Douglas Egnell
The Right Honourable Douglas Egnell | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Douglas Egnell, 2016 | |
| 16th Prime Minister of Imagua and the Assimas | |
| Assumed office 23 April, 2016 | |
| President | Edmondo Privitera |
| Deputy | Renzo Imburgia |
| Preceded by | Saverio Merante |
| Member of Parliament for Bellmare | |
| Assumed office 23 April, 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Ian Anderson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Douglas Egnell 13 May 1968 Bellmare, Saint Christopher's, Imagua and the Assimas |
| Nationality | Imaguan |
| Political party | Democratic Labour Party (since 1994) |
| Spouse | Molly Egnell |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Hammarvik University |
Douglas Egnell (b. 13 May, 1968) is the sixteeneth Prime Minister of Imagua and the Assimas, serving since 23 April, 2016, and is the incumbent member of Parliament for Bellmare, representing the seat since 23 April, 2004. He is part of the Egnell family, a political family which has had played a significant role in Imaguan politics since the early twentieth century.
Born in 1968 in Bellmare, Douglas Egnell initially worked at a financial firm, before entering politics in 1994 when he joined the local constituency association of the Democratic Labour Party. He was first elected in 2004 for the constituency of Bellmare, defeating National incumbent Ian Anderson 53.6% to 46.1%.
Douglas Egnell served as a backbencher until becoming the Deputy Leader of the DLP in 2009 following the death of Gerald Larsson. He became Deputy Prime Minister when Edmondo Privitera became Prime Minister in 2012, serving until 2016, when Privitera was elected President, and Egnell became Prime Minister.
As of 2020, he is the most recent person to be re-elected for a second term, after Edmondo Privitera, who served two consecutive terms from 1984 to 1992.
Early life
Douglas Egnell was born to Peter Egnell, son of Isaac Egnell, and parochial councillor for Saint Christopher's, and to housewife Edith Egnell, on 13 May, 1968 in Bellmare, as the only son, and eldest child of two children, with his younger sister, Cathy Egnell born in 1971.
Douglas Egnell enrolled at the Dick Parlow Primary School for Reception in 1972, and entered Year One the following year. In 1979, he took the Standard Assessment Test, and received a score of 99.5%. However, as there were no selective high schools in Bellmare, he went to the Bellmare Comprehensive School.
At Bellmare, he became involved in the debate team, and in 1984, he passed the A-levels with flying colours. By 1986, he graduated from high school, and was awarded a scholarship from Hammarvik University. There, he attended the Nygaard School of Economics at the Hammarvik University, where he did incredibly well in his studies.
After finishing his bachelor's degree in 1990, he moved to Cuanstad to work at a financial firm, which he later described as being the worst period of his life. Thus, in 1994, he quit his job and returned to Bellmare, where he joined the local constituency association for the Democratic Labour Party.
Early political career
Staffer of the local DLP association
As a staffer, Douglas Egnell felt that he had a "sense of purpose" in life. While he admitted that "parts of the job" were boring, he felt it was "infinitely better than when I was working at the firm."
With the 1995 snap elections called, Douglas Egnell started to campaign on behalf of Democratic Labour candidate Joe Burns against incumbent Conservative MP Ed Pearson. During the campaign, Egnell campaigned extensively in favour of Joe Burns. However, after the 1995 elections, Burns was defeated by a slim margin by National Reform candidate Troy Burke.
During the next couple of years, Douglas Egnell began to organize an effective opposition against Burke's leadership, with Ed Pearson and the Conservatives agreeing to conduct electoral fusion in the next elections, with Pearson standing down for Bellmare in favour of Joe Burns.
Thus, in the 1997 elections, a joint Conservative-DLP ticket helped enable Joe Burns to become MP for Bellmare. During this time, Egnell remained at the local office, but received a lot of communication from Burns, which helped keep him informed of the day-to-day politics in Parliament.
In 2001, Joe Burns was defeated by National candidate Ian Anderson. With Burns announcing his retirement from politics, the DLP selected Egnell to succeed Burns as the head of the local constituency association in Bellmare. Thus, over the next few years, Egnell began to build up his stature in Bellmare.
When elections were called in 2004, Douglas Egnell was nominated as the DLP candidate for Bellmare against National incumbent Ian Anderson. During the campaign, Egnell took advantage of his high personal popularity, as well as claiming that Anderson had "done little" for the people of Bellmare. Thus, by the end of the election, Egnell won with 53.6% of the vote, defeating Anderson who only got 46.1% of the vote.
