Ár Ré leadership election, 4179

Ár Ré held a leadership election from July 4179 to December 4179 to elect a successor to Maurice Tylenol. Ember Powell, the Spokesperson for Education and Culture, won the election extremely comfortably, with 98.3% of the vote having faced no serious opposition. Her only contender, backbench Member of the Assembly James Jackson-MacArthur, won only 1,535 votes.

Background
Maruice Tylenol's premiership was marked by the saturation of the political arena in Kirlawa. Ar Re fell to 60 seats in the 4168 elections, the lowest number since 4119. Tylenol made the executive decision to relinquish her presidential candidacy for the remainder of her tenure, and formed an electoral alliance with the Kirlawa Independence Party and Centre Party - Ionad Páirtí. The alliance was approved by the party membership in a referendum.

Despite this, however, the electoral alliance went nowhere and after endorsing its electoral partners in the 4172 and 4175 presidential elections, Ar Re opted not to compete at all in the 4179 presidential election, marking the first time the party has ever done so. This decision was again supported by the party membership in a referendum. Although the party had achieved more than 100 seats in an election for the first time since 4154, Maurice Tylenol resigned and triggered a leadership election in which Powell, her opponent in the previous leadership election, won comfortably.

Procedure
The last constitutional review was held in 4175, but few changes have been made. Up to only six candidates can participate in the leadership election. Candidates need not be holding public office, but have to be a member of Ar Re for at least three years, and must receive at least one "endorsement". The nature of this endorsement was modified in the 4175 constitutional review. It could come from either a sitting Ar Re member of the General Assembly, from the Regional Assemblies, by the incumbent Leader of Ar Re (if he/she is not a sitting member), or from a former President of Kirlawa who represented Ar Re. If more than six candidates apply, the six candidates with the highest number of endorsements will be selected to participate in the election.

Timeline
Nominations were open immediately upon the resignation of Powell. Campaigning officially only took place for the months of October, proportional to the number of candidates participating in the election. Ballots were cast from end-November to mid-December, and the results were read out on December 23rd.

Candidates
There was significant support for Ember Powell, the Spokesperson for Education and Culture who competed with incumbent leader Maurice Tylenol in the last leadership election. She received 87 endorsements, 41 from the General Assembly and the rest from RegionaL Assemblies. To prevent Powell from winning unopposed, James Jackson-MacArthur, a backbencher, nominated himself on the deadline. 3 members of the General Assembly (including himself) and 3 Regional Assembly members endorsed him.

Declined

 * Angus Pollux, the Deputy Leader of the Party and Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs. Did not endorse any candidate.
 * Cherry O'Malley, Spokesperson for Internal Affairs. Did not endorse any candidate.
 * Sinead O'Brian, Spokesperson for Finance and Party Treasurer. Endorsed Powell for the nomination.
 * Jennifer Bowens, Spokesperson for Environment and Tourism. Endorsed Powell for the nomination.
 * Ronald Rees-Mogg, Chief Whip and Leader of the Senatorial Delegation. Endorsed Powell for the nomination.
 * Aife Caolaisdean, Spokesperson for Justice. Endorsed Powell for the nomination.

Aftermath
Ember Powell comfortably won the election and became Leader of Ar Re. She went on to win the subsequent presidential primary.