Frig Brayeer
The Honourable Frig Brayeer | |
|---|---|
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| Prime Minister of North Vyvland | |
| In office 12 May 1948 – 3 August 1951 | |
| Preceded by | Kresdov-Bernurd Ekt |
| Succeeded by | Johan Daler |
| Finance Minister of North Vyvland | |
| In office 5 May 1945 – 12 May 1948 | |
| Preceded by | Enrig Jeger |
| Succeeded by | Ronuld de Groot |
| Member of the National Diet for Govkros Leydok, SM | |
| In office 27 October 1937 – 3 August 1951 | |
| Preceded by | Velep Ostermaan-Dalder |
| Succeeded by | Roslinda Dekeer |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 200px June 29, 1901 Mohres, Duchy of Syfdyr, Kingdom of Vyvland |
| Died | 3 August 1951 (aged 50) Govkros, North Vyvland |
| Resting place | 200px |
| Nationality | Vyvlander (1901-1935) North Vyvlander (1935-1951) |
| Political party | Socialist Party |
| Spouse | Anabel Norfmaan (1924-1951) |
| Children | Kajren Brayeer, Eylav Brayeer, Adulv Brayeer |
| Parent |
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| Alma mater | University of Stiven |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Kingdom of Vyvland |
| Branch/service | Vyvlander Royal Guard |
| Years of service | 1932-1935 |
| Rank | Korpraal |
Godfrig Urfur "Frig" Brayeer (pronounced /ˈgo̞d.vɾiʝ ˈɐɾ.ðəɾ vɾiʝ bɾaʊˈwe̞ːɾ/) was the fifth Prime Minister of North Vyvland, from 1948 until his unexpected death in 1951. Often described as a left-wing populist, Brayeer was well known for implementing a large swathe of social reforms during his short term in office, including the creation of a comprehensive system of social welfare, reforming the tax system, and liberalising trade union laws. Through this, he managed to cement his Socialist Party as one of the two dominant parties in North Vyvland.
Brayeer is the only leader of North Vyvland or reunified Vyvland to have died in office. Brayeer was diagnosed with terminal cancer during his second year in office, but later assessments of his condition suggest he would live well past 1951. It is often rumoured that Brayeer was instead poisoned, although his body has not been exhumed to provide evidence for such an eventuality.
Early life
Brayeer was born in Mohres, then a small town in the Duchy of Syfdyr, in what would become South Vyvland. His father, Eylav, was the owner of a small orchard who was often unable to provide sufficiently for his children during poor harvests. However, Frig was able to attend school for most of his childhood, before gaining a scholarship to the University of Stiven in 1919. As one of the poorest students at the university, Brayeer felt unable to make acquaintances and was often eschewed by classmates. He settled in Stiven after completing his degree.
Pre-political career
Brayeer worked in a series of menial occupations, including dock work and meat packing. However, in 1925 his father died, leaving his orchard to Frig. He thus decided to move back to his childhood home, where he began to work on the family orchard again. Brayeer joined the local Social Democratic Party a few years later, and sat as a local councillor on Mohres's town councillor. While on the council, Brayeer knew very little of politics and worked mostly in the interests of his local constituents.
However, Brayeer was loyal to the monarchy of the Kingdom, and as such, when war broke out, he chose to sign up to the Vyvlander Royal Guard, the monarchist land army. This brought him away from his hometown, which was soon captured by Nationalist Movement troops emerging from their powerbase in Jesel. Instead, Brayeer mostly fought in the North. By the end of his time in the Royal Guard, he had been promoted to the rank of Korpraal (Corporal). Brayeer described the bleak wartime experience as a shaping of his co-operativist, collectivist beliefs. After the war, Brayeer stayed in the North, settling in the town of Govkros.
Entry into politics
After having been inspired by his time in the army, in the 1937 general election Brayeer stood for the Leydok constituency of Govkros, a working-class area with large poverty problems caused by the irregular dock work prevalent in the area. Standing for the Socialist Party which had been formed by an amalgamation of pre-partition Vyvland's Social Democratic Party and Labour Party, Brayeer was almost certain to win. The election returned a 67% majority in his favour - the Socialists' largest in the country in that election.
