Small Council of Sorrenia

The Small Council of Sorrenia is an executive body in the Kingdom of Sorrenia, tasked with the implementation of law, advising the Monarch and establishing a legislative agenda for the King's Council.

Harold Wanton's Premiership (November 2019 - January 2020)

Cabinet Reshuffle

By the turn of the year, internal disputes between cabinet members had reached a new high point, threatening the stability of the entire government. Chancellor Richard Brooker complained that the far-left had too much influence within the Small Council, who were attempting to push social and economic reforms into the government's agenda, which had not been previously agreed upon.

Conversely, the two leading left-wing members of The Republicans, Treasurer Michelle Livennson and Foreign Affairs Minister Mark Elster, complained that the Christian Alliance was unnecessarily prolonging deliberation on reformist legislation, supposedly intending to utilise this as leverage to moderate the government's position.

Though conflict had began as soon as the coalition was formed, after the new year, and the introduction to the King's Council of most of the pre-agreed reformist measures, both parties began to face one another more openly, demonstrating clear and deep divisions within the government.

In an attempt to resolve these differences, Prime Minister Harold Wanton announced a cabinet reshuffle, which removed almost all of the leading far-left figures; Livennson and Elster were fired, as was the Minister of Dradelia, Clement Light. The Minister of Immigration, Pinarayi Eastbrook, was the only radical to survive the purge.

Wanton denied the accusation that the reshuffle was an attempt to remove radicals from the government, instead stating that Livennson in particular had exacerbated tensions, also stating that he wished to bring on new talent within the party who were recently elected.

Leadership Election

Almost immediately after dismissal, Livennson and Elster announced an intention to bring the matter to the party politburo, many of whom were radicals. The two also canvassed their local party branches to call for the removal of Wanton. Livennson and Elster, alongside the Republican party branches in West Newcastle and South Shields, launched a leadership election bid on the fifth of January, just three days after their dismissal from the Small Council.

The party Politburo declared that their grievance was legitimate, and warranted a party vote, to determine whether Wanton had the support of the party members. Wanton placed all government business on halt to campaign, hoping to retain the support of many radical segments from the north.

On the 9th of January, an internal ballot was held, which saw Wanton narrowly lose to Livennson for party leader. Livennson managed not only to win a majority of radical branches from the north-east of Sorrenia, but also many would-be moderate branches within Hortania and Yorkshire. Though Wanton only narrowly lost the membership vote, he was defeated in almost all party branches throughout the country.

Wanton admitted defeat on the 10th of January, resigning as Prime Minister. He stated that he would not serve in Livennson's cabinet, though urged moderates within the party to remain, fearing a mass desertion to the NDLP. In his concession speech, Wanton stressed the need for a period of self-reflection within the party, to determine the core values they were to stand on in future elections: he expressed fear that should the party lurch to the left, they would be destroyed in the subsequent election.

Michelle Livennson's Premiership (January 2020)

Cabinet Reshuffle

After her victory, Livennson expressed gratitude to the party members for their support, portraying her victory as a refusal to kowtow to other, smaller, parties. Livennson was however also keen to deny claims of a left-wing coup, encouraging moderates to remain with the party, and promising the presence of moderates within her new Small Council.

Despite these promises, Livennson's cabinet reshuffle dramatically altered the balance of power within the Small Council: Richard Brooker, Steven Ota, and Damian Billbrough resigned immediately after Livennson's victory speech, stating they could not work with a far-left Prime Minister. Clive Pennine, a moderate who narrowly won election in Lanchester, resigned as Minister for Transport, defecting to the NDLP.

Mark Elster, the close running partner of Livennson, was appointed to replace Brooker as Chancellor. Moderates Ramsey Lane, Alastair Song, Emily Boldon, and Thomas Marston were all removed from the cabinet, replaced with radicals Rachel Manning, Martin Byker, Ali Saxton, Lucas Carrick, and Nicholas Podantes.

Only two moderates remained within the council; Matthew Newton was demoted from Treasurer to his previous position as Minister for the Environment, replacing moderate Lisa Tyne who was made Minister for Transport.

Livvenson's cabinet was one of the most radical in Sorrenia's history: it removed the longest serving cabinet minister, Damian Billbrough, and introduced into the cabinet several non-parliamentary figures; though was was seen before in earlier Sorrenian Small Councils, Livennson significantly extended the number of non-elected ministers.

Perhaps most radical was the appointment of Rilgar Ompastre to Minister of Dradelia. Previously a sectarian resistance fighter, Ompastre's party continued to operate armed operations within and beyond Dradelia, serving as a constant military threat to Sorrenia. Livennson portrayed Ompastre's inclusion as a move towards continued peace within Dradelia, but all the other parties denounced the move as dangerously inclusive of terrorist organisations.

