1917 Inglaterran Election

1917 Inglaterran Election

27 May 1917
All 350 seats in the General Assembly 175 seats needed for a majority
Registered	30,657,901 (4.6 pp)
Turnout	22,196,320 (72.4) ( 3.0 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Leon Bitte Gustaf Folke Karl Hoeven Party Confederalist Social Republican People's Party Leader since 1917 1904 1917 Leader's seat Aachtigen Fort Anders Orcakust Seats before 225 163 None Seats won 118 115 54 Popular vote 7,502,365 7,258,197 3,440,430 Percentage 33.8% 32.7% 15.5% Swing 27.3% 1.1%   Fourth party Fifth party   Candidate Rovelter Hoffsetston Hindrik Blomquist Party Free Democratic Reformist Leader since 1917 1917 Leader's seat Harkzel Noardstêd Seats before None None Seats won 51 10 Popular vote 3,262,859 710,381 Percentage 14.7% 3.2%
Chancellor before election Max van Raydel Confederalist Elected Chancellor Leon Bitte Confederalist

The 1917 Inglaterran Election was held on Sunday, 27 May 1917. It was the third election since Inglaterra's independence in 1899. All 350 seats in the Inglaterran General Assembly were up for election in a proportional election with a minimum threshold of 5% to enter the Assembly.

The election saw a third consecutive government for the ruling Confederal Party, led by Leon Bitte after the retirement of Max van Raydel, in a coalition with the People's Party, led by Karl Hoeven. The opposition was made up by the Social Republicans, led by Gustaf Folke, and the Free Democrats, led by Rovelter Hoffsetston. The Confederal and People's Party combined for 10,765,224 votes and 172 seats, and made a confidence and supply deal with Hindrik Blomquist and his Reform Movement to form a coalition government.

Future chancellors Gustaf Anders, Joannes Vinge, Mattias Bäckström, and the infamous Arjen Vanhelst would enter politics during this election.

Background

With incumbent chancellor, Max van Raydel, unable to run for reelection, leadership of the Confederalist Party fell to Leon Bitte in 1916. Bitte's nomination was controversial, other candidates, such as former Minister of Foreign Affairs Rovelter Hoffsetston, attempted to gain the leadership position for themselves. By the time of the party convention, the Confederalists had split into two factions, called the Hoffsetstists and the Bittemen. The Hoffsetstists tended to be more conservative Inglaterran-speakers from the east, despite Hoffsetston being a Frigan-speaker, while the more moderate Bittemen came from the Frigan speaking west. The dispute between the two factions lasted until Van Raydel publicly endorsed Bitte, saying that it was important for the party to keep the same message in a time of war.

The Social Republicans, with the deposing of Karl Blivin, had found themselves lost in the wilderness without a sure leader. To appease an increasingly divided party, Karl Blivin was replaced by Gustaf Folke, a relatively unknown but able administrator who had served as governor of Fort Anders. However, Folke's lack of support for the war had become controversial. More radical left-wing factions, called Populists, were led by a legislator named Karl Hoeven, who favored the war as a liberation war for the "oppressed proletariat" of Alaoyi and against the imperial powers of Alanna and Greater Niagara.

The major issue dominating the campaign was the First Great War, which had raged for almost three years by election day. Despite initial success, the war had bogged down into grinding trench warfare. This led to major splits in Inglaterran public opinion, with one contemporary writer writing that for every Social Republican vote Bitte gained for support of the war at least one Confederalist would vote for Folke in opposition to the war. In April, both the Hoffsetstists and Populists would defect from their respective parties. Both the Social Republicans and Confederalists would lose about a third of their support to these upstart factions, which would side with the other major party.