Government and PoliticsArransia's system of Parliamentary democracy has existed with only relatively minor changes, especially in the extension of the franchise, since 1838. Parliament is comprised of two houses. The principal one is the House of Citizens, which currently consists of 296 members chosen by popular vote. Elections are held every four years, but may be held earlier in the event of a government losing a vote of confidence. Until the 1950s Arransia used the first-past-the-post system, but for the 1953 election moved to a two-stage process where, if there is no overall majority in a constituency, the two leading candidates have a run-off ballot two weeks later. The House of Barons was historically composed of Arransia's hereditary peerage, which has only two ranks, Barons and Earls. However, in 1838 a class of Life Barons was introduced, and the hereditary peers required to elect from among their number 24 Barons and 16 Earls to sit in Parliament. These figures have remained unchanged; there are currently about 160 Life Barons. As the Arransian peerage is inheritable through the female line, few titles die out, and there are currently some 180 hereditary Barons and 55 hereditary Earls. Few of these are particularly wealthy or have large landed estates, although the Bickerton family, Earls of Marchwood, are renowned for their great wealth and their magnificent seat at Malbank Castle. In the 19th century, Arransia had two main political parties, Liberals and Conservatives, the Liberals being keener on the modernisation of the country and the Conservatives more attached to the old order and the monarchy. As the country industrialised, the Liberals were steadily eclipsed by the growing Labour Party, and by the late 1920s were the junior partners in a coalition with Labour. From 1936 to 1949 the Conservatives were in power under the charismatic Charles Ormond (1884-1959) who led the country into the disastrous Great War which resulted in the effective extinction of his party. For the four years after the war, Arransia was governed by a Labour-Liberal coalition under Labour's Hector Wolfenden (1880-1956). Following this, Liberals and Labour became rivals in a two-party system, although it must be said many former Conservatives drifted into the Liberal Party. The two parties are very evenly matched and have alternated in power, rarely winning elections by more than 20 seats. Election results are usually not clear until after the run-off phase, and this has sometimes reversed what seemed to be the expected result, most notably in 1977. While they argue bitterly, the two parties are both moderate examples of their respective political creeds, and differ more over emphasis than substance. There are relatively few safe seats, with the Liberals retaining a strong base in the industrial cities, and Labour commanding the allegiance of most of the small farmers and agricultural workers. Some of the bitterest electoral contests are in the more rural areas, where the market towns are staunchly Liberal and the countryside mostly Labour. The character of individual candidates counts for more than in many other countries. Arransia's greatest modern statesman is Patrick Scullion (1898-1995), a naval hero of the Great War who, due to internment in Orestina, managed to avoid any association with the disastrous defeats of the latter part of the conflict. After the war he entered politics and became the leader of the revitalised Liberal Party, serving as Chancellor from 1953 to 1961 and from 1965 to 1969. He did much to cement the country's new alliance with Brunswick, rebuild the armed forces and revive the economy, and was one of the few major Arransian politicians with a truly international outlook. He was not, however, in tune with the spirit of the 1960s, and widespread student rioting contributed to his heavy electoral defeat in 1969, after which he retired from active politics, taking the title of Earl of Stackpole. He lived to a very advanced age and in his later years often railed against what he saw as the short-sighted and insular outlook of the politicians of the day. Scullion was succeeded by Labour's George Rostron (b 1913), who held office from 1969 to 1981 – the longest continuous post-war term – and pursued a quietist policy that was much criticised at the time, but in retrospect successfully saw Arransia through the problems caused by the mid-1970s oil crisis without any major social upheavals. Scullion hated Rostron with a vengeance, particularly for his reluctance to invest in new military hardware, but in retrospect these two were political giants who continue to overshadow their various successors. The current Chancellor is Labour's Edward Douglas (b 1957), who won a very narrow electoral victory in 2006 over the Liberals' Lorna Bradshaw (b 1949), the first woman to hold the post. Labour hold 151 seats in Parliament against 141 for the Liberals and 9 for Independents. The Chancellors of Arransia since 1936 are as follows:
1936-49: Charles Ormond (Conservative) (1884-1959)
