Liberal Party (Imagua)

Liberal Party of Imagua and the Assimas Partito Liberale di Imagua
File:ImaguaDemocratic48.png
Founded	18 January, 1923
Dissolved	1 July, 1945
Succeeded by	Democratic Party
Ideology	Liberalism
Political position	Centre
Colors	Yellow
Political parties Elections

The Liberal Party of Imagua (Vespasian: Partito Liberale di Imagua) was a political party of Imagua and the Assimas that existed from 1923 until it was renamed to the Democratic Party in 1945.

Originating from the Cornelius Suthmeer's faction in 1892, with a base among small landowners and the emerging Eucleo-Imaguan middle class, the faction became deeply associated with liberalism, especially under Suthmeer's successor, Edmund Bollen between 1904 and 1909, and Bollen's successor as leader of the faction from 1909, Peter Hansson, who would be the first non-Lambournite to become Chief Minister in 1917, serving until his death in 1920.

After succeeding Hansson as Chief Minister, Nelson Egnell sought to centralise the party to defend itself from both the Labour Party, who had a significant organisational structure, and from the Lambournites who, while lacking organisation, had significant funds and influence. Thus, in 1923, the Liberal Party was officially founded as a political party.

The Liberals' heyday as an organized political party was from 1923 until 1936, although much of their time in power was dominated by the Great War from 1926 until 1934, during which time Imagua was under Gaullican occupation. After the end of the Great War, the Liberals went to the opposition benches in 1936, and would decline as the Labour Party continued their rise.

In 1945, as the United Provinces was established, the Liberals renamed themselves to the Democrats in an attempt to become closer to Pierre Voloix's Democratic Party.

Political positions

The Liberal Party's ideology was liberalism. For much of its history, it was a classical liberal party, which advocated for freedom of speech, trade, conscience, and choice. It advocated for reduced regulations, as they believed that a freer economy would benefit Imagua and the Assimas. Thus, during its time in government from 1917 until 1936, the Suthmeerites and the Liberals would relax many economic restrictions, in the hope that the Imaguan economy could recover in the aftermath of the Great Collapse, although the economy did not completely recover before the start of the Great War.

Socially, the Liberal Party sought to reduce voting requirements, and during its time in government, the Suthmeerites and the Liberals would consistently reduce the minimum amount of land that one must own prior to voting: from 480 acres to 1 acre in 1918, and then again to half-an-acre in 1935. It also expanded voter eligiblity, permitting all adult sons of landowners to vote in 1918, and permitting all adult dependents of landowners (i.e. wives and daughters) to vote in 1935, and reduced the mininum annual income needed to vote from 250 shillings to 30 shillings in 1918, to 15 shillings in 1923, and to 10 shillings in 1935. In its later years, the Liberal Party also sought to implement some socially liberal policies.

Election results

Election	Leader	Candidates	Seats	+/-	Votes	%	Position
1892	Cornelius Suthmeer	36/36	10 / 36	new	5,528	25.25%	Official Opposition
1896		36/36	11 / 36	1	6,963	31.18%	Official Opposition
1900		36/36	13 / 36	2	7,970	33.30%	Official Opposition
1904		37/37	11 / 37	2	6,550	27.80%	Official Opposition
1908	Edmund Bollen	37/37	11 / 37		6,099	27.21%	Official Opposition
1909		37/37	12 / 37	1	9,225	31.15%	Official Opposition
1913	Peter Hansson	38/38	16 / 38	4	12,366	33.88%	Official Opposition
1917		38/38	20 / 38	4	15,623	44.20%	Democratic-Labour coalition
1920	Nelson Egnell	38/38	22 / 38	2	20,514	43.20%	Majority government
1924		39/39	21 / 39	1	27,216	41.52%	Majority government
1936		39/39	9 / 39	4	74,051	23.30%	Official Opposition
1940	Nelson Pakenas	39/39	5 / 39	4	76,993	23.10%	Third party
1944	Abraham Halfacre	40/40	3 / 40	2	59,814	19.54%	Third party