Margaret Harrison suffers major setback, massive showdown scheduled for 11 June
By Levi Hodges, Allie Vega, and Lyle Williams, KTN
Wednesday, 3 May 2017
Stockholm (KTN) — In the span of a little over 24 hours, the political landscape of the United Kingdom has dramatically changed. Only one day after the most consequential political event in modern politics, Chancellor Margaret Harrison has suffered a significant blow to a major aspect of her political agenda, Opposition Leader Nicole Chancellor has been gifted an electoral opportunity to embarrass her globalist opponents, Foreign Secretary Avianna Aldridge has resigned and will run to lead the legislative wing of the Labor Party, Giovanni Giletti has resigned as leader of the Conservative Party and transferred leadership to former Qvaitican President Jonathan Victor, and the Centrist Democratic Party is pulling out all stops with King consort and former Qvaitican President Victor Cutter announcing his return to politics. All of this comes as a legislative election is scheduled to occur on Sunday, 11 June.
The first major news to break on the night of 2 May was the passage of Referendum 1, which revises the Constitution by disbanding the tricameral Parliament in favor of a bicameral legislature, a Citizens' Assembly whose seats will be filled randomly among UK citizens and a National Assembly whose seats will be filled by an 11 June legislative election. The change from a parliamentary system to a semi-presidential system and the election that follows comes at a bad time for Chancellor Margaret Harrison as she just began implementing the bulk of reforms that she promised in her election campaign in 2015. Having been President of Qvait from 1 April 2016, then Chancellor of the United Kingdom from 1 August 2016, Margaret Harrison's only major achievements have been anti-corruption and campaign finance reform and the incorporation of dental care into the National Health Service. In April, Margaret Harrison's immediate priority was a world charter, but the passage of Referendum 4, albeit a slim majority, has put that indefinitely on hold.
Margaret Harrison (left) and Taeler Shaw (right) in June 2016
The passage of Referendum 4, which was authored personally by Nicole Chancellor and sponsored by The New Right, was inopportune for Margaret Harrison because she was just recently negotiating with her counterparts for a world charter. This was the last thing that Margaret Harrison could want, because she was elected President, then as Chancellor, on the promise of a democratic world government. The loss was so disappointing that one political commentator and staunch supporter of Harrison, David Burnette, caught the attention of social media when he said she should resign, "The idea of a one world government was one of the top five priorities for Chancellor Harrison…and that plan went up in flames." Members of The New Right were quick to use Burnette's words against Harrison, with NR's number two, Jeremy Christensen, posting a video of his remarks on social media and writing, "Time for her to go." Early Wednesday morning, some members of Harrison's own party, such as Phillip Guzman, who is considered to be one of the most influential members of the Labor Party, called for her resignation.
Sources in the Executive Building state that Foreign Secretary Avianna Aldridge approached Harrison and asked to resign so that she could lead the legislative wing of the Labor Party through the 11 June election. These sources say that Margaret Harrison 'gave Aldridge her blessing.' Following her resignation, Avianna Aldridge put out a press release stating, "I feel that I would of better service to my country if I ran for a seat in the National Assembly." With Aldridge leaving the executive wing and heading for the legislature, it will be up to her to defend her party against an onslaught from parties on every side of the spectrum which are looking to steal seats from the Labor Party. Polls already show the Labor Party losing a significant amount of its voting share to the Populists of the Left and the Socialist Party, with the former vying for the power of the legislative gavel.
In spite of the numerous calls for her resignation, Margaret Harrison does not seem intent on doing so. In fact, she gave the people of the United Kingdom a promise to issue a binding referendum when there is a complete charter for a world forum. Margaret Harrison would also put her political career on the line, saying, "If you vote not to ratify such a charter, I will immediately resign as Chancellor of the United Kingdom." She highlighted the fact that Referendum 4 was a nonbinding resolution and called its passage a 'message by the people that they want to directly vote on ratifying a charter.' Only time will tell whether Margaret Harrison will win the day or succumb to her wounds that were created Tuesday.
Coinciding with Referendum Day, the Populists of the Left held an election to determine the leader of the party, which would be Taeler Shaw, a former member of the Labor Party. A recent poll conducted by Lemon Research showed that the Populist—Left could outnumber the Labor Party. The Populist—Left's agenda is very similar to the Labor Party but, as the name implies, is more populist and oriented towards agrarianism. If the Populist—Left becomes the largest party of the left after the 11 June legislative election, it would not do very much damage to Margaret Harrison's agenda, but it would mean having to work with a party that is not her own. Taeler Shaw has pledged to form an alliance with the Labor Party, The Greens, and the Socialist Party. Nicholas Courtney, the leader of the Socialist Party, has also made the same pledge, "While the people on the right are fighting amongst each other, this is the perfect time for the left to come together with common values and a common agenda."
King consort Victor Cutter in September 2016
With The New Right having tremendous momentum, the upstart Centrist Democratic Party has managed to pull out all the stops by successfully convincing King consort Victor Cutter, who served as President of Qvait from 2012 to 2013, to come out of retirement. Cutter, who vowed in 2016 to never hold public office again, has broken that promise in an effort to shut down Nicole Chancellor and The New Right. In his first political statement since the birth of the United Kingdom, Victor Cutter said, "I know I promised to never run for office again, but I have no choice but to break it to put to a stop the nationalist sentiment that is growing in our country. History has shown that nationalism is a perpetual threat to peace and stability and that is why I will be running for a seat in the National Assembly."
