Sirch Somerset, Marquess of Lorne
The Most Honourable The Marquess of Lorne GBE KCB CMG MVO | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Official Government Portrait, March 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HMG Special Advisor to the Prime Minister | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 5 March 2024 (78 days) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | The Baron Knightstone | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of State for Regional Status Minister of State for Foreign Affairs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 5 March 2024 (78 days) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | The Baron Knightstone | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous Positions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Sirch Leftand Halifax | 28 December 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Firentia Somerset-Howard-Campbell (Annulled) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | Victor Somerset | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence(s) | Clare Cottage Kensington Palace | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Gordonstoun School Balliol College, Oxford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Fetus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sirch Victor Edward William Somerset, Marquess of Lorne GBE KCB CMG MVO (joined 27 December 2021), is a statesman and politician who currently serves as Minister of State for Regional Status (as well as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs), and as a Special Advisor to the Prime Minister. A former Prime Minister of Great Britain who has served in three of the four Great Offices of State, the Marquess of Lorne is one of the regions most experienced politicians.
Sirch joined the region in December 2021 and quickly became a prominent member of the community; he joined the British Workers' Party and served under Kalara Sherwood-Somerset in the SDLP-BWP Coalition as a young and talented Home Secretary, as well as becoming a prominent Member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre. In the following 18th Session of Parliament, Sirch - by that time adopted into the Sherwood-Somerset family - became the 15th Prime Minister of the region, and the youngest PM of the region in its history. He was succeeded by one of his mentors, The Earl of Northumberland, but upon their sudden resignation Sirch stood in as an Interim PM until the party could find a suitable replacement. Despite his long list of talents and growing political expertise, Sirch - now a member of the peerage as the Viscount Halifax - would never serve as PM again. However, he would serve as Home Secretary, and First Secretary of State throughout several future Premierships, notably during the Second Premiership of the Baroness Lomond, in which he had taken the difficult decision to merge the BWP with its main competitor, the Imperial Labour Party. Following the end of the BWP and its successors, the now Earl of Beaufort joined the British Constitutionalist Party. With its enigmatic figurehead in former monarch, Elizabeth Howard-Campbell, 1st Duchess of Edinburgh, the party, and Beaufort, were thrust back into the political spotlight. Upon the resignation of the Foreign Secretary, The Earl of Stirling, Sirch would replace him as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. His later cabinet achievements are most closely linked to his time in the Foreign Office under Howard-Campbell, Lleyton, and then the 2nd Viscount Douglas. He retired from front-line politics following the dissolution of the first Douglas Ministry in January 2024, but remained in Government. He has served as a Minister within the Foreign Office since January 2024, and under the Premiership of the Baron Knightstone, has returned to his familiar position of a Special Advisor.
The Marquess of Lorne was elevated to the peerage as Baron Hastings upon the passing of Serafina Sherwood, 1st Duchess of Manitoba, who bestowed the peerage to the young politician upon her departure from the region. He was promised the accompanying title of Earl of Halifax but was granted the Viscountcy of Halifax instead, later becoming Earl of Beaufort. In the Coronation Honours of Charles III, he was elevated to Marquess of Lorne.
A former member of the Sherwood Family, he was later adopted by his BWP mentor, Victor Somerset, becoming his first child. Via this he is a member of the Royal House of Somerset. He was the former husband of Firentia Somerset-Howard-Campbell, 1st Countess of Clare (the daughter of Elizabeth Howard-Campbell, 1st Duchess of Edinburgh) up until her own departure from the region. He is also the brother of Elio Somerset, 1st Viscount Salisbury.
Early Life & Education
Sirch Leftand Halifax joined the Empire of Great Britain on the 27th December 2021. He was educated at Gordonstoun School in Scotland, a school with a rich tradition of educating members of the Royal Family: his father, Uncle and Grandfather all attended the school. He later studied at Balliol College, Oxford.
Early Political Career
The British Workers Party
Premiership of the Duchess of Manitoba
Premiership of the Marquess of Grey
First Secretary of State
Protege of the BWP
Prime Minister (April 2022 - June 2022)
April 2022 General Election
Sirch Somerset secured a majority BWP election victory over the Commonwealth Non-Aligned Alliance (led by Charles Wright). His Address in Reply was one of the most gruelling seen in the regions history, questions and comments from all sides discussing his age and suitability, activity levels, and percieved miscommunication regarding Cabinet cooperation between the BWP and the CNA. In the middle of the Address-in-reply, and IRL issues since he was travelling, Sirch arranged for CNA members to be part of his cabinet for the sake of Regional stability, even at the cost of upsetting his own party members. He passed the Address-in-reply with 11 Contents and 1 Abstention.
