[War] United Kingdom: "Number 10 Bound"

[Michael Downey]

"Title"
Prime Minister Owen Eckley
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
17 July 2006
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Morning came to the City of London and with it a dawn of change. In
the dining room of his Brent North flat at the edge of the London
core, MP Owen Eckley read the news that both he, the other members of
the government, and the entire nation had suspected for some time.
Prime Minister Blair had resigned.

He had stated he would do so in 2007. But as things had turned out,
Blair was out this very day. The headlines on the front page of the
Guardian spelled it out very nicely.

Sipping back some tea, Eckley let out a small chuckle that was too
full of disdain to seem funny. Blair's resignation came at the heals
of months of Labor backbenchers, such as Eckley, chaffing under what
they considered Blair's overly tight control of the party. Wrangling
between the PM and the Cabinet that neither side had wanted to become
public knowledge had increased Eckley's suspicions. And now the
headlines confirmed it.

Picking up his ever-present Blackberry, a wonderful little tool that
had become as much a part of a Parliamentarian's life as it had that
of a Congressman's, Eckley activated its cellular function. He only
had to let it ring twice.

"I've read the news," came the female voice on the other end. There
was no need for formalities between the two Eckley siblings, and there
were much more pressing issues at hand. "I must say Owen, I'm a tad
bit shocked. I had expected it to take longer."

"Didn't we all, Ruth," Eckley replied to his sister and fellow MP. "He
was just under too much pressure. From the backbenchers, from the
Cabinet, from Brown-"

"From you," Ruth pointed out. Though they were over the phone, Eckley
shrugged to himself. He had been Secretary of Industry and Trade
before 2003, but had been forced to resign from his post over
disagreement with Britain's participation in the Coalition's invasion.
And with the failure to find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq,
the growing insurgency and the deplorable conduct of their American
allies, Eckley felt more than a little bit vindicated.

"We have a lot to do. I'll have my driver stop by your flat. We'll go
to Westminster together."

This was something he wanted to discuss face to face.
---

Ten minutes later, Eckley and Ruth were in the back of his Rolls Royce
as it negotiated the often-clogged roadways of London.

"Seven years. You've waited for seven years." Ruth did not hide her
excitement at the situation as well as the older Eckley sibling did,
but the truth of the matter was that Eckley felt the same way himself.
Blair had been a rival he could never beat, and now that rival was
gone. "You've got the support of at least eighty Labor MPS, with more
almost certainly waiting in the wings, and thousands of supporters
among the general party membership."

"And so does Brown," replied Eckley with a raised finger, reminding
Ruth to keep her excitement in check. The Chancellor of the Exchequer
had been Blair's right hand man for years and was currently the
favourite to succeed him. "What do you propose I do about him?"

"Brown is too tied to the failures of Blair's government," scoffed
Ruth. "Iraq, the Underground attacks, and the stillborn security
legislation he and Blair tried to introduce. People want new,
innovative leadership for the party. Not a carbon-copy of Blair."

It seemed somewhat unsporting to Eckley to simply jump into the ring
and fight for the PM's office right away, but what choice did he have?
There was no doubt that Chancellor Brown was already gathering his own
supporters in a bid for leadership of the party and the country.

Eckley wanted to provide vision and direction for Great Britain.
Simply pointing at Brown and saying 'look how he mucked things up' was
foolish and would likely cost Eckley his leadership bid. He needed to
take Britain down a path that provided real answers and solutions to
the troubles that the United Kingdom faced. And he would need to
surround himself with like minded individuals.

And of course against all this, Cameron and the Conservatives were an
ever-present threat that would like nothing more than to bring down
Labor from office, no matter who was in charge.

"It is a very serious game we play," said Eckley finally as the Palace
of Westminster became visible form his car window. "Brown is a
powerful rival and we will need every last bit of our strength and the
strength of our supporters to win." He turned his head to regard his
sister. "But I am ready."
---

It had been as every bit vicious and politically bloody as Eckley had
imagined. Brown had for years now been a shoe in to succeed Blair.
That a backbencher upstart like Eckley would provide a serious threat
to his rise infuriated the Chancellor to no end.

Their public and private lives were used as ammunition in the feud.
Eckley's past ties to the Conservative Party were lamented to no end
by the Brown camp, and Eckley's supporters had lambasted Brown over
his sale of two-thirds of Britain's gold reserves at a low just before
a massive jump in gold value.

The final decision by the party membership had been so close and so
tense that Eckley had entertained the notion of stepping aside simply
to prevent a schism in the Labor Party. In the end his victory over
Brown had been decided by just a few hundred votes.

To his credit, Brown had accepted Eckley's victory and elevation to PM
with little argument after all was said and done. And because the race
had been so close, Eckley was forced not only to keep Brown as
Chancellor, but appoint him as Deputy PM as well.

For the rest of his Cabinet, Eckley had been rather selective. He of
course had to reward his most loyal supporters, that was now things
went in politics, but he also wanted to fill the leaderships of the
British government with the most capable and competent of the lot.

One of his most controversial decisions was to appoint Ruth to the
coveted position of Minister of the Cabinet Office. Many of Eckley's
naysayers had derided his choice as nepotism. But it had worked for
JFK, and he could think of no one better than Ruth to be the Almighty
of the infamous British civil service.

After the celebrating and media circus, Eckley had retired to his
study. The room was almost completely empty, his effects packed up for
transport to Number 10. He had what he had entered politics to get.
The power and the responsibility of Prime Minister. The difficulty now
was keeping it. The general election was set for 2010, and any number
of things could happen between then and now that could bring down
Eckley's Labor government.

Power and success were fleeting concepts. Blair and Brown had learned
that painful lesson and Eckley had no intention of doing the same.

All said and done, the PM was rather pleased.
---

Actions:
1) Owen Eckley becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland.