August 3019 National Party Leadership Election

The August 3019 National Party Leadership Election was triggered following the resignation of Fillmore Grey as Leader of the National Party and Director of Wiltshire after his defeat in the Wiltshire Independence Referendum on August 26, 3019. Nominations opened on the August 28 and closed on August 29. The first ballot was held on August 30, where the Home Minister Jim Balfour was elected Leader of the National Party. 
This election came as quite the shock to many and is expected to take place extremely quickly, due to the National Party needing a leader for the upcoming September 3019 Wiltshire Legislative Elections. Grey's popularity was high and so it came as a surprise when he resigned and left a power vacuum within the party. It is still unclear whether Balfour's election and this series of events has hurt the National Party's standing in the polls.
== Procedures ==
Following a formal notification presented by the Party Leader to the National Party Executive Committee, the Chair of the National Party (currently Mr. Zach Rees AM) sends a notification to the Leader of the Assembly (currently Mr. Bernard Canterbury) that at least one ballot will need to be held for the leadership to select a successor. A candidate for the leadership requires a majority of National Party AMs (36) to be elected. If no candidate receives the majority in the first ballot, a second ballot will be held with a new passing threshold of 15% support. If no candidate still doesn't receive the majority then a third ballot will be held with a passing threshold of 30%, then 45%. This means that there should only ever be a maximum of 5 rounds. If there is only one candidate by the conclusion of nominations, the single candidate is elected leader unanimously.
The election for leader and the election for deputy leader are not the same and are not held simultaneously. In the event the incumbent Deputy Leader, Lucy Hobbs, wins the election for leader or resigns then there will be a separate election for her successor. 
== Candidates ==
There are currently three candidates eligible to go forward onto the first ballot;
Candidate 	Seconder 	Announced 	Office(s)	Nominations
Lucy Hobbs AM 	Ray Banes AM 	26 August, 3019	Deputy Director of Wiltshire
Deputy Leader of the National Party
Minister for Work and Pensions	17 nominations
Jim Balfour AM	Michele Yarner AM	26 August, 3019	Former Junior-Minister for Housing
Home Minister	12 nominations
Amy Raab AM 	Don Halloway AM 	27 August, 3019	Former Deputy Leader of the Green Party
Minister for Transport	5 nominations
=== Withdrawn Candidates ===
There has been 1 candidate who has withdrawn their name following the conclusion of nominations;
Candidate 	Seconder 	Announced 	Withdrew 	Office(s)	Nominations
Bernard Canterbury	Gerald Stevenson AM	27 August, 3019	29 August, 3019	Former Leader of Wiltshire First
Leader of the Wiltshire Provincial Assembly
Former Minister for Trade and International Development	28 nominations
=== Candidates Eliminated ===
There has been 1 candidate who has not received sufficient support to continue further into the election;
Candidate 	Seconder 	Announced 	Eliminated 	Office(s) 	Support at Elimination
Rodrick Sword AM	Holly Pauro AM	27 August, 3019	29 August, 3019	Former Green Party Spokesperson for Defence (April-November 3018)	3 nominations (5 needed)
== Results ==
There has not been any ballots as of yet. The first ballot will be held at 12.00 PM on August 30, 3019.
Candidate 	Nominations	First Ballot
Jim Balfour 	12 	39
Lucy Hobbs 	17 	20
Amy Raab 	5 	11
Bernard Canterbury	28 	Withdrawn
Rodrick Sword 	3 	Eliminated
Jim Balfour was elected Leader of the National Party.
Category:Politics