Jacqueline Townsend

Overview
Jacqueline Townsend is a Dranian politician of the right-wing Grand National Party and incumbent MP for Valdor. From 3414 to 3425, under Prime Ministers Margaret Woodhall and Adrienne LeCoultre-Overstraten, she was Interior Minister. After taking a step back between 3425 and 3429, she became Prime Minister of Dranland in February 3429 after the GNP had scored a decisive election victory.

Early Life
Born in Valdor, Dranland's most left-wing and economically weakest region, Jacqueline Townsend's parents were both teachers and trade unionists, politically close to the likes of PAC and formerly Unity. Despite their leftist leanings, they were also devout Hosians, a faith which she adopted and learned to embrace quickly as a child.

After graduating from a Hosian private school in 3392, she studied law at the University of Santa Sharika between 3392 and 3397. Subsequently, she worked as a lawyer for various security companies, while also serving as a security advisor to the rightist CNP-GNP administration that governed Valdor during that time.

When the elections were lost in 3397, she lost her advisor post and switched back to her lawyer job again. Occasionally, however, she would still engage in political agitation, publishing articles in favor of strict law-and-order policies like those advocated by Elaine Duvalle.

Initially leaning towards the more conservative CNP, Townsend agreed to run for a parliamentary seat on a GNP ticket in the 3402 elections, which she won as one of the few GNP candidates in Valdor. Soon, she became one of her party's foremost security lawmakers, supporting more powers for the police, but also opposing curfews and defending liberal gun laws.

Interior Minister
(As long as the forums don't work, I can't fully recall all that she's done as IM..)

In Opposition
When the GNP was crushed in the 3425 elections and a left-leaning government took over, Townsend was replaced as Interior Minister but remained her party's spokeswoman in that field. In opposition, she criticized plans of Prime Minister Cadfael Maddocks to abolish lethal weapons for police officers apart from specially trained units, which she claimed would decrease the quality of national security.

Prime Minister
After the elections of 3428, which were won by the GNP under the leadership of Craig Warwick, Townsend became Prime Minister in a four-way right-wing coalition, since most other frontbench GNP politicians were deemed to inexperienced, while the former Interior Minister boasted lots of experience. Thus, she was sworn in on February 1, 3429.