Political parties of Moorland
 | |
| Party system | |
|---|---|
| Type | Dominant-party |
| Registered parties | 4 |
| Parties in legislature | 1 |
| Ruling party | |
| Name | HHP |
| Leader | Albert Travercraig |
| Ideology | Commonwealism, conservatism |
| Seats | 117 / 121 (96.7%) |
| Minor parties | |
| Elections | |
| Legislature | Folcgemot |
| Last election | 1731 |
| Next election | Pending (mandated by Gracious Edict) |
 Kingdom of Moorland | |
Political parties in the Kingdom of Moorland operate within a constitutional monarchy where the Homeland and Heritage Party (HHP) holds dominant power. Since the Gracious Edict of 1752, which consolidated the kingdom's conservative factions into a single governing party, Moorland has functioned as a de facto one-party state. Minor parties representing ethnic communities and reform-minded professionals have organized in anticipation of the forthcoming election but currently hold no seats in the Moorland Witan.
Political system
The Kingdom of Moorland is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government. The Moorland Witan serves as the main legislative body, with the lower chamber (Folcgemot) comprising 121 elected Members of Witan (MWs) serving four-year terms. Bills require a 75% supermajority to pass and must receive Royal Assent from the Crown. The monarch may withhold assent, though the Witan retains a five-day appeal mechanism.
Suffrage is class-qualified. Householders and property owners vote in territorial constituencies, while guild and professional associations elect delegates representing occupational interests. First-past-the-post voting determines territorial seats. Ballot symbols, such as the HHP's highland elk, accommodate both literate and illiterate voters.
Seat allocation in the Folcgemot reflects territorial population and economic weight:
- East Moorland: 31 seats
- West Moorland: 15 seats
- Burwood: 15 seats
- Huntsland: 12 seats
- Nevermoor: 10 seats
- Fortria: 10 seats
- The Kells: 8 seats
- Guild and professional delegates: 20 seats
- Total: 121 seats
Historically, Moorlander law limited Prime Ministers to three consecutive four-year terms. Robin Wakeham circumvented this restriction through constitutionally dubious "continuing motions" from 1732 AN until his removal in VIII.1752 AN. No general election has been held since 1731 AN, though the Gracious Edict of 1752 mandates one to be held in the near future.
History
The Kingdom of Moorland was established in 1718 AN when King Alpin MacMartin rallied the highland clans under a single banner. The first open elections for the Witan were held in 1719 AN, producing a fragmented conservative landscape dominated by three parties: the Conservative Union of Moorland, the Highland Party, and the Redoubt Front.
The Conservative Union drew its strength from the urban middle class and civil service, particularly in Port Moorland and Newcastle upon Eastmoor. Led by Robin Wakeham, a Port Moorland native whose grandfather had helped smuggle the King out of Nova England during its collapse, the Conservative Union emphasized administrative competence, fiscal prudence, and close ties with the Crown. Wakeham's naval family background and connections to the Port Moorland establishment gave the party a reliable base among professionals, merchants, and civil servants.
The Highland Party represented rural landowners and clan interests across West Moorland and the agricultural districts of East Moorland. Clan chiefs, large landholders, and the farming communities that fed the kingdom formed its constituency. The party advocated for agricultural price supports, tenant protections, and infrastructure investment in remote areas. Its parochial focus on grain prices, grazing rights, and drove roads made it a natural junior partner to whichever urban party could deliver rural development.
The Redoubt Front emerged as a nationalist movement emphasizing military preparedness and hostility toward the Confederacy of the Dispossessed. Its base lay among the working and middle classes of East Moorland and the frontier settlements of Nevermoor, people whose families had survived the dark years after the Nova English collapse by sheltering within the National Redoubt. The Front demanded maximum defense spending, compulsory national service, and aggressive patrolling of the Green.
