Christian Alliance of Sorrenia

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The Christian Alliance is a political coalition in the Kingdom of Sorrenia. The party is generally defined by its support for the Sorrenian Monarchy, its right-of-centre economic policies and its belief that Christian ethics should determine Sorrenian social policy.

The Alliance initially began as the Old Monarchists, a term used to describe those members of the Royal Army who fought to install King Ronald I to the throne during the War of the Sorrenian Succession.

Although predated by the New Monarchists, they were so called because of their organisational ties to the Sorrenian Commonwealth Party, a monarchist party dating back to the Sorrenian Federation.

After the war was concluded, the Old Monarchists formed their own political party and entered into government with the New. After several months, the party changed its name and placed greater emphasis on religious politics, in the hope of preventing their being marginalised by the larger New Monarchists.

History

Monarchism in the Sorrenian Federation

Monarchism in the Sorrenian Federation was a niche tradition, largely represented by the Sorrenian Commonwealth Party. Monarchists principally focused on protecting Sorrenia's regional monarchies, especially in Amon Lasgalen, though with a long-term goal of establishing a constitutional monarchy to replace the federation.

Led by Richard Hytholoday, the party saw a modicum of success, and grew to be the third largest party in the federation, though never succeeded in its ultimate goal of constitutional change.

War of the Sorrenian Succession

The Christian Alliance began as the Old Monarchists, a cohort within King Ronald's royal army. During the War of the Sorrenian Succession, the Old Monarchists were not neatly delineated from those who would become the New Monarchists. The two separated after the war was won, becoming distinct political parties and traditions. Certain monarchists saw the Commonwealth Party as their spiritual ancestor, and sought to implement a constitutional monarchy with relatively strict democratic limitations and checks. These monarchists also generally identifed with Toryism, and placed a high premium on inter-party dialogue and reconciliation.

Monarchists of this persuasion, led by Richard Brooker, founded the Old Monarchists (the prefix intended to show continuity with the Commonwealth Party). By contrast, the New Monarchists tended to emphasise the unique, revolutionary nature of their movement, and also sought to grant the monarch greater constitutional powers. The split however was an amiable one - Brooker had contributed significantly to the Royal Army's victory during the war, and was a personal friend to King Ronald. After early elections in April of 2018, the two monarchist parties entered into coalition government with one another.

State Formation and the Great Expansion

Though the creation of a new Sorrenian Constitution was largely undertaken by New Monarchists, figures like Brooker advised the monarch throughout the process. Brooker and the Old Monarchists disagreed with the New Monarchists on several matters, especially on the creation of a state religion, the monarch's ability to raise tax without the legislature's approval, and the royal pardon. Brooker was strongly supportive of a state religion, but sought either to create a new Anglican tradition within Sorrenia, or formalise only a broad, inclusive christian ethos. By contrast, leading New Monarchists such as Peter Otterson and Michael Disraeli supported Catholicism as the state religion, and pushed to create an ecclesiastical legislature called the Papal Directorate. Throughout the process however, Brooker emphasised his party's continued support for Ronald, and accepted the constitution despite these differences in opinion.

The Old Monarchists' central contribution during this time was the Great Expansion, a project for the large-scale extension of territorial claim, and a concurrent popularisation of Northumbrianism. This reimagining of Sorrenia and its cultural origins was extremely effective, with all parties creating their own unique understanding of Northumbrianism within just a single election cycle. Brooker believed however that greater care was needed when pushing for increased territorial claims, and so began the process by privately consulting with King Ronald.

Though initially sceptical, Ronald quickly became enamoured by the idea, and created - alongside Brooker, Disraeli, Otterson, Mark Rawlton, and later Martin Aquinas - the 'Cuthbert Council' to work towards its implementation. After the June 2018 election, the Council publicised their plans, resulting in opposition from Aquinas' own party, who demanded re-elections due to the proposal not being included within any party's manifesto. The 'Great Expansion Bill' narrowly passed through the King's Council, and Brooker was tasked with redrawing Sorrenia's borders.

