The situation in 2000
Britain stands apart. It went into Yugoslavia beside America when France and Germany would not, voted to leave the European Union in 1996 and left at the end of 1997. Tony Blair, a pro-European who promised to honour the referendum, governs a country outside the single market but still holding Hong Kong, and bound to Washington in what is left of NATO.
31
22
5
66m
60%
10%
4
30
Resources
Army
23 divisions
- Armoured3
- Mechanised5
- Infantry6
- Airborne2
- Marines2
- Mountain1
- Garrison4
Navy
78 ships
- Carriers4
- Destroyers20
- Frigates32
- Submarines22
Air force
1,750 aircraft
- Fighters1,000
- Close air support300
- Strike aircraft450
Leave
Britain stood by America in the Gulf and again in Yugoslavia in 1993, when France and Germany would not. Europe never forgave it: Paris and Berlin called the intervention illegal and Britain Washington's poodle, and EU summits broke down into open hostility.
In June 1996 John Major's government put membership to a referendum, and with feeling about Yugoslavia still raw, Leave won. Tony Blair, a pro-European, promised to honour it, and at the end of 1997 Britain left the European Union. It kept Hong Kong; it lost a continent. Of NATO, only America, Britain and Canada remain.
Ideologies and leaders
In power on 1 January 2000: Tony Blair (Labour Party). Every leader below can come to power in TND, through the elections, coups and roads of its focus tree.
Democratic
In power, 2000 Tony Blair
Social Democracy
Labour Party
Gordon Brown
Social Democracy
David Cameron
Conservatism
Theresa May
Conservatism
Boris Johnson
Conservatism
Liz Truss
Conservatism
Rishi Sunak
Conservatism
Keir Starmer
Social Democracy
Ed Miliband
Social Democracy
Andy Burnham
Social Democracy
Charles Kennedy
Liberalism
Sir Menzies Campbell
Liberalism
Nick Clegg
Liberalism
Kenneth Clarke
Conservatism
William Hague
Conservatism
Communist
Robert Griffiths
Marxist-Leninist
Communist Party of Britain
Jeremy Corbyn
Marxism
Arthur Scargill
Leninism
Fascist
Nick Griffin
Fascism
British National Party
Nigel Farage
Fascism
Non-Aligned
Elizabeth II
Moderatism
Monarchy
Keir Starmer
Centrism
Charles, Prince of Wales
Absolute Monarchy
King Charles III
Absolute Monarchy
Jacob Rees-Mogg
Moderatism
The focus tree
United Kingdom's own tree has 900 focuses. It opens with The Third Way Economy, The Crash Comes Home, The Future Army Structure, RAF Strike Command, A Maritime Strategy, Britain's Place in the World and more. By kind: political (517), industry (157), historical (149), research (56), stability (50). Taking every focus, one after another, would take about 58 years - the roads are exclusive, so a playthrough sees only part of it.
Drag to pan, Ctrl + scroll to zoom, click a focus for its description and rewards. Focus names in the guides below jump to it.
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Path guides
How to reach each of United Kingdom's roads. The same guides are in game, as free decisions in the United Kingdom Path Guide category.
Ed Miliband
How to reach Ed Miliband:
- Take and the Labour pre-election focuses, so Labour leads the balance (below -20%) at the 2001 election.
- Choose 'We govern alone': a Labour minority government.
- Keep the Labour balance in the soft-left centre (between -30% and +30%) with the centre focuses.
- Take (or wait for the next election): Ed Miliband wins the second election.
Keir Starmer
How to reach Keir Starmer:
- Win the 2001 election for Labour (Westminster balance below -20%) and choose 'We govern alone'.
- Push the Labour balance to the Labour right (above +30%) with the right-wing focuses.
- Take : Starmer wins the second election.
- Under , send a career diplomat to Washington and take to keep Starmer's own tree.
Andy Burnham
How to reach Andy Burnham:
- Bring Keir Starmer to power (see the Starmer guide).
- Take and appoint Peter Mandelson.
- When the Mandelson scandal breaks, take .
David Cameron
How to reach David Cameron (the historical path):
- Take and the Conservative pre-election focuses, so the Conservatives lead (above +20%) at the 2001 election.
- In William Hague's government, keep the leadership balance level or towards the Cameron modernisers (the modernising focuses).
- Take : David Cameron wins the leadership.
