April 3019 Wiltshire Legislative Elections

The April 3019 Wiltshire Legislative Election will be held on April 13 to elect the new Wiltshire Provincial Assembly. This will be the first election since Wiltshire's admission to the Novanite Federation and the constitutional change which abolished the position of Prime Minister in favour of the position of Director.

The incumbent Director is Conservative Samantha Schroder. Schroder became Prime Minister (then later Director) in February 3019 following the resignation of Prime Minister Audrick Hill. Hill won the January 3019 election with an overall majority. This resulted in the end of the 3019 Wiltshire Political Crisis and saw the Conservatives be the majority in government.

Electoral System

Each district elects one Assembly Member (AM) to the Provincial Assembly using the first-past-the-post voting system. The party leader who is able to obtain a majority of the support in the assembly would be able to become Director. This is usually done by a coalition of parties, however (in large victories) a party can win an outright majority of seats.

Voter eligibility

To vote in the legislative election, one has to be;

• on the Electoral Register
• aged 18 or over on polling day
• a Novanite Citizen resident in the Province
• not legally excluded from voting (for example, a convicted person detained in prison or mental hospital)

Individuals have to be registered to vote by midnight six days before the election (7th April). You can only register in one district, and people with multiple homes were advised to pick their primary residence.

Date of the Election

The date of the election has been chosen by the government in accordance with the Fixed Terms Assembly Act. The Provincial Assembly will be dissolved on April 5th to allow for a 1 week campaign.

Background

This election is required by Wiltshire law as the three month term of the previous Assembly comes to an end. This election will be the first in Wiltshire's history to have less AMs than were incumbent as the City of Washington is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Wiltshire Government. The 15 AMs from Washington will not be re-elected and the Assembly will revert to having 38 members. The government has not announced any plans for redistricting.

Political Groups and Leaders

This election sees the first split opposition in Wiltshirian electoral history and so multiple parties have a large number of seats.

The Conservative Party

The Conservative Party is the ruling party in Wiltshire and took office following the by-election defeats for the Socialists in late 3018. The Leader of the Conservative Party is incumbent Director Samantha Schroder. Schroder has been leader since February 3019.

The Conservatives' are an economically right wing, socially libertarian party that believe in free-market capitalism and in the advantages of low taxes and few regulations. The Conservative Party is pro-Novanite.

The Communist Party

The Wiltshire Communist and Social Order Party is the 2nd largest party in the Provincial Assembly. The Communists are not a large electoral force, however following the splitting of the Socialist Party into the Socialist and Labour Parties respectively, the Communist Party had more seats than the both sides.

They are a left-wing party that believes in abolishing the free-market capitalist system currently in place for a communist system of government and economy. The party denies being authoritarian, however does call for stricter legislation on everyday life and for a 'new social order'.

The Leader of the Communist Party is former Deputy Prime Minister Walton Baker.

The Freedom Caucus

The Independent Conservative Party, or more commonly known as the Freedom Caucus, is a right-wing, Anti-Novanite political group in the Assembly. Their policies are extremely similar to the Conservative Party (which they broke away from), however is anti-Novanite and calls for a referendum on membership.

The Freedom Caucus does not have a party leader. However, says they would support either a Wiltshire First Leader or an anti-Novanite Conservative leader. They have ruled out supporting Director Samantha Schroder.

The Socialist Party

Traditionally one of the two major Wiltshirian parties, the Socialist Party were in government until January 3019 when they lost their majority because of by-election defeats. However, they received massive loss of support in the January 3019 Wiltshire Election. The leader of the Socialists is Harry Melbourne.

The Socialist Party is a left-wing party that believes in a regulated economy that works for the common good, however, does not deny the usefulness and need for capitalism, just to a smaller degree. The Socialist Party is pro-Novanite.

The Labour Party

The Labour Party was established in February 3019 when Socialist Leader Rita Smith was removed from the leadership following her poor performance in the January 3019 Elections. Smith's Labour Party received support from the Green Party and three other Socialist AMs to give them 5 seats in the Assembly. Labour are to the left of the Socialists however believe in the main principles of a regulated economy. Smith remains the leader of the Labour Party and the Party is Pro-Novanite.

Wiltshire First

The Wiltshire First Party is the newest party on the political scene, being formed in late 3017 to combat rising socialism and immigration. The far-right wing party believes in a closed border with Bonitana and a completely free-market. In November 3018, they won massively, winning 6 seats. They entered a coalition with the Conservatives in early 3019 to form a government with Prime Minister Audrick Hill.

The Leader of Wiltshire First is Michele Yarner who was the founder of the party and former Deputy Prime Minister.

The Liberal Party

The Liberal Alliance Party is a centrist political party that believes in social freedoms with moderate economic regulation from the government. They are described as the only pro-corporate liberals in Doggerland and believe in lower taxes for workers. They believe that drugs should be legalised and that the government should have an extremely limited role in a citizen's life. However, they do support small level welfare-programmes such as Universal Healthcare.

The Leader of the Liberal Party is Ray Banes, who until recently was the Foreign Minister in the Conservative-led coalition.

Current State of Play

Currently, the Conservatives hold the largest number of seats and are in government. Here is the current breakdown (with and without Washington delegations).

Party	Seat No.	Seat No. (without Washington)	Last Election performance
Conservatives	21	13	42.0%, 28 seats
Communists	7	7	12.4%, 7 seats
Socialists	6	4	27.2%, 10 seats
Freedom Caucus	7	4	0%, 0 seats
Labour	5	4	0%, 0 seats
Wiltshire First	5	4	10.9%, 5 seats
Liberal	1	1	4.9%, 1 seat
Independent	1	1	2.6%