3026 Wiltshire general election

A general election was held in the Wiltshirian Commonwealth on 12 January 3026, to elect 53 members to the Wiltshire National Assembly. This was the first and only Wiltshirian election ever to be held by imperial decree. The governing Republic party led by prime minister Audrick Hill remained the largest single party in the National Assembly. However, despite dominating opinion polls leading up to the election, republicans failed to secure an overall majority. The election resulted in the formation of a Labour minority government, with a precarious standing in the legislature.

The Republic party was formed in the preceding month as a formal merger of the Conservative and Liberal parties, which had formed a coalition government after the resignation of prime minister Beau Martin. They were led by Audrick Hill, Martin's successor as prime minister. It was defending its position as the largest single party in the legislature against the opposition Commonwealth party, which itself split before the election with the Labour party breaking away, led by Patrick Rivers.

Under the Act of Settlement, an election had not been due until May 3026, but Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian Augustus dissolved the National Assembly and called the election early after the passage of the Secular Bill of Rights, which he opposed. The imperial decree resulted in significant distrust between the Commonwealth government and the Imperium, leading to wide scale protests and a revived separatist movement in 3026.

Opinion polls had consistently shown strong leads for the republicans over Commonwealth and Labour. From a 18-point lead, the republicans lead narrowed to just 8-points on election day. The Republic party returned 25 assemblymen - a gain of 0 seats from their previous standing. However, this is a net loss of 11 seats from the combined Conservative-Liberal seat share achieved in the 3025 election. Similarly, the Republic popular vote share was down over 15-points from the combined Conservative-Liberal vote share in 3026, returning on 36.0% of the popular vote. Despite opinion polls predicting Commonwealth to remain the main opposition party, Labour surged into second place on polling day, winning 14 seats to Commonwealth's 7. This was the best performance for the Labour party since the September 3022 general election, leading to Rivers becoming prime minister. The new Covalence party and Commonwealth tied with 7 seats each, though Covalence won the third-place popular vote.

Opinion polling

Below is a record of WBC/Atlantic opinion polling from the date the election was called (26 Dec 2025).

Date conducted	Pollster	Sample size	🟢Republic	🔴Labour	🔴 Commonwealth	⚪ Covalence	🟣Concord	Lead
27 December 3025	WBC/Atlantic	1,250	25%	N/A	26%	20%	8%	🔴 Commonwealth +1
28 December 3025	WBC/Atlantic	1,250	26%		25%	19%	9%	🟢 Republic +1
29 December 3025	WBC/Atlantic	1,250	30%		27%	16%	6%	🟢 Republic +3
30 December 3025	WBC/Atlantic	1,250	31%		27%	15%	8%	🟢 Republic +4
31 December 3025	WBC/Atlantic	1,250	33%		30%	13%	8%	🟢 Republic +3
1 January 3026	WBC/Atlantic	1,500	37%		31%	15%	7%	🟢 Republic +6
2 January 3026	WBC/Atlantic	1,000	36%		30%	17%	5%	🟢 Republic +6
3 January 3026	WBC/Atlantic	1,500	38%		34%	20%	5%	🟢 Republic +4
4 January 3026	WBC/Atlantic	1,000	40%		36%	21%	3%	🟢 Republic +4
5 January 3026	WBC/Atlantic	1,500	44%		36%	17%	1%	🟢 Republic +8
6 January 3026	WBC/Atlantic	1,000	45%		34%	18%	2%	🟢 Republic +11
Labour party splits from Commonwealth party
6 January 3026	WBC/Atlantic	1,500	46%	11%	20%	15%	1%	🟢 Republic +26
7 January 3026	WBC/Atlantic	1,500	45%	13%	21%	14%	1%	🟢 Republic +24
8 January 3026	WBC/Atlantic	1,000	47%	14%	18%	12%	2%	🟢 Republic +29
9 January 3026	WBC/Atlantic	1,500	49%	15%	17%	14%	3%	🟢 Republic +32
10 January 3026	WBC/Atlantic	1,250	48%	15%	18%	13%	2%	🟢 Republic +30
11 January 3026	WBC/Atlantic	1,500	50%	14%	15%	14%	1%	🟢 Republic +35
12 January 3026	WBC/Atlantic	1,500	48%	17%	16%	13%	2%	🟢 Republic +31
Exit poll	WBC/Atlantic	6,550	49%	15%	13%	14%	9%	🟢 Republic +34
Election result		2,688,410	36%	28%	16%	17%	2%	🟢 Republic +8

Results

Results of the Wiltshire general election held on 12 January 3026

Party	Leader	Assemblymen elected		Aggregate votes
🟢 Republic	Audrick Hill	25	47.2% of total	966,413	36.00%	-15.70%
🔴 Labour	Patrick Rivers	14	26.4% of total	762,629	28.30%	+28.30%
⚪ Covalence	Basil Lethbridge	7	13.2% of total	464,208	17.30%	+17.30%
🔴 Commonwealth	Karla Steenbusch	7	13.2% of total	434,606	16.20%	-19.20%
🟣Concord	Jan Rau	0	0% of total	60,554	2.30%	+2.30%
Prime Minister before election			Prime Minister after election
Audrick Hill - Republic			Patrick Rivers - Labour
Fourth Hill ministry			Rivers ministry

Manifestos

Republic Party

1. Draft a codified, republican constitution that ensures Wiltshire's lasting independence as a free, democratic, and secular sovereign state. This document will be written by a constitutional convention of citizens, and approved by a popular referendum.

2. Commit to Gavin Thompson's 3026 deficit elimination plan. Ensure any future surplus beyond is returned to Wiltshirian taxpayers in the form of a reduction in the universal standard tax (UST).

3. Commit to a zero tolerance policy on anti-social behaviour and petty crime; clean up Wiltshire's streets.

4. Complete a full review of the repealed agricultural subsidies and explore ways to restore our farmers' best protections.

5. No more snap elections! Commit to increasing term lengths to two-years, ending uncertainty around parliamentary governments.

Commonwealth Party

1. Establish the Public Corporation, in which every Wiltshirian citizen is a stakeholder, to deliver public services in the competitive marketplace. All profits from the Public Corporation shall be invested back into public services, with citizens receiving dividends as any shareholder would.

2. Raise the minimum wage to 14 cm per hour.

3. Commit to Gavin Thompson's 3026 deficit elimination plan.

4. Strive for a lasting peace to ensure no Wiltshirian ever has to die on the battlefield again. This means maintaining membership of international defensive organisations, such as the Holy Roman Empire.

5. Repeal the Secular Rights Bill and replace it with a neutral Humanoid Rights Bill.