Many were disturbed by Mosley's hands-off approach to the joint-meeting, but only Attlee, aware that his moderate political position could draw a vitriolic reaction from Mosley, hurried to the General Secretary's office. Attlee believed that his economic passions, parallel in belief to Mosley's, could secure a compatible relationship. His ambitions exceeded that of a Committee official or an economic planner - he wanted the Commissary for the Exchequer and his opposition was to be damned. Attlee proposed himself to Mosley in his usual silent conduct, adopting a persona of complacency yet reserved genius. Although the affairs of the following days are not specified by contemporary historians, we can assume that the commonality between Attlee and Mosley won the day as they prepared for the opening votes on October the 18th. According to appointment regulations, enshrined in the constitution, the Chairman would propose a list of prospective candidates for the position in question. The Congress, if it desired, could nominate a member if that particular member received 40%+1 approval of the Congress. During the morning, Mosley proposed Clement Attlee and Aneurin "Nye" Bevan to the position; the nomination of Attlee shocked Bevan, who was convinced he would have the sole endorsement of Mosley. In the legislative procedures, Bevan almost made a vocal protestation
[5] before he was promptly dragged out by Redshirts. The affair ruined any chance of Bevan's victory before a moderate Congress. But Attlee would not pass through unchallenged; Congregationalists, Federationists, and many liberal Maximists nominated Barbara Castle, a Congregationalist representative who supported the interests of the urban workers promoting industrial revolution in the agrarian fields. She endorsed the recent economic plan, ignorant that her competitor was the drafter of the vast legislative plan. When Mosley leaked the information that Attlee had been writing the comprehensive economic proposal since the outbreak of war, Castle withdrew from the election. She would later make a deal with Mosley, agreeing that she would run against Mosley in the upcoming Congressional election for General Secretary in order to flaunt some variety of democratic process. Because actual elections were now entrusted into a leadership vote by the Congress, Mosley did not fear deposition from public mood, which was nonetheless silenced with extreme vigor. That same evening, Mosley resigned the Commissary for the Exchequer and officially appointed Clement Attlee.
According to Mosley's deal, Piratin was to resign his appointment as Commissary for Foreign Affairs. Mosley had promised Piratin the Presidency of the Central Committee in order to appease the liberal Maximist, Ernest Bevin. Ernest was a renown member of Congress and the most pronounced "liberal," opposing most of Mosley's violations on civil rights and the advancement of his own cult of personality. But Bevin's genius was concentrated in international affairs, where his opposition to Mosley would be most distanced. Additionally, the appointment of another former Federationist was orchestrated in order to appease the liberal Maximists, whom were now indebted to Mosley's appointment. Bevin's nomination was exchanged for complacency by the vast liberal Maximists - who did not nominate anymore candidates. However, centrists and hardliner Maximists were upset with this policy of appeasement, and nominated Ian Mikardoand and Leslie Solley as counter-balances against Mosley's political maneuver. Mikando and Solley were polar opposites; nominations in the chamber extended beyond party-lines, and as such, internationalists nominated Solley and isolationists nominate Mikardo. But the clout of Mosley remained worthy - at his demand Bevin was approved by a large majority and sworn into the the Commission by his predecessor. With Piratin and Bevan both excluded from the cabinet (with the latter expecting a promotion), Mosley's plot was well under way.
Ernest Bevin was one of the prominent liberal Maximist in the Congress of the Trade Unions and held nominal leadership over the Party's largest faction. He was appointed as Commissary for the Foreign Affairs in 1938.
