National United Party

The National United Party (NUP, commonly known as the United Party or United, colloquially the Nats) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Craftia. The party is the one of the two major political parties in federal politics, the other being the Craftian Conservative Party. It generally sits in the centre of the Craftian political spectrum, being to the left of the Conservatives and to the right of the Liberal Party of Craftia. The United Party mainly espouses social democratic principles, multiculturalism and civic nationalism, and presents itself as an alliance of centrists and social democrats. It maintains some historical associations with the Craftian trade union movement.

United is sometimes called Craftia's 'natural governing party', having served in government (either by itself or as a senior coalition partner) for longer than any other party in Craftia's post-independence history, being in government for more than 30 years. Nine Prime Ministers have served as a member of United, more than any other party. The party is so influential in Craftian politics that it has controlled the prime ministership and/or the presidency for 60.92% of Craftia's post-independence history. United is especially dominant in presidential elections, with five NUP Presidents and the party having controlled the presidency for 31 years (8 terms). The party remained undefeated in presidential elections for 20 years between 2019 and 2039. For most of its history, United has been one of the two major parties in Craftian politics, although its support fell to be on par with the Liberal Party from the 2030s to the 2050s.

The party was founded on a left-wing pro-reunification platform before shifting towards democratic socialism in the 2000s. Since the 2040s, its ideology has shifted towards moderate social democracy with centrist, Third Way elements. The party today has three major factions: the moderate Social Democrats, the right-leaning United Centrists and the left-wing United Left.

The party's strongest voter bases include Asian Craftians (particularly Japanese and Indonesian Craftians), trade union affiliated workers, working class voters and professionals. The states of Jebsten and Berhardsson, and the Bankera Capital Territory, lean fairly towards the United Party at the state level. The NUP's strongest electoral support comes from outer suburban areas, exurban regions (metropolitan outskirts and surrounds), some regional industrial urban centres and poorer inner-city areas.

United has served in a coalition government with the Liberals at the federal level since the 2067 election with Natalie Wang-Lee as party leader and Prime Minister. It is also in government in four states: Jebsten since 2064, Jagsland since 2066, Western Craftia since 2069, and Berhardsson since 2070, as well as the Bankera Capital Territory since 2061. It is a junior coalition member in the current Liberal–United–Justice coalition government of Kagstron. Additionally, the party is the Official Opposition in Addams.

Founding and early years (1991–1994)
The National United Party finds its roots in the Craftian pro-reunification movement of the late 1980s. The NUP was founded as the political wing of the movement in August 1991 after the federal Conservative government and opposition parties in parliament together adopted anti-reunification policies in response to increasing Minean intervention in the Minean-controlled Province of West Craftia. Several left-leaning Craftia Liberty Party Members of Parliament resigned from the party in protest of the policies and sat as independents until 8 August 1991, when the National United Party was officially founded with prominent pro-reunification politician Fred Waters as its founding leader. The nascent party quickly gained political traction as pro-reunification Craftians flocked to the only openly pro-reunification party in parliament at the time.

Waters and the NUP leadership team initially adopted a radical left-wing nationalist and heavily pro-reunification platform for its first federal election in September 1992, but was forced to moderate many its policies when opinion polls showed more centrist voters opting to vote for Liberty or even the Conservatives. The party's perceived wishy-washiness in regards to its platform contributed to its eventual election failure, only garnering 21% of the popular vote and 17 seats in the 80-seat House of Representatives, compared to the 38 won by the dominant incumbent Conservative government, led by popular Prime Minister Marcus Pierce.

Despite the lower-than-expected gain at the election, United still managed to beat out the rival centre-left Liberty Party for second-largest party (and therefore Official Opposition) status. Waters became the first Leader of the Opposition from the United Party.

In May 1994, the Minean-controlled People's Party of Craftia government in West Craftia was overthrown and the Craftian Reunification Party, an avowedly pro-reunification party, became the new government of a free Republic of West Craftia. The National United Party leadership began to split over policy regarding the new West Craftian government, culminating in a leadership spill in July, where Waters was narrowly defeated by Deputy Leader Peter McDonald.

McDonald period (1994–1998)
McDonald, being a member of the party's 'soft left', proved to be a more moderate and consensus-driven leader than the unashamedly left-wing and authoritative Waters, who departed federal politics immediately after losing the leadership, and later became the first United Premier of Jebsten (2001–2004). Under McDonald's leadership, the United Party managed to provide a relatively unified Official Opposition against an increasingly unpopular and divided Pierce Government in its second term. Polls throughout 1995 predicted a stalemated parliament with the NUP and CCP constantly exchanging leads and often tying at around 40% of the vote each.

