2021 New Virginian general election

2021 New Virginian general election
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All 13 seats in the House of Burgesses
	Free Democrats (7); National Party (6)
Prime Minister before election; Dame Sophia Albina; Free Democratic Party (New Virginia)	Elected Prime Minister ; Dame Sophia Albina; Free Democratic Party (New Virginia)

The 2021 New Virginia General Election was the second election to the House of Burgesses in New Virginia.

Background

In August 2020, Dame Elizabeth Lewis became the Prime Minister of New Virginia, initially serving in an acting capacity in the Provisional Council of New Virginia prior to the 2020 election.^[1]^[2]

Initially commanding a majority over the House of Burgesses under the Free Democratic Party (New Virginia) and a short-lived coalition with the New Virginian Patriotic League, the rise of the newly reformed National Party and the emergence of the Commonwealth Whigs diminished this and produced a hung parliament. Eryn Lewis resigned in December, leading to the House voting on a new Prime Minister. Due to the abstention of Leon Montan and the absence of Bainbridge, the vote resulted in an even tie. A re-vote ensued shortly, confirming Dame Sophia Albina as the new Prime Minister.^[3]^[4] The Free Democrats also formed a new coalition with the Whigs, installing Thomas Bainbridge as Deputy Prime Minister.^[4]

The governments majority however would remain at stake. Following the vacancy of a seat in New Franklin, a by-election was called in New Franklin.^[5] In a run-up to the by-election however, a series of events would rock the Commonwealth. After a series of scandals, Bainbridge retired from politics and dissolved the Commonwealth Whigs, once again producing a hung parliament.^[6]^[7] A vote was called in the House of Burgesses to call an early general election, which passed unanimously.^[7]

Date of the election

President of New Virginia Brooklyn Hewitt issued a proclamation confirming the dissolution of parliament, and setting the date of election on 7 February. A period of political campaigning would ensue between 26 January and 6 February.^[7] On the day of election, polls were open from midnight to 8pm Eastern Standard Time.^[8]

Timetable

Key dates^[7]
Date	Event
Saturday 16 January	Passage of the motion to dissolved parliament in the House of Burgesses.
Sunday 17 January	Parliament dissolved by President of New Virginia. Opening of nominations.
Saturday 23 January	Nomination period closes.
Sunday 24 January	Campaigning period begins.
Saturday 6 February	Campaigning period ends.
Sunday 7 February	Polling day – polls open 12am to 8pm.
Monday 8 February	Results announced for all constituencies. First meeting of the House of Burgesses.

Contesting political parties and candidates

See also: Political parties in New Virginia

Most candidates were representatives of a political party. In the 2021 election, 21 candidates stood: 1 being an independent, the rest representing a political party.

Party		Party leader(s)	Leader since	Leader's seat	2020 election		Seats at dissolution	Contested seats
Party		Party leader(s)	Leader since	Leader's seat	% of votes	Seats	Seats at dissolution	Contested seats
	Free Democratic Party	Dame Sophia Albina	December 2020	New Franklin at-large	55%	6	4	9 Seats
	National Party	Sir Bradley van Dullahan	October 2020	Helinium	21.2%	2	4	8 Seats
	Alliance 21/The Greens	James Frisch	January 2021	None	New party		0	3 Seats

2020-2021 BPs standing under a different political affiliation

During the 1st Parliament, the burgess for the town of Augusta, Sir Riley Hewitt switched his political affiliation to that of the National Party, shortly after its reformation from the New Virginian Patriotic League. Sir Riley Kennedy was the only BP to switch political affiliation.

Christina Nowell, an independent non-burgess similarly switched affiliation over to the National Party, contesting for a New Franklin seat as opposed to Roanoke. She however failed to be elected, similarly to the 2020 election. Another non-burgess John Gordon switched affiliation from the Nationals to the Free Democrats a single day prior to the election.

