all its bases in Britain. I was just reflecting on that resurfacing in the modern world, Chris. 🙂
(My mum used to go dancing with American soldiers during WW2)
If you ever get the time to read it, you might enjoy this story, set in Bermondsey before and during WW2. https://beetleypete.com/2020/09/17/veras-life-the-complete-story/
Best wishes, Pete.
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you are back with a vengence, pete! pretty spot on with modern politics
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Thanks, Beth. I was reflecting the recent decline of a real left-wing politician here, and speculating on what might have happened had he won an election.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Brilliant, Pete! Glad you managed to make such a good story of it. The decline was brilliant – not that I didn’t disagree with Carswell’s policies! I’ll blame the tabloids for the anarchy!
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The media will always bring down a real Socialist. 🙂
Cheers, Pete.
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(1) Car-swell v. Motorway?
(2) It’s a good idea to remove the middle of the road old guard. The old guard is less likely to get out of the motorway in time to avoid being run over by a car.
(3) Did you hear about the pregnant lady who “unseated an incumbent” on a packed city bus?
(4) Left-wing splinter group > Something woodpeckers strive to avoid. (Same goes for the right wing.)
(5) Does Castro Carswell put Castrol motor oil in his car?
(i know I promised one line responses, but I couldn’t resist.)
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I liked the woodpeckers, David. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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This one suits you well Pete.
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Yes it does. It was really about Jeremy Corbyn, but could also have been me. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete. x
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So Jeremy is a corbyn copy of you?
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In some ways, though I was far more extreme back in the day. 🙂
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Yes, that first line really pulled me in. Very apropos story for our times. All laid out reasonably, from one step to another. That’s what happens with dictators and democracy. They don’t abort it, they erode it. Good work, Pete.
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Thanks, Pam. As the old saying goes, ‘The road to Hell is paved with good intentions’.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Very realistic. I do not have a political mind. I always want people to compromise and do whats best for the country, but there are too many variable. Good story. Scary!
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Thanks, Carolyn. I think a ‘real Socialist’ would soon be stopped, in modern-day western society.
There is too much money and power in big business now.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Terrific story Pete….unsettling in just how true it is
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It could so easily happen, John.
Best wishes, Pete.
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This one was right up your alley, Pete. It seemed so very plausible given the state of the world.
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We have a left-wing politician here called Jeremy Corbyn who was driven out of his party for advocating all of those policies, Maggie. I was speculating what might have happened had he stayed as leader, and won an election.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Well penned
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Thanks, Sue. I thought it might be better fleshed out as a serial, but it is short story time! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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And a good job done
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Any politician is going to be unpopular with some of the population. Tom might even get some unhappy constituents sitting on the M25 and refusing to move… hang on… didn’t that happen yesterday? Great story!
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Thanks, Stevie. I saw the ‘Insulation protests’ yesterday. I was wondering if the protesters went to the M25 by car? 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Lol, yes, probably they did. I’m surprised it didn’t turn into a riot.
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He did go a bit OTT there.
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Yes, it came back to haunt him, sadly. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Uh Oh, trouble at Westminster – great story, Pete 👍👍👍👍👍
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Thanks, Chris. What might have happened to Jeremy? 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thankfully, we’ll never know (I hope) what a Jeremy Corbyn in full power would do, Pete, Johnson is a bumbler, but better than a totalitarian dictator.
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I was quite partial to Jeremy. But he would have been stopped, one way or another. 🙂
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He was certainly a man of the people, but unfortunately not a leader of government, or even the Opposition.
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He took me back to my younger days as a member of Militant Tendency. I was expelled from the Labour Party during the woeful Kinnock years. 🙂
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It wasn’t your political views that got you expelled. It was those argyle socks you were wearing at the time.
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A cracker
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Thanks for that, Jim.
Best wishes, Pete.
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