it's a pity I think we need more retro-furutistic sci-fi based on 1980s expectations.
Graphic Thread
- Thread starter Glen
- Start date
Made with https://parliamentdiagram.toolforge.org/parlitest.php
Distribution of seats in the Senate of the Union of Arab States. From left to right; North Iraq (15), South Iraq (15), Al-Hasa (10), Jabal Shammar - elected seats (15), Jabal Shammar - appointed seats (5), Bahrain - elected seats (3), Bahrain - appointed seats (3), Qatar - elected seats (3), Qatar - appointed seats (3), Trucial States - elected seats (3), Trucial States - appointed seats (3), Oman - elected seats (3), Oman - appointed seats (3), South Yemen - elected seats (3), South Yemen - appointed seats (3)
(all North Iraq, South Iraq and Al-Hasa seats are elected)
Elected to Appointed overall.
Distribution of seats in the Senate of the Union of Arab States. From left to right; North Iraq (15), South Iraq (15), Al-Hasa (10), Jabal Shammar - elected seats (15), Jabal Shammar - appointed seats (5), Bahrain - elected seats (3), Bahrain - appointed seats (3), Qatar - elected seats (3), Qatar - appointed seats (3), Trucial States - elected seats (3), Trucial States - appointed seats (3), Oman - elected seats (3), Oman - appointed seats (3), South Yemen - elected seats (3), South Yemen - appointed seats (3)
(all North Iraq, South Iraq and Al-Hasa seats are elected)
Elected to Appointed overall.
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Hapsburg
Banned
Franscale image of another character.
Brian Andrew Kessar was born in June 2637 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; his father was a Commodore in the Imperial Navy riverine force, and his mother managed a local hardware store in their hometown of Bethlehem, Penn. His father died in 2640, after an accident at the Philadelphia Naval Yard; his mother fell into a deep depression and lost her job, living on a widow's pension for over a year, remarrying in May 2641 to their neighbor Philip Vox. She had a second son, Xander Vox, though it was increasingly apparent that Xander was not Phil's son; they divorced in 2648 after several incidents of mutual domestic violence. She displaced her anger towards the younger son, blaming her divorce and later abusive relationships on him, which Brian often argued with her about. This tense home life was a major factor for his leaving to join the Imperial Army when he turned 18.
After training, he was noted for his commanding presence, and he was recommended for Army OCS. He was commissioned a Lieutenant and served in an infantry platoon in the 8th Cavalry Division, fighting rebels in the Outer Colonies. He was tapped by Army Special Forces in 2660, and went through rigorous training in order to lead a special forces battalion. He led his unit through several covert actions, but resigned his commission at the end of 2663 after a botched air assault that he blamed himself for.
After some months taking odd-jobs and bounty hunting, he began a career as a mercenary, selling his skills to the highest bidder. He felt it was the only way to be responsible for only himself, and not involve others in his mistakes. He took on the moniker "Gravefiller" and amassed a considerable reputation in several colonial conflicts; planetary governors, especially hereditary noble ones, often brought in mercenaries and private armies to quell riots and fight insurrectionaries when military forces were not readily able to respond to minor incidents, which only increased during the Great War and the redeployment of most reserve units to the front lines.
In 2665, he reconnected with his brother Xander, who had also become a mercenary fighter for the Tempest Free Company. They went into business together, and in mid-2668 signed on with the Imperial government to "advise" a special operations unit, the 71st Studies and Observations Group, better known as Beaumont's Raiders. They were crucial in foiling an aristocratic plot against the state; while Xander ingratiated himself with the new Emperor Maximilian, Brian remained aloof. He took other contracts in-between his work with the Raiders, usually pursuing opportunities to strike at the criminal Dragon Syndicate. Near the end of 2670, he took part in a raid of the syndicate's Orionese headquarters, butchering their leadership; the cumulative bloodbaths he engaged in gradually wore him down, and he lost hope of ever becoming an honorable warrior, and being anything other than a tool for tyrants.
In 2671, he reluctantly joined the new Imperial State Security Department, being appointed a Standardier (Colonel) in the Strategic Intelligence Agency under the command of Director William McGrady. His brother became a leading figure in a rival agency within the ISSD, but there appeared to be no animosity between the siblings. Kessar led the special forces training program, and was also appointed Chief of Staff to the Director. He resumed field command as a Questor (Major General) near the end of the Great War, heading the elite 9th (Air Assault) Legion, which became the première unit of the Strategic Security Forces; over time, he held operational command over several legions grouped under the 6th Armored Strategic Security Corps, nicknamed Panzerkorps Kessar, which gained him a promotion to Prefect (Lieutenant General).
