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NSUK --- The Royal Messenger May 2023

May 2023 Royal Messenger

75th Premiership of the United Kingdom	Regional Information Centre	84th Session of Parliament
His Majesty's Government Prime Minister: Lucas Stewart Deputy Prime Minister: Aaron Reynolds-Bauheim Home Secretary: Elisha Menzies Foreign Secretary: Aaron Reynolds-Bauheim Chancellor of the Exchequer: George Stewart Crown Court of the United Kingdom Crown Court Chief Judge: John Spencer-Talleyrand Chief Judge pro tempore: Constance St. James	The British Monarchy Sovereign: HM Queen Constance II Prince of Wales: HRH Prince Angus Founded: November 10th, 2005 Ruling Family: The Royal House of Stewart United Kingdom NationStates Page -- -- -- -- United Kingdom Regional Forums -- -- -- -- United Kingdom Discord -- -- -- -- A Guide to NSUK	The House of Lords HRH Prince David, Prince of Wales(Speaker) HRH Prince Angus, Reuben, Baron Wright of Maidstone The House of Commons Aaron Reynolds-Bauheim (SF) of Islwyn Lucas Stewart (STAG) of Brent Elisha Menzies (SF) of Nottingham South (Speaker) Vibhor Mikaelson (SF) of Southall Klaus Mikaelson (SF) of Inverness

Contents

- Changes to the Cabinet, dissolution of the Culture Office
- April Budget Passes after 2 weeks of discussions, impasses, and headaches, along
with other Parliamentary business
Changes to the Cabinet, dissolution of the Culture Office
Written April 29th. 2023
On April 9th, Home Secretary Mark Phoe handed in his resignation, citing a lack of availability to commit to the role, lamenting that he while he had wished to be able to engage more actively in the community as Home Secretary, real life circumstances had prevented him from doing so, Prime Minister Lucas Stewart had appointed Wilhelm Friedrich IV as Mr. Phoe's successor, and so far, as of the time of this article's writing, Mr. Friedrich is doing reasonably well, especially as a relative newcomer to HM Government, and to the region as a whole, there were also changes in the Culture Office, on the same day as Phoe's resignation, Culture Secretary Jon Hughes had also submitted his resignation for similar reasons, he was succeeded by Harold J. Ravensrest, less than 2 weeks later on the 22nd of April, Mr. Ravensrest also offered his resignation as Culture Secretary, as a result of this the Prime Minister elected to abolish the Culture Office in its entirety on the same day, which brought forth some consternation from the general public. After this Ulrich Bauheim, the Chancellor of the Exchequer also stepped down, but for different reason, in his place George Stewart, formerly King George VIII, has been appointed as the new Chancellor.


April Budget Passes after 2 weeks of discussions, impasses, and headaches, along
with other Parliamentary business
The April 2023 Budget had been passed on the morning of April 19th after a 16-day back and forth battle between HM Government and the Sinn Fein dominated House of Commons, led by the Prime Minister and the Marquess of Belfast who represents the constituency of Inverness respectively, during the discussion the topic of a wealth tax was brought up, which proved to be unpopular with the business owners of the region, which led to the original proposal to be scrapped in favor of a revised proposal which managed to pass after being dead locked by a 2-2-1 vote, which led to the proposal being re-introduced which ultimately passed 3-2, with Aaron Reynolds-Bauheim, MP for Islwyn, who abstained in the previous vote, casting the tie breaking vote a few minutes before midnight on the 18th.
In other parliamentary news, the Prime Minister introduced a bill called the Gameside Affairs Act, which received absolutely no support by the other members of the Commons, in spite of the fact that it was introduced 2 times, there was also 2 amendments to the World Assembly Delegate (W.A.D.) Act, which governed how the World Assembly Delegate will be appointed from now on, as well as giving the delegate leeway in how they would vote in the W.A. . There was also a change in how business is to be conducted on the floor of the Commons with the introduction of the 7th Amendment to the Standing Orders of the House of Commons, which seeks to address the the business that has been going on, especially in the wake of the debates over the April Budget proposal among other things, the amendment passed with a 3-2 vote.


Other Local NSUK News
- Wilhelm Friedrich von Hohenstein-Ernstthal Becomes new Mayor for City of Windsor
- Former PM David Allum adopted by Her Majesty Queen Constance II, becomes new Prince of Wales after Prince Angus stpes back from role
- W.F. von Hohenstein-Ernstthal also appointed as Chair of the British Museum

United Kingdom
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Thanks for the update!