In the 1995 federal election, on a swing of more than 17%, United won 38.83% of the popular vote, in the process cutting the Conservatives' vote by almost 10% and managing to win 30 seats to their 31. The NUP subsequently entered coalition talks with the Liberty Party, which won 12 seats, paving the way for a United–Liberty coalition government with Liberty leader Jonathan Johnson becoming Deputy Prime Minister. United thus gained control of the federal government for the first time.

One of the first initiatives of the McDonald Government was to setting up the reunification referendum as promised. The result was a landslide win for the 'Yes' vote, boosting the United Party's popularity in an increasingly pro-reunification electorate. Major economic and social reforms, including plans for nationalisation of several industries, expansion of the social welfare system and education system, were implemented within a very short amount of time. However, the government proved to be a volatile and inexperienced due to the sheer number of first-term MPs being promoted to cabinet positions, and the caucus was often rocked with infighting and occasional policy disagreements with the CLP. The polls remained competitive throughout 1996, especially due to young and popular Alexander Lee taking on the Conservative leadership. By mid-1997, the economy had slumped and the national debt had increased significantly due to high public spending. United subsequently began steadily losing support, dropping to about 20% by the end of the year.

Although it had regained some momentum by the end of the campaign, it lost resoundingly to the Conservative Party under Lee, winning just 21 seats to the CCP's 44. The Conservatives had surged in popularity to win 55.68% of the popular vote, giving it a 4-seat majority in the House of Representatives. The CCP was thus able to bypass the coalition-forming process completely and formed Craftia's first majority government in more than 20 years. This is the third-last time a single party has won more than half the popular vote, the others being in 2019 and 2028. McDonald initially planned on staying as leader, but quickly resigned after realising he no longer had the confidence of the decimated United caucus. Outgoing Treasurer James Herbert won the ensuing leadership election.

New millennium (1998–2004)
The United Party under the leadership of Herbert regained significant traction, especially for a first-term opposition party. Herbert remained a popular figure among the working class and families from his previous tenures in the Treasury and Education portfolios. The NUP worked to portray Prime Minister Lee as overly domineering and as a puppet to corporations, due to his former business career. United also moved towards the centre of the political spectrum to capture former Liberty Party voters. Herbert became known for his energy on the floor of the House of Representatives, while Lee was increasingly characterised by the public as inexperienced, uninspiring and beholden to developers and investors. Several corruption allegations tainted Lee's image further, and by the 2001 election the two parties had essentially drawn level with each other again. United was able to form a coalition government with the centre-left Liberal Party of Craftia, consigning the Conservatives to opposition again after a single term in office.

Herbert proved to be as energetic as Prime Minister as he was Leader of the Opposition, moving to advance the progress of Craftian reunification, which had slowed under Lee's prime ministership. In May 2002, less than 8 months after he was elected, Herbert was assassinated by a single gunshot by a member of the West Craftian Freedom and Liberty Movement (WCFSM) far-right terrorist group while on an official trip to the city of Richmond in West Craftia. Public outcry followed, with pro-reunification rallies being held around the country in memorial of Herbert. He was succeeded by deputy leader Lyon Borton as leader of the NUP, and Steve Bergensten, the Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Liberals, as Prime Minister. Borton opted not to challenge the more charismatic and outgoing Bergensten to the position of Prime Minister, moving United from senior to junior coalition partner in the government.

Under Borton, the United Party continued to take the back seat as the Liberal Party became the face of the incumbent government, initially in an attempt to allow the Craftian public to discover the issues with Bergensten's policies. However, this backfired spectacularly, with the Liberals eating away at the NUP's vote in the polls, as voters perceived the United Party as doing nothing despite being the largest party in parliament.

Deputy party leaders
1. Vince Williams (8 August 1991 – 14 September 1998, Waters/McDonald)

2. James Herbert (15 September 1998 – 2 October 1998, McDonald)

(1) Vince Williams (3 October 1998 – 17 October 2000, Herbert)

3. Lyon Borton (18 October 2000 – 21 May 2002, Herbert)

4. Benjamin Andrews (22 May 2002 – 14 September 2007, Borton)

5. Franklin Yagah (15 September 2007 – 15 December 2009, Borton)

6. Roy Leonard (16 December 2009 – 31 March 2011, Yagah)

(4) Benjamin Andrews (1 April 2011 – 5 May 2011, Yagah)

7. Julianne Sanders (6 May 2011 – 26 March 2015, Yagah)

(6) Roy Leonard (27 March 2015 – 7 April 2015, Yagah)

