Democratic Party (Imagua)

Democratic Party Partito Democratico
File:ImaguaDemocratic.png
Founded	1 July, 1945
Dissolved	11 July, 1979
Split from	Democratic Party of Imagua
Merged into	National Labour Party
Headquarters	Cuanstad, Imagua and the Assimas
Ideology	Liberalism (1945-1968) Conservatism (1968-1979)
Political position	Centre to Centre-right
National affiliation	Democratic Party (1945-1948)
Colors	Gold
Anthem	The Land
Legislative Council	0 / 60
House of Commons	0 / 70
Political parties Elections

The Democratic Party (Etrurian: Partito Democratico d'Imagua) was a political party in Imagua and the Assimas. Established in 1945 when the Liberal Party renamed itself to the Democratic Party in order to affiliate itself with the Democratic Party in the United Provinces, the party would exist until its merger with the National Labour Party in 1979.

Its zenith was under the leadership of Rupert Cox from 1968 to 1980, when in the 1976 general elections, the Imaguan Party of Democrats were able to take one seat in the House of Commons, and won a by-election in 1978 which increased their presence to two members of Parliament. Due to the creation of the National Labour Party in 1978, the Democratic Party voted to merge with the National Labour Party the following year in order to avoid splitting the opposition.

History

Rupert Cox, 1976

In 1945, the Liberal Party, under the leadership of Abraham Halfacre, renamed itself to the Democratic Party, and affiiated itsef with Pierre Voloix's Democratic Party. All Liberal MPs in the parliaments of Imagua and the United Provinces became Democratic MPs.

However, as relations between Imagua and the United Provinces deteriorated, tensions grew within the Democratic Party, with many within the party, led by Herschel Ahern, seeking to merge the party with the Labour Party, while Ahern sought to preserve the party as a centrist force, and as the "voice of Imagua" within the union. In 1947, the Democratic Party split in two, with Ahern's faction voting to merge with the Labour Party to create the Democratic Labour Party. However, Halfacre remained the de-jure leader of the Democratic Party, maintaining the loyalty of five legislative councillors and himself.

In the 1948 elections, the Democratic Party lost its remaining seats in the House of Commons, despite finishing second in many Cuanstad seats. That year, after Imagua was expelled from the United Provinces, the Imaguan Democratic Party cut ties with the Democratic Party of the Golden Isles. After losing the 1952 elections, Halfacre resigned as party leader, and was succeeded by Reginald Wheeler, who was the first Bahio-Imaguan to lead an Imaguan political party. Howver, following a poor result in 1956, Wheeler was succeeded by Enoch Saunders as leader.

In 1961, Otto Newman was expelled from the Democratic Labour caucus, and affiliated himself with the Democratic Party, making him the first Democratic MP since 1948. Due to his prominence within the party, Newman took over the party leadership in 1963, and would lead the party into the 1964 election. However, after losing his seat, Newman was succeeded by Rupert Cox, who would reorient the party to be a "conservative alternative" to the Sotirian Democrats, who were associated with the "racist system" that existed on Imagua.

The party would improve their results in 1968 and 1972, but still failed to secure a seat in the House of Commons. However, in 1973, former DLP MP Clelia Pavon joined the Democratic Party, and in 1976, the Democratic Party elected its first MP since 1948 when Rupert Cox won election to his own seat, and two years later, a by-election saw Ted Branson elected for the Democratic Party.

However, in 1978, Travis Marshall and four other DLP MPs crossed the floor and formed the National Labour Party. Not wanting to split the opposition, and due to widespread support for the National Labour Party threatening the Democratic Party, the two parties merged in 1979.

Political positions

The Imaguan Party of Democrats was a centre-right political party, based on the traditional ideals of classical liberalism. However, from the late 1960s onward, the Democratic Party became a more conservative party as it sought the votes of Bahio-Imaguans who were aligned with the Sotirian Democrats, but "detested the racist policies that they had espoused."

Election results

Election	Leader	Candidates	Seats	+/-	Position
1948	Abraham Halfacre	22/66	0 / 66		Extra-parliamentary opposition
1952		63/63	0 / 63		Extra-parliamentary opposition
1956	Reginald Wheeler	61/63	0 / 63		Extra-parliamentary opposition
1960	Enoch Saunders	63/63	0 / 63		Extra-parliamentary opposition
1964	Otto Newman	65/65	0 / 65		Extra-parliamentary opposition
1968	Rupert Cox	64/65	0 / 65		Extra-parliamentary opposition
1972		67/67	0 / 67		Extra-parliamentary opposition
1976		67/67	1 / 67	1	Third party