Legacy

Pronouns
he/his
TNP Nation
Alsatian Island
2 April, 2009

"I have done my duty to your families, honestly and to the best of my capacity. I have still a duty to care for my own and to fulfil that, I must pass on the gauntlet to someone more capable, and to someone with the same energy and passion for this nation that I possess. My mind wishes to carry on, but my life necessitates that I change course, so I wish the Esthursian people the best for the future, and trust my successor will maintain the values and principles I hold dear for many years to come."

The noise of the presenter on the television cut in at this point, drowning out Isaac Harding's final statement as Prime Minister.
"Right, what do you make of it?"
"Pardon?"
Tharbjorn hadn't quite noticed that someone was sat next to him, but he was too polite to tell him to get up and go, or to do so himself. Good intentions and all.
"Of Harding? He's gone for good."
"He's done a fine job."
Tharbjorn, a bald man of forty years with a raspy, Old Thurrock accent and a demeanour of slight hubris, realised he could not say the same. Harding had tried to set the ball rolling on the privatisation of Esthursian industry, but the spectre of William Greenwood's own experiences and what resulted still weighed heavy on his conscience, and even harder on his progress. Although accredited with the robust economy built under his tenure, Harding had confided to Tharbjorn that he felt he had failed in his duty to provide the free market with the opportunities it deserved in his seven years, and that his fears of the unions may have done more than the unions ever could have.
"No. He's done seven days' work in seven years. We need someone who has the confidence to get things done, to get Greenwood's legacy fulfilled."
"Greenwood? The leader who brought the entire nation against us, then blamed the centre and ran off?"
Tharbjorn tried not to wince at this comment. He'd just realised he was talking to a one-nationer, a centrist; frankly, he wished his "colleague" were in another party, or left politics altogether. It was people like that who kept the party strangled back. Instead of lashing out verbally, he just sat silently, contemplating.

--

John Largan turned off the television, slightly sighing.
"So, the Conservatives have no leader." He took out a glass, filled it with water, and went to sit back down, writing:
Possibilities for Conservative leader:

Not a single name came to his head. He had forgotten how Harding, a figure who managed to be at the centre of his entire party and yet not alienate the centre of the country, had commanded the loyalty of his entire Cabinet; something no leader of that party in his lifetime had done. Nobody could follow that, surely?

Then he remembered one.

Rosemary Manning.

The stalking horse from 2002, the woman who wins thirty percent of the party's endorsements every single time she stands, then drops out of the second round with thirty-and-a-few percent. He couldn't remember a time where she didn't stand as leader, but assumed it was at least since twenty years ago. No way could she tame the right of the party - or even convince them that she was the person worth giving the party to, considering she had spent half of the 1980s courting Social Democrats for unity against Greenwood legislation. There were a lot of one-nation conservatives who wouldn't vote her, let alone High Conservatives. If anything, he wished he got to compete against her - the attention on instability broke the camel's back in 1990, and it could well again in 2010 if she "leads" them in, he thought.

He sat back slightly, turning on a documentary and went through names from each faction; thinking to himself of how best to tackle them all. Harding was formidable but lacked policy - Largan knew his element was in selective scrutiny.

"Mark, are you up?"

"Yes, I'd assume, John, you just watched the news."

"Of course, old Isaac's gone. Prepare the setup for tomorrow, we need to seize this moment, speak to the nation and prepare for the new leadership."

--

A journalist for the National Esthursian Channel (NEC) News, walking around with a microphone, had finally found someone willing to speak to them about the recent news. The cameras rolled and he prepared his question. Finally, a passer-by who cared about politics enough to stop, he thought, as he moved the microphone into position.

"What do you think of the Prime Minister's resignation today, sir?"

"Well-"

"The Prime Minister, if you didn't know, has resigned today, citing external commitments. What do you think of his resignation and what will his legacy be?"

"He's done a wonderful job, and made himself and the nation proud. The economy's back on track, the housing market is stabilised and the free market is being taken seriously for the first time in my lifetime. I have faith in this Government to get the peoples' priorities heard and to choose a successor who will continue the great policy programme that Harding pursued successfully throughout his time as Prime Minister."

"You're rather optimistic about his legacy, then? Why's that?"

"Of course I am; and as Education Secretary, I-"

"Education Secretary?"
 
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