On October 24th, Mosley asked for President Morrison's resignation - Morrison was to be tapped out of the Presidency and nominated by Mosley to the Home Department. His successor, Piratin, would be nominated for the Presidency after the Home Department election on the 27th in Congress. For those three short days, Mosley served as the Committee's incumbent, the official executive organ of lawmaking. Although some were concerned that Mosley would take advantage of this brief window, the General Secretary restrained from taking any serious action while Congress considered its own legislation. In fact, Mosley approved sixteen CTU bills without a word of opposition, quietly slipping into his role as the Machiavellian master. During the morning of the 27th, Mosley met with Rajani Palme Dutt, a senior hardliner Maximist and a devout Totalist. Following this brief meeting, the nominations for the Commissary for Foreign Affairs was opened. Per his deal with Morrison, Mosley nominated the ex-President to the aforementioned position and awaited Congressional nominees. When the moderate Federationists failed to nominate Violet Landsbury for a second term, Delegate Dutt proposed William Joyce to the Commissary. William Joyce was a passionate Totalist, and a committed opponent to opposition forces - his hatred of democracy was well known and his ideological love for Mosley was far from private. He had both the mercenary experience and the cruel commitment necessary to defeat all enemy elements within the Republic. His nomination was no mistake; Mosley had planned the congressional proposal and struck his first blow at the conspirators. When Mosley endorsed Joyce, Morrison was astounded by the betrayal. Immediately, Morrison realized his plot with Piratin, Blair, and Wintringham had been exposed and tried to escape from the room to warn the others - but according to regulation, he was forced to remain in the building until the Congress was out of session and the vote complete. Unsurprisingly, Joyce scored the nomination with a vast majority and was hurried off to the Home Department. His first order as Commissary for the Home Department, under edict from Mosley, was to sack Eric Blair.
William Joyce, the ruthless Intelligence director and Totalist subscriber.
Blair's eviction from the Ministry of Truth, approved by Joyce and Christopher Hill, and Harrison's botched nomination, deprived the conspirators of much needed political clout. Unable to trade away positions at ease, Morrison and Blair were forced to take an uncomfortable path. Whereas their initial plan for Mosley's deposition was to deprive Mosley of his political power through cabinet control, executive power in the committee, and popular military support from Wintringham, Morrison and Blair were compelled to challenge Mosley for General Secretary and Chairman of the CTU leadership at the end of the appointment cycle. Although both the initial and contemporary tactics remained inside the law, the more direct challenge in Congress was expected to cause chaos, and would produce a far more unpredictable result. As the plot unraveled, Mosley prepared the Central Committee to elect its next President. Piratin, unaware of the developments in the Home Department and Congress, expected to be named Mosley's successor on his resignation. But Piratin's aspirations were denied when Mosley nominated, as his final executive command to the Committee, Rajani Dutt to the Presidency. Mortified, Piratin exploded in rage at the apparent betrayal, and was dragged out of the Committee. Only Wintringham, who's allegiance to the conspirators remained ambiguous, retained his post amid Mosley's purge. As such, Mosley believed that he had triumphed and delivered the final blow in a brilliant stroke that saw three of the most powerful liberal Maximists deposed from power. As Dutt assumed the responsibilities of President, Mosley's protege, Delegate Jack Jones, assumed Dutt's position as the leader of the traditional Maximists. Jones' leadership was astounding - at only 25 years old Jones was the youngest Congressmen and the youngest faction leader. Nominally the leader of the Maximist Party, Jones reinforced the ideals of Totalitarian Socialism that had been dwindling during the war months. A brilliant orator, Jones' rise to prowess was heavily subsidized by the General Secretary, who properly considered Jones as a candidate for Chairman of the CTU.
