Chancellor of Sanctaria

Chancellor of the Divine Federation of Sanctaria
Sanctarian Coat of Arms
Incumbent Ethan Ringrose since 14 December 2022
Style	The Right Honourable (formal) Chancellor (spoken) His/Her Excellency (in international correspondence)
Member of	House of Deputies Cabinet
Reports to	Parliament
Seat	Government Manor, Sanctus, Sanctaria
Appointer	President of Sanctaria by convention, based on appointee's ability to command confidence in the House of Deputies.
Term length	None While they command confidence in the House of Deputies. No term limits are imposed on the office.
Formation	19 November 1974
First holder	Eric Childerson as Prime Minister
Deputy	Vice Chancellor of Sanctaria
Salary	S£375,000
Website	chancellery.gov.sct

The Chancellor of Sanctaria, more formally known as the Federal Chancellor of the Divine Federation, is the chief executive and head of government of Sanctaria. The Chancellor is appointed by the President of Sanctaria upon the nomination of the House of Deputies, the lower house of the federal Sanctarian parliament, and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the House of Deputies; this individual is typically the leader of the political party that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber.

The incumbent Chancellor of Sanctaria is the Democratic Left Party's Ethan Ringrose, who was appointed by President Katherine Saunders following his nomination by the House of Deputies on 14 December 2022; his party having achieved a plurality in the House in the 2022 General Election, and entering into a coalition government with the Green Party.

Prior to the federalisation of Sanctaria on 01 January 2019, the position was called the Prime Minister of Sanctaria, or more formally the Prime Minister of the Divine Republic. After federalisation began, the position was renamed, but no duties or powers of the office were changed.

Overview

Under the Constitution of Sanctaria, the Chancellor is nominated by a simple majority of the House of Deputies from among its members. He/she is then formally appointed to office by the President, who is required to appoint whomever the House designates, without the option of declining to make the appointment. For this reason, it is often said that the Chancellor is "elected" by parliament.

If the Chancellor loses the support of a majority in the House of Deputies, he/she is not automatically removed from office but, rather, is compelled either to resign or to persuade the President to dissolve the House. The President may refuse to grant a dissolution and, in effect, force the Chancellor to resign; to date, no president has exercised this prerogative. The Chancellor may lose the support of the House by the passage of a vote of no confidence, or implicitly through the failure of a vote of confidence; or alternatively, the House may refuse supply. In the event of the Chancellor's resignation, he/she continues to exercise the duties and functions of his/her office until the appointment of a successor.

The Chancellor nominates the remaining members of the Government, i.e. his/her Cabinet, who are then, with the consent of the Senate (the lower house of Parliament), appointed by the President. The Chancellor also has authority to advise the President to dismiss cabinet ministers from office, advice the President is required to follow by convention.

The Chancellery is the government department which supports and advises the Chancellor in carrying out his/her various duties.

Role and powers

The office of Prime Minister was established by the 1974 Constitution of Sanctaria and is the most powerful role in Sanctarian politics. In 2019 the office was renamed Chancellor. The executive power of the state is vested in the government, and since the Chancellor is the head of government, and may remove ministers at will, many of the powers specified, in law or the constitution, to be exercised by the government as a collective body, are in reality at the will of the Chancellor whom the cabinet will back in most major decisions. Nevertheless the need for collective decision making on paper acts as a safeguard against an unwise decision made by the Chancellor.

He/she can both advise the President to dismiss ministers and dissolve Parliament on his/her own authority - advice that the President is almost always required to follow by convention. His/her role is greatly enhanced because under the Constitution, he/she is both de jure and de facto chief executive. In typical parliamentary democracies, the head of state is usually the nominal chief executive, while being bound by convention to act on the advice of the cabinet. In Sanctaria, however, executive power is explicitly vested in the Government, of which the Chancellor is the leader.

Privileges

Compensation

The Chancellor's salary is established in statue and may be revised at any time by the government. Since December 2013, the Chancellor's annual salary has been S£375,000. The Chancellor is also allowed up to S£157,160 in annual expenses - this includes the S£57,160 annual unvouched expenses that all members of the federal Sanctarian Parliament are permitted. In addition, all members of Parliament, including the Chancellor, are entitled to have their health insurance subsidised in full for the duration of their time in office.

Security

The Sanctarian Federal Police provide constant personal security for the Chancellor, his/her spouse, his/her (underage) children, and up to five other designated persons; in recent years, Chancellors have used these additional security details for individuals such as their parents or any grown children that they may have.

When travelling abroad, members of the Diplomatic Security Bureau, a branch of the Sanctarian Department of Foreign Affairs, provide security detail for the Chancellors and all members of his/her entourage.

Government Manor in Sanctus.

Retired Chancellors, or Prime Ministers as the case may be, are entitled to a reduced security detail for life; the individual has a choice of this detail being provided by either the Sanctarian Police Force or a private security firm. It further only extends to covering themselves, their spouse, and any underage children.

Residence

When in office, Chancellors and their immediate family have the option of staying in the generous apartments attached to Government Manor, the official place of work of the Chancellor. The Manor, an 18th Century detached townhouse located in the south of Sanctus city centre, is over four stories high and has round-the-clock security; to date, no Prime Minister or Chancellor has declined to use the Manor as their place of resident during their tenure.

Transportation

While in office, the Chancellor has use of two private jets - one designated for the Government of Sanctaria, and one for the use of the Chancellor's office itself. Chancellors also have both drivers and state cars provided to them, as well as the use of any military aircraft, such as helicopters, when the need arises.

List of office holders

Though there are no term limits on those who serve as Chancellor, or served as Prime Minister, no individual has ever served more than one parliamentary term since the office was established in 1974.

Prior to constitutional changes in 2012, the standard parliamentary term was seven years; this has since been reduced to five.

Prime Ministers of the Divine Republic
Colour key	Christian Union Party (CUP)      Sanctarian Conservative Party (SCP)      Democratic Left Party (DLP)      Green Party (GP)
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Government	Deputy
1		Rev. Eric Childerson (1914–1998)	19 November 1974	03 November 1981	1st		Xander Dylans
2		Richard Hammersley (1920–2003)	06 December 1981	17 October 1986	2nd		Jacob Williams
3		Eli Taylor (1933–2021)	29 November 1986	06 November 1993	3rd		Andrew Burham
4		Glen Cox (b. 1947)	12 December 1993	08 November 2000	4th		Stuart Payne
5		Charles Dawson (b. 1951)	01 December 2000	04 November 2007	5th		Audrey Bennet
6		Joshua Turner (b. 1962)	13 December 2007	05 February 2013	6th		Robert Smyth
							Andrew Silk
7		Mark Kindle (b. 1969)	01 March 2013	12 January 2018	7th		Jason Reid
8		Charlene Hendry (b. 1960)	31 January 2018	31 December 2018	8th		Niamh Winters
Chancellors of the Divine Federation
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Government	Deputy
—		Charlene Hendry (b. 1960)	01 January 2019	23 November 2022	8th		Niamh Winters
9		Ethan Ringrose (b. 1973)	14 December 2022	Incumbent	9th		Josephine Chari-Jones