The Coalition (Great Nortend)

Coalition of the Company of Scodeliers and the Conservative Party of Erbonia
Emblem of the Scodeliers and Conservatives
Abbreviation	CSCP
Warden of the Scodeliers	Sir Spencer de Stornton
Warden of the Conservatives	Martin Fitzgerald
Founded	30 April 1894 (1894-04-30)
Merger of	June 4th, 1940
Headquarters	Scode House, Banner Street, Lendert-with-Cadell
Ideology	National conservatism High Church
Political position	Right
Colours	Red   White   Swart
Houses of Commons	182 / 315

The Coalition of the Company of Scodeliers and the Conservative Party of Erbonia, commonly known as The Coalition, is one of the two major political blocs in Erbonian politics. It is made up of two parties, the Company of Scodeliers and the Conservative Party of Erbonia. Its main opposition is the Droughers' Party. Members of the Scodeliers are popularly known as “Scodes”.

The Coalition has been in government since June 4th, 1940, barring the six-year Chesvoir Ministry from October 1st 1958 to April 3rd, 1964, and the eight-year Davies Ministry from August 18th, 1982 to September 30th, 1990. The Coalition was re-elected to Parliament from October 1st, 2018, under the wardenship of the Duke of Limmes. Beginning in Epiphany Term, 2020, Sir Spencer de Stornton, the Warden of the Conservative Party, took over as Lord High Treasurer from the Duke of Limmes, who retired unexpectedly.

History

Factional history

Scodeliers

See also: The Olnish Matter

The Company of Scodeliers origined in the Scodelier Faction of the “Olnish Matter”. This was the religious and political controversy surrounding the announced marriage of Queen Mary to Charles de Oln, Count of Scode. The Church of Nortend since its schism with the Church of Rome in the early 17th century had succeeded in developing an official Lutheran theology under the influence of Cardinal Henry Frympell and his followers, who were pitted against the followers of more traditionalist Cardican-Catholic Cardinal Thomas Akeep.

This burgeoning small-l Lutheranism began to be threatened in the early 18th century with increased political and economic links with the Catholic Empire of Exponent. The Lord de Oln-Scode, a well-known ally with the “Akeepian” faction. The Frympellites, concerned that the marriage of the Governour of the Church Mundane to an Akeepian husband would jeopardise their position in the Church. The then Lord Bishop of Lendert, Cardinal Dr. Robert de Monkhouse, refused to perform the wedding.

In Parliament, two factions also were established :— the Scodeliers, who support the marriage with the Count of Scode, and the Droughers, who wished to “draw apart”, viz. “drougher”, the alliance. In political terms, the Scodeliers advocated for trade with the Empire of Exponent and in maintenance of the mediaeval-inspired social hierarchy, whilst the Droughers preferred the more “revolutionary” Protestant ideals of simplicity and equality. Ultimately, Queen Mary sensationally replaced Dr. Monkhouse as Bishop of Lendert with an Akeepian, Hartmold Cellgate, and married the Count of Scode in 1742. Thenceforth, the Frympellites have almost died out in the Church of Nortend, replaced by Akeepians and more modern factions.

In Parliament, however, the line between the Scodeliers and the Droughers remained defined, if at times somewhat blurred. Whilst the Droughers soon dropped their demands for the annulment or divorce of the reigning sovereign's marriage, they continued to espouse a “Protestant” inspired philosophy of classical liberalism well into the 20th century. On the other hand, the Scodeliers retained their paternalistic, hierarchial ideology.

Conservatives

The Conservative Party developed in the late 19th century cities, towns and boroughs as a party of conservative burgesses, standing in contrast to the liberal Droughers, the more socialist workers' parties, and the more hierarchical Scodeliers.

Party history

In the 19th century, when modern ideas of party politics were formed, the Company of Scodeliers and the Company of Droughers were established as formal parties. After a period of success in the mid-19th century by the Droughers in the spirit of the new age of liberalism, the Scodeliers soon rose again, and the two parties alternated power for several decades.