These three parties formed shifting coalitions throughout the 1720s, with the Conservative Union generally holding the largest bloc and Wakeham serving as Prime Minister. The Highland Party typically aligned with the Conservatives on questions of governance, while the Redoubt Front provided support on defense matters but clashed over economic policy.
| Year | Conservative Union | Highland Party | Redoubt Front | Independents | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1719 AN | 51 | 42 | 22 | 6 | 121 |
| 1723 AN | 54 | 39 | 24 | 4 | 121 |
| 1727 AN | 53 | 36 | 28 | 4 | 121 |
| 1731 AN | 52 | 34 | 31 | 4 | 121 |
The Conservative Union's plurality derived from its control of Port Moorland's "managed democracy," where the Municipal Corporation ensured favorable outcomes through guild-based voting in the Docklands and deference politics in the Macleod Corridor. The Highland Party's strength reflected the clan system's enduring influence in rural constituencies. The Redoubt Front grew steadily as Moorland's territorial expansion brought more frontier settlements under the Crown and as military operations against the Dispossessed raised the party's profile.
The Wakeham era (1719-1752)
Robin Wakeham dominated Moorland politics for over three decades. Elected Prime Minister in 1719 AN, he won three successive four-year terms, the maximum permitted under Moorlander law. His Conservative Union maintained working majorities through coalition arrangements with the Highland Party, trading agricultural subsidies and rural infrastructure for legislative support.
Wakeham's government oversaw Moorland's transformation from a fragile highland kingdom into a significant regional power. The accession to the Raspur Pact in 1719 AN, the reconstruction of Port Moorland, and the series of military campaigns collectively known as the Wars of the Disinherited all occurred under his leadership.
When his third term expired in 1731 AN, Wakeham declined to step aside. Through a series of "continuing motions" of questionable constitutional validity, he extended his tenure indefinitely. The Witan, dominated by his allies and reluctant to challenge a successful war leader, acquiesced. No general elections were held after 1731 AN. The Members of Witan elected that year have remained in their seats for over two decades.
The East Keltian Collapse of 1737 AN transformed Moorland's demographics. Millions of refugees from Normark and Anahuaco poured across the borders. By 1738 AN, the Norse population had grown to 1,450,000 and the Anahuacan population to 1,625,000, together comprising over twenty percent of Moorland's inhabitants. These communities had no formal political representation, their arrival occurring during the suspension of elections.
Wakeham's grip loosened as the 1740s progressed. The refugee crisis strained state capacity. Factional tensions within his coalition intensified as the Conservative Union, Highland Party, and Redoubt Front disagreed over taxation, land reform, and the pace of integration with Raspur Pact institutions. The government's inability to pursue coherent policy amid constant internal bickering weakened its position.
The Gracious Edict (1752)
In 1752 AN, King Alpin MacMartin intervened directly in political affairs. Acting on advice from close counselors and with Wakeham's tacit acquiescence, the King issued the Gracious Edict directing the three conservative factions to consolidate into a single party capable of governing effectively. The Edict also removed Wakeham from office and appointed Albert Travercraig, a clan chief acceptable to all factions, as Prime Minister.
The merger negotiations, conducted over the summer of 1752 AN, overcame initial resistance from Highland Party leaders who feared urban domination and Redoubt Front members who considered the proposed platform insufficiently aggressive toward remaining Dispossessed elements. By early autumn, the Homeland and Heritage Party had been formally constituted. Wakeham departed for the settlement of Plantagenet in the Ford Islands, a genteel but distinctly frigid form of internal exile.
The 117 Members of Witan who had belonged to the Conservative Union, Highland Party, and Redoubt Front were absorbed into the new HHP. Four independents elected in 1731 AN retained their seats but remain outside the party structure. The Gracious Edict also mandated a general election to be held in the near future, the first since 1731 AN. This forthcoming election will determine whether the ethnic parties that organized during the years of suspended democracy can translate their community support into parliamentary representation.