Though ambitious in scope, the Great Expansion was ultimately a success. Sorrenia abandonded traditional micronational claims to locations like Gran Pais, and greatly expanded its contiguous land claim, from 140 km² to over 28,000 km². He also succeeded in convincing Hortanian emperor Damian Billbrough to join his micronation to Sorrenia, formalised through the Treaty of Hortanian Unity, wherein Hortania became a county of Sorrenia. It remains to this day one of the most significant pieces of legislation in Sorrenia's history.

Stagnation and Name Change: November 2018 - November 2019

The Old Monarchists remained in coalition government until November 2018, when a surge of support for the NDLP starved monarchists of a majority in the King's Council. The New Monarchists chose to enter into coalition with the NDLP; Brooker, previously Chancellor of Sorrenia serving on the Small Council, left government with his party, joining the opposition.

Prior to the election, the party's congress had officially changed its name, becoming the Christian Alliance. This was motivated by a fear that the party would eventually be pushed out by the larger New Monarchists. Brooker hoped that by shifting the emphasis of the party, they would be able to find a stable niche within Sorrenian politics.

Previously focusing on conurbations like South Shields, the Christian Alliance began to portray itself as a party for the rural communities of Sorrenia; the party also developed a distinctly more social-conservative focus. These changes however did not result in seat gains during the November 2018 election, and in the April 2019 election, the Alliance lost five of its seats, alongside a 6.5% decline in their vote share. Brooker, one of the Alliance's two remaining MPs, offered his resignation, but this was rejected by the party's congress, who believed that the loss was a temporary result of their shifting focus on rural constituencies. Brooker stated that if the Alliance's electoral position did not improve in the future, he would be forced to consider a merger with the New Monarchists.

In the November 2019 election, the party gained three new seats, and increased their vote share by 3%. Holding onto their Durham seats of Ertawa and Birtley, the party made gains in the west of Sorrenia, taking the Cumbrian constituencies of the Lake District, Millom and Haverigg, and Lonsdale from the NDLP. Prior to the election, the Christian Alliance adopted Millomism as an official policy, which advocates realignment of political power away from the Durham/Tyne-Wear core, to areas like the north-west and Yorkshire.

Return to Government: November 2019 - January 2020

The November 2019 election saw not only an increase in the Christian Alliance's seat share, but also a dramatic increase in support for The Republicans, and a concurrent loss of seats by the NDLP and New Monarchists. Though many expected The Republicans and NDLP to enter into coalition government, The socialist Republicans eventually entered into coalition with the Christian Alliance and the HNP.

To many this was a shock. Though both parties had ran on a promise of constitutional reform and the redrawing of constituency boundaries, there remained significant differences between them. The Christian Alliance was far more socially conservative, and also more economically liberal. And while the Christian Alliance supported greater limitations on the Papal Directorate, they feared that The Republicans would seek to remove any formal place for Christianity within Sorrenia.

Nevertheless, Brooker agreed to the coalition in the hopes of bringing constitutional change to Sorrenia. He strove however to gain concessions from The Republicans, including a moderation on planned spending, and an agreement not to introduce legislation to remove Christianity as the national religion. The decision however was controversial within the Christian Alliance, with several new MPs refusing to participate in the Small Council.

The government saw some early successes, most notably the redrawing of the electoral boundaries of Sorrenia, which granted far greater representation to Hortania, Yorkshire and Teesside. the coalition however ultimately broke down after party machinations within The Republicans. Prime Minister Harold Wanton attempted to remove certain far-left figures from the Small Council, replacing them with party moderates, however this led to a leadership election in which Wanton was replaced by the far-left Michell Livennson, who reintroduced ousted members and removed several moderates. This caused both the Christian Alliance and the HNP to leave government, strongly criticising Livennson's actions and The Republicans more broadly. Most controversially, Livennson replaced the CA and HNP with the Dradelian Revolutionary Front, who up until that point had advocated for Dradelian independence and operated a paramilitary wing within east Sorrenia.