8. Alejandro McKay (8 April 2015 – 15 July 2020, Leonard)

9. Peter Hannon (16 July 2020 – 9 February 2025, McKay)

10. Eugene Kelly (10 February 2025 – 14 September 2025, McKay)

11. Dana Chippendale (15 September 2025 – 22 December 2030, McKay)

12. Jack Destrade (23 December 2030 – 22 September 2031, McKay)

(9) Peter Hannon (23 September 2031 – 20 November 2031, Crestson)

13. Robert Jones (21 November 2031 – 27 August 2034, Crestson)

14. Anna Liu (28 August 2034 – 30 January 2035, Jones)

15. Bobby Trent (31 January 2035 – 18 September 2037, Jones)

16. Jonathan Gray (19 September 2037 – 13 September 2045, Trent)

17. Josephine McDonald (14 September 2045 – 17 September 2049, Bazley)

18. Chloe McGregor (18 September 2049 – 6 August 2058, Wang)

19. Isaac Gray (7 August 2058 – 22 September 2061, Wibowus)

20. Wong Kwan Ye (23 September 2061 – 31 August 2064, Gray)

21. Natalie Wang-Lee (1 September 2064 – 29 May 2074, Gray/Terrys) 22. Catherine Barikirta (30 May 2074 – present, Wang-Lee)

Current

 * Dave Herijanto - Premier of Jebsten since 9 December 2069
 * Delia Brandt - Leader of the Opposition of Addams since 6 January 2064
 * Natalie Ang - Leader of the Opposition of Meyang since 14 July 2071
 * Peter Undell - Premier of Berhardsson since 3 May 2072
 * Brianna Norton - Premier of Jagsland since 15 November 2066
 * James Lau - Leader of the Opposition of Wintaro since 28 March 2070
 * Violet Zhang - Premier of Western Craftia since 19 September 2070
 * Owen Nakamura - Leader of the National United Party of Kagstron since 17 June 2068
 * Ted Unawingea - Leader of the National United Party of Lumina since 9 December 2072
 * Kelly Farhem - Chief Minister of the Bankera Capital Territory since 29 April 2070

Jebsten

 * Kelly Kirkby (2064–69)
 * Jean Wu (2052–55, first female premier of Jebsten)
 * Tim Fischer (2040–49)
 * Jason Dihaya (2021–25, first Reatinese premier of Jebsten)
 * Karl Hinhoff (2010–21)
 * Fred Waters (2001–04)

Addams

 * Anne Minh (2063–64)
 * Rob Jarr (2058–63, first Asian Craftian premier of Addams)
 * Lachlan O'Hare (2052–55)
 * Christian Waldo (2016–19)
 * Andy Ziegler (2013–16)

Meyang

 * Ash Groves (2067–68)
 * Bobby Jon Ransword (2065–67)
 * Jeff Berry (2062–65)
 * Sene Edune (2054–56)
 * Anita Lakewood (2047–53)
 * Vincent Tinsa (2038–44)
 * Shane Shunter (2019–20)
 * Ted Jeddens (2014–19)

Berhardsson

 * Sabrina Ren (2070–72)
 * Jocelyn Kendrick (2063–64)
 * Allie Vuong (2055–63)
 * Lee Peterson (2042–43, 2049–55)
 * Spencer Oh (2037–42, first Asian Craftian premier of Berhardsson)

Jagsland

 * Isa Bells (2051, first female premier of Jagsland)
 * Raj Udara (2048–51)
 * Andy Lange (2019–21)
 * Lewis Caruthers (2015–19)
 * Tim Shek (2004–12, first Asian Craftian premier of Jagsland)
 * Brian Dengle (2000–04)

Wintaro

 * Martin Williams (2053–56)
 * Barry Olhson (2029–34)

Western Crafia

 * Faye Ifan (2069–70)
 * Carrie Jenson (2048–54)
 * Wei Jingu (2039–42)
 * Yvonne Skinner (2027–30)
 * Kim Baird (2014–18)
 * Linda Masaro (2009–14, first female premier of a Craftian state or territory)

Kagstron

 * Charlie Kim (2066–68)
 * Melanie Campbell (2064–66, first female premier of Kagstron)
 * Ervin Zhou (2038–39, first Asian Craftian premier of Kagstron)
 * Nathan Skerta (2031–38, first Reatinese premier of Kagstron)
 * Patrick Jenkins (2013–16)

Lumina

 * Brendan Wong (2045–55)

Bankera Capital Territory

 * James Jia (2061–70)
 * Julie Trezran (2055–59, first Asian Craftian chief minister of the BCT)
 * Andrew Ermington (2034–37)
 * Raymond Deitz (2027–34)
 * Terry Krutzlanger (2026–27)
 * Marty Moore (2022–26)
 * Aaron Yanada (2007–15, 2016–19, first Asian Craftian head of government of a Craftian state or territory)
 * Ian Panas (2001–07)