Black Tuesday (Esthursia)
Black Tuesday occurred on 7 September, 2010, whereby traders entered a mass selloff following a sudden loss of consumer and business confidence in the Esthursian government, then led by Conservative Prime Minister Tharbjorn Einarsson. A set of protectionist laws forced through the Barony and Members in the first few months of the Esthursian government - weakened by the loss of the Conservatives' majority - preceded a new labour law which set out to largely repeal the working rights legislation of PM Grantham in the 1990s. The public sector in particular responded with the largest bout of industrial action in nearly two decades, with the particular EE (Esthursian Energy) strikes causing a surge in energy prices, and Einarsson's attempts to employ more workers often led to those workers joining the strikes immediately afterwards to slow down the government response in a move known as "job-blocking".
All of this amounted to a release of quarterly growth on the 6th of September at -0.7% for the quarter of April-June 2010, amongst other negative trends in the manufacturing sector and consumer confidence, leading to the events of Black Tuesday where the WES500 crashed 7.7% and the Esthursian arian crashed 3.5%, both of which sustained a second set of crashes on the 10th after the Weskerby Central Bank delayed a reduction in the interest rate to June. The arian would take over four years to reach the point it was at on the day before the crash.
The events of Black Tuesday eroded the government's economic record - an issue on which they had consistently campaigned and been re-elected on - lost the support of moderates and the working-class, and broke up the Chartworth Coalition following the departure of the Agrarians - who had urged the PM not to pass the protectionist laws and who had stated they would not vote alongside Einarsson's labour laws. The Conservatives remained in a minority government in the Members and the Barony until, following the gradual loss of by-elections and defecting representatives, a vote of no confidence led to the January 2011 Esthursian general election and the first left-wing government since the 2002 election.