Though Brooker strongly condemned The Republicans after these events, he faced severe backlash, both from party members and the New Monarchists, who accused the Christian Alliance of enabling socialists through their participation in the coalition. As a result, despite an increase in the number of seats in the King's Council, the Christian Alliance saw their seat share reduce by one in the January 2020, alongside a 6% decline in vote share; for the first time in its history, Brooker began to receive calls for his resignation from within the party. Though he remained popular, Brooker ultimately chose to resign as party leader, encouraging one of the new Cumbrian MPs to replace him. Despite this, Brooker remains an influential figure within the party, as does the Brookerite faction, made up largely of Durham-based Christian Alliance members.

Electoral Performance

Election year	%	seats won	+/-	Government
2018 I	18	3 / 12	▲ 3	junior party in coalition
2018 II	16	4 / 21	▲ 1	junior party in coalition
2018 III	10	7 / 49	▲ 3	junior party in coalition
2018 IV	19.5	7 / 49	0	No in opposition
2019 I	13	2 / 49	▼ 5	No in opposition
2019 II	16	5 / 49	▲ 3	junior party in coalition
2020 I	10	4 / 58	▼ 1	No in opposition

Timeline of Party Leaders

Picture	Name	Term start	Term end	Notes
	Richard Brooker	04/04/18	20/02/20
	Henry Steventon	20/02/20	Incumbent

Party Factions

Traditionally, factions have coalesced around religious denomination. The Catholic Bloc sought to protect Catholicism's status as the national religion, and opposed moves to reduce the legislative strength of the Papal Directorate; they were also more critical of the independent status of the Church of Amon Lasgalen. The Anglo-Catholic Bloc, though similar in theology, preferred centralisation of power within the monarchy rather than the Papal Directorate. Though sharing the belief that Catholicism should remain the national religion, they were far more supportive of the Amon Lasgalen Church.

The Protestant Bloc consisted of a coalition of low church Anglicans, Methodists and Evangelicals, all of whom supported the party's social and economic policies, but who sought to remove Catholicism's special status in Sorrenia, replaced by a more general Christian ethos. Though the Protestant bloc dominated party membership, Richard Brooker himself was a high church Anglican.

Beginning with its emergence, a cohort of Old Monarchists were vocally supportive of Konpantzia Thought, a theory encouraging routine power transfer from the monarchy to the King's Council during times in which republican parties held a majority, and vice versa when monarchists held a majority. Many Konpantzian Old Monarchists looked to the legacy of the Commonwealth Party to support this tendency.

As time went on, the clear boundaries between these factions began to dissipate - protestant bloc members became more accepting of Catholicism as the state religion, while Catholic bloc members came to accept, and indeed embrace, the role of the Amon Lasgalen church, also coming to advocate for greater limitations on the Papal Directorate. After the Livennson controversy, new factions arose, with some Christian Alliance members strongly defending Richard Brooker and his legacy, while others criticised him for leading the party into coalition government with self-avowed socialists. The latter vocally encouraged Brooker to resign and give the leadership to one of the new Cumbrian MPs. Though Brooker remained popular within the party, he ultimately chose to resign as party leader; the Brookerites however remain a focused and powerful faction within the party.

Policy Stances

• Loyalism - the party remains in support of the kingship of Ronald I, and the Sorrenian monarchy more widely
• Nationalism - the party seeks to uphold and develop a unique Sorrenian culture and identity
• Conservatism - generally supportive of centre-right laissez-faire economics, the party is also strongly conservative socially
• Northumbrianism - the Christian Alliance quickly adopted Northumbrianism onto its political platform, after it was first adopted by the New Monarchists

Key Members

• Richard Brooker