20 July 2506
The new makeup of parliament has forced the prime minister to reshuffle the cabinet to address the new balance of power. The Nationalists won the most seats, and the Liberals fell by half. A key part of the coalition deal, ATV reports, was for the Nationalists to control the most cabinet positions, which has been obliged to. The Alliance party has been given key departments and many junior positions.
Nationalist leader Pippin Pierre remains Deputy Prime Minister. One of the biggest fights during coalition building was who would control the Treasury. ATV reports that Pierre ultimately decided to allow the Liberals to keep leading the Treasury because he believed their mismanagement could kill the Liberals completely by the next election, thus Sabrina Atkinson remained Chancellor of the Exchequer. However, Pierre received concessions. He was given the ability to appoint a 'public finance watchdog' to monitor decisions taken by non-elected bureaucrats completely at his discretion, and Turner promised to speak to the federal House of Representatives to try and get special treatment regarding safeguards and migration law. Nationalist MP Eleanor White, who had previously used racial slurs against other species, was appointed Minister of Communities— many on the left called this the 'abandonment of the few'.
Alliance leader Courtney Hawkes becomes the new Health Secretary in a bid to convince the public that they are removing ideology from future Healthcare reforms. Victoria Menzies, a new Alliance MP who has previously led an international development charity in drought-ridden areas like Alsara, takes control of the Drought relief department after polling revealed that 71% of people disapproved of the Liberal management of drought relief. Alliance also managed to win the Transport department, with their deputy leader Rae Mendes becoming Transport Secretary, and former railway trade unionist Matthew Rivers becoming Junior Minister for the Railways.
19 July 2506
The incumbent prime minister William Turner spoke to the press at 17:25 this afternoon to confirm that he had formed a coalition with a parliamentary majority, locking Leader of the Opposition Alexander Murray out of office. Despite coming third overall, Turner managed to negotiate with the second-place Nationalist party and minor Alliance party. Pippin Pierre, Nationalist leader, had tried to pressure other leaders to make him leader, his party having won 133 seats— the highest of any right-wing party. ATV reports that Pierre had shouted profanities at Turner, claiming he tried to deny the collapse of the Liberals around him, with his party going from 35% to 18% and dropped to third. ENTV reports that Pierre called Turner a 'snobby entitled pr*ck'.
The swinging factor in choosing Turner was the requirement of a third party to support the government. Liberals and Nationalists combined had 248 seats, short 51, and thus the centrist Alliance party and their 56 seats was the only alternative to ensure an agenda even remotely in line with the Nationalist agenda. One of the big demands from Alliance leader Courtney Hawkes was that the Liberals were in charge of the coalition, rather than the Nationalists— they viewed the liberals as more centre-right and closer to their views, and didn't want to enable a hard-right regime. To Pierre, the ATV claims that after 4 hours of meetings, Hawkes had calmed him down and convinced him that the only other choice besides a Murray-led Labour government, was a Turner-led coalition one. Pippin Pierre has been announced as the new Deputy Prime Minister, while Courtney Hawkes' role in government is not yet known.
19 July 2506
The Labour party, led by Murray, won the most seats in last night's election: 168, their best ever result. However Jens Mertenicht, the Labour leader's Press Secretary, retracted a statement five minutes after publication where the party claimed victory in the election. When questioned, Mertenicht said, "As has become the case with general elections recently, a party can win in both the popular vote and seat count yet be locked out of a government by an opposing coalition. We will be negotiating with parties this morning on electing Alexander Murray as prime minister, but that statement was too quick to celebrate."
Labour received 26% of the popular vote, hardly a landslide victory, but they did win over double the voteshare as their rivals on the left, the People's Socialist Party. Newly elected Labour MP Ashe Stevensen said, "The PSP, previously giants looming over the country's history for the last hundred years, have failed to speak to the voters and have suffered the consequences. I am so pleased that the vision that we have offered has been so readily taken up by the electorate to put us in first place for the first time, and I promise that we will deliver to our constituents." It is expected though Murray will remain in opposition as prime minister William Turner will try to stay prime minister through a coalition with the Nationalist party, who dethroned the Liberals and came second overall.
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