He spearheaded the State Sec contingent in Operation Crassus, the military response to the 2679 Far Rim Revolt, which earned him numerous decorations for command and bravery; nevertheless, he felt them to be hollow honors, and saw nothing glorious in crushing an already-defeated people. In the middle of the conflict, he was diverted to planet Keystone in the Outer Colonies in August 2680, as the colony world was subjected to a nuclear terrorist bombing. Kessar's troops were instrumental in restoring order to the planet, and setting up an interim government, which gained him a promotion to Legate (Colonel General). In late 2684, he was responsible for hunting down privateer fleets in the Pirate War. However, he disappeared in January 2685 and was presumed dead after an attack by wildlife on the remote planet Chios; a torchlit empty-casket funeral was held in Philadelphia, and he was honored with statues and monuments. A few years later, the planet was designated the Brian Kessar Memorial Park, and protected from colonization.
Kessar was noted as an avid hunter, conservationist, lover of animals, and motor vehicle enthusiast, owning a hunting lodge in East Prussia and an estate in Virginia with extensive preserved woodland. He had a turbulent long-term relationship with Irene Stavros from 2669 to 2681, with whom he had an illegitimate son, Matthias (b. 2670).
The three rows show him at his three main phases of his life: as a soldier in the Imperial Army from 2654 to 2663, as a mercenary from 2664 to 2671, and as a commander in State Security from 2671 to 2685.
Brian Andrew Kessar was born in June 2637 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; his father was a Commodore in the Imperial Navy riverine force, and his mother managed a local hardware store in their hometown of Bethlehem, Penn. His father died in 2640, after an accident at the Philadelphia Naval Yard; his mother fell into a deep depression and lost her job, living on a widow's pension for over a year, remarrying in May 2641 to their neighbor Philip Vox. She had a second son, Xander Vox, though it was increasingly apparent that Xander was not Phil's son; they divorced in 2648 after several incidents of mutual domestic violence. She displaced her anger towards the younger son, blaming her divorce and later abusive relationships on him, which Brian often argued with her about. This tense home life was a major factor for his leaving to join the Imperial Army when he turned 18.
After training, he was noted for his commanding presence, and he was recommended for Army OCS. He was commissioned a Lieutenant and served in an infantry platoon in the 8th Cavalry Division, fighting rebels in the Outer Colonies. He was tapped by Army Special Forces in 2660, and went through rigorous training in order to lead a special forces battalion. He led his unit through several covert actions, but resigned his commission at the end of 2663 after a botched air assault that he blamed himself for.
After some months taking odd-jobs and bounty hunting, he began a career as a mercenary, selling his skills to the highest bidder. He felt it was the only way to be responsible for only himself, and not involve others in his mistakes. He took on the moniker "Gravefiller" and amassed a considerable reputation in several colonial conflicts; planetary governors, especially hereditary noble ones, often brought in mercenaries and private armies to quell riots and fight insurrectionaries when military forces were not readily able to respond to minor incidents, which only increased during the Great War and the redeployment of most reserve units to the front lines.
In 2665, he reconnected with his brother Xander, who had also become a mercenary fighter for the Tempest Free Company. They went into business together, and in mid-2668 signed on with the Imperial government to "advise" a special operations unit, the 71st Studies and Observations Group, better known as Beaumont's Raiders. They were crucial in foiling an aristocratic plot against the state; while Xander ingratiated himself with the new Emperor Maximilian, Brian remained aloof. He took other contracts in-between his work with the Raiders, usually pursuing opportunities to strike at the criminal Dragon Syndicate. Near the end of 2670, he took part in a raid of the syndicate's Orionese headquarters, butchering their leadership; the cumulative bloodbaths he engaged in gradually wore him down, and he lost hope of ever becoming an honorable warrior, and being anything other than a tool for tyrants.
In 2671, he reluctantly joined the new Imperial State Security Department, being appointed a Standardier (Colonel) in the Strategic Intelligence Agency under the command of Director William McGrady. His brother became a leading figure in a rival agency within the ISSD, but there appeared to be no animosity between the siblings. Kessar led the special forces training program, and was also appointed Chief of Staff to the Director. He resumed field command as a Questor (Major General) near the end of the Great War, heading the elite 9th (Air Assault) Legion, which became the première unit of the Strategic Security Forces; over time, he held operational command over several legions grouped under the 6th Armored Strategic Security Corps, nicknamed Panzerkorps Kessar, which gained him a promotion to Prefect (Lieutenant General).