In the 1928 elections, neither party obtained a majority. The Scodeliers, with the support of several minor party MPs, including MPs from the Conservative Party, and independent Plines, managed to form minority government under Frederic de Clercy, Count of Bexeness. An outspoken member of the Conservative Party, Henry de Foide, soon rose in prominence, associating himself with Clercy's Nationalist Society in 1930. In the 1932 elections, the Conservative Party took several urban seats which had been held by the Scodeliers. Perhaps feeling his government was threatened, Bexeness offered Foide a junior ministerial position as Surveyour-General.

Foide led the Conservatives to an even greater victory in 1934, now taking a third of all seats in the House of Burgesses. Bexeness, who had retired at the election, unexpectedly nominated Foide as his preferred successor as Lord High Treasurer and head of an informal coalition of parties. This was unusual, as the Scodeliers were stronger numerically than the Conservatives; however, the incoming Warden of the Scodeliers, Lord Anthony de Legcastle, was popularly disliked by the public and King Edmund IX. Given the obvious problems present Legcastle as the face of the party, the Scodeliers acceded to the nomination, and Foide was installed as Lord High Treasurer.

Almost immediately thereafter, Foide looked into ways to consolidate the coalition into a formal alliance. However, he was met with some resistance from the Scodeliers, who were still wary of the Conservative Party's more economically liberal official policy. However, Foide proved to be a champion of the Bexeness ideas of nationalist conservatism. The Scodeliers realised that there was little chance of their forming a majority government, as proven in the 1939 elections when they and the Conservatives won 82 – 77 seats respectively. Fearing for their own party in urban areas should competition from the Conservatives not cease, the Coalition was formed on June 4th, 1940, by the signing of the “Coalition Agreement” by Lord Anthony de Legcastle of the Company of Scodeliers and Sir Henry de Foide of the Conservative Party.

Ideology

Main article: National conservatism

The Coalition considers the book The Nation and the Subject by the Count of Bexeness, and the pamphlet Conservatism for the Times by Lord Anthony de Legcastle as guiding principles for their policy. The two works are part of the broader concept of “Foide-Clercyism”, which encapsulates the general policy of the Bexeness and Foide eras of government, which spanned a continual 27 years from the start of 1932 to the end of 1958. Successive Coalition governments have more or less adhered to this doctrine, albeit with slightly differing interpretations and implementations thereof.

Membership

The Coalition is the largest party in Great Nortend by membership, with approximately 5 per cent of the total population being dues-paying members, a total of around 996,000 members. This does not include spouses and dependent children who are associated with the Coalition. The Coalition has operated in a unified hierarchical structure since the 1984 reforms where membership of the particular party is predominantly based on the location of the branch rather than political ideology. Branches located in boroughs are usually associated mainly with the Conservative Party whilst branches in rural areas are associated with the Company of Scodeliers.

Members do not vote except to appoint the Warden of the Party, although generally there is only one candidate, “ordained” by the previous Warden as his successor. The heads of local branches, hundred regions, county districts &c. are appointed by the Coalition headquarters. Election candidates are “presented” by a vote of the members in the constituency to the Headquarters, who may either confirm or reject the candidate. The approval of both the members and the Headquarters is needed for the pre-selection of a candidate.

Youth

There is no formal youth wing of the Coalition, and most members join as adults. There has been international criticism that the Church of Nortend as well as the Government-run Cadet Corps and Muster Service are Coalition-aligned in terms of ideology. However, this is usually attributed to the innate hierarchial structure present in such institutions which aligns closer with the Coalition than the slightly more libertarian Droughers. Nonetheless, he Coalition leadership have pointed out that the institutions themselves are bipartisan causes and supported by the Drougher's Party as well.

See also

• Politics in Great Nortend
• List of political parties in Great Nortend
• Nationalist conservatism
• Drougher's Party