Vote of No Confidence

On the same day as the cabinet reshuffle, Richard Brooker, previously Chancellor, introduced a motion of no confidence in the new government. After the Christian Alliance and Hortanian National Party formally withdrew their support for the coalition, and with the defection of Clive Pennine, the government was left with just 17 of the 47 seats in the King's Council.

The motion received criticism from two sources: the government asserted that it was far too early to call for a new election, suggesting the government could voluntarily resign after several weeks, when elections could be held unrushed. Some figures within the New Monarchists criticised the motion, instead calling for a broad coalition of all the opposition parties, who could collectively form a government (in Sorrenia, a vote of no confidence does not allow for coalition forming, instead instigating elections).

Nonetheless, after a day of deliberation, the motion passed comfortably, with only one abstention from the opposition benches.

Cabinet Positions

Portfolio	Minister	Period	Body		Party	Notes
King of Sorrenia and Dradelia	King Ronald I	April 2018 -	N/A		New Monarchists
Prime Minister	Harold Wanton	November 2019 -	King's Council		The Republicans
Chancellor	Richard Brooker	November 2019 -	King's Council		Christian Alliance
Treasurer	Michelle Livennson	November 2019 -	King's Council		The Republicans
Minister for Foreign Affairs	Mark Elster	November 2019 -	King's Council		The Republicans
Minister for Internal Affairs	Alastair Song	November 2019 -	People's Pravda		The Republicans
Minister for Religion	Steven Ota	November 2019 -	King's Council		Christian Alliance
Minister for Immigration	Pinarayi Eastbrook	November 2019 -	King's Council		The Republicans
Minister for the Environment	Matthew Newton	November 2019 -	King's Council		The Republicans
Minister for Transport	Ramsey Lane	November 2019 -	King's Council		The Republicans
Minister for Dradelia	Clement Light	November 2019 -	King's Council		The Republicans
Minister for Amon Lasgalen	Thomas Marston	November 2019 -	King's Council		The Republicans
Minister for Hortania	Damian Billbrough	June 2018 -	King's Council		HNP

Prime Minister

Name	Period	Body		Party	Notes
Michael Disraeli	30 April 2018 - 10 November 2018	King's Council (MP for Sacriston)		New Monarchists
Llewelyn Lawton	10 November 2018 - 11 November 2019	King's Council (MP for Amon Lasgalen)		NDLP
Harold Wanton	11 November 2019 - 10 January 2020	King's Council (MP for Sherburn)		The Republicans
Michelle Livennson	10 January 2020 - 31 January 2020	King's Council (MP for West Newcastle)		The Republicans	Defeated Wanton in a race for party leader, instigating a counter-coup from the left of the party
Llewelyn Lawton	31 January 2020 -	King's Council (MP for Amon Lasgalen)		NDLP

Chancellor

Name	Period	Body		Party	Notes
Phillip Pompeia	30 April 2018 - 11 November 2019	King's Council (MP for Morpeth)		New Monarchists
Richard Brooker	11 November 2019 - 11 January 2020	King's Council (MP for Ertawa)		Christian Alliance
Mark Elster	11 January 2020 - 31 January 2020	King's Council (MP for South Shields)		The Republicans
Martin Aquinas	31 January 2020 -	King's Council (MP for Bowburn)		NDLP

Treasurer

Name	Period	Body		Party	Notes
	30 April 2018 - 10 November 2018	King's Council		New Monarchists
Stephen Linacre	10 November 2018 - 11 November 2018	King's Council (MP for Hortania South)		NDLP
Michelle Livennson	11 November 2018 - 2 January 2020	King's Council (MP for West Newcastle)		The Republicans	Fired in cabinet purge
Matthew Newton	2 January 2020 - 11 January 2020	King's Council (MP for Chester-le-Street)		The Republicans	Demoted to previous post after an inter-party coup from the left
Clement Light	11 January 2020 - 31 January 2020	King's Council (MP for Seaham)		The Republicans
Phillip Pompeia	31 January 2020 -	King's Council (MP for Morpeth)		New Monarchists

Minister for Foreign Affairs

Name	Period	Body		Party	Notes
	30 April 2018 - 10 November 2018	King's Council		New Monarchists
Michael Disraeli	10 November 2018 - 11 November 2019	King's Council (MP for Sacriston)		New Monarchists
Mark Elster	11 November 2019 - 2 January 2020	King's Council (MP for South Shields)		The Republicans	Fired in cabinet purge
Ramsey Lane	2 January 2020 - 11 January 2020	King's Council (MP for Middlesbrough)		The Republicans
Rachel Manning	11 January 2020 - 31 January 2020	King's Council		The Republicans
Michael Disraeli	31 January 2020 -	King's Council (MP for Sacriston)		New Monarchists

