Liberal Party (Imagua)

Liberal Party of Imagua and the Assimas
Founded	18 January, 1924
Dissolved	1 July, 1945
Succeeded by	Democratic Party
Ideology	Liberalism
Political position	Centre to Centre-left
Colors	Yellow
Legislative Council	0 / 60
Chamber of Commons	0 / 70
Political parties Elections

The Liberal Party of Imagua (Vespasian: Partito Liberale di Imagua) was a political party of Imagua and the Assimas that existed from 1924 until it was renamed to the Democratic Party in 1945.

Originating from the Suthmeerite faction that was founded by Cornelius Suthmeer in 1892, the Liberal Party consolidated itself as a formal political party in 1924 by then-Chief Minister Nelson Egnell due to the rise of the Labour Party, and seeking to ensure a "unified slate" against the Lambournites.

The Liberals' heyday as an organized political party was from 1924 until 1936, although much of their time in power was dominated by the Great War from 1926 until 1934, during which time Imagua was under Gaullican occupation. After the end of the Great War, the Liberals went to the opposition benches in 1936, and would decline as the Labour Party continued their rise.

In 1945, as the United Provinces was established, the Liberals renamed themselves to the Democrats in an attempt to become closer to Pierre Voloix's Democratic Party.

History

Origins

The origins of the Imaguan Liberal Party date back to 1892, when Cornelius Suthmeer, former managing director of the Bank of the Orient from 1885 to 1891, created a faction comprising of small landowners and middle class people who were opposed to Harmon Lambourne's faction that was dominated by the large landowners. Suthmeer's faction would be informally known as the Suthmeerites, after Suthmeer, who led the faction from 1892 until his retirement from Imaguan politics in 1904.

Suthemer was succeeded as the leader of the faction by Edmund Bollen. During his leadership, the Suthmeerites became firmly liberal, while the Lambournites became firmly conservative. However, after Bollen lost his seat in the 1909 elections, he was succeeded by Peter Hansson as the leader of the faction.

Under Hansson's leadership, the Suthmeerites were able to form government in 1917, ending a quarter-century rule by the Lambournites, with Hansson becoming Chief Minister. However, after Hansson died in 1920, he was succeeded as leader of the faction by Nelson Egnell, who automatically assumed the role of Chief Minister.

By the early 1920s, seeing the rise of the Labour Party, Peter Hansson realised that having a "socialist organisation" could help benefit the Suthmeerites. Thus, in 1923, Hansson pushed through a proposal within the faction to "consolidate itself" into a party with a set of rules and regulations so it can "promote and present itself to all the Imaguans." After it was approved, Hansson and his cabinet began focusing on creating a political party.

Formation and government

In January 1924, Peter Hansson officially established the Liberal Party. As the Liberal Party, (TBC).

Political positions

The Liberal Party's ideology was liberalism. For much of its history, it was a classical liberal party, which advocated for freedom of speech, trade, conscience, and choice. It advocated for reduced regulations, as they believed that a freer economy would benefit Imagua and the Assimas.

Socially, they were also liberal, advocating for women's suffrage in the 1890s, and advocated social liberal policies, especially from the end of the Great War onward.

Election results

Election	Leader	Candidates	Seats	+/-	Votes	%	Position
1892	Cornelius Suthmeer	36/36	10 / 36	new	15,968	25.25%	Official Opposition
1896		36/36	11 / 36	1	17,911	31.18%	Official Opposition
1900		36/36	13 / 36	2	21,916	33.30%	Official Opposition
1904		37/37	11 / 37	2	15,330	27.80%	Official Opposition
1908	Edmund Bollen	37/37	11 / 37		19,117	27.21%	Official Opposition
1909		37/37	12 / 37	1	27,665	31.15%	Official Opposition
1913	Peter Hansson	38/38	16 / 38	4	32,944	33.88%	Official Opposition
1917		38/38	20 / 38	4	54,134	44.20%	Democratic-Labour coalition
1920	Nelson Egnell	38/38	11 / 38	9	60,332	24.79%	Official Opposition
1924		39/39	5 / 39	6	62,915	21.51%	Third party
1936		39/39	9 / 39	4	74,051	23.30%	Official Opposition
1940	Nelson Pakenas	39/39	5 / 39	4	76,993	23.10%	Official Opposition
1944	Abraham Halfacre	40/40	3 / 40	2	59,814	19.54%	Third party