Current parties
Homeland and Heritage Party
| Homeland and Heritage Party | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Heamland ond Hierfe Gesamnung |
| Founded | 1752 AN |
| Leader | Albert Travercraig |
| Ideology | Commonwealism, conservatism, monarchism, pro-defense |
| Position | Right-wing |
| Witan seats | 117 / 121 |
| Color | Dark green |
The Homeland and Heritage Party (HHP) is the ruling party of Moorland, currently holding 117 of 121 Folcgemot seats. Formed through the consolidation mandated by the Gracious Edict, it absorbed the Conservative Union, Highland Party, and Redoubt Front along with the Members of Witan who had belonged to those parties since the 1731 AN election.
The HHP advocates for the preservation of Moorland's traditional social order through its doctrine of Commonwealism, which holds that society functions best when organized into three interdependent classes: the Working Class, the Middle Class, and the Upper Class. Each class possesses distinct responsibilities and receives benefits appropriate to its station. The party maintains close ties to the Church of the Holy Lance and supports the authority of the Crown.
Six internal factions compete for influence within the HHP: the Redoubt Traditionalists (nationalist hardliners), the Highland Caucus (rural landowners), the Folksthing Bloc (Burwood nobility), the Citadel Interest (Port Moorland industrialists), the Quayside Circle (cosmopolitan businessmen), and the Lancer Tendency (religious conservatives). Prime Minister Travercraig chairs the National Council where these factions negotiate policy.
The forthcoming election mandated by the Gracious Edict will be the HHP's first electoral test as a unified party. How well it performs, and whether its disparate factions can maintain unity through the rigors of a campaign, will determine whether the consolidation produces a durable governing coalition or merely postpones the fractures that plagued its predecessors.
Nordic People's Party
| Nordic People's Party | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Nordfolkpartiet |
| Founded | 1740 AN |
| Leader | Sigurd Magnusson |
| Ideology | Norse nationalism, social conservatism, Commonwealism |
| Position | Right-wing |
| Witan seats | 0 / 121 |
| Color | Navy blue |
The Nordic People's Party (Nordfolkpartiet, NPP) represents the Norse community resettled in Moorland following the East Keltian Collapse. Founded in 1740 AN, the party has organized extensively within the Norse community of Burwood but currently holds no seats in the Witan, as no election has been held since before the refugees' arrival. The forthcoming election mandated by the Gracious Edict will be the NPP's first opportunity to contest for parliamentary representation.
The party's ideological roots trace to the Einhorn Society that governed Normark before its collapse. The original Einhorn ideology sought to create a "Harmonious Society" through hierarchical class stratification, ideological coordination, and the alignment of all aspects of society toward unified purpose. This vision shares substantial common ground with Moorland's Commonwealism doctrine, which similarly organizes society into interdependent classes with distinct roles and responsibilities. The NPP has signaled that it will support HHP governance if elected, viewing Commonwealism as compatible with traditional Norse values of hierarchy and social order.
The NPP has carefully distanced itself from the discredited "Green Einhorns," those Norse nobles who collaborated with the Confederacy of the Dispossessed during the chaotic period of Hurmu's District of Moorland. Many Green Einhorns had been excluded from their ancestral homeland and allied with the Confederacy's leader Knotaric out of resentment. Their collaboration thoroughly discredited radical Einhorn ideology among the Norse diaspora, most of whom view the Green Einhorns as traitors who worsened the catastrophe that destroyed their homeland.
The NPP's platform emphasizes cultural preservation for Norse communities within Moorland's framework, protection of Burwood's Folksthing (the guaranteed legislative body for titled Norse landholders), and integration of Norse refugees into productive citizenship. Critics characterize the party as little more than a prospective HHP auxiliary, offering ethnic window-dressing without genuine independence.
Party leader Sigurd Magnusson, a former shipping magnate who relocated his trading house to Port Moorland after the collapse, exemplifies the NPP's accommodationist stance. His wealth and connections give him influence within the Quayside Circle faction of the HHP, blurring the line between the two parties even before an election has been held.
