Capitalist Party of Hobrazia

The Capitalist Party of Hobrazia is a Hobrazian political party, currently holding 186 of the 400 seats in the nation's Parliament. It was founded in 2943 by Richard van Osten, who went on to be the Party's first elected Emperor of Hobrazia, and is currently led by William Turner-Clarke.

Foundation
Following an era during which the We Say So! Party had been the dominant force in Hobrazian politics, a group of right-wing businessmen and professionals met in late 2942 in order to discuss the formation of a new political party. Businessman Richard van Osten emerged as the new Party's leader, and his Deputy was announced as lawyer Marco Triannone. At this stage, the Party was known as the Progressive Conservative Party.

Whilst initial election results were disappointing for the Party, within a matter of years the Party, under van Osten's leadership, seized over three quarters of the seats in the Hobrazian Parliament, and swiftly enacted sweeping reforms. Opponents attacked the right-wing agenda of the Party, but voters appeared to disagree, electing van Osten as Emperor of Hobrazia in 2949, and again in 2952.

A new perspective
Under Richard van Osten's leadership, the PCP won three consecutive terms in office. Following a narrow defeat in the 2954 General Election, he announced his intention to withdraw from the political arena. Many predicted that Deputy Leader Peter Rosberg would take the helm, but a bitterly contested leadership election led to the election of Alexander William Martin-Howe as Leader. Martin-Howe rebranded the Party with its current name, the Capitalist Party of Hobrazia, and moved further to the right, advocating the abolition of virtually the entire state.

Martin-Howe's approach proved successful, as he returned the Party to power in 2957, and led them to three consecutive terms in office, during which the Hobrazian Parliament enacted increasingly right-wing measures. Trade unions were banned, and income tax abolished. Martin-Howe was criticised for increasing his own personal allowance significantly, but defied critics by introducing a further increase, which he argued was used to fund Hobrazian entrepreneurs.

Martin-Howe stood down in 2966.

The Turner-Clarke era
Following a closely contested leadership election, Deputy Party Leader William Turner-Clarke prevailed, with a tiny margin of victory over Foreign Secretary '''Ellen van Osten. '''Turner-Clarke's leadership, however, received a major blow when he led the Party to its second worst electoral performance. van Osten immediately challenged him for the leadership, but eventually reached an uneasy truce with Turner-Clarke.

Many expect the Party to return to Government in Hobrazia's next elections, which are scheduled to be held in 2969.