February Update

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In this Issue:​

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Following the resignation of the Prime Minister on the 14th of January, the King declared an election to take place on the 21st. All the parties of the British Isles registered candidates.

From the Labour Party, after a brief internal struggle, Tony Benn, former PM and MP took over as Leader, with Deputy Leader Cameron Romefeller and incumbent MP Zachary Marshall as the other two Labour candidates. The dominant Conservative Party lost two major members but came back strong after electing Nikolas Carmichael the party leader. Charlotte Wessex, Chief Whip, and newcomer Liana Soloviev round out the Conservative party's ticket. The minor Caesarian party fielded only its leader, perennial candidate Klaus Mikaelson, a popular former Prime Minister and Lord who has faced electoral defeat several times of late. Knowledgable observers, however, expected him to fare somewhat better this time around.

Following a week of campaigning, in which the main issues were foreign policy, the future of the armed forces and constitutional reform, voters took to the polls on January 21st. The election, which was viewed as being too close to call, saw a high turnout: in fact, all 19 registered voters cast their ballot before the time period.

The results confirmed how tight the race was: Labour leader Tony Benn and Conservative newcomer Liana Soloviev were the standout performers, gaining 12 votes apiece. Although the Conservative leader polled only half as many votes as his Labour counterpart, Nikolas Fominov's 6 votes were sufficient to ensure his election. Labour MP Zachary Marshall retained his seat convincingly with 9 votes, but Labour's deputy leader did . Charlotte Wessex and Klaus Mikaelson both received 5 votes, and consequently entered a run-off election for the final seat.

Victory for Wessex in the run-off would have meant a Conservative majority, but Caesarian party candidate Klaus Mikaelson edged over the line, winning by 10 votes to 8. This meant a hung Parliament; the potential deadlock was broken, however, when Conservative MP Liana Soloviev voted for Labour leader Tony Benn in the first ballot of MPs. This meant that Tony Benn returned to 10 Downing Street for a second term as Prime Minister of British Isles.


One of the first actions of the new government was to announce that it would seek to become a signatory of The Convention on Off Site Property Security (C.O.P.S.). In presenting the treaty to Parliament, Prime Minister Tony Benn explained the Government's reasoning for wanting to sign: 'by becoming signatory to this treaty the British Isles shall show that it is no safe heaven for any person who wishes to plague nations through vicious acts as described within the treaty. We as a region have experienced this sort of behaviour before on our own soil and this will be a declaration that we will never stand for it'.

Although the treaty met with some opposition based on concerns that it might undermine the judicial system, it was ultimately ratified by a majority of each House of Parliament, and signed into law by King John I on January 30th. It is now expected that the Government will soon bring forward legislation to allow action to be taken against anyone who destroys forums. The signing of C.O.P.S underscores British Isles' denunciation of forum destruction as a war crime.

Interview with Jone Norfolk:

Spotlight on: Jone Norfolk​

What are the best and worst moments you've had on NS?
My best moment in NS would be whenever I first found a region that I enjoyed. It was called The Brotherhood, and while it was small, it was a lot of fun. I even went so far as to buy a domain name, forum, etc. for it. It seems like so long ago, and I guess it is, almost 8 years now. I met a lot of neat characters back then.
My worst moment in NS is whenever the Global Right Alliance hit one of its stagnant points and I had just about decided I was done with this game. I have never really liked the gameplay aspect of this game. So without a community to come to, it lost a lot of interest to me. I think that the best thing about this game is the communities you find, create, etc. The Raiding/Defending has always been fun to dabble in, but overall I believe this game is a great conduit to bring intelligent people together. I have found many great friendships through this game and I cherish that. There have been plenty of dark days while playing this game, but the majority of it have been light.

Speaking of great friendships, who is the favourite person you've met while playing this game?
That seems like a hard question to answer. There are a number of people I've met through NS that I have enjoyed. Probably too many to truly justice in naming.

Since you'll be King one day, it's appropriate to ask - favourite English monarch?
I think I am going to say King John, he had one of the longest reigns and had a very interesting life. Of course, he was excommunicated by the Pope, and had many shortfalls. But that makes him human, which is something I think you have to remember about being King. You are still human, you will make bad decisions. But you have to learn from them and do what is best for your Kingdom.

That is true, but did John I actually do that?
I don't believe he did, but that is why I think he is my favorite. Because he was such a shortfall as a King. He is exactly what I aim myself not to be. Whenever I am King, I aim not to mold my reign after another King's. I expect to reign as I would, and use previous monarchs as examples of what not to do. What is right will be up to whatever is the best decision at the time.

A little bit about yourself: where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
In 10 years I will be 37, that is quite the age to consider. In that time I will hopefully have fully established myself in a career and be doing something that I enjoy. I would really like to serve in an administrative position where the company I worked for genuinely cared about its clients. Oh, and I will totally fight crime and have sex with millionaires too.

If you were on death row, what would your last meal be?
This is actually sort of a thing I've thought about before. Until a few years ago in Texas you could have almost anything as your last meal.I think it would be a combination of things I enjoy most. A 16oz angus Steak, cooked rare, an order of grilled shrimp, a quail kabob, a large order of bacon wrapped jalapeños, sautéed green beans, and steak fries. To drink it would probably be a Route 44 water from Sonic and a few Mexican cokes.

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This publication is issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the British Isles. Thank you for reading.

Approved and endorsed by the Prime Minister with agreement from the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.