Sebastian Barnes
The Right Honourable Sebastian T. Barnes MP | |
|---|---|
 Barnes in 2018 | |
| Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Apilonia | |
| Assumed office 6 April 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Edward Faulkner |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sebastian Timothy Barnes February 14, 1968 Minneapolis, Duchy of Minnesota |
| Spouse | Stephanie Barnes |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Stanford |
| Occupation | Politican |
Sebastian T. Barnes was born and raised in the Duchy of Minnesota to a comfortable, if not excessively wealthy, landed gentry family who owned a modest estate, and has ancestors traced back as far as the initial Apilonia Expedition. Barnes is a devout Catholic, with a deep personal belief but one that he does not force onto others, and he is respectful of alternative viewpoints; in many respects Barnes has long maintained an opinion that whilst it is not his place to legislate on such issues he can play a role as a moral leader. During his youth, Barnes had an often-strained relationship with his father, and never truly gained his approval before his death. Quiet and often contemplative, Barnes is an intellectual at heart, scoring highly on every exam he has ever taken, and displays both a remarkable talent for chess and a deep and broad knowledge of trivia, as well as speaking four languages, including Latin, English, and German.
Barnes was accepted to the University of Washington, graduating summa cum laude with a B.A. in Apilonian Studies, later receiving a Masters and PH.D. in Economics from Stanford University, and would later become a tenured professor in economics before entering politics. Academically, Barnes is a macroeconomist sympathetic to Keynesian views, and much of his research has been focused on the developing world, particularly formally Apilonian colonies and their subsequent economic development. Barnes’ wife, Stephanie, is a general surgeon whom he met whilst studying at the University of Washington, and they have three daughters; Elizabeth, Sarah, and Zoe, and several grandchildren. Despite his own strained relationship with his father, Barnes is a stern but loving father, and is a father figure to many of his staff, as well as his family’s tenements in Minnesota.
After a period of time working as an economist, and subsequently as a tenured professor of economics at the University of Minnesota, Barnes chose to enter politics, seeking and gaining election at Mayor of Minneapolis, for two terms, before standing for election to the Apilonian Parliament, where he served for over a decade before winning election to be leader of the Centrist Party, leading them to electoral victory in the 2018 General Election.
As Prime Minister, Barnes has overseen several major reforms, the most notable of which was the Constitutional Reform Act of 2020, which significantly adjusted the balance of power in the Apilonian Parliament, and has encouraged a policy of fiscal responsibility. At the same time, Barnes’ experience the economics of former Apilonian colonies encouraged him to increase the support offered by the Kingdom to its daughter colonies, significantly warming relations after decades of neglect following Apilonia’s catastrophic withdrawal from its colonial empire in the 60s and 70s. With the support of the King, this effort culminated in the establishment of the Apilonian Commonwealth in 2020, and the establishment of very close ties as a result.