During the ensuing eight years of Christian Democratic government, Brayeer was an outspoken critic of the government. Although this cemented his position in the party, then-leader Kresdov-Bernurd Ekt was reluctant to appoint Brayeer to his shadow cabinet due to rumours that he was a Southern spy. Eventually, Ekt caved in and Brayeer was appointed Shadow Education Minister in 1943 before being appointed as Shadow Finance Minister, often seen to be the second-most important shadow cabinet position after the Leader of the Opposition, in December of that year.
Brayeer as Finance Minister
Upon the Socialists' 1945 election win, Brayeer became Finance Minister in the Socialist-Radical People's Party coalition under Kresdov-Bernurd Ekt. Although he had now become one of the most powerful individuals in the country, Brayeer was hindered by the influence of the party's more right-wing coalition partners and their perilously small majority in the National Diet. Despite this, he managed to pass a budget doubling the top rate of tax in addition to introducing a very small inheritance tax on wealthy individuals' estates.
Ekt, however, began to prove unpopular with members of his party for his perceived weakness, and was removed from office in a vote of no confidence in 1948. Brayeer thus became the Prime Minister and candidate for the 1948 general election, which he had called to ensure he held the "democratic mandate". Due to the former government's unfriendly end, the Socialists were widely expected to fall back into opposition, although Brayeer's leadership and campaigning saw a total reversal of this sentiment in just under three months.
Brayeer as Prime Minister
On the election day, the Sociaists managed to gain a small absolute majority in the Diet, although they formed a coalition with the Labour Party. However, the Labour Party by this time had very similar policies to the Socialists, and as such Brayeer was able to lead a relatively harmonious government in which many of his party's policies could be enacted. Within his first year as Prime Minister, Brayeer had passed the Health Insurance Act, founding Vyvland's first public healthcare system; the Unemployment Relief and Remuneration Act, enacting unemployment benefits for all those out of work for between two and eighteen months; and the State Pension Act, creating a system of state pensions eligible to all citizens. The welfare and healthcare reforms ensured he was widely popular with working-class voters, while many middle-class citizens supported the pensions scheme.
In 1950, Brayeer's Socialist Party united with the Labour Party, which had both shrunk and moderated its position since its relative prominence in prewar Vyvland. Although maintaining popularity for its final year, Brayeer's government became less active after Brayeer himself was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer in late 1950. Although the cancer was at a relatively early stage, Brayeer spent much larger amounts of time at home, and led a noticeably less active lifestyle upon the advice of his doctors. Brayeer still continued to make public appearances and attend public events.
Death and legacy
On the 2nd August 1951, Brayeer attended a festival celebrating 100 years since the opening of the docks in his Govkros constituency. Althogh Brayeer's condition was deteriorating, he did not show the characteristic signs of being near death. However, he was taken ill and admitted to the Govkros Sdadospitaal the next day, where he swiftly died at 9:14 pm. Although he was officially listed as dying of cancer, suspicion at the time suggested that he had been poisoned. Advances in cancer treatment suggest that it is medically near-impossible for him to have died at such an early stage, although his body has not been exhumed to confirm this. Amiral Jueves and South Vyvland are most often cited as potential killers, although numerous foreign sources have also been proposed.
Despite his short term in office, Brayeer was one of the most influential North Vyvlander leaders. His reforms ensured far greater social equality and social mobility in the future, in addition to cementing his party's reputation and dominance. Many of the reforms passed during Brayeer's premiership remain in force today. Brayeer also served as an inspiration to many successive politicians on the left. Gunfre Smef-Hoyg, Prime Minister from 1968 to 1976, described Brayeer's reforms as "showing undoubted courage" and described them as the main inspiration for his 1968 reforms following the Stanmer Riots. Abram Zymeker also cites Brayeer's grand vision as inspirational to him, in addition to stating that it inspired Vyvland to take a "completely different path" towards something of a Nordic model liberal democracy. Brayeer's short-term legacy was also resounding - after his death, his successor Johan Daler's Socialists managed to pick up an overwhelming 92-seat majority in the 1951 general election. The election was known as the "silent election" due to the lack of campaigning by the Christian Democrats, who had pledged to make no attacks on the Socialists in the 1951 campaign.