Worker's Party of Borland

Workerʼs Party of Borland Werkerspartÿ op Borland
Ideology	Social democracy Labourism Pro-Eucleanism
Website
www.wpb.bo

The Workerʼs Party of Borland (short: WPB; Borish: Werkerspartÿ op Borland [ˈwɛrkərspɑrˌtɛɪ̯ ˈbɔːrlɑnd̥s]) is a major centre-left political party in Borland.

The Workerʼs Party is the countryʼs oldest still existing party, being established in its current form in 1934, although its origins date back to the middle of the 19th century. In the decades following Borlandʼs independence from Estmere, the Workerʼs Party would go on to become the main rival to the Conservative Party with which it would go on to form the countryʼs system of two dominant parties until the rise of new parties since the late 1960s. Starting in the 70s, social conservatives became the partyʼs dominant faction, with the party ending up coalitioning with the Conservative Party at several points since the 1990s. After a brief period in the 2000s during which the Workerʼs Party supported more socially liberal policies, the party is again characterised by a more conservative approach to social issues since around 2010.

The Workerʼs Party has been an advocate for social democracy in Borland since before the countryʼs independence. It is generally credited with the way that social democracy was introduced into the Constitution of Borland between 1936 and 1938 as well as with many of the social reforms that happeed since, in particular with the social market economy. Especially in its early days, the party played an important role in womenʼs rights.

Traditionally, the Workerʼs Party is most popular among the urban lower and lower middle class, particularly in heavily industrialised areas. Stunhill, the Borish Lowlands and some parts of Newstead, the cities surrounding it and Olham are generally considered the partyʼs strongholds.

History

Background and formation

The roots of the Workerʼs Party of Borland lie in a variety of workerʼs unions and other workerʼs groups in the 19th century. As almost the entirety of the partyʼs founders were not active in political parties prior to Borlandʼs independence, the history of the party can be traced back more clearly to worker unions and social democratic groups in Newstead, Stunhill, Olham and around Westhaven than to any political party of Borland under Estmerish rule. Near the end of the Great War, the Workerʼs Party of Borland was formally established in Newstead in 1934, predating the modern Democratic Party by nearly a year and the Conservative Party by more than three.

Election results

Since its formation, the Workerʼs Party had been the strongest or second strongest political party in Borland. The strongest election results in the partyʼs history were the 1964 and 1968 elections, with the weakest elections being in 1994, 1998 and 2011. Following the 2007–2011 Workerʼs Party government, the party had its worst performance in history during the 2011 election, losing some of its stronghold seats to the New Left that had formed just before the 2007 election and had gotten more popular by 2011, particularly amongst younger voters. The Workerʼs Party fell below 25% of the votes for the first time. In 2017, regaining lost voters and regaining voter trust were among the main topics discussed at the party congress.

Criticism and controversies

Corruption

On multiple occasions, Workerʼs Party candidates were involved in corruption scandals, with the party notably having the second-worst corruption record among political parties in Borland.

The 1990–1994 coalition between the Conservative Party and the Workerʼs Party followed accusations of corruption against both parties in the years prior, but coincided with the first major instance of the media publishing incrimminating stories that generated widespread outrage in 1993. Although the Workerʼs Party coalitions with the Conservative Party again to form a minority government after the 1994 election, the party went against its coalition partner in voting in favour of an investigation into widespread corruption in 1995. Between 1995 and 2000, several separate investigations reveal that upwards of a quarter of parliamentary representatives for the Workerʼs Party had incrimminated themselves in bribery and corruption in general, with many having close ties to lobbying, had lobbied themselves or were trying to give government positions to family members.

The 2007–2010 WPB government committed to greater anti-corruption action after it was discovered that several high-ranking members had accepted bribes from automobile manufacturers to vote for less strict emission standards.

Right shift

As early as the 1960s and 70s, the Workerʼs Party was noted as shifting towards social conservatism. In the 1990s, it was criticised that the Workerʼs Party agreed to the Conservative Partyʼs coalition demands and legislation, but generally did not expect the same in return. This trend of accepting centre-right to right-wing social policies while not standing up to centre-left and left-wing ones was especially notable before 1995.

Abandoning of social policies

In 1993 to 1994, the Workerʼs Party voted to limit social welfare systems that it had previously expanded. Most of the controversial reforms of the time were reversed by later governments.

In 2015, the Workerʼs Party shifted away from its more pro-active approach to social issues, with the party speaking out against certain applications of affirmative action that the party had previously supported.

In 2020, the party abandoned its womenʼs quota that it had established in 2010. The quota ruled that at least 33% of members that the Workerʼs Party nominated for positions (including party leadership, special boards and candidates in elections) needed to be women. Around the same time, a large portion of WPB parliamentary representatives voted against making equality officials mandatory in public institutions.

Discrimination

A 2018 report accused the Workerʼs Party of racism and discriminating against women and sexual minorities, both on a systemic and an individual level. Following several former members being called out on discriminatory practices and language, the Workerʼs Party put out a statement distancing itself from the former members and restating its support for marginalised groups. Since then, it has repeatedly come under fire for not taking action to support them.

Voterbase

The Workerʼs Partyʼs voterbase was historically made up mostly of the urban workingclass in industrialised areas. As such, Stunhill, the Borish Lowlands and much of the Midlands (including certain neighbourhoods of Newstead) are the traditional strongholds of the party. By moving further right in some social matters, the Workerʼs Party was able to get voters in traditionally Conservative-voting areas. Alongside shifting the focus of its policies, this allowed the party to expand into the urban middleclass, with the late 1960s and early 1970s having some of the partyʼs strongest election results. However, the formation and rise of alternative parties, most notably Centrum, lead to their decline later that decade, as voters moved to other parties. Recently, this trend continues with the New Left, which had formed in response to the conservative shift within the Workerʼs Party.

Internal structure

Members

As of 2021, the Workerʼs Party has around 165 000 members, down from 225 000 in 1983. The minimum age for members is 18 years.

Youth organisations

The main youth organisations associated with the Workerʼs Party are the Young Workers (Borish: Yunge Werkern), which is directly associated with the party, as well as the Youth Union (Borish: Yunge Unië), which, while not officially a youth organisation of the Workerʼs Party, is closely affiliated with it. Furthermore, numerous regional and local youth organisations are affiliated with the Workerʼs Party.