William Oxley

Sir William Timothy Oxley, EK, QC (/ˈɒksli/; 16 July 1883 – 5 May 1965) was an Enderronian lawyer, author and politician who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Enderron, from 1939 to 1963. He is Enderron's longest-serving head of government, serving over 23 years in total. To date, no other Enderronian leader has served more than twenty years in office. Oxley is widely recognised as the founding father of modern Enderron, credited with the nation's rapid rebuilding following World War II and subsequent economic prosperity and stability. He was a principal contributor to the current Constitution.

Oxley was a dominant figure in Enderronian politics for nearly four decades, from the mid-1920s to the early 1960s. He entered the Enderronian Legislative Assembly in the 1923 general election as a member of the Enderron People's Party. He quickly rose through the ranks of the party as it served in opposition from 1930 to 1937, becoming an opposition frontbencher in 1932, deputy leader in 1936 and Deputy Prime Minister of Enderron in 1937 when the EPP returned to government. After Neville Saxton resigned in 1939 due to loss of support within the party, Oxley became prime minister. He initially struggled as leader due to the onset of World War II and Japanese invasion of Mariana in 1941, and British control over Enderron was subsequently lost. The Oxley-led Enderronian government continued in exile based in Australia. During this time, Oxley spearheaded efforts to reform the People's Party; the United Party was formed in 1943 from a merger of the People's Party and several liberal-conservative interest groups, with Oxley remaining as leader. Following the Allied victory and liberation of Enderron in 1945, Oxley returned to the office of prime minister in an official capacity.

Following the war, Oxley negotiated Enderron's full independence from the United Kingdom, which was achieved on 16 September 1946 with Oxley becoming Enderron's first post-independence Prime Minister. He would go on to serve another 16 years in office, eventually retiring in March 1963, at age 79. He broke Charles Leighton's record for the longest continuous term in office in 1953, and also became Enderron's longest-serving leader in 1959. He won a record seven consecutive elections, and with a continuous term of 23 years he became one of the longest-serving democratically elected leaders in the world.

During his prime ministership, Oxley displayed a strong dedication to the core policies of liberal democracy, anti-communism, a pragmatic approach to economic management, maintaining close ties with the United Kingdom and supporting the post-war consensus. He championed a "slow and steady" mix of paternalistic conservatism and conservative liberalism, an ideology which has come to be known in Enderron as Oxleyism, and maintained a collaborative and cordial relationship with the leadership of the the opposition centre-left Social Democratic Party.

Oxley is often ranked by scholars and the public alike as one of the greatest leaders in Enderronian history. The Oxley Government is largely remembered for presiding over unprecedented economic growth during the post-war period, extensive spending on national infrastructure (in particular the foundations of the National Motorway Network), the development of higher and tertiary education programs, and a greatly expanded post-war immigration scheme. Criticism of Oxley's prime ministership is mostly aimed at the tail end of his term in office, as he faced numerous scandals and a perception that his government had become increasingly autocratic and failed to adapt to changing societal trends.