It will be interesting to watch as Victor Cutter runs for office for the first time since early 2012, which was the first and only time he did so. He made a name for himself when he was at the center of an international scandal and high-profile marriage with Winstonian Queen Katelynn in 2004 at a time when relations between Qvait and Winstonia were at its lowest. At the time, he was a junior enlisted soldier in the Qvaitican Defense Forces who risked being court-martialed by the Army, faced deportation threats from Winstonian Prime Minister Tommie Shane, and was accused of committing treason from people back home. Even when the older, more traditionalist Qvaiticans and Winstonians were disgusted by their actions, Victor Cutter and Queen Katelynn would doublehandedly change the relationship between their two countries and set the tone for a new one.
In spite of the controversy, Victor Cutter would go on to be elected as the President of Qvait, serve as the Secretary of Defense and later as the Secretary of Intelligence and Security (SIS) under multiple governments, and his marriage with Queen Katelynn has largely been credited to the unification of Qvait and Winstonia in 2016. Once an apolitical man, Cutter is not perceived to be an ideologue and has never been afraid to sit down and deliberate with leaders of other parties. In fact, he once served as the SIS under Margaret Harrison before the unification of Qvait and Winstonia. With respect to Margaret Harrison, Cutter said, "I am more than willing to work with her, especially when she wants to implement her program addressing homelessness in our country, but we're not on the same page when it comes to social issues."
Jonathan Victor at the January 2014 Annual Summit of Conservatives
Meanwhile, the Conservative Party will be shaking up as a result of Giovanni Giletti's announcement of resignation as leader of the party. After a three-year absence from politics, Jonathan Victor, who served as President of Qvait from 2013 to 2014, has been asked to serve as interim leader of the Conservative Party and is running for a seat in the National Assembly. This marks the end of the Giletti era, who was the first Conservative in years to fail to win the presidency in 2015, which was credited as a reaction to the Operation Affirmed scandal under conservative President Gabriel West. Now, it will be up to former President Jonathan Victor, who once led a powerful United Conservative Party, to lead the successor party out of the wilderness. However, he will now have to face a type of opponent he never fought before—a nationalist.
Jonathan Victor will have to push against the efforts of Nicole Chancellor, who managed to split the United Conservative Party in half mid-2016. In his shocking announcement of return, Jonathan Victor promised that we would work with Victor Cutter, a close friend and former Conservative, in taking on what he calls 'the nationalist tide.' He said that "there will be an alliance between the Centrist Democrats and Conservatives to take on the nationalists and restore proper conservatism to the country." Much like his Centrist Democratic colleague, he vowed to cooperate with Margaret Harrison, but only to counteract the efforts of The New Right, "We will work with [the Labor Party] when we can, but we mustn't let the social democrats destroy our sense of tradition. We are an alliance united in keeping tradition a sacred value of this country."
Before the announcements made by Victor Cutter and Jonathan Victor, polls projected a crushing defeat for the Centrist Democratic and Conservative Parties at the hands of The New Right, but their return to the political landscape may not be opportune for Nicole Chancellor. In the days to come, polls will show how much of an effect their return to politics will affect her party's success on 11 June. In their joint announcement, Victor Cutter and Jonathan Victor said that it was time for their two parties to "proclaim the return of the United Conservative Party without the malicious elements," which was a shot fired at The New Right. Jonathan Victor said, "Nicole Chancellor likes to talk a lot about 'taking this country back.' Well, let's take it back from her. Her politics are a cancer to this country and the time for playing games is over. We are the real conservatives and we are united once more!"
Nicole Chancellor in April 2017
Leading up to Referendum Day, Nicole Chancellor campaigned vigorously for the passage of Referendum 4, which appears to have paid off. She called its passage a 'rejection of globalism.' However, she will be in the biggest fight of her political career, going up against two former Presidents of Qvait and a third by proxy—two on her side of the spectrum and one on the left. While Nicole Chancellor was intent on fighting to shut down Margaret Harrison's agenda, she now has to stop Victor Cutter and Jonathan Victor from stealing crucial votes, which will be a tall order. However, Nicole Chancellor does not seem to be afraid, "The momentum is on our side. They said we would fail to break away from the fake Conservatives. They were wrong. They said we weren't going to be the largest opposition party. They were wrong. They said Referendum 4 would fail. They were wrong. We will win and win and win and win!"
Nicole Chancellor also had a message for voters who may vote for the Centrist Democrats or Conservatives, "Do you honestly believe that [Victor Cutter and Jonathan Victor] care about you? Their only intention is to screw us over. Don't waste your votes on them. They won't help you." She would go on by calling them 'political hacks.' Despite the new competition that she faces, Nicole Chancellor should not be underestimated. The Electoral Commission released a report for April 2017, which showed The New Right having raised the most money out of all the parties for the fifth consecutive month. Matthew Dames, a member of the Labor Party, said, "The thing about [Nicole Chancellor's] supporters is that they have passion and know that she has conviction, which the other parties have been lacking as of late." He also said that Margaret Harrison should be worried, especially with the return of Victor Cutter and Jonathan Victor, "One of the three might just steal the National Assembly and that would spell the end for Harrison's agenda."
Referendum Day results (88.47% turnout):
- Referendum 1 (reform legislature) — 79.84% yes, 20.16% no
- Referendum 4 (world charter negotiations) — 50.06% oppose, 49.94% support
- Referendum 5 (legalize recreational marijuana) — 54.31% no, 45.69% yes
- Referendum 6 (reintroduce death penalty) — 56.29% no, 43.71% yes
- Referendum 7 (ban single-use plastic bags) — 53.48% yes, 46.52% no
KTN's Haajid al-Shaban and Kasey Winters contributed to this report.