Prime Minister of Craftia

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Craftia is the head of government of Craftia. The individual who holds the office is the leader of the Cabinet of Craftia. The office is not mentioned in the Constitution of Craftia and exists only through longstanding political convention and tradition. Despite this, in practice it is the most powerful parliamentary position in Craftia. The individual who holds the office is commissioned by the President of Craftia, who is the head of state.

Almost always and according to convention, the Prime Minister is the leader of the majority party or largest party in a coalition of parties in the House of Representatives. However, there is no constitutional requirement that the prime minister sit in the House of Representatives, though by convention this is always the case.

Natalie Wang-Lee of the National United Party has held the office of Prime Minister since 30 May 2074.

Appointment
The Prime Minister of Craftia is appointed by the President of Craftia under Section 64 of the Craftian Constitution, which empowers the President to appoint government ministers and requires them to be members of the House of Representatives or the Senate, or become members within three months of the appointment. The Prime Minister and Treasurer are traditionally members of the House, but the Constitution does not have such a requirement.

The Prime Minister is, like other ministers, normally sworn in by the President and then presented with the commission of office. When defeated in an election, or on resigning, the Prime Minister is said to "hand in the commission" and actually does so by returning it to the President. In the event of a Prime Minister dying in office, or becoming incapacitated, the President can terminate the commission.

Despite the importance of the office of prime minister, the Constitution does not mention the office by name. The conventions of the Westminster system were thought to be sufficiently entrenched in Craftia by the authors of the Constitution that it was deemed unnecessary to detail them.

If a government cannot get its appropriation (budget) legislation passed by the House of Representatives, or the House passes a vote of "no confidence" in the government, the Prime Minister is bound by convention to immediately resign or call a fresh election, although this has never occurred due to fixed election dates and convention.

Following a resignation in other circumstances, or the death of a prime minister, the president will generally appoint as prime minister the person elected as leader by the governing party or, in the case of a coalition, the senior party in the coalition. There have been four notable exceptions to this:
 * When James Herbert, Prime Minister and Leader of the National United Party, was assassinated in May 2002, the President, Martin Servas, called on Steve Bergensten, the Leader of the Liberal Party of Craftia, to become caretaker prime minister. The NUP was so bereft of leadership at this time that Bergensten became Prime Minister, although Bergensten was the leader of the smaller party in the governing coalition, the Liberal Party of Craftia. He held the office on an interim basis for five days before being sworn in on an official basis.
 * In September 2009 Bergensten resigned as Prime Minister. George Dellfield of the Craftia Liberty Party, despite being leader of the smallest of the three parties in the governing coalition, was sworn in as Prime Minister, and served for eight days until resigning. His deputy, Edward Barris became Prime Minister in his place.
 * In October 2031 Ryan Nguyen died suddenly. His deputy, William Crestson, the leader of United, was sworn in the next day as Prime Minister. Similarly to Steve Bergensten's situation, he served on an interim basis before being officially sworn in as Prime Minister despite being the leader of the smaller party, due to the NUP caucus refusing to serve as the junior coalition partner under the leadership of Kevin Abbott, the new leader of the Liberals.

Living former prime ministers
There are currently ten living former prime ministers of Craftia: The most recently deceased prime minister was Vincent Leonard (2050–2051), who died in 2062.

The greatest number of living former leaders at any one time was eleven, between 2040 and 2041. When Kevin Abbott was sworn in as prime minister on 3 September 2040, the eleven living former prime ministers were A. Lee, Barris, Ching, Hen-Ji, R. Leonard, McKay, Hunter, Crestson, T. Lee, Jones and Yuss. In 2041, Hunter died, bringing the number down to ten.

Of the Prime Ministers, Edwin Stevenson and Peter McDonald both died only four months after leaving office, Steve Bergensten lived another 3 years and Johnny Yuss lived 9 years and 6 months.

All the others who have left office have lived at least another 10 years. Ten of them (Ching, A. Lee, McKay, Barris, Hen-Ji, Pierce, T. Lee, Jones, R. Leonard and Charles) lived more than 25 years after leaving the office, and all but one of them have survived longer than 30 years (Charles lived for 27 years and 11 months following service). Four (Ching, A. Lee, McKay and Barris) lived more than 40 years.

The longest-surviving is Bob Ching, whose retirement is currently 56 years and 3 months since leaving office, surpassing Alexander Lee's long-standing previous record of 50 years and 5 months after leaving the office.

Ages
The three youngest people when they first became prime minister were:
 * Reagen Queanbeyan – 33
 * Isaac Gray – 35
 * Timothy Lee – 38

The three oldest people when they first became prime minister were:
 * Steve Bergensten – 72
 * George Dellfield – 67
 * Mike Hunter – 66

The three youngest people to last leave the office of prime minister were:
 * Reagen Queanbeyan – 36
 * Isaac Gray – 38
 * Timothy Lee – 39

The three oldest people to last leave the office of prime minister were:
 * Steve Bergensten – 79
 * Mike Hunter – 69
 * Zahab Wibowus – 67

Births and deaths
The earliest-born prime minister was Edwin Stevenson, who was born in 1928. He and Steve Bergensten were the only prime ministers born in the 1920s.

The latest-born leader is Reagen Queanbeyan, who was born in 2030. He is one of the five prime ministers born in the 21st century, the others being Mel Queanbeyan (born 2025), Isaac Gray (born 2026), Lewis Terrys (born 2012) and Natalie Wang-Lee (born 2024).

The first prime minister to die was Edwin Stevenson, in 1991. Only two prime ministers have died in office: James Herbert in 2002 and Ryan Nguyen in 2031.