* Because of the transfer of South Holburn in February 2006, an additional 5 Parliamentary seats were temporarily created. By the 2010 election the distribution of seats will be reviewed and the overall number revert to 296 Local Government Arransia is divided into thirteen counties, including Danby which is a County of a City in its own right. These vary dramatically in size and population from Verne, which has a land area of about 350 square miles and a population of 89,000, to the very large rural county of Edirn in the north-east of the country, and the densely populated industrial counties of Pentmark and Stainland. Arransian counties are always referred to as “Pentmark” or “The County of Pentmark”, not “County Pentmark” or “Pentmarkshire”. Each county has a single-chamber elected county council, presided over by a Sheriff who is a government appointee. This may sound like a recipe for conflict, but in practice much of local government is non-partisan and the arrangement generally works reasonably smoothly. Many county councillors, particularly in the more rural areas, are Independents. County Councillors are not full-time and their function is scrutiny and deciding on policy rather than having an executive role. Many Sheriffs are retired senior naval officers or business leaders, although in recent years more have been appointed from the ranks of professional local government officers. Below the Sheriff there is an executive board containing the major department heads such as the Director of Highways, Director of Education and Commissioner of Police. Although unable to pass primary legislation, the counties have a large measure of autonomy, covering such areas as land use planning, roads, education, health care and social services. Each county controls its own police force, but transport policing and counter-intelligence are national responsibilities, and there is also a national Criminal Investigation Office. Within the counties, the land is divided into Boroughs (roughly towns above 10,000 population) and Districts, which cover more rural areas. Some of the larger towns are Corporate Cities or Boroughs which have more control over their own affairs. Boroughs and Districts (although not Counties) are permitted to carry out trading activities which, most notably, allows them to operate municipal bus and tram systems. Power generation was originally a municipal responsibility, but was brought together under the National Power Authority in the 1930s. The county councils administer the collection of purchase tax in their areas, which makes up the major part of their revenue. There is also a form of property tax, but this is much less onerous than the UK Council Tax, a typical household paying about $150 per year. There is a limited scope to vary the main rate of retail purchase tax, but this is not usually exercised except in Verne where it is considered there is something of a captive market. Notes and Coins Arransian currency has relatively few denominations, and follows a 1-5-10 pattern with no 20p or $2 values. There are four coins – the 1p, which is a largish “copper” coin of relatively old design, the “silver” 5p and 10p, whose relative weight and size matches their value, and the chunky, “gold” 50p, which is slightly smaller in diameter than the 10p. This replaced a large and somewhat impractical silver coin dating back to the early years of the century in 1984. All the coins show the King on the obverse, and have animals on the reverse – a squirrel on the 1p, wildcat on the 5p, badger on the 10p and bear on the 50p. The notes (never “bills” in Arransia) of $1, $5, $10 and $50 denominations, were reissued in the late 1980s and have been widely praised for their traditional yet stylish design. They are of slightly increasing sizes and the basic colours are green for the $1, orange for the $5, blue for the $10 and pink for the $50. The $1 note – as has been traditional since the introduction of pictorial notes – shows Queen Margaret, the $5 note the graceful Esk Suspension Bridge at Headlam, the $10 the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Margaret and the $50 the picturesque Burnfoot Distillery near Skelwick, which was selected amongst some controversy as representative of Arransian industry. For some time, vending machine suppliers have been pressing for the introduction of a $1 coin, but a consultation in the 1990s showed a strong popular attachment to the “Queen Maggie Dollar” and this idea has not been taken forward. Update: The newly-elected Labour government in 2006 recognised that the absence of a $1 coin had to be rectified, and in Spring 2007 announced that from October 2007 one would be introduced, similar to the 50p coin but 50% larger in proportion. Keeping with the animal theme of the lower-value coins, it is to feature a red deer stag on the reverse. Production of $1 notes would be scaled back but not for the time being discontinued completely. The government also announced that a $20 note would be introduced at the same time. This is to have a generally grey colour scheme, and will feature Bruce Watson, the steam locomotive engineer, and the record-breaking 4-6-2 Countess of Hanwold. It will be midway in size between the $10 and $50, although in truth the gap is small and it may be difficult to distinguish in terms of size. It will also have an updated overall style, but there are no plans to extend this to the other notes. Some criticised the choice of subject as nostalgic and backward-looking, but in fact it had been the runaway winner in a public consultation.
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