Butter Butta Bentley Party

Butter Butta Bentley Party
Chairman	Jaxson Renny
Founded	9 January 2023
Headquarters	Port Phillip (unofficial)
Membership (2023)	11
Ideology	Unionism Nationalism Laborism Theocracy
Political position	Center-right
Colors	Lime
National Assembly	3 / 8
Presidential cabinet	3 / 13

The Butter Butta Bentley Party is the largest political party in the Republic of Phillip. Established on the same day as Phillip, it was predominantly created by current President Jaxson Renny and instantly grew in popularity. The party has had many political rivals since its establishment, such as the Phillip National Front and more recently the Richardson Party. The party does best among upper-class older voters.

The party started out in an attempt to turn Phillip into a theocracy with the Pope of the Church of Phillip being the head of state, but in the past months has shifted its ideology to support the expansion of presidential power and overall democracy within Phillip. The party also supported the restriction of suffrage for citizens above the age of twenty until the signing of the “Norfolk-Fitzgibbins Agreement”.

History

Origins and Renny's Presidency

The Butter Butta Bentley Party was established on the same day as Phillip in 2023. Party Chairman Jaxson Renny served as the nation's acting President until the 1st General Election of Phillip, in which he was officially elected President with 42.1% of the vote. The party also won a four out of seven-seat majority in Phillip's National Assembly. During the 1st General Election, the party ran into its first major controversy over party member Iyan Seeker's power in the National Assembly. During the election, Seeker had won three elections for seats in the National Assembly, seat of the territories, the Tarkis District, and the Orue District. Many politicians expressed concern about the level of power that Seeker held in the Assembly. This problem was resolved on 17 February after a law was passed by President Renny limiting the amount of seats a citizen could hold in the Assembly to two, forcing Seeker to forfeit one of his seats.

For the first three weeks of his Presidency, Renny would give his party a good reputation by appointing members of his cabinet, Governors of the subdivisions, and members of the Jolly Parliament, an advisory council to the Ministry of Mint. During this time, party member Ben Fitzgibbins was elected as the Minister of Mint with 60% of the vote, giving the party control over the development of Phillip's economy.

Vice President Luke Fitzgibbins signing the "Norfolk-Fitzgibbins Agreement", causing the end of the PNF

PNF Era

Main article: Phillip National Front

On 4 February, the party lost three of its seats and subsequently its majority in the National Assembly due to the establishment of the Phillip National Front. The PNF, as it was called, was created by Phillip founder Cooper Norfolk in direct response to Butter Butta Bentley Party member and Vice President Luke Fitzgibbins' "Family Voting Bill". The bill would havewd restricted suffrage for citizens older than twenty years, which Norfolk vehemently opposed. Following its establishment, the party gained a more than 70% majority in the Assembly, the largest majority a party has ever held in Phillip history. Norfolk immediately struck an agreement with members of his party in the National Assembly to vote how he told them to, essentially giving him power over five seats. In response to this, members of President Renny's government began threatening various lawsuits and even a civil war against the party.

In an attempt to regain power and end the PNF, members of the Butter Butta Bentley Party were able to convince PNF member Iyan Seeker to betray Norfolk by going against his voting orders. At the same time, Vice President Fitzgibbins stated that he would be stopping his persistent campaign to get the Family Voting Bill through the Assembly. The combination of these two events caused Norfolk to reach out to Vice President Fitzgibbins to attempt to reach an agreement. Together, they crafted and signed the "Norfolk-Fitzgibbins Agreement", which blocked the Butter Butta Bentley Party from introducing legislation relating to the restriction of suffrage while in return barring Norfolk from running for President or creating a new political party.

Post-PNF Era Centrism

After the collapse of the Phillip National Front, Butter Butta Bentley leaders decided that in order to Phillip at a level of relative stability, the party needed to take a more Centrist position on the political events of the country and focus on developing the economy. This hands-off approach to running the government allowed the party to regain respect from ex-PNF members and even other rival political parties. During this period of Centrism, the party, on behalf of President Renny, oversaw an expansion of Phillip's territories, the success of the ongoing Invasion of the North Hillsborough, and a period of relative peace.

Church of Phillip Bill and FUFP Merger

On 26 March 2023, President Renny passed the "Crimes Against the Church of Phillip Bill", which is considered by some Phillip politicians to be one of the most controversial laws in Phillip's history. The bill was presented to the National Assembly by Independent politician Cooper Norfolk, who reportedly presented the bill as a joke and did not expect it to pass. The law lays out three crimes against the Church of Phillip, the official religion of Phillip, and allows the Pope of the Church, which is currently President Renny, to punish those who go against them. One of those three crimes implies that citizens of Phillip are required to be a member of the Church. This has led many to fear that they could be persecuted based on their religious affiliation. According to President Renny, he does not plan on persecuting citizens who practice Catholicism, but did not specifically state if he would punish those who practice other religions. This move from President Renny has taken the party off of its centrist course and has moved them more in favor of creating a Theocracy within Phillip.

As a result of the approval of this law, President Renny has received hate from other political parties within Phillip, such as the Faroe Unionist Front Party. Despite the complaints by party Chairman Reed Von, they decided to merge with the Butter Butta Bentley Party. According to Von, the decision was made because of the parties close political ties.

Leaders

• Jaxson Renny (9 January 2023 - present)

Electoral results

1st General Election

Presidential race

Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	+/-
January 2023	14 (two candidates)	73.7%	-

National Assembly

Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	Seats
			Count	Of total
January 2023	9	47.4%	4 / 7	57.1%

2nd General Election

The 2nd General Election of Phillip will take place on 12 April and end the next day. So far, the Butter Butta Bentley Party has two Presidential candidates, National Assembly Representatives Reed Von and Iyan Seeker. The party has shown more support to Von's campaign, who was running under the Faroe Unionist Front Party before it merged with the BBB. The Phillip Daily has stated that Von is the most likely candidate to win the election.