Outgoing BP	2020 party		2020 constituency	2021 party		2021 constituency
Sir Riley Hewitt		Independent	Augusta		Nationals	Augusta

Withdrawn or disowned candidates

The following candidates withdrew from campaigning or had support from their party withdrawn after the close of nominations. None of these candidates were elected.

Candidate	Party		Constituency	Reason for withdrawal	Date
James Bornstein		Alliance 21/The Greens	Roanoke at-large	Unknown	February 2021

Campaign

Campaign background

The Free Democratic Party and the National Party have been the two biggest political parties, with the Free Democrats having governed since the 2020 election, briefly holding a coalition with the New Virginian Patriotic League and later the Commonwealth Whig Party up until shortly prior to the dissolution of parliament.

During the 2020-2021 parliament, there were defections on all sides of the political spectrum. Independent burgess Sir Riley Hewitt would go to join the National Party in late-2020. Bainbridge would defect from the Free Democrats to form the Commonwealth Whig party, taking on two non-burgesses with him.^[9] In January, the Whig party would split, with members joining the Nationals,^[7] the Free Democrats and the newly formed Greens. John Gordon would defect from the Nationals to the Free Democrats shortly before the election.

Policy Positions

Culture

The Free Democrats supported the preservation and promotion of local cultures.^[8] The Greens took a similar position, promoting multiculturalism on the basis of it being a founding principle of the commonwealth.^[10]

In contrast, the Nationals wished to bind local cultures into a single unifying national culture, intending to create and appoint a dedicated Minister of Culture.^[11] The policies of the nationals were criticised by the Free Democrats in a campaign statement, stating that "They want to strip our diverse cantons of their cultural autonomy. The Nationals even call our thriving local cultures a source of weakness".^[12] Similarly, the greens stated their strict opposition to the notion of "cultural imperialism".^[10]

Economy

The Free Democrats supported initiatives to help citizens start up businesses and circulate the uncia through a national currency exchange in order to build a "dynamic economy".^[12]

The National Party supported the independence of the bank from the government. Additionally, they sought to remove restrictions that would "hurt economic growth".^[11]

The Greens opted for a simple policy, promising to keep the structure of the bank the same unless necessary. They also promised to support worker co-operatives, except those involved in damaging the environment.^[10]

Electoral Reform

The Nationals supported electoral reform, decrying the first past the post system used in the nation. The party supported the implementation of proportional representation within the at-large cantonal seats.^[11] The Greens took a similar stance, promising to pass a bill to revamp the electoral system, alongside supporting direct democratic initiatives and referendi to give the citizenry an increased voice in New Virginia politics.^[10]

Opinion polling

Adammic Online Broadcasting conducted an exit poll alongside their live election coverage, predicting the number of seats for each party.^[8]^[13]

Parties		Seats	Change
	Free Democratic Party	7	▲ 3
	National Party	6	▲ 2
	Alliance 21/The Greens	0	New party
	Independent	0	▼ 2
Free Democrat 1 seat majority

Results

Summary


7	6	0	0
Free Democrats	Nationals	Greens	Independent

A summarised results of the parties that competed in the election is as follows:

Party		Leader	BPs			Votes
Party		Leader		Of total			Of total
	Free Democratic Party	Dame Sophia Albina	7	&1000000000000005379999953.8%	7 / 13	122	49.59%
	National Party	Sir Bradley van Dullahan	6	&1000000000000004620000046.2%	6 / 13	78	31.71%
	Alliance 21/The Greens	James Frisch	0	&100000000000000000000000.0%	0 / 13	41	16.67%
	Independent	Sammy Pike-Hegar	0	&100000000000000000000000.0%	0 / 13	4	1.63%

Full results

e • d Results of the February 2021 general election to the House of Burgesses^[8]
Political party		Leader	Candidates	BPs					Votes

