Unionist Party

Unionist Party
Leader of the Party	The Duke of Warwick
Chair of the Party	The Baron Calder
Founders	The Viscount Sidmouth The Baroness Wilton
Founded	1 May 2024, 142 days ago
Preceded by	Heron Party British Liberal Party
Membership	9
Ideology	Centrist, Liberalism, Progressive-Conservatism
Political position	Centre
Colours	Yellow
Slogan	"The only way is UP" "Lets level UP"
House of Lords	0 / 4
House of Commons	3 / 10

Monogram of the Unionist Party, complete with the Griffin.

The Unionist Party is one of the main political parties within the Empire of Great Britain. Its members are sometimes referred to as "Unionists". It is the current Governing Party, having taken a majority at the July 2024 General Election. Its current Leader is James Forsyte, The Duke of Warwick and its chair is August Carew-Grey, The Baron Calder.

The party was founded on the 1st May 2024 by then Prime Minister Thomas Carew, alongside his wife and Leader of the Opposition, Josephine Carew-Grey. The two left their respective parties (the Herons for Carew, while Carew-Grey left the British Liberal Party), to remove the need for a drawn-out and most-likely bitter election contest between the two of them. They were joined by the other members of the Heron Party (Owain Carew-Grey and Frederick Mountbatten-Urquhart) upon its subsequent dissolution, alongside Patrick Maniar-Wright, formerly of the BLP. Together, they formed the first five founding members of the party. The party membership is numbered in reference to the agents in the James Bond franchise, with Carew being listed as Member 001. Josephine Carew-Grey is listed as 002, as well as "M". Various membership nicknames are common throughout the party.

The Leader of the Party is also always the "Designate" of the Party: in effect the parties chosen candidate for the position of Prime Minister. The Leader is elected via a blind ballot by all of the Party Membership, and serves until either their removal or resignation. The Chair of the Party is the most senior, non-elected member of the Party, being decided by a majority vote of the Frontbench from candidates willing to take on the position. These two positions create the "Frontbench", or leadership of the party, alongside the two founding Members. Despite being permanent members of the party, the founders are not guaranteed to dominate party policy.

Leadership of The Baron Knightstone

For more on Thomas Carew, Baron Knightstone's tenure as Leader and as Prime Minister, see: Premiership of the Baron Knightstone.

Upon the foundation of the party, Thomas Carew became it's first ever Leader - effectively the party's lead designate for the position of Prime Minister. It was him who created the party branding, taking inspiration from the Griffin, a mythical creature which was a blend of the Lion and the Eagle. His wife, the Baroness Knightstone, served as the party's first ever chair, technically being the "party elder".

The Unionist Party secured an outright majority at the May 2024 General Election securing 5 out of 8 seats, along with the support of the Independent Candidate for York Central, James Forsyte. Carew was invited to form his second successive Government: he became the first Prime Minister to be in two different political parties during his tenure in 10 Downing Street. The other MPs for the Unionists were Owain Carew-Grey, Josephine Carew-Grey, Frederick Mountbatten-Urquhart and Patrick Maniar-Wright.

August Lleyton returned to the region and joined the Unionists as a former member of the Heron Party. He ran in the May 2024 By-Election following the resignation and retirement of Elio Somerset, 1st Viscount Salisbury, winning by acclamation. It boosted the Unionists to a 6/8 majority in the Commons, 7 out of 8 if including the Confidence-and-supply agreements. It marked the biggest Parliamentary majority since the BWP days, even bigger than the famous supermajority of the British Constitutionalist Party in May 2023. Sirch Somerset, Marquess of Lorne also became a member around this time, with the lucrative membership number of 007.

On the 28th May, Lord Knightstone announced he would be resigning as Leader at the next General Election; soon after, Chair of the Unionist Party Josephine Carew-Grey (Lady Knightstone) was elected unanimously as Leader-Elect.

Various polls during this time suggested a high level of popularity and trust in the Unionist Party: The Independent released a poll on the 20th June that showed 100% satisfaction with the party in Government, an increase on the 84.6% seen previously.

One logistical point to note is that across Knightstone's tenure he is referred to as both Lord Knightstone and Lord Sidmouth, having been elevated to Viscount Sidmouth in late June, towards the end of his Premiership. To avoid confusion, and considering the fact that his Premiership was more well-known by the name Knightstone, it remained as such, but he was listed as the Viscount Sidmouth for the last week he was Party Leader.

Leadership of The Baroness Wilton

For more on Josephine Carew-Grey, The Baroness Wilton's tenure as Leader and as Prime Minister, see: Premiership of the Baroness Wilton.

Josephine Carew-Grey, 1st Baroness Wilton assumed the role of Leader of the Unionist Party on 27 June 2024, just hours before the Writ was dropped for the July 2024 General Election.

In the July 2024 General Election, Lady Wilton and the Unionists dominantly maintained their position as the largest party in the commons, but could not secure a majority owing to the record-breaking number of candidates standing. As a result, a coalition was agreed upon between the Unionists and the recently-reformed British Workers' Party of Charles Wright.

On 25 July 2024, Lady Wilton, as Leader of the Unionist Party, announced that her party in a tweet would host its second conference at Grand Brighton Hotel in East Sussex, England from 1 August 2024 to 4 August 2024. During the Party Conference, Lady Wilton announced her resignation as Party Leader and as Prime Minister, citing health reasons.

The subsequent election was controversial: The Duke of Warwick was put forward as the sensible candidate for replacing the outgoing PM, while Owain Carew-Grey, the Foreign Secretary, also announced his candidacy despite not being in Parliament. When voting opened, The Duke of Warwick recieved a majority, with Lady Wilton resigning at Buckingham Palace and recommending for sending the Duke before all votes had been cast, causing a crisis within the party. Subsequent and significant reforms were put in place by Lord Sidmouth, the Founder of the Party, but it did not stop several members leaving at the end of the term.

Leadership of The Duke of Warwick

For more on James Forsyte, The Duke of Warwick's tenure as Leader and as Prime Minister, see: Premiership of the Duke of Warwick.

Electoral Performance

Election	Leader	Votes		Seats			Position	Government
		No.	Share	No.	±	Share
May 2024 General Election	The Baron Knightstone	56	59.5%	5 / 8	5	62.5%	1st	Knightstone Premiership
May 2024 By-Election		-	-	6 / 8	1	75%	1st	Knightstone Premiership
July 2024 General Election	The Baroness Wilton	121	52.8%	5 / 11	1	45.4%	1st	Wilton Premiership
July 2024 By-Election		13	61.9%	6 / 11	1	55%	1st	Wilton Premiership
August 2024 By-Election	The Duke of Warwick	10	52.6%	5 / 8	1	62.5%	1st	Warwick Premiership
August 2024 General Election		39	30.5%	3 / 10	2	30%	2nd	Premiership