Theresa May
How to reach Theresa May:
- Bring David Cameron to power (see the Cameron guide).
- Let Cameron's frontbench-backbench balance slide past 80% towards the backbenches: controversial focuses, no reshuffles, and the backbench decisions (Defy the Whips, A Briefing to the Lobby, Letters to the 1922 Committee).
- Cameron falls and Theresa May forms a government.
Farage's Britain
How to reach :
- Foreign policy: , then , and .
- Choose (not ), then , the European Partnership and Europol.
- Take (impossible after ). This starts the Rejoin Crisis.
- Let the protests reach 100: leave the Leave marches alone (each one adds protest every month), keep stability low and let the far right grow above 20%.
- At The March on Westminster, choose 'The government falls'. Nigel Farage takes power and the focuses open.
Boris Johnson, Truss and Sunak
How to reach Boris Johnson:
- Take and the Conservative pre-election focuses so the Westminster balance is above +20% when the 2001 election comes (or use ).
- In the Conservative government, push the leadership balance towards Boris Johnson's right (e.g. ).
- Complete with the balance leaning right: Boris wins the leadership.
Truss and Sunak: let Boris's frontbench-backbench balance fall below -50% towards the backbenches (scandals, sleaze). Ministers resign en masse, Liz Truss's short premiership crashes the economy, and Rishi Sunak's focuses open.
The Rees-Mogg Lords Government
How to reach Jacob Rees-Mogg's government of the Lords:
- Win the 2001 election for the Conservatives (Westminster balance above +20%).
- Keep the leadership balance level or towards the Cameron modernisers when : Cameron leads.
- Let Cameron's frontbench-backbench balance slide past 80% towards the backbenches (controversial focuses, no reshuffles). Theresa May replaces him.
- Do the same to May: past 80% towards the backbenches, she falls, and Jacob Rees-Mogg forms a non-aligned government of the Lords.
Starmer's Dictatorship
How to reach Keir Starmer's dictatorship:
- Win the 2001 election for Labour (Westminster balance below -20%) and choose 'We govern alone': a Labour minority government.
- Push the Labour balance to the Labour right (above +30%) with the right-wing focuses, then take : Starmer wins the second election.
- In Starmer's tree, take and appoint Peter Mandelson.
- When the scandal breaks, choose the dictatorship instead of handing over to Andy Burnham.
Mechanics
How United Kingdom's own systems work. In game: the United Kingdom: Mechanic Guide decisions.
Westminster and the Parties
Britain's politics run on balances of power. The first, the Westminster System, is Labour against the Conservatives; it starts Labour-leaning. When the 2001 election comes, below -20% Labour wins, above +20% the Conservatives, otherwise the parliament is hung.
Inside each government another balance takes over: the Labour left and right, the Cameron modernisers and the Johnsonian right, and for a Conservative Prime Minister the frontbench against the backbenches - past 80% towards the backbenches the Prime Minister falls.
Every balance has Back ... decisions (25 political power, every 30 days), and the Prime Minister's parliamentary party has its own: Charm the 1922 Committee, Reshuffle the Cabinet, Concede a Free Vote, Summon the Whips and so on - or, the other way, Defy the Whips, A Briefing to the Lobby, Letters to the 1922 Committee.
Manifesto pledges: every pre-election focus also adds a two-year spirit with a buff and a debuff.
The Rejoin Crisis
starts the crisis: -15% stability, protests at 40 of 100, and Leave marches. Britain only joins when the protests reach 0.
Every month protests rise by 2 (and 3 more under 40% stability, 3 more with the far right over 20%), and each march adds 2. New marches break out often.
On the map: Disperse the March (peaceful, clashes, or a riot that spreads) or Meet the Marchers (safe, slower). Country decisions: Concessions to the Leavers, Remain Rallies, Proscribe the Far Right.
At 60 the Leave marches spread, at 80 comes Farage's Ultimatum, at 100 the March on Westminster: the government falls, or Parliament is defended and a far-right civil war starts.
The Breakup of Britain
After a revolution or a coup, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each get a separatism score (30, 20 and 40) that grows every month - faster with stability under 40% or at war.
Crack Down and Concessions for each nation, and One Nation, One Union for all three, push it down; at 0 a nation is suppressed for good. At 50 there is a warning; at 100 the nation breaks away - let it go, or fight.