Conservative Party (Wiltshire)

Conservative Party
Country	Wiltshire
Leader(s)	James Brown
Preceded by	National Party
Succeeded by	The Freedom Caucus Corporate Party (NCR)
Ideology	Conservatism Capitalist Economic Libertarian Social Conservatism
Political Position	Right
Status	Active

The Conservative Party is one of the two main political parties in the Kingdom of Wiltshire, alongside the Wiltshire Labour Party. Since Owen Lassiter's appointment as Prime Minister, the Conservative Party has been the governing party in Wiltshire, going onto win the 3024 general election. The party sits on the centre-right of the political spectrum, encompassing various ideological factions including economic liberalism, corporatism, and traditionalism.

The party was originally founded in 3010 by Wiltshire's founding father Jaresh Inyo. Inyo initially led a National coalition through the establishment of the First Republic. However, when the Socialist Party surged under Thomas Shore, Inyo's incorporation of ideological positions led to the formation of the Conservative Party. Following Inyo, the party governed Wiltshire for two-thirds of its existence prior to the NCR occupation. After, the Conservative Party was mostly replaced by the Liberal Conservative Party, which filled much of the same position as the dominant party of the Wiltshirian conservative movement. After the Wiltshire Civil War, the Conservative Party formally re-established itself under Owen Lassiter.

The party generally adopts liberal economic policies favouring free markets, including deregulation, privatisation, and marketisation. Since the establishment of the Wiltshirian monarchy, the Conservative Party dropped many of the republican aspects of its policy platform. However, the party remains outwardly secular and opposed to the expansion of Christianity south of Newton. Socially, the Conservative Party is often seen as more liberal than the Labour Party.

History

The Party, under Jaresh Inyo, went onto win the election in 3010 to see the first Conservative Government. Inyo continued to lead the government for almost a year with two general election victories before his resignation. Inyo's resignation came as a shock to the party, due to his high popularity. Inyo's Deputy Prime Minister, Edward Jellico took the leadership and became the fourth Prime Minister. The Conservatives saw major victories under Edward Jellico and almost obliterated the Socialist Party

Jellico's leadership was unique. It saw Wiltshire join organisations such as the Monetary Alliance and got involved in conflicts around the globe. Jellico took Wiltshire's new strength to lead Doggerland for two years. Jellico was unable to maintain his position when in 3013 he lost his government's majority and required the support of the Liberal Alliance Party to remain in government. He resigned as Leader and, for a month and a half, Renly Stork became Prime Minister as the Socialists formed a weak government with the Communists. Following this, the Conservatives returned to power under Prime Minister Martin Banks. Banks had been Chancellor of the Exchequer since the Conservative victory in 3010 and was well placed for the Leadership. However, he was seen as an old politician by many, with many wanting a fresh face in power.

Baker's government was, for the most part, ineffective. He served from August 3013 until January 3015, in which time he was a crucial part of Wiltshire's withdrawal from the War in Morocco. This move made Banks popular among moderate voters, which helped him maintain power in the October 3014 election. Banks' re-election saw political change in Wiltshire. Many were angry with the extremely long terms (with the record being just over a year), and so in January, Banks' government introduced the Elections Act. The Elections Act would restrict Assembly terms to 4 months at a maximum and designated the date of elections to be the first Thursday following the dissolution of the National Assembly. This law is still in effect today.

In January 3015, Martin Banks resigned as Wiltshire's Prime Minister following over a year in office at the age of 70. His successor was supposed to be Dr. Karen Hayes, however, due to a number of mistakes in the leadership election and a potential investigation into ethical violations, she lost the Leadership to Environment Minister David Loynd. Loynd became the 7th Prime Minister of Wiltshire in January 3015 and served until January 3016 when he lost the January 3016 election to Frank Eddington's Socialist Party in a landslide election.

Under the years of the Socialists, there were four unsuccessful Conservative Leaders (Pete Bus, Andrea Drum, Walt Krussteg and Peter Hay) who all lost elections to the Socialist Party. This was because during their term they introduced massive social programmes such as the Universal Healthcare Act and Social Security for All Act. These laws made them incredibly popular throughout 3016 and 3017. However, in 3018, Wiltshire began to feel the strain of higher taxes and a decrease in International Trade and corporate activity in the region. This led to an increase in poverty and a rise in unemployment. Frank Eddington managed to maintain his party's position, however they began to lose more and more seats to Peter Hay's Conservative Party. The Conservatives were fast gaining on the Socialists in the run up to the November 3018 General Election, coming within less than one percentage point of them in the election (and only 1 seat behind them). The Socialists were forced into a coalition with the Communist Party to remain in government.

This did not last long however, as in December 3018 the Socialists lost 2 seats in by-elections. Following this, Frank Eddington announced his resignation. This caused the Liberal Party (who were vital in keeping the Socialists in Government) to abandon them and form a government with the, now largest party, Conservatives.

Audrick Hill became Prime Minister after three straight years of Socialist rule in a Coalition with the far-right Wiltshire First party and the Liberal Alliance. This caused major problems however as the Assembly was severely divided. There was a government shutdown in January 3019 which left Wiltshire in the weakest position in it's history, due to disagreements over the budget. The election of January 3019 saw the Conservatives win it's first majority in years and dealt a crippling blow to the Socialist Party. This new majority government started immediately with major changes that were impossible while in coalition. They repealed the Universal Healthcare Act and the National Insurance Act. They invested heavily into getting new businesses to come to Wiltshire by cutting corporation tax to 5%, the lowest in it's history.

The new majority government also planned to hold a referendum on Wiltshire's membership of the Northern Novanite Federation. The NNF was founded when Scion and Novenae formed a political union and invited the newly Conservative-Capitalist state of Wiltshire to join. The Wiltshire NNF Membership Referendum was a heated one and split Wiltshirian politics in half. The result of the referendum was a tight one, with 50.4% of the people voting to join. This led the Conservative Party to take Wiltshire into the NNF. Many opposed this and the party began to show signs of splitting in half. This caused Prime Minister Hill to resign, pathing the way for Samantha Schrӧder to take up the leadership to become Wiltshire's first ever female Prime Minister.

However, Schrӧder's support for a political union went above and beyond the imagination of many and in early March she proposed a fully integrated Federation. One nation. This new nation would have an elected President and the Union of Wiltshire, Walkerton, Washington and the Alphenland would be dissolved in favour of this. Sam Schrӧder became the last Prime Minister of Wiltshire and became the first Director of the Province. This ultimately destroyed her government as following this her party lost the April 3019 Wiltshire Legislative Elections. Before this, there was a vote of no confidence in the Schrӧder ministry due to party defections. This led the Conservatives to undergo a complete course correction, with their next leader, Dylan Rowlands, would convert the Conservative party into an anti-Novanite party.