Backbencher
On 23 April, 2004, Douglas Egnell was sworn into the Chamber of Commons of Parliament for his first term. As a backbencher, Egnell's primary focus was advocating for local issues back in his constituency of Bellmare, and played a relatively marginal role in shaping the policies of the Democratic Labour Party.
By the 2008 elections, he was competing against National candidate Marge Maciokas. While initially, Marge polled higher than Egnell, as she was perceived to be more willing to address the issues facing Bellmare, by election day, Egnell was able to keep his seat, 52.9% to 46.4%.
In his second term as a member of Parliament, Douglas Egnell started to become more important in the affairs of the DLP, with Douglas Egnell appointed to the position of deputy leader of the opposition in June, 2009.
Deputy Opposition Leader
Following his appointment by Edmondo Privitera to the position of Deputy Opposition Leader to succeed the late Gerald Larsson, Douglas Egnell started to play an increasing role in shaping the affairs of the Democratic Labour Party.
While the role was symbolic, much like the position of Deputy Prime Minister, it was expected that should Privitera die, he would become acting leader of the DLP until a leadership convention was held. In addition, holding such a high position helped bring enormous prestige to Egnell, as despite the fact that he was still only in his second term in the Chamber of Commons of the Imaguan parliament, he was effectively the second-in-command of the DLP.
Thus, during his tenure as the deputy leader of the opposition, Douglas Egnell became more influential in the political scene of Imagua and the Assimas. While many criticized Egnell for being inexperienced compared to Edmondo Privitera, Egnell's supporters defended him by arguing that his "strong determination to protect the interests of the people of Bellmare" made him qualified to be a deputy leader.
In the 2011 leadership convention, he was nominated as the backup candidate for the Imaguan premiership in the event that Immacolata Contessa defeated incumbent President Agnes Ingram.
Thus, during the 2012 general elections, Douglas Egnell campaigned nationwide alongside Edmondo Privitera, vowing to increase regulations and restrict immigration to Imagua. At the same time, he ran against Jim Mason of the National Party in his home constituency of Bellmare.
However, while the DLP took control of the Chamber of Commons from the National Party, Agnes Ingram remained President, thus enabling Privitera to become Prime Minister for a third term, making Privitera the first person to serve non-consecutive terms as Prime Minister. However, Egnell was able to defeat Mason 48.5% to 47.6%, with other candidates, most notably Green candidate Vinnie Floyd taking the remaining 3.9%.
Opposition leader
(TBC)
Premiership
First term
After forming his cabinet, Douglas Egnell was sworn in as the sixteenth Prime Minister of Imagua and the Assimas on 23 April, 2016, succeeding outgoing Prime Minister Saverio Merante.
Almost immediately, Douglas Egnell focused on setting his agenda into motion, with the Democratic Labour Party tabling a bill to give tax breaks for new developments built in Assimas County to help revitalise the region's economy in May 2016.
In July 2016, he approved government funding for the construction of a light rail system in the Cuanstad metropolitan area, with a line to connect Cuanstad with Altaithe "to combat congestion on the highways connecting the two cities."
In January 2017, the 2017 budget was passed, which increased funding to social programmes and education, while maintaining funding levels for other areas. Throughout the rest of 2017, Douglas Egnell continued to push through his legislative agenda, as he tabled measures to improve the "general prosperity of the nation," such as increased welfare programmes to reduce the poverty rate in half.
When the 2018 budget was passed, much of the funding was dedicated towards education, healthcare, and social services, with funding for the Royal Imaguan Constabulary was cut. In April 2018, the children's hospital at Altaithe was opened by both Egnell and Privitera, with Egnell saying that "it will ensure that our nation's children will be treated in an environment conducive to their health and their recovery." In July 2018, anti-discrimination laws were passed to protect the LGBT community on Imagua, which prohibited businesses and the government from discriminating against homosexuals. However, enforcement of the new anti-discrimination law was, and continues to be sporadic.
In 2019, Douglas Egnell's budget increased funding for the Imaguan Constabulary, at the expense of cultural programs, but otherwise maintained funding levels for education, healthcare, and social services. In May 2019, at the DLP leadership convention, he was voted to be their candidate for the Prime Ministerial position in the 2020 elections, while Edmondo Privitera was voted to be their candidate for the presidency.
