Aurelia MacDonald

The Right Honorable The Countess of Vaud
Chancellor MacDonald wears a colourful outfit whilst on political duties, 2081.
Federal Chancellor of the Swiss Confederation
In office 7 November 2077 – 21st December 2082 (incapacitation)
Preceded by	Gabrielle Tousart
Minister for Economics
In office 12 August 2070 – 7 November 2077
Monarch	Emperor Connor II of Connuriste
Preceded by	Freya Loiselle
Majority	appointed by Connor II
Minister for Equalities
In office 7 November 2069 – 12 August 2070
Preceded by	Estelle Chevalier
Majority	appointed by Chancellor Gabrielle Tousart
Member of Imperial Council for Gruyères
In office October 5 2066 – December 21 2082
Preceded by	Harriet Didillon
Majority	58.4%
Personal details
Born	5 July 2043 (age 46) Lockerbie, Scotland
Nationality	Connuriste
Political party	Christian Democratic People's Party
Spouse	Nathaniel Washington
Children	Natasha Georgia MacDonald-Washington
Alma mater	University of Geneva

Aurelia MacDonald-Washington, Countess of Vaud (born 5 July 2043) is the current Chancellor of Connuriste, a role in which she is currently serving her second term in. Aurelia comes from a family of politicians, most notably her mother who served as a financial minister for Emperor Connor I. Her family used their wealth to secure Aurelia a place in the country's best private schools, and she began at the University of Geneva in 2061, studying Economics and International Relations. It was during this time period that Aurelia first joined the Christian Democrats, whereby she used her familial connections to gain the respect of several of her superiors in the party, especially Évelyne Valen, who sought to create a long term plan for the Christian Democrats and establish themselves as the dominant party in Connuriste politics. Valen brought MacDonald into the fringes of her inner circle, fond of her laissez-faire approach to the economy in particular, even introducing her to Emperor Connor II in 2066 as she was poised to take her first official seat in the council. Almost a decade later, Aurelia would cite Valen as a role model and a source of inspiration, someone who 'showed her the ropes' and allowed her to gain a crucial insight into the inner workings of the government leadership and responsibilities.

Chancellor Valen was killed in a terrorist attack in 2067, but there were many in her party who desired to continue her legacy. This meant that Aurelia started to become one of the more prominent party members despite her relative youth and inexperience. After Erwin Müller of the Swiss People's Front was impeached and dismissed in late 2069, the Christian Democrats returned to power under the more senior Gabrielle Tousart. Chancellor Tousart was certainly a more traditional politician than the likes of Valen and MacDonald, holding several opposing viewpoints from the young MacDonald, even arguing in the council chamber on a handful of occasions. In spite of this, Tousart still saw the talent her younger and ambitious rival possessed, and not wanting to lose her to another political party, promised her a cabinet position if she would support her leadership campaign. This saw Aurelia appointed as the Minister for Equalities in 2069, a position she would hold for just under a year.

The divide between Tousart and MacDonald had not gone unnoticed by many in the Christian Democrats, with a small faction of party members, particularly those who had been favoured under Valen, forming their own clique with MacDonald. However, her lucky break would not come from within the council or the party itself, but from above. In the summer of 2070, Aurelia was seen on several occasions with Connor II, who had been well-known for his previous support of Valen. In August, Connor II used his own authority to replace the Minister for Economics, Freya Loiselle, with Aurelia. His own parents had employed Aurelia's mother in that position for almost three decades, and she quickly began to make an impact, renegotiating trade deals with several foreign powers and altering guidelines in an effort to create an economy with less regulations. This allowed her to quickly gain the further favour of the Crown - so much so that in fact, Aurelia MacDonald was pictured with the Emperor more so than Chancellor Tousart during her eight years in charge, leading to speculation that she enjoys a close and friendly political relationship with him not dissimilar to the one he shared with Chancellor Valen.

In 2077, Chancellor Tousart announced that she would not be running for a third term, effectively ceding party leadership to Aurelia, who cruised to election victory. In 2079 and 2080, MacDonald was shadowed by Crown Princess Emily at the request of her father, seeking for her to gain insight into the political world. During this time period, the Géza-MacDonald trade agreement was signed between Polonge and Connuriste, strengthening the ties between the two catholic nations and bringing further prosperity. In the spring of 2080, Chancellor MacDonald also announced the creation of the Connuriste Cannabis Company, known as the CCC. This saw the decriminalisation of cannabis in the country and permits the legal and regulated trade of cannabis in the country, in an effort to stifle the black market trade of the drug and to create a new source of tax income.

Chancellor MacDonald began serving her second term in 2081, and enjoyed a high approval rating, before her second term was cut short by an effort made on her life in December 2082. This event incapacitated Aurelia from fulfilling her duties as Chancellor and Gabrielle Tousart took over as interim Chancellor until January 2084, when she called for a new general election. Aurelia chose not to stand in this election, leaving Tousart to a third term of Chancellorship and vacating her Imperial Council seat, though she still worked as a direct adviser to the Emperor and was still seen as a major member of the Christian Democrats. Despite not running for election, many people voted for Aurelia regardless, in a result that saw her become the most successful write-in candidate in the history of Connuriste, even winning a majority in the Lausanne Central constituency, though she chose not to accept the Imperial Council seat there, ceding it to the official Christian Democrat hopeful who garnered the most votes for an official candidate.

Assassination Attempt

On the 21st of December 2082, Chancellor MacDonald was attacked in a hotel in Zürich, where she was violently assaulted and shot. She was swiftly airlifted to a nearby hospital with critical injuries and slipped into a coma, from which she woke from in 2083 and completed her full recovery the year after, in 2084. In her absence, her predecessor as both Chancellor and leader of the Christian Democrats, Gabrielle Tousart was appointed as interim Chancellor on a temporary basis.

Personal Life

As touched upon in the introduction, Aurelia was born into a family of politicians, her mother served as the Financial Minister for Emperor Connor I and later Empress Alice. She enjoyed a private school education, going to the same school as Emperor Connor II, and later studied Economics and International Relations at the University of Geneva beginning in 2061.

Aurelia's personal life has been the subject of intense media speculation at times, though her workload normally left her little free time. She tends to spend her free time in the company of her colleagues, often seen with the Emperor of Connuriste and other political figures in the country. In 2082 she attended the International Gala for Peace held in Selesburge and was seen with General Nathaniel Washington from Aellyria, a few months later she was seen with him in the Scottish city of Edinburgh. As unrest in the country of Aellyria grew and eventually developed into a civil conflict General Washington fled to Connuriste where he has since been seen with the Chancellor, the couple later marrying and having one child, born in 2090.