History of the SP[]
Mormon Socialist Party[]
The Socialist Party of Greater Hulstria was initially established as the Mormon Socialist Party in June 2413 when 10,000 Mormon refugees fleeing persecution in Dranland arrived in the Crownland of Hulstria. Almost immediately, the other parties, led by the Hulstrian Nationalist party, conspired against the Mormon population, which led to the MSP's opposition to the government. It eventual lead them to propose the Republic Act 2413. In response, the Imperial Diet passed the Un-Hulstrian Activities Act 2414, which banned the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and deported everyone who practiced the religion. It also led to the commencement of an Imperial Tribune, which the party ignored. The Imperial Tribune abruptly ended with the end of apartheid, which revoked the law approving the Imperial Tribune. The MSP, along with the Gao-Showa People's Party, took part in the cabinet following the next election, at which time the MSP Party formally renounced Republicanism and embraced the Constitutional Monarchy. In June 2426, it was a key partner in the establishment of the Dual Monarchy of Hulstria and Gao-Soto.
Moroni and Independence[]
Following the party's evolution into a socialist organization in 2440, the party's main partner were the Coalition of Casual Sects and the Progressive Liberal Party of Hulstria. Also, following the immigration of Mormon refugees from Deltaria, the party followed them to the new City of Deseret, but were forced out by a systematic campaign by the military and gishoto tribes. It soon set up a city, which the named Moroni, where it, along with the Church, built its headquarters.
But it soon became evident that the Mormons still wished to be citizens of Greater Hulstria, which other parties were adamently opposed to. When it became clear that the other parties would not allow Moroni to join the Eastern Territories, the MSP, reluctantly, proposed and eventually won a vote on independance for Moroni, leaving behind the Hulstrian political scene. Its leader at the time, Jane O'Neil became the leader of the the new nation.
Modern Era[]
After many centuries of self-imposed exile in Moroni, the City was readmitted into the Eastern Territories in 2771, causing the MSP to once again return to the Diet. In 2770, two months before the official integration of the city, it contested its first election in the Diet since 2469. It only picked up 5 seats, all in Kuratha, all due to short time it had to prepare. The party, as expected, picked up many more seats in the general election of 2773, picking up an additional 149 more seats, making it the second largest party in the Diet. It also entered the cabinet, in an alliance with the CLA and HNP, with 5 positions, including the Ministry of Justice.
In September, 2774, the party announced its transformation into the Socialist Party of Greater Husltria.
Bauer Era[]
The party, along with the other liberal parties, suffered a major loss in the General Elections of 2776, losing 45 seats, with conservative parties becoming the majority in the Diet. As a result, the national council of the party elected Ambrose Bauer as Socialist Party Leader, deposing Margaret English. Bauer became the first non-Mormon to head the party. Despite the party's opposition to its lack of proportional representation, the SP and the Fascist Authority Party reached a deal in which the SP entered into the united cabinet with the other parties. The deal includes an agreement to fundamentally reform the way in which the cabinet is formed, and how the Staatsminister is elected. The debate on the issue began, but was expected to take many years before an agreement could be reached. The SP gained 4 seats in the 2779 general election, bringing its total up to 110 seats. The party thus ranked fifth in the number of seats, but only 36 seats behind the largest in the Diet, the Objektivismus Partei. After the 2779 election, the SP became a major leader in the movement to restore some of the Emperor's powers. It would also join at that time the Hulstrian Monarchist Society, along with the FAP, Nationale Partei, and Kaiserliche Hulsterreichische Partei.
During the party conference of 2782, the party adopted significant changes to the party structure, including replacing the previous position of Leader of the SP with an Office of the Chaiman. Ambrose Bauer was choosen by 95% of the delegates to be the first Chairman.
The party made major gains in the September 2782 elections, picking up 27 extra seats, and gaining control of the local government in Kuratha. It became the second largest party in the Diet, at only 15 seats behind the Christliche Liberalen Allianz. The party, with Ambrose Bauer as it's candidate, also made it into the second round of the Governor-Generalship election, but lost to the Nationale Partei, due to the opposing party recieving the endorsement of the Fascist Authority Party and the Kaiserliche Hulsterreichische Partei. The SP has also seen an increase in support for its proposals regarding the abolition of the Governor-Generalship. The party made a moderate gain in the 2785 general elections, gaining two seats in an election that saw little change in the Diet, but still managed to replace the CLA as the largest party in the country, with 139 seats. It was followed close behind by the CLA, who had 137 seats.
In the General Election of 2788, the SP continued to increase its seat share by picking up 17 seats, bringing the total up to 156 seats. With 21.51% of the Diet under it's control, the SP gained the party's highest percentage of seats in any election since 2431. But, at the same time, it lost its status as the largest party to a resurgent CLA, who picked up 33 extra seats, mostly from the FAP, to bring its total up to 170 seats. In 2791 the party made massive gains, picking up 73 seats and bringing its total to an all-time high of 229 seats.Three years later, in the 2794 elections, the party lost only 6 six in the Diet, bringing its total to 223 seats in an election which saw major losses by other parties.
Thatcher House, Current Headquarters of the SPGH, on Fleet Street in Kien
In the election of 2797, the party suffered its first double digit decline in twenty-one years, losing 20 seats, bringing its total to 203 seats in the DIet, and moving to second place behind the CLA. Ambrose Bauer once again lost the Governor-Generalship in the second round.
Soto Era[]
But shorty after the election of 2797 it was announced that Bauer had an incurable form of pancreatic cancer, and would resign his post the following month. His resignation, coming at a time when he was tremendously popular with party members and voters alike, came as a major shock to the party.
Under the laws of the Socialist Party, his Vice-Chairman, John Soto, became the new Chairman of the party. Soto was a sharp contrast to the friendly and approachable personality of Ambrose Bauer, and was percieved as a cold, yet extremely skilled, politician.
Soon after taking the post, the tense relations between the SPGH and the CLA boiled over when cabinet negotiations commenced in 2798. The Nationale Demokratische Union, which had been excluded from the cabinet the last time around, put forth a proposal that included all parties with representation in the cabinet. Although every other party voted in favor of it, the CLA abstained from voting after pledging to not enter into a cabinet with the SPGH. When the CLA again refused to enter into a united cabinet, the NDU put forward a cabinet without the CLA, which subsequently passed. The actions of the CLA were widely condemned for breaking the tradition of unity cabinets. The situation eventually led to a slight improvement in the relations between the socialists and the NDU, which had previously marked by great hostility.
Immediately after the passage of the cabinet proposal, efforts, led by the FAP, began to form a new united cabinet.