Adrian Coghlan

Adrian Daniel Coghlan (/ˈkɒglən/; born 16 July 1948) is an Enderronian businessman, philanthropist and former politician who served as the 36th Prime Minister of Enderron and leader of the Liberal Party of Enderron from 2008 to 2009. He is the eighth-shortest serving prime minister in Enderronian history, and second prime minister to never contest a federal election while in office, after William Watt. He is also the wealthiest prime minister in Enderronian history, and to date the only billionaire to serve in the position.

Coghlan graduated from the University of Wentworth with a Bachelor of Arts. Prior to entering electoral politics in 2002, he worked as a journalist, investment banker and venture capitalist. He founded software company Coghlan Inc., in 1987, and served as its CEO until 2001. During the 1990s, he was a significant donor to the Liberal Democrats and became one of Enderron's leading proponents of market-driven economic policies and free trade. After the Liberal Democrats merged into the Liberal Party in 2000, Coghlan decided to enter electoral politics. He was elected to the Enderronian Parliament at the 2002 federal election, for the seat of Formosa in northern Janszoon Prefecture. As a member of the Koepke Government he served as the Minister for Trade and Economic Development from 2005 to 2006 and then Minister for Energy from 2006 to 2008.

In January 2008, Wally Koepke announced his resignation as prime minister pending a leadership election. Coghlan contested and narrowly won the spill, defeating Jodie Bouchard and becoming prime minister. Assuming office during the height of the global financial crisis, Coghlan and his new cabinet proved to be unprepared to deal with the effects on the Enderronian economy. The Coghlan Government split over economic policy, between Keynesian intervention with economic stimulus packages, and more austere measures involving cutting government spending. As a result of the internal deadlock, the government faltered as it lurched between the two policy positions and suffered in opinion polling. By the start of 2009, the worst of the GFC had passed, but Coghlan was still struggling as prime minister, with the Liberal Party still divided over policy direction. His inability to reunite the party caused numerous MPs to devise plans to challenge him for the leadership. In June 2009 a spill motion was passed, and Coghlan resigned as Liberal leader. His new deputy Sherry Matsuda won the resulting leadership election and succeeded him as prime minister on 6 July 2009. Coghlan remained in parliament until October, resigning to restart his business career, once again becoming the CEO of Coghlan Inc. In 2016 he resigned from the Liberal Party after numerous public disagreements with its conservative wing, declaring that the party "had become liberal in name only."

Coghlan's time in office is rated by most scholars as among the worst in Enderronian history, largely due to his government's failure to address the global financial crisis, which led to lasting damage on the national economy. Others have a more lenient view of his administration, describing him as a prime minister "at the wrong place at the wrong time".