Update: September 2014

I joined the United Kingdom on January 17th 2014, in what was to be my first involvement in the vast world of gameplay affairs that is NationStates. I had already held a nation for a few months but this had stayed in one of the Pacifics and I was only interested in responding to the issues that came up for my nation every few days. One day I searched for my home country in the list of regions and saw that there was a region which I could join. As someone who has an interest in British politics and I would say fairly patriotic, I decided that I would move my nation there.

Jacobios must have sat in the region then for a few weeks until I signed up to the forums and began to participate in the regional affairs of the United Kingdom a lot more. I was unsure of what to expect and was rather daunted when on receiving citizenship I was plastered with a large amount of boards and confused with where to read. Of the first people to PM me through the forum was the then Prince of Wales, James who has latterly gone on to become King of the United Kingdom. Although I did not reply to the message it was comforting to know that someone had taken the time out to message me as a new player and this experience has shaped my approach towards what a government policy regarding new players should be.

I had just joined the region at a time when Jacob Stewart was Prime Minister and there was a British Centralist Party stronghold on Parliament; with me wanting to get into regional politics and the BCP adopting a pragmatist approach to policy which I was favourable to, I decided to apply to join to which I was accepted. With any new person I dwindled along offering my comments where I felt they were needed, it was only when there were issues with the root admin on the forums that I began to give my opinions.

In April 2014, Andrew B. Fraser had been elected Prime Minister in what to this day I believe has been the most active and successful government that the United Kingdom has seen, certainly during my time here. Andrew put out a strong campaign which aimed to fix the region after the disaster which had endued during the premiership of Via. One of the main objectives was to move to another forum where we knew that it would be safe and that the region could be placed in the hands of someone who had our complete trust. I was a part of the majority of members who campaigned to move to the new forum and I retain that that was the right decision for us. At the time there was a genuine concern that the forum was going to be pulled from underneath us during this process but luckily that never happened and the region moved safely over to our new home. I was surprised that the process was completed without any hindrance and that the root admin allowed this happen. The region then began what was a painstaking process, for the administration team at least, in transferring all the years worth of material across from the old forums to the new.

I believe it was at this point that Andrew appointed William Bowes-Lyon to be Director-General of the BBC and I was curious to want to join. The transformation which he had made was impressive and the reforms which he had begun to institute made it stand out to me that this was somewhere which I wanted to be. I asked him via PM if I could join and he accepted.

During this time came the abdication of King Edward IX, someone who I had not really know that well but I saw him as being someone who had served the region well offering it stability and his knowledge. This meant that Prince James was ascended to the throne which I was pleased about, with him being one of the first faces that had welcomed me into the region and he regularly joined in discussions on the forums. It was also around this time that there was a General Election, with Lord Haldane competing against BCP candidate Edwin Astor. I stood, unsuccessfully, for the seat of Wales against a veteran of the House. I didn’t expect to win and I ended up not doing so.

One of my first articles for the BBC was on the State Opening of Parliament just after Lord Haldane had been elected Prime Minister. The article was generally well received with me managing to get a ‘Like’ from the new King so that must have meant I did a good job. I continued to write articles for the BBC and was surprised to be promoted to Assistant Director-General soon after. Together, William and I worked on new services for the BBC such as BBC NationStates and a new branch with the British Isles was established.

William resigned in July citing personal reasons and I assumed the role of Director-General. At this point the region was headed for a slow decline in activity which gave the corporation little to report and generally news was slow. In the role I tidied up parts that were required and introduced a guideline for editors which will help keep up the high standards that I would expect from correspondents. I did have an intention to introduce a radio programme into the region called “BBC Radio UK” but as much as the hype was around it, we had to cancel it due to the low activity in the region. I always maintain the possibility that it may return and there is still this possibility.

At the election in August, I would say that I was more confident in standing for the seat of Wales. I was better known in the region now but still I was standing against a candidate who is an incredibly competent parliamentarian who had held the seat continuously over multiple terms. I managed to secure the seat with a 57% majority which is reasonable but shows justice to the comments I just made about my opponent for the seat. Again the Commons was in the hands of the BCP and Andrew B. Fraser was Prime Minister again.

Election for the Speaker came and I was surprised when I was nominated by Andrew for the position, with me having no previous experience in the House of Commons before. I was the only person nominated which I find disappointing as it’s not really an election with just one person. So yes, I was ‘elected’ or confirmed as Speaker and that’s where we are now.

Tony Benn is the Speaker of Parliament, MP for Wales and BBC Director-General