Political party		Leader	Candidates	Total	Gained	Lost	Net	Of total (%)	Total	Of total (%)	Change (%)
	Free Democratic Party	Dame Sophia Albina	9	7	2	1	▲1	53.8	122	49.59	-5.41
	National Party	Sir Bradley van Dullahan	8	6	2	0	▲2	42.2	78	31.71	+10.51
	Alliance 21/The Greens	James Frisch	3						41	16.67	+16.67
	Independent	Sammy Pike-Hegar	1						4	1.63	-22.17

Vote share

Free Democratic Party			49.59%
National Party			31.71%
Alliance 21/The Greens			16.67%
Independent			1.63%

Parliamentary seats

Free Democratic Party			53.8%
National Party			42.2%
Alliance 21/The Greens			0%
Independent			0%

Constituencies

Cities and towns

Augusta

Augusta
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Party (New Virginia)	Sir Riley Hewitt	3	100.0	0
Majority			3	100.0	0
Turnout			3	100.0	0
	NP hold

Helinium

Helinium
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Party (New Virginia)	Sir Bradley van Dullahan	2	100.0	N/A
Majority			2	100.0	N/A
Turnout			2	100.0	N/A
	NP win

New Richmond

New Richmond
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Free Democratic Party (New Virginia)	Sir Charles Kitchen	13	100.0	0
Majority			13	100.0	0
Turnout			13	100.0	0
	FDP hold

San Scoglio

San Scoglio
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Party (New Virginia)	Sir Edward Jacobs	4	100.0	0
Majority			4	100.0	0
Turnout			4	100.0	0
	NP hold

Shoreline

Shoreline
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Free Democratic Party (New Virginia)	Dame Elizabeth Lewis	11	100.0	0
Majority			11	100.0	0
Turnout			11	100.0	0
	FDP hold

Cantons

New Franklin

New Franklin
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Free Democratic Party (New Virginia)	Dame Sophia Albina	19	16.8	-47.2
	Free Democratic Party (New Virginia)	Sir James Stewart	17	15	-12.4
	Free Democratic Party (New Virginia)	Leon Montan	16	14.2	-22.2
	Free Democratic Party (New Virginia)	Sir Simon White	15	13.3	—
	Alliance 21/The Greens (New Virginia)	James Frisch	14	12.4	—
	Alliance 21/The Greens (New Virginia)	Newton von Uberquie	12	11	—
	National Party (New Virginia)	Christina Nowell	9	8	-1
	National Party (New Virginia)	Varuna Sriraya	7	6.2	—
	Independent	Sammy Pike-Hegar	4	4	—
Majority			2	1.8	-14.1
Turnout			46	88.5	-11.5
	FDP hold
	FDP hold
	FDP win
	FDP win

Roanoke

Roanoke
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Party (New Virginia)	Cristian Dobrev	19	17	—
	Free Democratic Party (New Virginia)	John Brown	19	17	—
	National Party (New Virginia)	Abrams Wiucki-Dunswed	17	15.2	—
	National Party (New Virginia)	Sertor Valentinus	17	15.2	-60.66
	Alliance 21/The Greens (New Virginia)	Daniel Hamilton	15	13.4	—
	Free Democratic Party (New Virginia)	John Gordon	13	11.6	—
	Free Democratic Party (New Virginia)	Matthew Xia	12	10.7	—
Majority			0	0	-6.8
Turnout			38	79.2	-20.8
	NP hold
	NP gain from [[Free Democrats\|{{Template:Free Democrats/meta/shortname}}]]
	NP win
	FDP hold

Seats changing hands

During the general election, a single seat changed hands from the Free Democratic Party to the National Party.

Seats which changed allegiance

Free Democrats to Nationals (1)

Roanoke at-large^{[note 1]}

Footnotes

↑ In the 2021 general election, the Roanoke at-large constituency was a multi-member constituency, represented by 4 BP's. Only one of these seats were won from the other party.

