National Party (Caldia)

National Party An Páirtí Náisiúnta
Leader	Liam Ó Cuillinn
Chairperson	Bairre Ó Raghallaigh
Founded	2017
Youth wing	Young National Movement
Ideology	Conservatism Liberal conservatism
Political position	Centre-right
Euclean Parliament group	ACDE
Colours	Blue
Seanad Glítteann	1 / 60
Comhthionól Náisiúnta	57 / 399
Euclean Parliament	6 / 20
Politics of Caldia Political parties

The National Party (Ghaillish: An Páirtí Náisiúnta; PN), popularly known as the Nationals is a conservative political party in Caldia. It was formed in 2017 after split from the Free Market Party. The party has seen its support grow in both the 2017 and 2019 general elections, increasing its seat count and vote share by significant margins. It is the third largest party in the Comhthionól Náisiúnta. The current party leader is Liam Ó Cuillinn.

History

The party was established following a centre-right split from the Free Market Party (PMSA) prior to the 2017 general election. Liam Ó Cuillinn, an MEP was defeated by Saorla Ní Chadhla in the PMSA's 2016 leadership contest. The two disagreed about the direction of the party and Ó Cuillinn became a frequent critic of Ní Chadhla's leadership style. He was expelled from the party in January 2017. Bairre Ó Raghallaigh, an anti-Ní Chadhla TC, resigned from the party as a result. A group of four TCs published an open letter in An Náisiúnach in opposition to Ó Cuillinn's expulsion and were themselves kicked out of the party in February.

The former PMSA TCs joined Ó Cuillinn in founding the National Party in the run up to the June 2017 election. It positioned itself as the party of the centre-right and Caldia's only authentic conservative party. In the 2017 election, it drew support away from the PMSA and the governing Liberty Party. The party won 23 seats in 2017.

After a period of scandals for the Liberty Party, the party won 57 seats in the 2019 snap election. It became the third largest party in the Comhthionól.

Ideology

The party describes itself as centre-right and has worked to distance itself from the right-wing positions and rhetoric of the PMSA. It supports the reintroduction of the flat tax, reducing government spending, transferring powers from the national government to county governments, and restricting immigration. Some of its members take a Soft Euclosceptic stance, but the party itself has no set policy on Caldia's relationship with the Euclean Community. In 2019, the party's platform said it supported "creating a society that respects the rights of the individual and the limited role of government in an individual's decision-making process".

In the Euclean Parliament, it is a part of the centre-right Alliance of Conservatives and Democrats for Euclea.

Leadership

Liam Ó Cuillinn, the current party leader.

Leader	Liam Ó Cuillinn
Deputy leader and National Party Chairperson	Bairre Ó Raghallaigh
Chief Whip	Gráinne Níc Maghnusa
Budget and Economy Spokesperson	Tadhg Ó Corráin
Foreign Policy Spokesperson	Aodhán FitzRoy
Law and Justice Spokesperson	Cinnéididh Mac Géidigh
Culture, Education, and Society Spokesperson	Olibhia Níc Tuirc

Electoral history

Comhthionól Náisiúnta

Election year	Votes	%	# of overall seats won	+/-	Government
2017	577,567	8.55 (#5)	23 / 399	18	in opposition to Liberty-Centre-DC government
2019	875,324	13.6 (#3)	57 / 399	34	in opposition to Social Democratic government

Euclean Parliament

Election year	Votes	%	# of overall seats won	+/-	Government
2019	1,191,172	24.01 (#2)	6 / 20	4	in government