Premiership
Key Policies
Foreign Office Success
Departure
Legacy
Early post-Premiership Career (June 2022 - March 2023)
Northumberland & Interim Premiership
James Forsyte, the Earl of Northumberland and a former PM in his own right, took over from Sirch as PM after another electoral success from the BWP. However, he would resign just 14 days into his Premiership, due to health concerns. There were several suitable candidates to replace him as Prime Minister, and Northumberland expressed his support for Charles Somerset, who was duly appointed as Prime Minister. Sirch was appointed First Secretary of State for the Premiership.
The Huntingdon Premiership was fraught with political infighting and the PM's personal problems and vices, resulting in his sudden resignation due to an imminent ban from the region he was set to recieve. As a result, Sirch took over as an emergency interim Prime Minister to arrange Government and get the BWP through to the next election, all while on holiday and instructing Government from his mobile phone. The term as a whole was dissolved early, but the BWP still returned an electoral majority in the subsequent election.
Veralius Premiership
Sirch served as Home Secretary during the Premiership of James Sherwood, 1st Baron Summerside (known as Joshua Veralius during his time as PM).
BWP and the British Federation of Labour
BWP Leadership
Imperial Labour Party
Merger
Premiership of the Baroness Lomond
Demise of the BWP
Late post-Premiership Career (March 2023 - November 2023)
Political Wilderness
British Constitutionalist Party
Heron Party
The Independent Slate
Premiership of the Earl of Stirling
Sirch was appointed as the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs during the Premiership of the Earl of Stirling, the same Foreign Secretary he had replaced in the Edinburgh Ministry. He steadied the ship following the slump seen during the end of the BCP and was a committed, reliable member of Cabinet.
Current Political Career & Retirement
Premiership of the Viscount Douglas
First Douglas Ministry
As a result of his work in the Foreign Office for Douglas' predecessor, Sirch was appointed Foreign Secretary once again. It was he who began talks with the region of Talonia - an ultimately successful endeavour resulting in the signing of the Treaty of Osborne in April 2024. However, real life commitments and a more hectic IRL schedule meant that he suddenly resigned on New Years Day of 2024. It seemed as if a suitable successor would have to be chosen but ultimately none came: the sudden implosion of the Liberal Democrats following The Duke of Warwick Affair meant that Lord Douglas was elected for a second successive term on the 5th January.
Second Douglas Ministry
Sirch was appointed as a Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, allowing him to remain in post in the Foreign Office as a mentor and deputy for the incoming Foreign Secretary, the then Thomas Carew. He also remained a trusted advisor of the Prime Minister, but stated that for the moment, he had no intention of returning to a high cabinet position, allowing him to focus on other endeavours. Sirch joined the British Liberal Party during this time.
Premiership of the Baron Knightstone
First Knightstone Ministry
Carew was thusly elected as the next Prime Minister in March 2024, and Sirch was appointed as one of three Special Advisors to the PM, to offer legislative and executive advice, alongside the Deputy Prime Minister. He was also retained in the Foreign Office as a Junior Minister to, in part, see out the ambitious Frontier Status agenda of the BLP, Carew's coalition partners, but this ultimately did not materialise. As a member of the BLP he was confirmed to a cabinet position because of the Concorde Coalition and its agreement, but the coalition was dissolved on the 22nd April 2024. This came about due to disagreements between the Chairs of the two parties (William Somerset, 2nd Viscount Douglas for the Herons, and Josephine Carew-Grey, Baroness Knightstone for the Liberals), which meant that renegotiation or continuation was untenable. Sirch, in a valiant display of political will, immediately resigned from the BLP in protest.
British Workers Party
Personal Life
Sirch is the first son of the former King, Edward IX, now the Duke of York; Prince Victor was one of Sirch's mentors and a source of guidance during his time in the BWP and his early time within the empire. As a result, he is the brother of Elio Somerset, 1st Viscount Salisbury, and nephew of Charles III (alongside his husband Prince Miann, Duke of Edinburgh) and Cameron Somerset, 1st Countess of Argyll.
Sirch was married to Firentia Somerset-Howard-Campbell, 1st Countess of Clare during 2023, until her departure from the region - during this time he was the son-in-law of the formidable Prime Minister and former Monarch, Elizabeth Howard-Campbell, 1st Duchess of Edinburgh.
The Marquess of Lorne, as a high-profile member of the Royal Family, has a small apartment at Kensington Palace, as well as the claim to a further apartment at Hampton Court Palace, though due to the public nature of the latter, no current members of the Royal Family have accepted the offer of an apartment there. He also owns Clare Cottage, a small house on the Isle of Sark, part of the Channel Islands.