In the following days, Mosley and Dutt asserted their absolute control, demonstrating their power in the final department appointment. With Christopher Hill's resignation (for private reasons) on the 31st, the election of Ian Fleming to the Secret Service Bureau and the appointment of Anthony Blunt to the Ministry of Truth solidified Totalist dominance over the cabinet. As the final appointment drew to a close, and all of Congress convened for the electoral session - Piratin, Blair, and Morrison prepared to strike their blow. Only Annie Kennedy and Barbara Castle were expected to run a Congressional leadership campaign, but only because of Castle's agreement with Mosley. The two Congregationalists candidates were expected to take the entire opposition electorate, excluding perhaps the few remaining Federationists - still opposed to social reform and committed to idealistic Socialism. Dutt and Jones believed that the liberal Maximists would remain committed to Mosley as long as Ernest Bevin remained in the cabinet. Bevin endorsed Mosley without a second thought and expected his electorate to follow in loyalty. But Blair and Morrison had been working tirelessly to drum up support in Bevin's and Attlee's electorate: liberals and centrists who wanted to reform the politically repressive system that Mosley had constructed. Although Mosley supporters were refereed to as "Maximist Traditionalists," the liberal and centrist wing of the party was indeed the more ancient. Original Maximist doctrine called for a strong central government and full state control of the economy, not political repression and cults of personality. Many in the party believed that another silent endorsement for Mosley, in spite of Bevin, would allow the General Secretary to consolidate his power for decades to come. In this concerned electorate did the conspiracy find its support - a silent fraternity forever opposed to oppression that all Britain's loathe. This was the argument of Blair, Wintringham, Morrison, and Piratin - paranoia was their weapon of choice.
Ian Fleming was the eccentric leader of the Secret Service Bureau - appointed with great specificity from former intelligence officers.
On November 3rd, eleven hours after International forces scored another victory in Holstein, Mosley called the Congress for its final session. As expected, Mosley and the Congregationalist's were nominated before the Congress, but there was general reluctance among the seated Congressmen to put forth the liberal Maximists. Finally, after much confusion, George Nicoll Barnes, a liberal Maximist, nominated Blair and Piratin before Mosley and the horrified Congress. Astounded by the act of internal betrayal, Mosley demanded that the nomination be retracted. But his outright anger quickly alienated the swing voters among the moderates, who were compelled to find sympathy among Barnes' opposition. As the Congress burst into unrest, Jones and Dutt scowled through the Maximist ranks, demanding that the Totalists and moderates hold their ground against a traitorous conspiracy. Meanwhile, Redshirts stormed into the Congress and intimidated the liberals as they marched to the protection of the podium, but even this show of force galvanized the liberals. Many chanted jeers at the fuming General Secretary, some dared to even pelt the Totalists with anything they could find. With a restoration of order beyond the realm of plausibility, an impatient Congress began to cast its votes without permission from the Chairman. Several rounds of chaotic voting, with improper counting and boisterous fervor, failed to produce a decisive result; some ballots declared Mosley the victor, others declared Blair and Piratin the new leaders - one notable ballot concluded that the Congregationalists had emerged triumphant, though this was swiftly discredited. As the hours drew onward, Mosley became furious; he climbed to the podium and shouted an enraged altercation at the "liberal traitors, Royalists among our ranks!" So fierce was the conflict in the Congressional building that at last, with his patience depleted, Mosley ordered (illegally) the Redshirts to evacuate the Congress.
Redshirts storm through public gatherings to restore order in Congress.
As horrified Congressmen were thrown out to the streets, army tanks encircled the building and began to make arrests of "traitorous congressmen." General Bill Alexander, the famed Totalist officer and poster-boy for Mosley, evacuated the Totalists away from the building as an infuriated Mosley ordered the partisan traitors thrown in prison. General Alexander obliged to the demands of the General Secretary and incarcerated dozens if not hundreds of Congressmen, each one detained on executive decree. Although Piratin, Blair, and Morrison had not been present at the Congress, Mosley was swift to call for their apprehension as well. Alexander warned that in all likelihood, the conspirators had escaped from the boundaries of the city into the countryside, seeking public sympathy or drumming up political support in the local councils. While this prediction was true for Piratin and Morrison, Blair remained in the city, gathering with his coterie to prepare for his public return against Mosley. That same night, as London buzzed with fear, Mosley took to radio and television to execute his final solution to the affairs of the day. The General Secretary sought to enthrall his audience with vast proclamations of idealism and future glory, but the foundation of his message was conclusive and without discretion: the Constitution was no more. Mosley rules by his own laws, unrestrained to anyone and dutiful to only his own designs.