Anahuacan Democratic Movement
| Anahuacan Democratic Movement | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Movimiento Democrático Anahuacano |
| Founded | 1741 AN |
| Leader | Elena Ruiz Montalvo |
| Ideology | Ethnic advocacy, social liberalism, Commonwealism |
| Position | Center to center-left |
| Witan seats | 0 / 121 |
| Color | Cardinal red |
The Anahuacan Democratic Movement (Movimiento Democrático Anahuacano, MDA) represents the Anahuacan community that settled in Moorland following the East Keltian Collapse and Operation Greenpoint. Founded in 1741 AN, the party has built a strong organizational presence in Huntsland, particularly around Aldama and the Greenpoint Peninsula, but currently holds no seats in the Witan. The forthcoming election will be the MDA's first opportunity to win parliamentary representation.
The MDA positions itself as slightly more liberal than the HHP, advocating for improved social services in refugee communities, expanded educational opportunities for Anahuacan youth, and recognition of Anahuacan cultural contributions to Moorland. The party promotes the use of the Anahuacan language in local administration and supports cultural festivals that maintain connections to the community's heritage.
Despite this reformist rhetoric, the MDA fundamentally affirms Moorland's social system. The party accepts the Commonwealism framework, arguing that Anahuacans can find their place within the class structure through hard work and loyalty. Many MDA members express genuine gratitude for Moorland's acceptance of refugees during the collapse and view cooperation with the HHP as repayment for that hospitality. The party has indicated it will support the government on defense matters, Raspur Pact obligations, and economic policy if elected.
Party leader Elena Ruiz Montalvo is the daughter of prominent community organizers who helped coordinate refugee resettlement in Huntsland. Her uncle Patricio Ruiz serves as Mayor of Aldama. The family's integration into Moorland's administrative class exemplifies the MDA's accommodationist approach. Critics from within the Anahuacan community accuse the MDA of trading genuine advocacy for political access, functioning as a patronage network rather than a true opposition party.
Progressive Civic League
| Progressive Civic League | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Liga Cívica Progresista |
| Founded | 1745 AN |
| Leader | Dr. Marcus Ashworth |
| Ideology | Social liberalism, civic nationalism, reformism |
| Position | Center-left |
| Witan seats | 0 / 121 |
| Color | Cobalt blue |
The Progressive Civic League (PCL) is the smallest of Moorland's organized parties, representing an Aldricist-influenced current of thought among urban professionals. Founded in 1745 AN by a coalition of professionals, academics, and businessmen with ties to Raspur Pact allies, the PCL currently holds no seats in the Witan. Its prospects in the forthcoming election are uncertain, as its reformist platform appeals to a narrow constituency.
The PCL advocates for what Aldricists term "balanced freedom," the idea that true liberty exists not in the absence of constraints but in the careful calibration of rights, responsibilities, and social structures. The party supports a social market economy, expanded educational access, and gradual reforms to increase social mobility within Moorland's class system. Unlike the HHP, which discourages class mobility as disruptive to established bonds, the PCL argues that talented individuals should be able to advance based on merit.
The party accepts the monarchy, the Raspur Pact alliance, and Moorland's defense commitments. It does not challenge Commonwealism directly but rather advocates for its "flexible interpretation," emphasizing meritocratic advancement over rigid class boundaries. This moderate positioning reflects the PCL's origins among professionals who work extensively with Raspur Pact partners and have absorbed liberal ideas through foreign contact.
Party leader Dr. Marcus Ashworth, a physician who trained in Cárdenas before returning to Port Moorland, represents the cosmopolitan professional class that forms the PCL's constituency. The party's narrow base and accommodationist stance suggest it will remain politically marginal. HHP officials have indicated tolerance for the PCL as evidence of Moorland's political pluralism, provided it poses no actual threat to conservative dominance.
Independents
Four Members of Witan elected in 1731 AN sit as independents, unaffiliated with any registered party. These holdovers were not absorbed into the HHP under the Gracious Edict, which directed only the three named conservative parties to consolidate. They are typically local notables or clan-affiliated figures whose personal standing in their constituencies allowed them to win election outside the party system.
