Shawn Jardine



Shawn Jardine is a Coburan politician, and the Chairman and founder of the Cobura Tory Party.

Pre-Politics
Jardine was born on September 14, 2545, in Toklinn, Tokundi. His parents Maurice and Isabelle, were immigrants from Jelbania.

Jardine was educated at Toklinn Primary School, but in an interview with the Toklinn Herald, Jardine noted that most of his education was recieved at home, as it was banned at the time. Jardine went on to say that, "I gave the school the answers I knew they wanted, but my father and mother taught me much more at home that I couldn't use in school." Jardine credits this education for his strong support of private schooling.

Jardine went on to attend Egato State University, where he received his bachelor's degree in Business in 2568.

Military Service
After his time at Egato State, Jardine enlisted in the Coburan Army where he was an infantryman. Jardine later said of his military service, "My father felt it was neccessary for me to know what it was to be a man, and the best place to get it was the Army."

Jardine left the Army after his initial 4-year enlistment as a Sergeant, foregoing an opportunity to go to Officer Corps school in Dilganato to run his family's software company back in Tokundi.

Jardine attempted to sue the government for damages from software piracy due to the fact that Coburan law did not provide for patents on software. In the highly publicized case, where Jardine was mostly vilified by many pro- RPC supporters, Jardine's case was thrown out by the courts.

He decided at that point, it was best to become involved in politics.

Politics
Jardine officially became a politician in 2581, winning a seat in the Provincial Assembly of Tokundi as a member of The Conservative Coalition.

He failed in a bid to become Premier of Tokundi in 2585.

Foundation of the CTP
Jardine re-entered the political scene in 2590, with the backing of several high-powered conservatives, such as Col. Brady Easter, a retired Colonel of the Coburan Army who was an outspoken critic of armed wings of political parties, and Porsche Rifler, a popular female conservative talk show host who often critiqued the RPC for it's "oppressive and tyrannical" views. Rifler garnered conservative-wide applaud for her saying "99% of Cobura's problems are because of the PRC, the other 1% is because the RPC has not yet spread its 'red fist' to further restrict our rights."

Jardine initially complained of the slow reforms by the Party for Individualism as a member of The Conservative Coalition, but when the TCC and the New Republican Party entered into a government with the PFI, Jardine publicly called them "traitors" and vowed to start his own party for the "real voice of freedom".

Since then, tensions between the parties have cooled, and Jardine is a well-respected ally by both the TCC and the NRP.

As An Advocate
Prior to the 2593 Elections, Jardine and the Torries were outspoken public critics of both the ruling  PFI and the  RPC.

One memorable moment was when Jardine spoke in the media about being a spokesman for the people, to which the RPC noted Jardine represented no one in the government. Jardine said after the 2593 elections, "That was quite possibly our defining moment, and the RPC did more to help us than they did to hurt us."

2593 Elections
Jardine led the CTP to a satisfying 38 seat share of the 550 seat Representative Assembly, after Jardine had set the party goal of 25 seats.

Jardine, himself, was elected to a seat in the Assembly, winning over 50% of his riding in Karlsburg, Tokundi.

Although many CTP members begged Jardine to run for Presiding Officer, Jardine instead decided to not run, and threw his support behind eventual Presiding Officer Tom Healy. Many credit Jardine's decision to support the TCC as "just enough" to give Healy the win over his opponent from the RPC, Omar Andrade.

Jardine has not yet ruled out a run for Presiding Officer in the next elections (scheduled for 2597, but analysts believe he will again instead support the TCC.