References

↑ Albina, Sophia (27 August 2020). "Regarding the New Virginian General Elections". The Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
↑ Kennedy, Brooke (21 August 2020). "Interview with acting Prime Minister Dame Elizabeth Lewis regarding the general election". The Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
↑ Lewis, Eryn (21 December 2020). "As first ballot fails, second round of voting opens in the House of Burgesses". The Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Kennedy, Brooke (22 December 2020). "Sophia Albina appointed second Prime Minister; Free Democrat-Whig coalition announced". The Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
↑ Kennedy, Brooke (9 January 2021). "Roscoe and McGrath slated to face off in Roanoke by-election; Government majority at stake". The Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
↑ Albina, Sophia (18 January 2021). "Guest article from New Virginia : Cigarettes and Bourbon – The Bainbridges are traitors to our nation and Constitution". Nordale Voice. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 ^7.2 ^7.3 ^7.4 Kennedy, Brooke (17 January 2021). "House of Burgesses dissolved; general election called for 7 February". The Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 ^8.3 Kennedy, Brooke (13 February 2021). "FDP: "Sophia Sweeps", Free Democrats win absolute majority of House in general election". The Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
↑ Lewis, Eryn (19 December 2020). "Bainbridge, others to form Whig Party". The Herald. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 ^10.2 ^10.3 Frisch, James (11 January 2021). "Alliance 21/The Greens Manifesto 2021". Google Documents. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
↑ ^11.0 ^11.1 ^11.2 Dullahan, Bradley van (24 January 2021). "Statement of the National Party 2021 elections". Google Documents. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
↑ ^12.0 ^12.1 Albina, Sophia (12 January 2021). "Campaign Statement of Sophia Albina 2021 General Election". Google Documents. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
↑ Belcher, Adam (7 February 2021). "2021 New Virginian general election live coverage". Twitch. Adammic Online Broadcasting. Retrieved 24 April 2021.

[14] In the 2021 general election, the Roanoke at-large constituency was a multi-member constituency, represented by 4 BP's. Only one of these seats were won from the other party.

[1] Albina, Sophia (27 August 2020). "Regarding the New Virginian General Elections". The Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2021.

[2] Kennedy, Brooke (21 August 2020). "Interview with acting Prime Minister Dame Elizabeth Lewis regarding the general election". The Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2021.

[3] Lewis, Eryn (21 December 2020). "As first ballot fails, second round of voting opens in the House of Burgesses". The Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2021.

[Whig-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Kennedy, Brooke (22 December 2020). "Sophia Albina appointed second Prime Minister; Free Democrat-Whig coalition announced". The Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2021.

[5] Kennedy, Brooke (9 January 2021). "Roscoe and McGrath slated to face off in Roanoke by-election; Government majority at stake". The Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2021.

[6] Albina, Sophia (18 January 2021). "Guest article from New Virginia : Cigarettes and Bourbon – The Bainbridges are traitors to our nation and Constitution". Nordale Voice. Retrieved 11 April 2021.

[Electio-7] 7.0 ^7.1 ^7.2 ^7.3 ^7.4 Kennedy, Brooke (17 January 2021). "House of Burgesses dissolved; general election called for 7 February". The Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2021.

[Sweep-8] 8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 ^8.3 Kennedy, Brooke (13 February 2021). "FDP: "Sophia Sweeps", Free Democrats win absolute majority of House in general election". The Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2021.

[9] Lewis, Eryn (19 December 2020). "Bainbridge, others to form Whig Party". The Herald. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

[GreenStat-10] 10.0 ^10.1 ^10.2 ^10.3 Frisch, James (11 January 2021). "Alliance 21/The Greens Manifesto 2021". Google Documents. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

[NatStat-11] 11.0 ^11.1 ^11.2 Dullahan, Bradley van (24 January 2021). "Statement of the National Party 2021 elections". Google Documents. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

[FreeStat-12] 12.0 ^12.1 Albina, Sophia (12 January 2021). "Campaign Statement of Sophia Albina 2021 General Election". Google Documents. Retrieved 29 April 2021.

[13] Belcher, Adam (7 February 2021). "2021 New Virginian general election live coverage". Twitch. Adammic Online Broadcasting. Retrieved 24 April 2021.

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