Social Democrats (Esthursia)

Social Democrats
Chairman	David Holmfirth
Leader of the Social Democrats	Harold Osborne
Deputy Leader of the Social Democrats	Jeremy Wilson
Founded	1964
Headquarters	Brantley, City of Brantley, Avonshire, Osynstry
Student wing	Social Democratic Students
Youth wing	Young Social Democrats
Ideology	Social democracy Fourth Way socialism Democratic socialism Globalism Trade unionism
Political position	Centre-left to left-wing
Colors	Red
House of Thanes	100 / 200
House of Ministers	339 / 451
Website
https://www.sdm.es

The Social Democrats are a social-democratic political party in Esthursia. Currently, the party holds a majority of seats in the Ministers and is the largest party of the governing Thanes coalition. Its leader has been Harold Osborne since 30 January, 2015, who has served as Prime Minister since that date.

The modern day party traces its roots back to the merger of the Independent Labour Committee (ILC) in the 19th century, as Esthursia's working class - enfranchised in the late 18th century - sought power in public office. The party was initially socialist, although a social democratic trait has always been somewhat present even at foundation. The Social Democrats has, for most of its history, maintained close ties with leading trade unions and many of its contemporary senior politicians took place in general strikes; as such, trade unions are typically the largest source of party income. Following the fall of the Liberals as a major party in the 1920s and the nationalist National Party in the 1950s, the Social Democrats and its predecessor, the Workers' Union, became the major left-wing party and has been considered by political experts as the most successful Esthursian political party in the 20th and 21st centuries.

The Social Democrats have remained between social democracy and democratic socialism for the vast majority of their history. Historians and analysts have credited the success of the party to its pragmatic ability to develop with the times as well as its favourable historic reputation. The Social Democrats moved to the centre under Mark Willesden in the early 2000s, however this was abandoned following his resignation and the appointment of John Largan. Typically, the Social Democrats have won around a third of the vote in general elections, although local elections during the 2000s reached as low as a fifth. Despite their relative dominance in post-2010 politics, they have been often reliant on coalitions to govern due to Esthursia's electoral system in the upper house.

In recent years, the Social Democrats have espoused Fourth Way politics; higher levels of state intervention, removing private providers from public bodies, and high levels of wealth taxation to invest publicly. Furthermore, the Social Democrats back the nuclear deterrent, have liberalised on drug law somewhat, and back LGBTQ+ rights openly, instituting a third gender in 2014 and self-ID law in 2018. The Social Democratic government since 2010 has seen inequality close dramatically, increasingly strong economic growth punctuated by even higher wage growth, and a rise in living standards, as well as housebuilding and a rise in Esthursia's place in the modern world, although it has also seen controversies over its associations with left-populism, the far-left and its present deputy leader, Jeremy Wilson, has been often prone to scandals. John Largan set a precedent for social liberalism, "open arms" immigration policy and globally-minded politics, which Osborne has mostly maintained or strengthened, such as in the Iolantan refuge programme, however Osborne's tenure has also been punctuated by a large push for state secularism, including the scrap of Largan's world religions curriculum.

In addition to being the senior party in the Left Coalition government, the Social Democrats currently hold a large majority of seats in the House of Ministers, and a working majority of 4 in the House of Thanes after the Midlands by-election and suspension of Renewal Front representatives.