Guelphian Quarterly, autumn 2014
Pomp and ceremony mark opening of Parliament
From Swanbrook Times, Tuesday, 29 April 2014
The King has opened a the second session of the 56th Parliament, with the tradition and pomp marking the order of the day. On a rainy Tuesday afternoon in Kingsbury, the King took the salute before a march past of the 1st Battalion, City of Kingsbury Regiment and a flyby of F-16 fighters from No. 1 Squadron, RGAF.
Having summoned MHAs to appear before him in the Senate, His Majesty then proceeded to read the Speech from the Throne, outlining the agenda of the Jones' government for the next two years. Features of the speech include a commitment to an expansive capital works programme; increased defence spending and procurement; and the opening of new diplomatic posts across the world. The government will be hoping for a change in fortunes after the disastrous few months that saw the resignation of a key cabinet minister, followed by defeat in a by-election that was by all accounts impossible to lose.
This evening, it is expected that 250 dignitaries, including members of the royal family, politicians, diplomats, and senior defence staff will attend a banquet to be hosted by the King at Kingsbury Palace.
Government in shock after by-election defeat
From Kingsbury Express, Sunday 30 March 2014
Democratic Party officials have been at a loss to describe their poor performance in yesterday's by-election loss in the Stanhill electoral district. With all votes having now been recounted, it appears that the government has lost the seat by a wafer-thin margin of 21 votes, an increase of six votes on the first count, which also handed the seat to the opposition. The seat will now pass to Bill Warren of the National Party who barring a serious reversal in the second recount to take place today, will be able to take up his seat in Parliament late next month.
Stanhill has long been a safe seat for the Democrats, who won the seat comfortably in 2012 by a margin of almost 35%. The Nationals, who have long been underdogs in the constituency, snatched the seat after a short and brutal campaign that was precipitated by the resignation of Tony Moore in February. Despite having led the campaign easily in the first week, the absence of the candidate for the first 10 days, coupled with the sudden and unexpected announcement of the forthcoming closure of the Stanhill Mine on the 14 March seem to have fatally damaged the government's campaign, which failed to deliver a coherent narrative and could not get the necessary "oxygen" on the hustings to posit the position of the Democrats on many issues.
It is expected that the Democratic Party will hold an internal review in to what went wrong on the campaign, having already named Lord Howlett to head up an inquiry into the election loss.
Minor party candidate calls on government to offer asylum to Tarmoryan Royal Family
From Stanhill Guardian, Tuesday 26 March 2014
A minor party candidate has caused a diplomatic stir by calling on the government to offer the exiled Tarmoryan Royal Family asylum in Guelphia. Mr Stephen Rowbottom is the candidate in the forthcoming Stanhill by-election, which came about following the resignation of former Foreign Minister Tony Moore. Mr Rowbottom is a member of the ultra-conservative People's Party, which split from the opposition National Party in 2006. Since it was established, the party has not had a candidate elected to either Parliament or the local authorities. His comments came about on Monday as candidates attended a public forum in the village of Warmford Regis in the north of the electorate. Warmford Regis is home to the private estate for the Guelphian Royal Family, who typically spend their weekends on the estate. When asked about the fate of deposed royal dynasties and what Guelphia should be doing to support them, Mr Rowbottom stated that: "It should be the business of the Guelphian government to offer what support it can to monarchies around the world. We should support the ones that remain, undermine any movement to remove them, and seek to undermine any republican government that has come about through the overthrow of a legitimate monarchist government." To audible gasps in the crowd, Mr Rowbottom added: "At the very least, Guelphia owes it to those royal families, such as the Tarmoryans, which have been so unfairly deposed, any succour, support, and asylum it can."
Democratic Party candidate Jacob Hilton, slammed the comments as "Wholly ignorant and offensive to Tarmoryan government and it's people". He also added: "How would Guelphia appear to the Tarmoryan government, a government which is still struggling to find it's feet, by offering comfort and sanctuary to the regime it so recently replaced?". A spokesman for the Foreign Minister, Colin Perrott, refused to be drawn on the comments, stating that it is not the business of the minister to issue rebuttals to every pronouncement by candidates on the hustings.