National Labour Party (Imagua)
National Labour Party of Imagua and the Assimas Partito Nazionale Laburista di Imagua e Assime | |
|---|---|
| File:ImaguaNLP.png | |
| Founded | 1978 |
| Dissolved | 2 April, 1997 |
| Split from | Democratic Labour Party |
| Merged into | Sotirian Labour Party |
| Headquarters | Cuanstad, Imagua and the Assimas |
| Student wing | National Labour Students Association |
| Youth wing | National Labour Youth |
| Ideology | Conservatism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Colors | Gold |
| Anthem | The Land |
| Senate | 0 / 60
|
| Chamber of Commons | 0 / 70
|
The National Labour Party (Vespasian: Partito Nazionale Laburista di Imagua e Assime) was an Imaguan political party that existed from 1978, when it split from the Democratic Labour Party, until 1997, when it merged with the Sotirian Democratic Party to form the Sotirian Labour Party.
Emerging from a split in 1978, Travis Marshall led the party for the first few years, seeing a modest success in the 1980 general election. In the 1981 snap elections, Chinnici saw a modest increase in the party's seats, before becoming the primary opposition party in 1984, at the expense of the Sotirian Democratic Party. In 1988, Dale Morse oversaw a significant success for the party, and by 1992, had sidelined the Sotirian Democratic Party. However, following a disappointing loss in 1996, Erico D'Antonio and Erberto Formica negotiated to merge the two parties into a single party. After the merger was approved by both parties, the parties were merged in 1997, although a small faction continues on as the New Labour Party.
History
From the 1975 leadership convention on, where Pietro Muro defeated Travis Marshall, Marshall had vocerifiously criticised the leadership of the Democratic Labour Party, arguing that Muro was "too radical," and was "too blinded by ideology to govern properly," in addition to criticising Muro's expansion of the Imaguan welfare state.
By 1978, with tensions at an all-time high between the two factions, Travis Marshall and four other MPs crossed the floor and established the National Labour Party. Marshall positioned himself as being a "common sense Labourite," proposing a downsizing of the Imaguan welfare state, instituting "common sense regulations" to benefit both the trade unions and the employers, and to institute a "one-person, one-vote" system for the party's internal structure. In 1979, the Democratic Party merged with the National Labour Party.
These developments alarmed the Democratic Labour Party, who by 1980 were governing Imagua in a recession. This forced the DLP to move further to the right, which in term caused the National Labour Party to move further right to try and avoid losing voters to the DLP, and gain voters from the Sotirian Democratic Party. This led to substantial vote splitting between the NLP and the SDP, which helped allow the DLP to secure another term.
While it saw slight improvements in the 1981 snap general election under Raniero Chinnici's leadership, it only became the primary opposition party in 1984, when it surpassed the Sotirian Democratic Party to become the official opposition in the Chamber of Commons of the Imaguan parliament, especially due to Chinnici's right-ward shift. In 1988, Dale Morse greatly improved on the party's results, and by 1992, the Sotirian Democratic Party lost all its seats. However, under Erico D'Antonio's leadership, the party lost seats due to vote-splitting with the Sotirian Democratic Party.
Thus, in 1996, Erberto Formica and D'Antonio negotiated the merger of the Sotirian Democratic Party with the National Party: following the approval of the merger, the Sotirian Labour Party was established in June 1997, with both parties de-registering themselves.
Election results
| Election | Leader | Candidates | Seats | +/- | Votes | % | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Travis Marshall | 58/67 | 8 / 67
|
 1
|
172,164 | 25.45% | Third party |
| 1981 | 67/67 | 9 / 67
|
1
|
156,599 | 23.69% | Third party | |
| 1984 | Raniero Chinnici | 64/64 | 14 / 64
|
5
|
161,437 | 28.58% | Official Opposition |
| 1988 | Dale Morse | 64/64 | 25 / 64
|
11
|
185,243 | 31.80% | Official Opposition |
| 1992 | 67/67 | 30 / 67
|
4
|
236,824 | 38.22% | Official Opposition | |
| 1996 | Erico D'Antonio | 67/67 | 28 / 67
|
 2
|
241,945 | 35.70% | Official Opposition |