Minister for Internal Affairs

Name	Period	Body		Party	Notes
	30 April 2018 - 10 November 2018	King's Council		New Monarchists
Martin Aquinas	10 November 2018 - 11 November 2019	King's Council (MP for Bowburn)		NDLP
Alastair Song	11 November 2019 - 11 January 2020	People's Pravda (Private Media)		The Republicans
Martin Byker	11 January 2020 - 31 January 2020	People's Pravda (Private Media)		The Republicans
Melseeq Seetoornah	31 January 2020 -	King's Council (MP for University Town)		NDLP

Minister for Religion

Name	Period	Body		Party	Notes
Peter Otterson	30 April 2018 - 11 November 2019	Papal Directorate		New Monarchists
Steven Ota	11 November 2019 - 11 January 2020	King's Council of Sorrenia (MP for Millom and Haverigg)		Christian Alliance
Ali Saxton	11 January 2020 - 31 January 2020	The Republicans (Party Leadership)		The Republicans
Peter Otterson	31 January 2020 -	Papal Directorate		New Monarchists

Minister for Immigration

Name	Period	Body		Party	Notes
Thomas Levy	30 April 2018 - 11 November 2019	Sorrenian Nobility (Earl of Kendal)		New Monarchists
Pinarayi Eastbrook	11 November 2019 -	King's Council (MP for Bradford)		The Republicans	The only minister to retain her position during the various reshuffles of January 2020

Minister for the Environment

Name	Period	Body		Party	Notes
	30 April 2018 - 10 November 2018	King's Council		New Monarchists
Melseeq Seetoornah	10 November 2018 - 11 November 2019	King's Council (MP for University Town)		NDLP
Matthew Newton	11 November 2019 - 2 January 2020	King's Council (MP for Chester-le-Street)		The Republicans	Promoted to Treasurer in cabinet reshuffle
Lisa Tyne	2 January 2020 - 11 January 2020	King's Council (MP for Whitley Bay)		The Republicans	Moved to Ministry of Transport after an inter-party coup from the left
Matthew Newton	11 January 2020 - 31 January 2020	King's Council (MP for Chester-le-Street)		The Republicans	Demoted to previous post after an inter-party coup from the left
Rachel Filostonia	31 January 2020 -	King's Council (MP for Jesmond)		NDLP

Minister for Transport

Name	Period	Body		Party	Notes
Claire Aurelia	30 April 2018 - 11 November 2019	King's Council		New Monarchists
Ramsey Lane	11 November 2019 - 2 January 2020	King's Council (MP for Middlesbrough)		The Republicans	Promoted to Minister for Foreign Affairs in cabinet reshuffle
Clive Pennine	2 January 2020 - 11 January 2020	King's Council (MP for Lanchester)		The Republicans	Fired after an inter-party coup from the left
Lisa Tyne	11 January 2020 -	King's Council (MP for Whitley Bay)		The Republicans	One of the few moderates to retain a cabinet position after an inter-party coup from the left

Minister for Dradelia

Name	Period	Body		Party	Notes
	30 April 2018 - 10 November 2018	King's Council		New Monarchists
Rachel Filostonia	10 November 2018 - 11 November 2019	King's Council (MP for Jesmond)		NDLP
Clement Light	11 November 2019 - 2 January 2020	King's Council (MP for Seaham)		The Republicans
Emily Boldon	2 January 2020 - 11 January 2020	King's Council (MP for Sunderland City)		The Republicans
Rilgar Ompastre	11 January 2020 -	King's Council (MP for Dradelia)		Dradelian Revolutionary Front

Minister for Amon Lasgalen

Name	Period	Body		Party	Notes
	30 April 2018 - 10 November 2018	King's Council		New Monarchists
Jonathan Richmond	10 November 2018 - 11 November 2019	Amon Lasgalen Council (CM for Richmond North)		NDLP
Thomas Marston	11 November 2019 - 11 January 2020	Amon Lasgalen Council (CM for Scotton)		The Republicans
Lucas Carrick	11 January 2020 -	The Republicans (Party Leadership)		The Republicans

Minister for Hortania

Name	Period	Body		Party	Notes
Damian Billbrough	30 April 2018 - 11 January 2020	King's Council (MP for North Hortania)		HNP
Nicholas Podantes	11 January 2020 -	The Republicans (Party Leadership)		The Republicans

Ministers without Portfolio

Name	Period	Body		Party	Notes
	10 November 2018 - 11 November 2018	Dunelm Council (CM for Palatinate Hill)		New Monarchists