These independents generally vote with the HHP on major legislation. Their independence is largely nominal, reflecting personal branding rather than ideological distinctiveness. Whether additional independents will emerge in the forthcoming election, or whether the party system will absorb all viable candidates, remains to be seen.
Historical parties
Conservative Union
| Conservative Union | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1718 AN |
| Dissolved | 1752 AN |
| Successor | Homeland and Heritage Party |
| Ideology | Conservatism, professionalism, monarchism |
| Position | Center-right |
The Conservative Union of Moorland was the dominant political party during the Wakeham era, drawing support from the urban middle class and civil service. Its base lay in Port Moorland and Newcastle upon Eastmoor, among professionals, merchants, administrators, and naval families. The party emphasized administrative competence, fiscal discipline, and close cooperation with the Crown.
Robin Wakeham led the Conservative Union from 1719 AN until its absorption into the HHP in 1752 AN. Under his leadership, the party typically held the largest bloc in the Witan and formed coalition governments with the Highland Party. The Conservative Union's legacy continues within the HHP through the Citadel Interest and Quayside Circle factions, which inherited its urban professional and commercial constituencies.
Highland Party
| Highland Party | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1718 AN |
| Dissolved | 1752 AN |
| Successor | Homeland and Heritage Party |
| Ideology | Agrarian conservatism, clan traditionalism |
| Position | Right-wing |
The Highland Party represented rural landowners and clan interests across West Moorland and the agricultural districts of East Moorland. Clan chiefs, large landholders, farmers, and crofters formed its constituency. The party advocated for agricultural price supports, tenant protections, restrictions on common land enclosure, and investment in rural infrastructure.
The Highland Party typically served as junior partner in Conservative Union-led coalitions, trading support on governance matters for rural development spending. Its parochial focus on grain prices, grazing rights, and drove roads limited its appeal beyond agricultural constituencies. The party initially resisted the Gracious Edict's consolidation, viewing it as urban domination, but eventually accepted the merger. Its legacy continues within the HHP's Highland Caucus faction.
Redoubt Front
| Redoubt Front | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1718 AN |
| Dissolved | 1752 AN |
| Successor | Homeland and Heritage Party |
| Ideology | Nationalism, militarism, anti-Dispossessed |
| Position | Right-wing to far-right |
The Redoubt Front emerged as a nationalist movement emphasizing military preparedness and hostility toward the Confederacy of the Dispossessed. Its base lay among the working and middle classes of East Moorland and the frontier settlements of Nevermoor, families who had survived the dark years after the Nova English collapse within the National Redoubt.
The Front demanded maximum defense spending, compulsory national service without exception, and aggressive operations against hostile forces in the Green. It grew steadily throughout the 1720s as Moorland's territorial expansion brought more frontier communities under the Crown. Several Redoubt Front members objected to the Gracious Edict, considering the proposed HHP platform insufficiently aggressive. Its legacy continues within the HHP's Redoubt Traditionalists faction, which remains the hardline nationalist wing of the governing party.