You know, I've come to wonder about the wisdom of a culture ministry to begin with. Wintreath has had some fantastic culture ministers in its day, but even they tended to focus on specific subsets of culture. Right now I'm personally favoring a more hands-off approach where people do and run the things they want without it being a government bureaucracy. Either way, hopefully things work out for the best with that move.

United Kingdom | May 2023 Foreign Update

May 2023 Royal Messenger

75th Premiership of United Kingdom	Regional Information Centre	86th Session of Parliament
Her Majesty's Government Prime Minister: Lucas Stewart Deputy Prime Minister: Elisha Menzies Home Secretary: Mark Hornsey Foreign Secretary: John Laurens-Wessex Chancellor of the Exchequer: George Stewart Crown Court of the United Kingdom Crown Court Chief Judge: John Spencer-Talleyrand Chief Judge pro tempore: Constance St. James Senior Judge: Akillian Talleyrand Senior Judge: Jay Dee Bonaparte Junior Judge: Reuben Wright	The Monarchy of United Kingdom Sovereign: HM Queen Constance II Prince of Wales: HRH Prince David Founded: November 10th, 2005 Ruling Family: The Royal House of Stewart United Kingdom NationStates Page -- -- -- -- United Kingdom Regional Forums -- -- -- -- United Kingdom Discord -- -- -- -- A Guide to NSUK	The House of Lords Owen, Baron of Wollaton (Speaker) HRH Prince David, Prince of Wales HG Constance, Duchess of Bedford & York The House of Commons Aaron Reynolds-Bauheim (SF) of Islwyn Elisha Menzies (SF) of Nottingham South (Speaker) George Stewart (STAG) of Windsor Jay Dee Bonaparte (Ind) of Blackburn Lucas Stewart (STAG) of Brent

Contents

- Stewart Premiership mired in controversies in run-up to general election
- Region sees sustained uptick in private sector activity
- Highly competitive election results in few changes
- Contests, Code of Conduct, and Council of Nations: a string of in-game successes
Stewart Premiership Mired In Controversies
After winning the March by-election to finish the term of Prime Minister Christoph Sebastian (who resigned due to RL time constraints), Prime Minister Lucas Stewart spent much of his time in office facing down sharp criticism and enduring controversies, from start to finish. Immediately upon taking office, Stewart faced controversy for a decision to close several in-game embassies with regions whose populations were in the single digits. While the closures ultimately went through, Stewart did apologise for a lack of advance communication, and directed the Foreign Office to refresh United Kingdom's minimum standards for in-game embassies and other diplomatic relationships.
The presentation of the April Budget proved a difficult process, especially as the original deadline for presentation of a budget fell just four days after the prime ministerial by-election. With a final proposal all but ready to go, the Prime Minister and the Treasury team discovered a major flaw in the application of income taxes in past cycles, leading them to exercise a legal provision for extra time to put a proposal together. The Chancellor came back with a budget proposal aimed at reigning in the ballooning deficit with major cuts to public spending and a wealth tax as a new source of revenue; the latter was generally well-received by Parliament, but proved to be a total non-starter with the public. Going back to the drawing board, the Prime Minister submitted a revised proposal that scrapped the wealth tax, introduced monthly property taxes, and combined income tax, capital gains tax, and corporation taxes into one flat tax. The revised proposal failed to pass the Commons on a first vote when Aaron Reynolds-Bauheim, MP for Islwyn and Deputy Prime Minister, opted to abstain despite having the deciding vote. Finally, 20 days past when the Budget would've originally taken effect, it passed on a second vote after efforts to woo Reynolds-Bauheim's vote proved successful, without any further concessions having been made.
A slew of unlucky Cabinet appointments resulted in three resignations (or were they sackings?) consisting of two Culture Secretaries and a Home Secretary. Following the second Culture Secretary's resignation, the Prime Minister announced the abolition of the Culture Office as part of a deeper rethink of how HM Government supports regional activity. This decision proved a lightning rod for criticism, but the practical results are of disputed significance. Later in the term, Stewart noted that even in the absence of a Culture Office, HM Government still organised special events in celebration of Easter and Eurovision, and that April was United Kingdom's best month for forums activity in a year.
Finally, after delays due to the Budget fight and complications due to the pro rata application of two separate budgetary schemes, HM Government took the risky measure of paying out monthly salaries and collecting taxes over a week late - and the day before a general election. Some citizens criticized the Government's decision to automatically withdraw taxes due to the Treasury from citizens' accounts without more advance notice, while others defended the government's decision as a question of mere logistical efficiency.
Sustained Uptick In Private Sector Activity

