Michael Rae



Michael Stephen Rae (August 23rd, 2172-January 9th, 2260) was a member of the Kirlawan House of Representatives representing Merkan (no area 2248-2249, Banvolo and Fratenor 2249-2252, Banvolo South-Banvolo and Fratenor 2252-2260). He was a member of the Libertarian Labour Union and later the Liberal Progressive Party, and challenged Joseph Edwards in the 2236 Liberal Progressive leadership election.

Rae was born to a lower-middle class family in inner Banvolo in 2172. He was noted as gifted at a young age, and went to Ekathi University, gaining a degree in politics and modern history. He was active politically from the age of 17, and was elected to the Student Representative Council in 2193, where he was noted for his oratical skills. He went into business as a political historian, running for mayor of his hometown of Banvolo as an independent in 2200, 2204 and 2208.

In 2212, he joined the recently-formed Libertarian Labour Union, where he became noted as a figure on the left of the party. He later left in 2224, writing in his autobiography A Banvolian Boy - The Life and Times of Michael Rae, "The LLU just kept trending rightwards, and I couldn't take it anymore. I was under pressure from fellow members who saw me as unacceptably left. In the end, I just had enough and stormed out one day, telling them to go f*** themselves and f*** their little party.". During his time in the party, he stood in 2216, 2219 and 2222 on the Merkanese list in place 10, 12 and 9 respectively (each time failing to get elected due to poor Merkanese performances).

He ran again for Mayor as an independent in 2232 after several years out of politics, and in 2236 became one of the founding members of the Liberal Progressive Party. The oldest member of the Ishis Declaration at 60, Rae attempted an unsuccessful run at the leadership, garnering only 8% of the vote. Rae went on to serve as the party's Merkanese Co-ordinator from 2237 to 2244, before he agreed to take up a space on the party list in 2245. In 2248, he was elected owing to his position as 3rd on the list, and spearheaded a drive to reverse identity card legislation. He spoke in support in 2249 of the Electoral Commission decision to institute electoral sub-regions, and became a member for the Banvolo and Fratenor division. He was comfortably elected at the top of the Liberal Progressive (now open) list in the area, and took a large majority of the vote in his South Banvolo district after he was first elected there in 2254 following new legislation.

Rae became considered a party elder statesman in his later years, serving as Deputy Chairman of the Liberal Progressive Party from 2253 to 2258, and then Chairman until his death. He was renowned as a popular figure, and after his death at his home of natural causes in 2260 hundreds of well-wishers in his home town of Banvolo packed the streets to pay their respects.

Rae had a wife, Hilda Rae, who died in 2264. He also had two children, Harry and Robert.