He spearheaded the State Sec contingent in Operation Crassus, the military response to the 2679 Far Rim Revolt, which earned him numerous decorations for command and bravery; nevertheless, he felt them to be hollow honors, and saw nothing glorious in crushing an already-defeated people. In the middle of the conflict, he was diverted to planet Keystone in the Outer Colonies in August 2680, as the colony world was subjected to a nuclear terrorist bombing. Kessar's troops were instrumental in restoring order to the planet, and setting up an interim government, which gained him a promotion to Legate (Colonel General). In late 2684, he was responsible for hunting down privateer fleets in the Pirate War. However, he disappeared in January 2685 and was presumed dead after an attack by wildlife on the remote planet Chios; a torchlit empty-casket funeral was held in Philadelphia, and he was honored with statues and monuments. A few years later, the planet was designated the Brian Kessar Memorial Park, and protected from colonization.
Kessar was noted as an avid hunter, conservationist, lover of animals, and motor vehicle enthusiast, owning a hunting lodge in East Prussia and an estate in Virginia with extensive preserved woodland. He had a turbulent long-term relationship with Irene Stavros from 2669 to 2681, with whom he had an illegitimate son, Matthias (b. 2670).
The three rows show him at his three main phases of his life: as a soldier in the Imperial Army from 2654 to 2663, as a mercenary from 2664 to 2671, and as a commander in State Security from 2671 to 2685.
Great maps dude! Was wondering whether you have a basemap in this style with OTL borders?
Two example ballot papers from the 2040 federal election in a future federal UK with a saner constitutional setup.
NB: The candidates names are all names I came up with randomly; any resemblance to real individuals is purely coincidental.
First up: House of Lords ballot paper, Scotland (page 1)
Second example: House of Commons ballot paper, Cardiff (complete)
(Apologies if parts of the Welsh are wrong; I speak Gaelic and Scots, but not Welsh.)
NB: The candidates names are all names I came up with randomly; any resemblance to real individuals is purely coincidental.
First up: House of Lords ballot paper, Scotland (page 1)
Second example: House of Commons ballot paper, Cardiff (complete)
(Apologies if parts of the Welsh are wrong; I speak Gaelic and Scots, but not Welsh.)
The Welsh isn't too bad. The only egregious thing I can spot is that capitalised i
Also, that House of Lords election having open list STV for that many candidates. I'm expecting that ballot to be huge. I'm a little surprised that they don't use semi-open STV like for the Australian Senate
Good to know, and well-spotted - I suspect that was autocapitalised by my English spellchecker 🤦♂️
The huge ballots are an idiosyncrasy of Scotland and Wales in this system. England's HoL ballots are divided into 8 regions, each of which has 3 senators, elected in batches of either 1 (so effectively instant runoff) or 2 Lords every 5 years. This is staggered by region, i.e. at each election 4 regions elect 1 Lord and 4 elect 2 Lords, so much like the other two constituent countries, England elects 12 of its 24 Lords per election.
Scotland and Wales meanwhile have decided, for political reasons, that they should elect their Lords as one big region - which massively favours the political establishment based in the Central Belt - rather than using their own regions to subdivide further.
This does indeed result in monstrously long ballots, with some unintended side-effects like candidates being more likely to get elected the higher up their surname is in the alphabet. Which is also why you get people "gaming the system" a bit by going with an alternate version of their name as their primary name, as seen for instance with Alec MacDonald opting to go by Alasdair Dòmhnallach as his primary name.
Oh boy. So, does Wales also have 12 Lords? And how long are their terms?
And what does the rest of the House of Lords look like?
Ah yes, the "I can't be bothered to read this broadsheet sized ballot, so I'll just put my mark next to this candidate" problem.
Donkey vote - Wikipedia
Yeah I could've put that more clearly couldn't I! Each constituent country has 24 elected Lords with 10-year terms, with half of seats (so, 12 per country, 36 total) elected every 5 years. So that starts us off with 72 directly elected Lords. (As you can tell by the name of the country, there's no NI in the picture).
The Speaker of the Lords is separately appointed by the Lords but not from among the Lords themselves; usually this is a current or former Speaker of the Commons (if current, they obviously vacate the Commons); the Speaker serves for life (or until they resign/retire) unless recalled by a 2/3 supermajority of the Lords.
To these are added the following, who must all formally sit as crossbenchers (though in practice obviously certain interests tend to naturally align with certain parties). Unlike the current system, being a Lord is considered a full-time job, so they are expected to give up their existing day jobs (and in the case of the public sector representatives - see below - are statutorily required to). Unless otherwise stated, they serve at the pleasure of the appointing body and have no defined term limit:
Representatives of faith communities (15): 6 Christian (one each C of E, C of S, RCC, EOC, and two appointed by Churches Together), 3 Muslim (appointed by the MCB, at least 1 must be Shia), 2 Jewish (Board of Deputies), 1 Hindu (appointed by HFB), 1 Buddhist (NBO), 1 Sikh (TTL's British Sikh Federation).
