State Opening of Council, III Legislature

23rd August 2015, Province of Tytannia

To the most honourable gathered representatives, and to all who may hear this, greetings.

It is with great pleasure that Our Imperial Majesty hereby declares that the term of the Third Legislature of the Ruling Council has officially begun, and shall last from now until July 2016, covering twelve meetings of Council.

In this Council assembled, the five Provinces of the Empire of Adammia are represented by means of their landed noble and their elected Councilor; furthermore, delegates represent our Colonies far from this chamber, and our citizens living abroad in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. These twelve representatives who form the Council during its Third Legislature are as follows: present on behalf of the Province of Primoria are the Duke of Primoria, His Imperial Highness Prince Jake, and the Councilor of Primoria, His Imperial Highness Crown Prince Daniel; on behalf of the Province of Maternia are the Duke of Maternia, His Grace Sir Paul McKenna, and the Councilor of Maternia, Her Imperial Highness Emperor Mother Jayne; on behalf of the Province of Tytannia are the Duchess of Tytannia, Her Grace Madam Winifred Hall, and the Councilor of Tytannia, His Grace Sir Reginald Hall; on behalf of the Province of Watertopia are the Duke of Watertopia, His Grace Sir Matthew Foster, and the Councilor of Watertopia, Her Grace Madam Julie Foster; on behalf of the Province of Myway are the Duke of Myway, His Grace Sir Christopher Hall, and the Councilor of Myway, Madam Debbie Shaw; on behalf of the Colonies is Our Imperial Majesty, and on behalf of our citizens abroad is Lord Sir Andrew Hall.

According to our most venerated founding document and fundamental law, the Supreme Directive, this legislature is accompanied by an Imperial Government, responsible for putting the laws created by this Council and Our Imperial Majesty into effect, and overseeing the day-to-day administration of the Empire. One week ago, the people of the Empire voted in a National Election, deciding who would lead this Imperial Government as Prime Minister. For those unaware, Her Imperial Highness Emperor Mother Jayne secured a third successive victory to the office, defeating Sir Paul McKenna by 12 votes to 9.

The past couple of months has seen the rise of political parties in the Empire, and now more than half of the members of this Council are partisan: Our Imperial Majesty, Prince Jake and Sir Matthew Foster of the Liberal Party; Emperor Mother Jayne and Madam Julie Foster of the Moderate Party; and Sir Reginald Hall and Sir Paul McKenna of the Labour Party. Although a larger Moderate Party would undoubtedly appoint only its own members to the Imperial Government's Cabinet in the wake of its National Election victory, this is not possible with only two members in the party, and as such a grand coalition of the three parties is in order, with the Cabinet retaining its composition as before the Election: the Moderates lead the Cabinet with Emperor Mother Jayne as Prime Minister and Madam Julie Foster as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information, whilst Labour have Sir Reginald Hall as Minister of Finance and Sir Paul McKenna as Minister of Infrastructure, and for the Liberals Our Imperial Majesty is Minister of Defence, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Citizenship. Independent members fill out the rest of Cabinet: Lord Sir Andrew Hall as Minister of Culture, Madam Winifred Hall as Minister of the Environment, and Crown Prince Daniel as Minister of Science and Technology.

This is what the legislative and executive branches of the governance of the realm look like for the near future, but what can be achieved in this term remains to be seen. It is true that the introduction of political parties has added a new level of complexity, with the potential for rivalry. However, it is by seeking to gain the upper hand over other parties that new plans are drawn up – that is why I encouraged the formation of political parties in the first place, and, after over two years of this system being in place, I feel confident that all the members of this Council will always act, first and foremost, in the interests of the Empire and its people.

We now move to our business of the day.