Finally, in 2020, the 2020 budget was passed which maintained the budget levels set in the previous year's budget for the Constabulary, but increased funding to social programmes. On 31 January, 2020, he requested that Parliament be dissolved for a general election campaign to take place, with elections scheduled for 27 March, thus allowing him to run against Sotirian Labour leader Giocondo Stasio and Movement for a New Imagua leader Dalmazio Pasquarello.
During the campaign, Douglas Egnell campaigned on continuing the policies of the Democratic Labour Party, while criticising the Nationals for policies that would "leave the Imaguan people in the lurch," while only benefitting the wealthy "foreigners who come unto our shores to evade responsibility," and attacking the Movement for a New Imagua for "being a farcical form of the Tribune Movement." Although the campaign was spirited, and Egnell had maintained a close lead, with the rise of both the MNI and the Greens in the polls, it was unclear whether the DLP will be able to maintain government, in part due to high housing prices and criticism of the DLP abandoning its Assimas base.
On 27 March, 2020, Egnell was re-elected for a second term as Prime Minister, while Edmondo Privitera secured a second term. However, Egnell was now in a minority government, with 27 seats, compared to the Sotirian Labour Party's 25 seats, with the Movement for a New Imagua becoming kingmakers.
Second term
While initially, it was unclear whether or not Douglas Egnell would remain as Prime Minister, as the Sotirian Labour Party and the Movement for a New Imagua were negotiating a coalition agreement, on 15 April, the two sides broke off coalition talks due to "intractable differences" concerning immigration and federalism. This enabled Douglas Egnell to remain as Prime Minister.
On 23 April, 2020, Egnell named his cabinet, maintaining most of his ministers, although the Minister of Labour was given to Minnie Fleming due to the defeat of Richelmo Franciosa by MNI candidate, Ruperto Iarussi.
Due to the thin minority, the Democratic Labour Party has been forced to compromise with both the Movement for a New Imagua and the Sotirian Labour Party. This effectively curtailed the Democratic Labour Party's ability to govern, as the Democratic Labour Party could not effectively implement its agenda without the cooperation of the two. Despite this, in the aftermath of the eruption of Mount Micchiano in September 2020, the government was able to bail out the tourist and agricultural sectors, as they were the most hard-hit sectors.
However, the eruption led to a decrease in economic growth, leading to an economic recession. Thus, the 2021 budget instituted significant cuts, particularly to social programmes, while increasing funding to the tourist and agricultural sectors to help promote an economic recovery. While the tourist sector was quick to recover during 2021, the agricultural sector, as of November 2022 was still only operating at "80% capacity," with Saint Ellen's County in particular only operating at "70% capacity" due to significant ashfalls in the 2020 eruption.
Personal life
During his studies at the Nygaard School of Economics at Hammarvik University, he met Molly Strömberg. After developing a close relationship, the couple married in 1992, and had three children: two daughters, Mimmi Egnell, born in 1995, and Oleana Egnell, born in 1998, and a son, Will Egnell, born in 2001.
He speaks Western Imaguan Creole as his native language, and speaks Estmerish, Etrurian, and Geatish fluently. He can hold a basic conversation in Gaullican.
While he goes by Douglas in a political setting, he is affectionately known by friends and family as Doug, or Douggie.
Political views
Douglas Egnell is a social democrat, saying in 2013 that "capitalism, if kept in check, can do wonders for the economy and for the people of our country [i.e. Imagua], and this is what social democracy is about: to keep capitalism in check."
Egnell, while personally opposed to abortion, does support it being legal until twenty weeks for any reason, and up until birth for medical reasons for either the fetus or mother, or if the fetus is conceived due to rape, saying "women should have a right to decide whether they want to carry a child to term, or not, and it should be up to her and her doctor, not to the government."
He also is supportive of LGBT rights and same-sex marriage, but unlike Edmondo Privitera, believes that "it should not be rushed headlong against the wishes of the Imaguan people, but rather, it should be up to them whether homosexuals should marry."
He is also somewhat supportive of the environmental movement, and is in favour of a cap-and-trade system, and is also a supporter of free public education at all levels of education.
Egnell, while supportive of legal immigration, has argued that levels should be low, "so our tiny nation can effectively absorb the immigrant population into a common national identity."
Religion
Douglas Egnell is an adherent to the Gospelite faith, having adhered to it since his baptism into the faith. While privately, Egnell is an adherent to the social gospel, he has stated many times that "religion and politics should remain firmly separate in all affairs."
He is noted to be a devout Gospelite, going to church every Sunday, as well as on all important Gospelite holidays with his family.