Athena Scudo

Athena Scudo (June 19, 4079 - ) is a Selucian politician who represents the region of Kal Serathi in the Ekklesía. She was formerly the leader of the Nuchtmark Conservative Party when it was a regional party from 4084 to 4085, before becoming Deputy Leader of Ár Ré from August 4085 to March 4132. She was also Spokesperson for Infrastructure and Transport from 4095 to March 4132. In 4132, she was elected as Leader of Ár Ré, and in 4133, she was elected as the party's presidential candidate.

She competed in the inaugural Ár Ré leadership elections after her party merged with Saoirse that same year.

Before politics (4060 - 4084)
April McConaughey is the only child of Brian McConaughey and Kellyanne Wiig. Not much is known of her education during her primary, secondary and tertiary years. She revealed that she studied Theatre Arts at the University of Nuchtmark and was an actor from 4082 to 4084, starring in supporting roles in several sitcom dramas and television-made movies.

Nuchtmark Conservative Party
McConaughey joined the Nuchtmark Conservative Party at the age of 21, while she was still an undergraduate. At the time, there was major upheaval in the federal Conservative Party of Kirlawa as mass defections and resignations occurred in the party. McConaughey declined to join the CPK as a result of the increasing problems they were facing.

Leader of the Nuchtmark Conservative Party
In 4084, the NCP held a special meeting to discuss its future. A variety of options were set out, but the most prominent one was for the NCP to deaffiliate itself from the CPK and become its own, regional party. This was the most popular option, and NCP members voted overwhelmingly for this in an internal party referendum. The NCP amended its constitution to "remove itself from the hierarchy of the federal Conservative Party", thereby ending its relationship with the CPK for good.

Whereas the NCP was previously led by a team of leaders, the newly-independent NCP needed a single leader to take charge of decisions. A leadership election was called to select a new NCP leader. April McConaughey won the election with slightly over half the vote in a field of 18 candidates. She thus became the leader of the newly independent NCP, and the only leader of the NCP in its history.

As Leader of the NCP, McConaughey entered talks with Saoirse, a Kilani interests offshoot of the CPK, to discuss the formation of a broad electoral alliance to compete in federal elections the next year. These talks evolved into a possible merger between the two entities, and in 4085, McConaughey and McIntyre, the Leader of Saoirse, agreed to form Ár Ré, a new federal-level party.

Deputy Leader of Ár Ré (4085 - 4132)
McConaughey was assigned the role of Deputy Leader of Ár Ré upon the formation of the party in 4085. The post is unelected and permanent, therefore McConaughey was not subject to renewed mandates from the party membership to retain her position. She eventually relinquished the role of Deputy Leader in 4132 upon election to the post of Leader of Ár Ré. Angus Pollux replaced her in that role.

Spokesperson for Infrastructure and Transport (4095 - 4132)
McConaughey was the Spokesperson for National Development, the internal party name for the position of Spokesperson for Infrastructure and Transport in the Kirlawan cabinet, upon a reshuffle of the Cabinet prompted by then-leader Alexander Magnum III, replacing the previous holder of that role, Rebecca Shimmerman. McConaughey was part of the Magnum III ministry as the Minister for National Development throughout its entire course. She retained the role of Spokesperson for National Development after the Magnum III ministry was ousted, until 4132 when she was elected as Leader of Ár Ré. Ayril Terren replaced her in that role.

Leader of Ár Ré (4132 - )
McConaughey became leader of Ár Ré upon winning the 4132 leadership election (see below). Her term was generally an uneventful one, with the notable exception of the July 4140 election where Ár Ré gained a plurality of seats in the General Assembly for the first time since 4098, during the Magnum III premiership.

Internal elections
McConaughey participated in several internal elections, both leadership and presidential primary-wise, within the party from 4085 to 4133.

4085 leadership election
McConaughey won 16.4% of the vote in the first round and 18.6% of the vote in the second round, before being eliminated.

4101 leadership election
McConaughey won 16.8% of the vote in the first round, 19.3% of the vote in the second round and 23.8% of the vote in the third round before being eliminated.

4119 presidential primary
McConaughey ran against then-leader, Tauren Ó Marcaigh, for the post of presidential candidate of Ár Ré. The result was close, with McConaughey attaining 49.8% of the vote while Marcaigh earned 50.2%.

4124 leadership election
McConaughey ran against Minato Monata and Mario Lugazza in the 4124 leadership election. In the first, she attained 47.6% of the vote, but in the second round, she earned 49.98% of the vote, with a difference of 72 votes separating her from Minato Monata. Her campaign's request for the second round of the election to be rerun on the grounds of election irregularities was granted by the Internal Elections Committee of Ár Ré, and she achieved 48.2% of the vote then.

4132 leadership election
In her fourth leadership election, McConaughey faced no serious contender and won 97.9% of the vote. She was thus elected Leader of Ár Ré.

4133 presidential primary
The year after being elected as Leader, McConaughey ran in and won the 4133 presidential primary by the same astonishingly large margin, as she faced no serious contender from her party.