Free Democrats

The Free Democrats of Baltusia, or the Free Democrats, are a liberal, pro-democracy party in the Republic of Baltusia. The Free Democrats have roots in other political parties, most notably the Social Democratic Party of Baltusia.

Founded as an alternate to the major political parties in Baltusia, the Free Democrats quickly became a major political force.

History
Founded by Esabelle de Pourbaix as an alternative to the older polticial parties in Baltusia, the party quickly became a success. In its first elections, de Pourbaix was elected President of the Republic of Baltusia and saw the party win the second largest number of seats in Parliament. However, four years later, de Pourbaix was re-soundly defeated and a huge portion of the party caucus was wiped out.

Following her resignation, Deputy Leader Sebastian Burroughs was named Party Leader. Burroughs worked well with the other parties in Parliament and was soon named Prime Minister. His time as leader did not last long. Less than two years into his term, Burroughs resigned as leader following a closer than expected win in a leadership contest. He was replaced on an interim basis by Deputy Leader Ken Harradine.

Soon after Harradine became leader, Fred Iler launched a successful caucus revolt and was installed as the new leader. Iler's leadership was rather short. He saw the party make gains in Parliament but he did not consider the result to be successful and decided to step down. Vernon Rector, Iler's Deputy Leader became interim leader and opted not to seek the leadership in a permanent capacity.

In the first full-fledged leadership contest that the party had seen, six candidates ran and John Barclay narrowly won on the fifth ballot. Just weeks later, Barclay was narrowly elected President. After a relatively uneventful first term, Barclay was overwhelmingly reelected President.

Months before the 3129 elections, President Barclay announced his intention not to stand for reelection and to resign the leadership. Deputy Leader Norma Ann Glendon took hold of the party but just two months after she became leader, she was ousted by Finance Minister John Holt. Holt wanted to serve as interim leader in order to preside over the leadership contest. He believed that it would help him secure the leadership later in life, however, he never ran for the position again.

Potter Swayne was a surprise candidate in the leadership contest and ultimately won the leadership after a series of ballots. Swayne was elected President of Baltusia just weeks later.

Despite his election as President, Potter Swayne did not enjoy a great amount of popularity with the party caucus. A political independent, Swayne did not always comply with the caucus and this caused a great deal of tension. However, he consistently received the support of the party during confidence votes.

Following the disastrous general election campaign that he ran, Potter Swayne resigned as leader and was replaced by Corazon Trouillot.

However, Corazon Trouillot overestimated her party’s public support. She had predicted that her party would gain seats in the 3136 elections, however, they lost seats and Trouillot resigned as leader.

Eric Welles replaced Trouillot as leader and many feared that his lack of charisma would hurt the party. However, he quickly gained popular support after his first Question Period. His leadership was short-lived after the Free Democrats lost their cabinet portfolios.

Esperanza Seei, a party elder, replaced Welles. She was only supposed to be an interim leader, serving for at most six months, however, she served for over five years. During her leadership she saw the party make major legislative gains and handed the leadership over to Deputy Leader Ken Coburn. Coburn’s leadership was short-lived and he resigned after he was diagnosed with cancer.

Roseline Kosciusko-Morizet replaced Coburn. Morizet was a former Ambassador and Minister of Finance. A failed leadership contender, Morizet nearly ended her political career but was persuaded by Coburn to remain active in politics. Morizet did well in her first election and helped see the party make monumental legislative gains.