Conservatives Burst At the Seams, Statists Walk Out At Party Convention

Pueblo Blanco Serrano has been the traditional rallying ground for the Conservative Party of Entloland since its inception many, many years ago. As is customary, the ECP holds a post-election convention to discuss new strategies and means of improving the Conservative campaign effort. This year, in particular, has been tumultuous for the Conservatives in Entloland. The Party has been shaped, for years, by former State and Federal politician Herman Van Rompuy. Van Rompuy and his generation helped lead to new heights in the previous era, to a point in which the ECP at one point actually had the upperhand against the Home Rule Party. Let's face it, the ECP has always been the Party of Underdogs when compared to a Party that largely favors many of the exact same ideological viewpoints, but with the special inclusion of home rule values and soft Falleentium-skepticism. 
Nevertheless, times change. Van Rompuy moved on and founded CCU. Intially taking a backseat behind UKIP (now CIP), CCU was able to make strides in advancing the Conservative agenda. Ironically, much of this happened post-Van Rompuy. Because of their mutual heritage, the ECP has long held close ties to the federal Conservatives. But, this is clearly dragging them down. The Home Rule Party, which has had a healthy lead over its opponent for years, was able to grow by 2% in the House of Representatives. The Imperial Party, an even more Conservative, and even more Empire-centered Party made the suprising win of increasing its share in the House of Representatives by 3%. Even so, of every State in the Empire, Entloland has the smallest Imperial presence in its legislature. The one saving grace currently possessed by the Conservatives and their Imperialist Allies is the political leanings of Ducal Official S. Henry de Borbon. Though a political Independent, de Borbon has not been quiet about his staunch support for the Emperor and for Unionism, and is known to be a frequent Imperial Party voter. De Borbon holds power over who will be appointed to this session of the House of Lords, which could give the Conservative and Imperialist opposition some leverage over Chancellor Wilhelm's Government. 
The Convention, however, has not seen this as enough. The Statist Caucus has grown louder and louder, particularly in the wake of further humiliation at the hands of the HRP. After a rather heated debate, filled with expletives and cheap shots, a large portion of the Statist Caucus, headed by Caucus Chair Antonin Scalia, walked out of the Convention. Scalia has long been an advocate for a dissolution of the ties between the ECP and CCU. For years, Scalia was not taken seriously be mainstream members for a number of reasons. As a Christian, he was part of the ECP's minority. Fourists make up the vast majority of the ECP's primarily middle class voter base. Scalia has been part of a growing movement of working class Christians, Pagans, and Jews who have grown stronger in the Conservative sphere. This has only been boosted by the appointment of de Borbon, who is the first Christian to ever be the Federal Representative of Entloland, which also happens to be the only State with a Christian majority population of 55%. 
When interviewed shortly after what as been dubbed "the Statist Secession", Scalia stated that many issues between "his generation" and the mainstream leadership have become unreconcilable. Chief among these are the influence that the "Van Rompuy Gang" and the "Brokenshirees" have over ECP policy. According to Scalia, "Brokenshire's administration was a dumpster fire. We've been going on this path of a radical, uncompromising right-wing party ever since Van Rompuy established himself here. Some of us have had enough of the social libertines, the corporates, and the ultra-Unionists. We're going to found a new Party that represents real Conservativism, with a real willingness to work outside of this far right echo-chamber with other parties that will share in the democratic process and in making this State a better place. We fully intend to contest the next elections, and we fully intend to put plenty of ECP MPs out of work." Regardless of how the next elections turn out, one can be sure of one thing, that the Conservative vote will be further split, and that the divide between the Center Right and the Far Right is growing.
Juan "Jeb" Bush-Gallo is a veteran political commentator on national and State affairs, and has been a contributor for the Graanor Tribune for over 20 years
Category:The Imperial Constitution