Particularly in the absence of a dedicated Culture Office, the past month has seen an improving performance from United Kingdom's private sector, indicating a healthy state of activity and a strengthening regional economy. Among the new additions to the British business community are at least three news media outlets, as well as a social club and a comedy entertainment business.
In particular, Ulrich Bauheim Media has addressed an apparent appetite for news content that reports on both NationStates and RL events together, whereas Mark Hornsey's comedy club has proven to be a big hit with such productions as "NSUK goes for a MacDonalds". As always, Beacon Media and The Sun have kept it pithy on Twitter, and the conglomerates that we told you about in a previous update have just kept growing!
The BBC had a good month as well, with an increase in the content being produced. In addition to interviews with prime ministerial candidates on the eve of the general election, newcomer William Cavendish-Beauclerk has found a niche audience for his satirical programme "This Wasn't The News At 10", and opinion programming has grown as well, with editorials from Beauclerk and the prime minister himself.
Adding to this uptick is the restoration of the Forums Shop, in which citizens are now able to list their own creations for sale and reap the revenues. It's expected that HM Government will attempt to further develop the shop in the future, but for now items available for sale include a jar of dirt, an "All My Homies Hate MEE6" t-shirt, merch for The Age newspaper, and a cup of coffee. (but no tea? Huh, I thought this was a British region...)
Highly Competitive Election... But Not Much Has Changed.

United Kingdom's May 2023 general election was one of the most active and most competitive in years. With a 75% turnout and a wide field of MP candidates, the overarching theme of the election was of a battle between the STAG Party, a young, largely untested, policy-focused party, and Sinn Fein, the region's oldest political party, with plenty of past victories under their belt, and touting their experience. Interestingly enough, the prime ministerial candidates facing off included STAG's Lucas Stewart (incumbent as Prime Minister) and Sinn Fein's Klaus Mikaelson, who are respectively the second-longest and third-longest serving prime ministers in regional history. (A third candidate, PineneedleProject, stood for the conservative British Democratic Union.)
Riding a wave of controversies, the election was largely viewed as a referendum on the half-term of Prime Minister Stewart's reform-minded leadership, with Mikaelson presenting an alternative vision that would represent a return to a more traditional path of governance. Sinn Fein nominated a slate of experienced MP candidates, with STAG fielding a whopping six candidates in an election for five seats, in its first election with more than one candidate running. STAG candidate William Cavendish-Beauclerk managed to shock the region when, days before the election and after already registering under the STAG banner, he switched party affiliations to Sinn Fein. Independent candidates made their mark as well: A literal "Mark", Mark Hornsey registered to run for Parliament under his revived Democratic Alliance before withdrawing, and Jay Dee Bonaparte, recently confirmed as a Crown Court judge, threw his hat in the ring as well with a long list of legislative priorities, different to any of the other issues floating around.
In the end, the results were a mixed bag. Lucas Stewart fell one vote short of a victory in the first round of the prime ministerial race, necessitating a runoff between himself and Klaus Mikaelson after the elimination of distant third PineneedleProject. In the second round, Stewart won handily, with a comfortable 20 point margin.
Parliamentary results were a bit more interesting, with the House of Commons moving from a 4-1 Sinn Fein-STAG divide, to a 2-2-1 Sinn Fein-STAG-Independent split. Jay Dee Bonaparte (ind) secured the lion's share of votes in the first round, joined by Lucas Stewart (STAG), Elisha Menzies (SF), and Aaron Reynolds-Bauheim (SF) who were also elected outright. For the fifth seat, a runoff was necessary between George Stewart (STAG) and William Cavendish-Beauclerk (SF). (Who would win: The veteran leader and PM's husband, or the promising newbie who just boldly flipped parties?) In the end, George Stewart managed to win the runoff for STAG, denying Sinn Fein a chance to hold its majority, and increasing STAG's representation for the first time.
Cavendish-Beauclerk, widely regarded as a rising star of United Kingdom, didn't let that slow him down. He was subsequently elected Secretary General of the Council of Nations, United Kingdom's roleplay legislative body for in-game nations. PineneedleProject appears to have found a calling in the aftermath as well: his UKRN media outlet has been holding live interviews with the victors of the election.
A String of In-Game Successes

