Herbert Griesmeyer

Herbert Michael Griesmeyer (b. September 17, 3540) is a Hulstrian politician of the Liberale Volkspartei who has been Chairman of his party and Minister of Justice since 3585.

Life
Griesmeyer studied law and history at University of Labsburg, but only graduated in the former. During his studies, as he would acknowledge later, he regularly consumed soft drugs which he believed had helped him pass exams more easily.

Griesmeyer underwent training as a lawyer from 3565 to 3568, and opened his own law firm in 3572, then aged 32, with the help of friends. He often defended drug users/dealers and condemned the government's war on drugs policy. He joined the Liberale Volkspartei in 3579 and was active in communal politcs. He positioned himself on the economic right and social left of the party, self-identifying as a libertarian.

Politics
In the 3584 election, he ran in the constituency of Labsburg Äußerer Ring, a district mostly populated by the upper middle class, students and young academics. After a fairly close victory against his social democrat opponent, he made a surprise entrance into the LVP leadership contest of 3585, in which he rallied young liberal supporters to defeat conservative parliamentary leader Hans Holzinger.

As party leader (and Minister of Justice when the LVP entered government the same year), he embraced a market-oriented and socially liberal course, but often clashed with Holzinger. A bid to remove his internal rival failed, but the tensions between the libertarian and conservative wing did not hurt the party in the 3585 elections, when it doubled its share of votes and seats with Griesmeyer as top candidate.