Prime Minister of Norton

Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norton
Premier Ministre du Royaume de Norton Minister-president van het Koninkrijk Norton
Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
Flag of Norton
Incumbent Esty Carpentieri since 6 January 2023
Prime Minister's Office
Style	Mr. Prime Minister (informal) The Right Honourable (formal) His Excellency (diplomatic)
Status	Head of government
Member of	Estates General
Seat	Roesstal
Nominator	Largest party in the Estates General
Appointer	Monarch
Term length	At his Majesty's pleasure
Constituting instrument	Constitution of the Kingdom of Norton
Inaugural holder	Thomas Jacobs
Formation	3 May 2022 (2022-05-03)
Deputy	Deputy Prime Minister

The Prime Minister of Norton, officially the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norton (French: premier ministre du royaume de norton, Dutch: minister-president van het kroninkrijk norton ) is the head of government of Norton. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority of the elected Parliament; as such, the prime minister typically sits as a member of Parliament (MP) in the Estates General of Norton and leads the largest party or a coalition of parties. The prime minister is "called upon" by the monarch and, as the highest ranking minister, selects other ministers to form the Cabinet and chairs it. Constitutionally, the Crown exercises executive power on the advice of the Cabinet, which is collectively responsible to the Estates General.

The constitution of Norton stipulates that the monarch (or in times of regency, the monarch's representative) must select as prime minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the elected Estates General; this individual is typically the leader of the political party that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber. Nortonian prime ministers are appointed to the Privy Council and styled as the Right Honourable (French: Le très honorable Dutch: het recht eervolle), a privilege maintained for life.

The prime minister is supported by the Prime Minister's Office and is a senior figure in the Privy Council Office (although within the Privy Council, they are subordinate to the Lord President of the Council). The prime minister, alongside the Monarch, also selects individuals for appointment to the four appointed dukedoms of Norton: Sarum, Valtelline, Luceria and Mauberg-Courrac (the dukedom of Regionem Capitis is hereditary to the royal family of Norton and is always held by the reigning monarch), as well as to the Privy Council, Supreme Court of Norton, and other federal courts, and, as required under law, the chairs and boards of various Crown corporations, such as the Bank of Norton and the Royal University of Norton. Under the Constitution Act, 2022, article 48, government power is vested in the monarch (who is the head of state), but in practice the roles of the monarch is largely ceremonial and only exercised on the advice of a Cabinet minister.

Esty Carpentieri is the current prime minister, who took office on January 6, 2022, following the January 2022 election to the Estates General where his Solidarity Party of Democracy won a majority of seats.

Origin of the office

The position of prime minister is outlined in the Nortonian constitutional document and is mentioned in Article 65 of the Constitution Act, 2022, and the Letters Patent, 2022 issued by King Alexander.

Appointment

The prime minister, along with the other ministers in Cabinet, is appointed by the monarch. However, by the conventions of responsible government, designed to maintain administrative stability, the monarch will call to form a government the individual most likely to receive the support, or confidence, of a majority of the directly elected members of the Estates General; as a practical matter, this is often the leader of a party whose members form a majority, or a very large plurality, of the Estates General. The constitution highlights the legal requirement for prime ministers to be MPs themselves.

Term of office

The prime minister serves at His Majesty's pleasure, meaning the post does not have a fixed term, and once appointed and sworn in by the monarch, the prime minister remains in office until they resign, are dismissed, or die.

While the lifespan of a parliament is constitutionally limited to four months, the monarch may still, on the advice of the prime minister, dissolve parliament and issue the writs of election prior to the date mandated by the constitution.

Following parliamentary dissolution, the prime minister must run in the resulting general election to maintain a seat in the Estates General. Should the prime minister's party subsequently win a majority of seats in the Estates General, it is unnecessary to re-appoint the prime minister or for the prime minister to retake the oath of office. If, however, an opposition party wins a majority of seats, the prime minister may resign or be dismissed by the monarch. Should the prime minister's party achieve a minority while an opposition party wins a plurality (i.e., more seats than any other party but less than a majority), the prime minister can attempt to maintain the confidence of the Estates General by forming a coalition with other minority parties, which was last entertained in 2022 or by entering into a confidence-and-supply agreement.

Qualifications

The following qualifications shall be followed for one to be appointed as Prime Minister:

• Only a Nortonian Citizen may be appointed.
• Only a member of the Estates General may be appointed (this tends to be the parliamentary leader of the largest political party).

The Constitution provides that a citizen is not eligible for appointment to the office of Prime Minister if:

• The citizen has been declared ineligible by the Supreme Court.
• The citizen holds views that contradict the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norton.

Oath

The Prime Minister takes the oath of office as follows:

“"I (Name) do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norton, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norton, and bear true loyalty to His Majesty the King, his heirs and successors according to law."

Style of Address

Styles of The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norton
Royal Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Norton (HM Government).svg
Reference style	The Right Honourable
Spoken style	Your Excellency

Norton continues the Westminster tradition of using the title Prime Minister when one is speaking to the national head of government directly; the Ministry for Cultural Affairs and National Heritage advises that it is incorrect to use the term Mr/Madam. Prime Minister. The written form of address for the prime minister should use his or her full parliamentary title: The Right Honourable [name], [post-nominal letters], Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norton. However, while in the Estates General during Question Period, other members of parliament may address the prime minister as the Right Honourable Prime Minister or simply the Prime Minister. Former prime ministers retain the prefix the Right Honourable for the remainder of their lives; should they remain sitting MPs, they may be referred as the Right Honourable Prime Minister Emeritus, by their portfolio title (if appointed to one), as in the Right Honourable Secretary of State of Defence, or should they become opposition leader, as the Right Honourable the Leader of the Opposition.

Role and Authority

Because the prime minister is in practice the most politically powerful member of the Nortonian government, they are sometimes erroneously referred to as Norton's head of state, when, in fact, that role belongs to the Nortonian monarch. The prime minister is, instead, the head of government and is responsible for advising the Crown on how to exercise much of the royal prerogative and its executive powers, which are governed by the constitution and its conventions. However, the function of the prime minister has evolved with increasing power. Today, per the doctrines of constitutional monarchy, the advice given by the prime minister is ordinarily binding, meaning the prime minister effectively carries out those duties ascribed to the sovereign leaving the latter to act in predominantly ceremonial fashions. As such, the prime minister, supported by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), controls the appointments of many key figures in Norton's system of governance, including the four appointed dukedoms, the Cabinet, justices of the Supreme Court (alongside the Lord Chancellor), heads of Crown corporations, ambassadors and high commissioners. Further, the prime minister plays a prominent role in the legislative process—with the majority of bills put before Parliament originating in the Cabinet—and a senior position of leadership of the Royal Nortonian Armed Forces, however the monarch is defined through the constitution as the Head and Commander-in-chief.

List of prime ministers of Norton

No	Picture	Name	Tenure
			Took office	Left office	Term
1		Thomas Jacobs, Duke of Sarum	5 June 2022	6 January 2023	7002215000000000000♠215 days
2		Esty Carpentieri	6 January 2023	present	7002687000000000000♠1 year, 322 days