Howard J. Menzies

Howard James ‘Ming’ Menzies was born in Manawar, Sovesta in 2479. The Menzies family moved to Homlinstag in 2489 where Howard’s father, Anthony became the local member for the Liberal Democrats in the 2491 election. In the 2497 election when Anthony Menzies was defeated in his re-election bid, Howard joined a youth group called the Young Nationalists, a youth branch of the up and coming National Socialist Vanuku Worker’s Party, lead by Edmund De Groot. Howard’s youth experiences with his Liberal Father gave him much motivation to change reform the Party while maintaining its Nationalists ideals. He rose to Vahama Young Nationalists Chairman in 2500 and in the 2501 election was one of only nine Party members to be elected to Federal Board. Menzies election success meant that he now only needed to compete for power with eight other members of the party and in 2504 when he was re-elected he carried his friend William Gibbs for east Homlinstag to the Board. With Gibbs and new found party ally Anthony D. Abbott Menzies began to realign the parties platform. In 2506 Menzies was among the few credited for the National Worker’s Party and the Bomotos Imperial Parties merger to create the Nationalists Imperial Party. The Party ran Edmund de Groot as there CEO nominee at the 2507 Election and fall well short. Menzies continued to make in roads with the party leadership and forged better alliances with the United Party. By the 2514 election the Parties of the Radical Nationalists, Nationalists Imperials and the United Parties had formed the Vanuku Nationalists Coalition and won the Chief Executive Officer under RNC leader Alfred Vehlon. The Imperial Nationalists won 14 seats around the country and Menzies became Finance Minister, pasting the first Budget in over 50 years. After the death of De Groot in May 2517 the party conference had Menzies just defeated by James C. Fuller for the Leadership of the party. He continued the ties with the RNC and the VNC until the next Party ballot in 2521 after months of right-wing attacks on the Liberal Democrats in power, Menzies was elected Party Chairman. The 2523 election was a shock for Menzies, gaining the Vanuku Nationalists coalition support for a liberal was hard enough but on the eve of the election the Radical Nationalists disbanded, leaving Menzies without a second round show in the Presidency race.

During the 2520s Menzies began talks with the Liberal Democrats and by 2526 formed Government with them in under the Howard Administration. Menzies received the Finance Ministry and tired to update the Budget and Taxation system. Liberals and Conservatives within the Cabinet rebuffed the idea of change and haggled over amounts of improvements. After the next election in 2532 election the Nationalists members of the Cabinet walked out and fresh elections where called. Joint Peoples Party-Nationalists campaign paid off in 2534 after years of indecision Menzies was elected President.