New Centre (Grundhavn)
New Centre Nyt Center | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | NC |
| Leader | Jannick Bernsen |
| President | Jonas Jakobsen |
| Deputy Leader | Catrine Madsen |
| Founded | December 4, 1999 |
| Headquarters | 6 Elmsgade, Grundhavn, Grundhavn |
| Student wing | NC Students (NC Studerende) |
| Youth wing | NC Future (NC Fremtid) |
| Membership (2021) | 5,400 |
| Ideology | Centrism |
| Political position | Centre |
| Religion | Secular |
| Colors | Purple |
| Slogan | For a better politics (For en bedre politik) |
| Anthem | "Forward Together" (Fremad Sammen) |
| City Council | 2 / 56
|
| Quarter Councils (in government) | 0 / 8
|
| Quarter Council Seats | 0 / 78
|
The New Centre (Grundhavish: Nyt Center) is a Grundhavish centrist political party. Founded in 1999, the NC have never elected a Lord Mayor nor a Supreme Councillor, but represent the growing culturally liberal centre that is essential to a majority in the City Council almost continually since their founding. Their current leader is Jannick Bernsen, elected in 2017. They were formed when upstart young people wanted to challenge the establishment and bring technological expertise into what they saw as a stodgy government. Although their official slogan is "For a better politics", the unofficial motto among some party members is "Move fast and break things."
The NC represent the new, upwardly mobile, culturally liberal, bourgeoisie of the city. Unlike the CLP, which represents business owners and the establishment, and the FL, which appeals more to libertarians, the NC seeks to represent the emerging professional class in new industries. Economically, the NC support a modest welfare state, modestly progressive taxation, and strongly favor free trade. They also advocate for fewer restrictions on businesses, more support for startups, and want more digitisation of government services and society in general. Their ideal is a lean, agile government that still manages to support the poorest. On cultural issues, the NC are humanistic, though they do not reject people of faith. They support abortion up to the point of viability, same-sex marriage, legalisation of marijuana, and are ardent advocates of immigration.
History[edit | edit source]
Following the establishment of the Second Allied Provinces of Laeral, the Laeralian National Congress was the dominant political force on the right. A broad-tent party consisting of those opposed to the Rose Revolution and Gramontism, the Congress was hampered while in power by internal dissension, as evidenced by the infighting that led the moderate, incumbent Congress President Georges Auriol replaced as nominee by the more hardline Henri Laniel ahead of the 1968 presidential election. Under the presidency of Progressive Joseph Carlier, Congress split dramatically over the issue of whether to oppose the civil code reform being supported by Progressives, which included liberalization of divorce and abortion law. In addition to a similar intra-party debate over a proposal limiting pensions for former military and civil servants, this led influential Congress politicians such as former Prime Minister Paul Evrard to defect and form the Conservative Party.
The Conservatives initially became quite popular among rural Arrivée voters, particularly Catholics, who bore loyalties to Evrard from his tenure as Prime Minister and from whom the Conservatives sourced many of their members and leaders. As conservative voters began to drift from Congress to the Conservatives, the Conservative vote share increased rapidly, culminating in Paul Evrard's narrow victory in the 1980 presidential election. Successive Conservative governments during the 1980s focused on economic growth coupled with decentralization of public functions and desecularization efforts. The Conservatives were however marginalized on the right by the Laeralian People's Party, which arose in a backlash against the Meihua Movement. By the late 80s, the Conservatives had been forced into minority government status and eventual junior partnership in coalition governments with the People's Party.
The Conservative share of the vote held steady around 25% throughout the 1990s and 2000s, although the Conservatives continued to perform well in the General Assembly due to that body's inherent tilt towards rural provinces. The Conservatives, though rarely able to have a presidential candidate reaching the second round of the presidential election, nevertheless remained an integral part of various coalition governments, notably serving in coalition with the Progressives and Socialists from 2010 to 2018. In the 2018 election, the Conservative vote share reached historic lows, as the Conservatives were reduced to only 38 of 386 seats in the Assembly of Commons.