The past month has seen a recommitment to gameside activities within United Kingdom, which proudly sits in the Top 30 of NationStates' largest regions with a population of nearly 1,000 nations. Here, we'll summarise some of those activities that proved most successful:
Council of Nations
Back in November, the government led by David Allum introduced the Council of Nations project in an attempt to give gameside nations an organised place to debate RP resolutions and a reason to visit the offsite forums. Since then, the Council of Nations has gone through three Secretaries General and considered over a dozen resolutions (often with a hearty debate!), adopting seven such resolutions. At present, 25 nations are participating members of the Council of Nations.
Code of Conduct
Perhaps the greatest success of the Council of Nations has been the implementation of an RMB Code of Conduct, shepherded to passage by then-Secretary General Owen Stewart. After months of regional population growth and increasing chaos on the RMB, few in United Kingdom could doubt the necessity of a Code of Conduct to manage the behavior of in-game nations and help define moderator actions. Since its approval, conduct on the RMB has cleaned up significantly, and the Regional Security Council has taken steps to increase the responsiveness of moderator action when nations report violations of the Code.
Contests
With nearly 1,000 nations in United Kingdom, organising activities that appeal to and accomodate large numbers of participants can be difficult, and yet the Home Office has tried it anyways. In addition to an Easter Egg Hunt contest, Deputy Home Secretary Imperial Isle has taken to hosting Cards Against Humanity get-togethers, which have proven a hit amongst United Kingdom's dirtiest minds game-loving nations! A flag contest proved popular as well, and in a further opportunity to focus on IC nations, HM Government recently concluded a contest to choose one nation with the best proposal to host Eurovision.

So long, until next time!

United Kingdom
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Controversy in NationStates?

It sounds like NSUK is doing well without a Culture Office. I wonder if when there's such a ministry, people just end up believing that they should do all the culture work instead of themselves...at the end of the day, the more people building a community, the more vibrant it will be. I'll be curious to see if this trend continues in the future.

The Code of Conduct was an interesting read too, especially since we've just overhauled our own rules. Technically, Wintreath has a RMB Etiquette rulebook in addition to the general rules, but it may be the most hated document in the history of Wintreath and isn't particularly enforced now. xD

Also, interesting to see another region that does CAH games. You know, I won Dirtiest Mind in CAH at the last Wintreath End-Year Awards.

In any case, thanks for the update!

The Royal Messenger, June 2023

We are pleased to present the latest edition of The Royal Messenger where we publish news from around United Kingdom.

On behalf of the Foreign Office, we hope you all enjoy this update. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

@Rayregalia V. Arcadia Sova-Bauheim: Thanks for the update!

I enjoyed reading the article about the resurgence of the semi-government institutions, especially the University of United Kingdom. We tried having a similar thing in Wintreath years ago, the Wintreath Academy, but it didn't last very long. I'm thinking about reviving something like it though, at least to guide people through some of the guides I'm writing now: one on conflict resolution and one on DEI in Wintreath. But we'll see...you know how it is, so many ideas and so little time, lol.

Express Statement
Foreign Office of NSUK

Dear citizens of Wintreath,

On behalf of the Government of His Gracious Majesty, King George, our Foreign Secretary will be visiting your region in the coming weeks to report on the diplomatic relationship between our two regions.

Yours,
His Excellency Rayregalia Von Arcadia Sova-Bauheim, Ambassador from NSUK

Thank you for the notice, though I believe he started visiting around the same time you posted this.

@Rayregalia V. Arcadia Sova-Bauheim: Thank you for the invite! Barring some unfortunate real-life circumstance, I plan to be there.

The Royal Messenger, June 2023

We are pleased to present the latest edition of The Royal Messenger where we publish news from around United Kingdom.

On behalf of the Foreign Office, we hope you all enjoy this update. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Sorry for the long delay, but thank you for the update!

I was sad to hear about Aaron resigning as PM...he's been a good friend to Wintreath, and I know he's been interested in the position for awhile now. I suspect he's more able than he gives himself credit for, too...but at the end of the day we have to do our best to protect our mental health. I wish the best for him in the future, as well as new PM Christoph Sebastian, who I just had the pleasure of meeting the other day.

I was also glad to see that the coronation was such a success, though I wish I'd had more time to be a part of it! It was an inspirational event for me, and I hope to bring some ideas back from it for Wintreath in the future.

The Royal Messenger, September 2023

We are pleased to present the latest edition of The Royal Messenger where we publish news from around United Kingdom.

On behalf of the Foreign Office, we hope you all enjoy this update. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Press Release - October 2023 General Election

We are pleased to publish a roundup of our recent General Election!

On behalf of the Foreign Office, we hope you find this press release interesting. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Holy crap, there's a lot of Mikaelsons! xD

Thanks for the update, and congrats to the winners. Hopefully this term will be more stable than the last one for the region.