A ninety-cruiser Royal Navy changes London Treaty bargaining

How would the London Naval Treaty change if Britain already had forty County-class cruisers, twenty Leanders, and a large older cruiser force?

The United States would have to negotiate around a British force near ninety cruisers, probably through separate heavy- and light-cruiser tonnage pools rather than demanding disposal of new ships Britain considered essential.

Ninety cruisers would not be an absurd Royal Navy total when its stated bare minimum was around seventy. A fleet that large implies political acceptance of global cruiser commitments and a sustained construction programme. London Treaty bargaining would therefore have to accommodate existing British strength through large heavy- and light-cruiser tonnage allowances. The comparison with HMS Hood at Washington shows that a negotiating power cannot force disposal when the other side is willing to walk away and the threat behind the demand is insufficient.