Leon Williamson
| Leon Williamson | |
|---|---|
| |
| Flag of the Confederation of Amager | |
29 March 2013 - 19 April 2013 | |
| Predecessor | Jules Grant (as Prime Minister) |
| Successor | Vera Hewitt |
8 December 2012 - 29 March 2013 | |
| Predecessor | Jules Grant |
| Successor | Vera Hewitt (as Deputy First Minister) |
24 November 2012 - 10 August 2013 | |
| Predecessor | Office established |
| Successor | Office abolished |
| Born | August 1999 (age 22) United Kingdom 
|
| Citizenship |  Amager  Libereco United Kingdom |
| Residence | Albertine, Libereco |
| Alma mater | University of Richmond |
Leon Williamson, 1st Earl of Richmond, commonly referred to as The Earl Williamson, is a Nollandish politician, journalist and diplomat. He was previously an Amagerian, being considered the "right-hand man" of the nations leader J. Grant Winchester when that nation was regarded as one of the best younger nations in the MicroWiki community through 2012 and 2013. He served in a wide variety of high profile roles within the Amagerian federal government and served as the President of Libereco from its foundation as a state of Amager until its dissolution three months after Amager's dissolution. He was also the leader the Amagerian Labour Party and was one of Amager's most prominent left-wing politicians.
Political views and career
Leon began his micronational career in July 2012, and became involved in the MicroWiki community soon thereafter. He formed and led a number of unstable micronations, such as the Republic of New Nevada. This era of perpetual instability ended however when New Nevade joined the Confederate States of Prosperity and came under the tutelage of Richard Cunningham and the other members of the confederation's left-wing. The time as part of the CSP allowed Leon to gain valuable experience in micronationalism within the MicroWiki community. However, after discussions with Jules Grant about the possibility of joining Amager, New Nevada left the CSP amicably and was admitted to the confederation, becoming its second member state
Leon would turn out to be the first of many younger micronationalists to join Amager, as it rapidly transformed from respected but not particularly influential state to a large confederation and one the most respected younger nations within the MicroWiki community. He joined Vera Hewitt and Charles Crannys in founding the Amagerian Labour Party, which was founded on democratic socialist and patriotic principles. The party rapidly became one of the most influential political factions within Amager, with a clearly defined manifesto advocating a strong welfare state and independence from the St.Charlian Commonwealth, of which Amager was a member and the most of the other Amagerian parties supported.
He was eventually elected to become the First Secretary of the Labour Party after being confirmed by the Party's politburo on the 29th March 2013, and led the party's movement from a center-left to a more hard-line left-wing position, something which drew criticism from moderate elements within the party and Democratic Union of Amager, which had always been the most powerful Amagerian political party. Nonetheless, after the rapid admittance of a number of new states disrupted the balance of power within the Amagerian parliament, Leon agreed to a power sharing agreement between all of the Amagerian parties, and he was thus confirmed in the position of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, positions which had been in doubt since the foundation of the Labour Party and its opposition to many of the Democratic Unionist policies. Despite disagreements, Leon formed a strong friendship with Prime Minister Jules Grant and the power sharing agreement evolved into a genuine coalition government based mainly on Amagerian patriotism and a knowledge that neither party could control the government alone, and that a breakdown of the coalition government could allow other parties to fill the power vacuum.
He was also a renowned diplomat in Amager, leading the Foreign Ministry and representing Amager in multiple intermicronational organisations including the European Micronational Culture Organisation and the Grand Unified Micronational, in which he was briefly Secretary of the Advancement Council before the 2012-13 GUM leadership scandal where he resigned in protest of the GUM becoming an "epicentre for unnecessary and time wasting conflicts." He would however involve himself in GUM affairs once more however, and Leon's diplomatic career reached its height when he became Vice Chair of the GUM after Richard Cunningham won the Chairmanship after one of the most contentious elections in GUM history. Unfortunately, events within Amager would see it dissolve before Leon could complete his term, but he was able to serve as a delegate of Burnham temporarily before Libereco's admittance following its reconstitution as an independent state, becoming the only Chair or Vice-Chair to serve a term as a delegate for three separate micronations.
In the months before Amager's dissolution Leon proposed a number of different progressive pieces of legislation, and unsuccessfully tried to fully secularise Amager after the move was opposed by all of the other parties and elements within the Labour Party. However, he was able to pass legislation allowing same-sex marriage, which was largely a political statement given the macronational controversy over the issue at the time. However, these moves, in particular his push for full federal and regional secularisation, alienated many within Amager and was a key factor which led to the confederation's dissolution. Leon himself would later admit that he regretted pushing so hard, and that in hindsight he should have compromised with the conservative elements within Amager.
Upon the rise to prominence of the Hobartstown and Victorian independence movement Jules Grant's support of the movement and his subsequent resignation as Prime Minister, Leon became the fourth head of government in Amager's history and the first not to have signed the Declaration of Independence. He led the nation through a great relaxation of a number of laws and introduced a new constitution, creating the Fourth Confederation and reforming the entire political system, abolishing the post of Prime Minister in favour of First Minister and creating for the first time a Presidential position, which was directly tied to that of the Federal Republic of St.Charlie. However, these reforms ultimately were not able to keep the Confederation together and he resigned his position as First Minister in favour of Vera Hewitt, who became Amager's last head of government.
Subsequently, Libereco became an independent republic. The independence era was relatively short, though it did become a member of the Grand Unified Micronational and and a founder of the Amagerian Union, which was an organisation composed entirely out of former members of the Confederation. Upon Ashukovo's foundation by the former Amagerian states of Akharnes, Montania, Dradelia, and Dorién, Leon became one of its strongest critics. He called it "eerily similar to the to the late Confederation" and referred to its foundation so soon after Amager's dissolution as "ludicrous." However, he did support its admittance to the GUM which was opposed by many on the grounds that it had applied for full membership so soon after its foundation. He also later recanted his criticisms of Ashukovo after it achieved long-standing political and diplomatic success. Leon left the micronational community soon thereafter and Libereco's Union Assembly agreed unanimously to dissolve the republic, having achieved little since it left Amager.
Notable offices
- President of Libereco (24 Novemeber 2012 - 10 August 2013) - does not include the role prior to admission to Amager, does include role in its previous forms.
- Mayor of Richmond (25 November 2012 - 10 August 2010)
Vice Chairman of the Quorum (17 March 2013 - 13 June 2013)- First Secretary of the Workers' Party of Libereco (13 May - 8 August 2010)
- Secretary of the Advancement Council (16 December 2012 - 18 January 2012)
- President of the Presidium of the Parliamentary Crossbench and Frontbench (5 January 2012 - 7 February 2012)
- First Minister of the Confederation (29 March 2013 - 19 April 2013)
- Deputy Prime Minister of the Confederation (8 December 2012 - 29 March 2013)
- Minister of Foreign Affairs (? December 2012 - 29 March 2013)
- First Secretary of the Labour Party (29 March 2013 - 6 April 2013)