Representatives of academia (10-12): eligibility to stand requires a professorial chair in a relevant subject area for the constituency. Constituencies are grouped into "Ancient or Russell Group" (elections in calendar years ending in 1) and "Other" (elections in calendar years ending in 6), and each of these two gets 1 representative in each of the six categories: Arts, Humanities, Social Science, Physical Science, Life Science, totalling 10. If none of the 10 elected are from a Welsh or Scottish university, an extra seat (or two) gets added and a by-election held (indiscriminate by category).
They are elected in aggregate by academics within the relevant constituencies; eligibility to vote requires at least 5 years' continuous employment in an academic capacity. Medical and legal academics are ineligible as they are deemed represented through the professions (see below). They have 10-year terms which they complete in their own right (i.e. cannot be recalled/rescinded). (One could say this means Britain has finally introduced academic ten-year *badum-tss*)
Representatives of the professions (7): 2 each for BMA and the two Law Societies, 1 each for the ACCA, Engineering Council, and RCN.
Trade union representatives (6): 1 each elected by STUC, WTUC, and TTL's ETUC (elections in calendar years ending in 3), and 3 elected by the TUC as a whole (elections in calendar years ending in 8). Elected for 10-year terms but subject to recall through (E/S/W)TUC procedures.
Industry representatives (3): 1 each appointed by CBI, BCC, and FSB (Federation of Small Business, not Russia's intelligence agency...)
Public sector representatives (3): 1 each appointed by TTL's Institute of English Public Servants (IEPS) and its counterparts the ISPS and IWPS.
Third Sector representatives (3): 1 each appointed by the NCVO (renamed ECVO ITTL), SCVO, and WCVA.
This totals between 49-51 Lords who are not directly elected, bringing the size of the HoL to a cozy 119-121, so very streamlined compared to what we have now (particularly necessary as all of them are actually expected to turn up most of the time). This also means that the directly elected Lords account for 59.5-60.5% of the Lords. So, importantly, directly elected Lords cannot be outvoted by unelected/indirectly elected Lords, although it would be rare for such a scenario to happen (struggling to think of a situation where the TUC would vote with the CBI against both Labour and the Tories).
On the flipside, even a party which obtains a 60% majority in both the Commons and Lords elections - not that this is likely to happen with a more proportional system like this anyway - would only obtain between 35.7-36.3% of Lords seats, allowing the Lords to retain its critical function of properly scrutinising legislation passed by the Commons rather than waving things through based on a party whip.
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Just for fun - here's a visualisation of what this might look like.
Labour-Green coalition government in the Commons, but as you can see due to the still-strong performance of the Scotland Party and Plaid, the overweighting of Scotland and Wales in the Lords mean they don't even have a majority among directly elected Lords (33 to 39, 45.8%)
Taken overall, even if you add the academics, unions, public and third sector to those 33 (given most of those groups tend to lean at least a wee bit towards the left), and we might as well throw in the lone Communist - you're still "only" at 58 votes, so you'll need to convince at least 3 Lords from any of the remaining segments (in descending order: clerics, Tories, Lib Dems, Scottish nationalists, professionals, Welsh nationalists, employers, the Muslim party or Alba) to vote with you on any given proposal in order to reach your majority.
Labour-Green coalition government in the Commons, but as you can see due to the still-strong performance of the Scotland Party and Plaid, the overweighting of Scotland and Wales in the Lords mean they don't even have a majority among directly elected Lords (33 to 39, 45.8%)
Taken overall, even if you add the academics, unions, public and third sector to those 33 (given most of those groups tend to lean at least a wee bit towards the left), and we might as well throw in the lone Communist - you're still "only" at 58 votes, so you'll need to convince at least 3 Lords from any of the remaining segments (in descending order: clerics, Tories, Lib Dems, Scottish nationalists, professionals, Welsh nationalists, employers, the Muslim party or Alba) to vote with you on any given proposal in order to reach your majority.
Have a road sign from a future expanded London.
(Yes, I realise this will be thoroughly unexciting to anyone unfamiliar with London)
(Yes, I realise this will be thoroughly unexciting to anyone unfamiliar with London)
Yep. I've seen some more extreme proposals floating about, but expanding "just" to the M25 seems pretty realistic in the medium-term, seeing as how everyone thinks that's the London border anyway!
Just pull all the home counties into the London region, at this rate
