Kureo Mado (TRP)
The Right Honourable Kureo Mado OM | |
|---|---|
 <imgur w="240">REP83d3.jpg</imgur> Kureo Mado answering a question during a press conference, 1997 | |
| Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
| In office 2 May 1997 – 7 May 2005 | |
| Monarch | Regis Lucis Caelum CXIII |
| Preceded by | John Redwood |
| Succeeded by | Cor Leonis |
| Leader of the Labour Party | |
| In office 12 January 1995 – 7 May 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Margaret Jackson |
| Succeeded by | Margaret Jackson |
| Member of Parliament | |
| In office 25 March 1984 – 9 June 2005 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 May 1955 Shinawara, Aomori, United Kingdom |
| Political party | Labour |
| Parent | Katakuriko Mado |
| Residence(s) | 10 Leichestershire House |
| Alma mater | University of Shinjiku |
Kureo Mado (born 5 May 1955) is a Lucian politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2005. He is the most recent Labour Party leader to have won a general election.
The son of Prime Minister Katakuriko Mado, Kureo became a dissident against his father's authoritarian rule, and during The Autarchy was arrested and subject to abuse by the police. He joined the Labour Party and entered Parliament at the 1984 general election. Throughout his career, he has sought to separate himself from his father, insisting on being referred to by his first name "Kureo", and advocating democratic socialist policies opposed to Katakuriko's regime. He was a member of the Shadow Cabinet and gradually rose to higher-profile positions, establishing himself as a leading critic of the human toll of Margarette Thatcher's economic policies. His approval of protests against Thatcher's Community Charge in 1994 and support of the mass non-payment campaign were controversial.
A member of the so-called soft left of the party, he was elected its leader in January 1995, following the sudden death of his predecessor. Becoming Leader of the Opposition, Kureo confronted the challenge of a splintered opposition — comprising the centre-left Social Democrats, the centre-right Liberals, and the nationalist Aomori National Party, Erebonian People's Party and Tenebrae Party — whose disunity and vote-splitting had kept the Conservatives in power. He negotiated the Burgen Agreement that year, in which the opposition parties entered a cross-party alliance to stand only a single opposition candidate in constituencies, to remove the Conservatives from office. Notably, as part of the agreement, Kureo had Labour stand down in all Aomorinese, Erebonian, and Tenebraean constituencies in favour of their respective nationalist parties. His popularity increased as Leader of the Opposition as a result of his performance during the gil collapse and ensuing recession of 1996; the Conservatives' attempts to paint him as a dangerous radical floundered against his mild-mannered image and the public growing tired of their government.
In May 1997, the Conservatives suffered their worst defeat, losing 300 seats and falling to fifth place for the first time in history. Running on a platform of "reform and reconciliation", Kureo led Labour to a plurality, with the Liberals becoming the official opposition. He formed a coalition government with the Social Democrats — the first peacetime coalition since 1931 — and relied on nationalist parties for confidence and supply.
During his term as Prime Minister, Kureo undid Thatcher's policies and introduced sweeping reforms. He raised taxes, increased spending on education, healthcare, and social security, broadened the categories of welfare payments, and abolished the internal markets the Conservatives had begun to introduce for the National Health Service. He brought back into public ownership utilities and major companies that had been privatised, strengthened regulation of the financial system, increased workers' rights and trade union protections, and introduced a national minimum wage. He made the reduction of inequality and eradication of child poverty his main goals, and achieved significant reductions in both. His social reforms included changes to the LBC charter to insulate it from political meddling, the Human Rights Act 1998, the Freedom of Information Act 2000, and greater police oversight and protections for whistleblowers.
His government undertook fundamental constitutional reform in the United Kingdom. In the process of devolution, Aomori, Erebonia, and Tenebrae had legislatures and governments established — with significant autonomy and powers —, and public services and broadcasting were similarly decentralised and devolved to the countries. He introduced legislation that altered the United Kingdom's character, bringing it closer to a federal state, and reformed local government. He established an independent commission on reforming the United Kingdom's electoral system, and passed the Electoral Reform Act 2003, which changed it to mixed-member proportional representation — a model already introduced for the devolved legislatures. He separated the Aomorinese, Erebonian, Lucian, and Tenebraean branches of the Labour Party, transforming the national party into an alignment-based organisation, and setting off similar changes in the other major parties.
Kureo's coalition won re-election in 2001, and he became the longest-serving Labour Prime Minister. Having presided over an extensive transformation of the United Kingdom's politics and society, his coalition lost the 2005 election to a resurgent and more moderate Conservative Party, which formed a coalition with the Liberals. He retired from politics after his defeat, resigning his seat in Parliament.
Early life and education
Early political career
Leader of the Opposition
Prime Minister
Domestic policy
Foreign policy
Post-premiership
Private life
His distinctive appearance is the result of a childhood bout of thyroid disease, which manifested in mild Graves' ophtalmopathy.
He lives in Osaka, Aomori, with his wife and three children.
In retirement, he has taken up the study of pottery and Miranian tea ceremony.