Party evolution
| Period | Major developments | Dominant forces |
|---|---|---|
| 1718 AN-1719 AN | Kingdom founded; first elections | Conservative Union, Highland Party, Redoubt Front emerge |
| 1719 AN-1731 AN | Wakeham coalition governments; four elections held | Conservative Union dominant; Highland Party junior partner |
| 1731 AN-1737 AN | Elections suspended via "continuing motions" | Wakeham continues; 1731 MWs remain in place |
| 1737 AN-1745 AN | East Keltian Collapse; massive refugee influx | Demographics transformed; Norse and Anahuacan communities form |
| 1740 AN-1745 AN | Ethnic parties organize | NPP (1740), MDA (1741), PCL (1745) founded; no seats (no elections) |
| 1752 AN | Gracious Edict issued; party consolidation | HHP formed from merger; absorbs 117 MWs; election mandated |
| Present | Election pending | HHP holds 117/121 via absorbed MWs; minor parties await first test |
Current composition of the Witan
| Party | Seats | Percentage | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homeland and Heritage Party | 117 | 96.7% | Absorbed 1731 MWs from CU, HP, RF | |
| Independents | 4 | 3.3% | 1731 holdovers | |
| Nordic People's Party | 0 | 0% | Organized; awaiting election | |
| Anahuacan Democratic Movement | 0 | 0% | Organized; awaiting election | |
| Progressive Civic League | 0 | 0% | Organized; awaiting election | |
| Total | 121 | 100% | ||
Electoral prospects
The general election mandated by the Gracious Edict of 1752 will be the first held in Moorland since 1731 AN. It will test several questions simultaneously: whether the HHP can maintain unity across its six factions during a campaign; whether the ethnic parties can translate community organizing into parliamentary seats; and whether Moorland's electorate, many of whom have never voted, will participate in the process.
The HHP enters the election as the overwhelming favorite. Its absorption of all three predecessor parties gives it control of existing electoral machinery, patronage networks, and name recognition. The party's challenge will be managing internal competition for candidate nominations while presenting a unified face to voters.
The Nordic People's Party and Anahuacan Democratic Movement will contest their first elections. Both have built organizational capacity within their communities during the long years without elections. Their prospects depend on whether ethnic solidarity translates into voting behavior and whether the HHP permits genuine competition in constituencies with large refugee populations. Given both parties' accommodationist stance toward Commonwealism, the HHP may calculate that allowing them token representation strengthens the regime's legitimacy without threatening its dominance.
The Progressive Civic League faces the steepest odds. Its reformist platform appeals to a narrow slice of urban professionals, and its Aldricist ideology sits uneasily with Moorland's dominant political culture. The PCL may win a handful of seats in Port Moorland and Newcastle upon Eastmoor, or it may be shut out entirely.
Whatever the results, the election will mark Moorland's return to constitutional governance after two decades of Wakeham's continuing motions. Whether it produces genuine political competition or merely ratifies the arrangements imposed by the Gracious Edict remains to be seen.
Political culture
Moorland's political culture is shaped by its Commonwealist ideology, which organizes society into interdependent classes with distinct roles. Political participation is expected to reflect one's station. Working Class citizens participate through guild delegates and trade union representatives affiliated with the Moorland Workers' League. Middle Class professionals engage through occupational associations and civil service networks. Upper Class participation occurs through hereditary seats in the Hall of Thegns, clan leadership, and the corporate boards that dominate industrial policy.
The memory of the Nova English collapse pervades political discourse. HHP rhetoric frequently invokes the abandonment of common people by elites who fled to the South Sea Islands, using this history to justify class interdependence and mutual obligation. The Redoubt Traditionalist faction in particular derives moral authority from descent from families who "stayed and fought" rather than fleeing.
The Church of the Holy Lance exercises significant political influence through the Lancer Tendency faction and affiliated organizations such as the Brotherhood of the Holy Lance and Holy Theban Legion. Church networks provide organizational infrastructure for political mobilization, while religious instruction reinforces Commonwealist values.
Regional variations
Burwood and the Folksthing
Burwood's incorporation following the Burwood Wildfires and the collapse of Ostland brought distinct political traditions into Moorland. The surviving Ostlandic nobility was granted the Folksthing, a legislative body with guaranteed seats for titled landholders. These nobles, bearing titles such as Count, Margrave, and Burgrave, constitute the Folksthing Bloc within the HHP while their broader community supports the Nordic People's Party.
South Sea Islands
The South Sea Islands, a Moorland protectorate, maintain a separate political system. The islands' constitution prohibits political parties entirely. All 25 Members of the Legislative Assembly sit as independents, elected through Single Transferable Vote. This arrangement reflects the islands' distinct historical development and their distance from mainland political dynamics.
