Sheldon Whitehouse

Sheldon Whitehouse is the 26th Imperial Chancellor of Falleentium, a Falleen politician, and member of parliament for the Popular Republican Movement. He previously served as leader of His Imperial Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition to the James Brokenshire administration and as Deputy Imperial Chancellor of Falleentium in both Willy Brandt administrations. Whitehouse became the second parliamentary leader of PRM after the resignation of founding leader Jeff Sessions just before the 575 federal election. Whitehouse is responsible for leading the party to tremendous political success, and has placed first in both of the two most recent federal elections with 20% of the vote in 582 and 584. As of 583, Whitehouse is a holder of the Medal of Terralar for extraordinary work for human welfare, having been recommended by the Imperial Government and granted the honor by Emperor Vinther III. 
== Before PRM ==
Whitehouse was a political activist for government accountability before his entry into the Popular Republican Movement. Although native to Tapanuo, Whitehouse has indicated that he most frequently voted for the Veld National Party in federal elections before the founding of PRM, commenting: "After New Labour collapsed, there weren't many avenues to vote against liberalism. You had the neoliberal PLP and the classical liberal FLP and the liberal-conservative UKIP. The Veld National Party seemed like a fair bet for a sane, left-of-center and protectionist voice, so that's who I voted for the majority of the time." After the VNP stopped running in Federal Elections, Whitehouse was no longer a member of a political party until PRM.
== Political Career ==
=== Federal Election, 571 ===
Whitehouse had been one of the earliest recruits into the fledgling Popular Republican Movement bench of potential MPs following a successful election. He campaigned vigorously for the party, lagging behind only Jeff Sessions, the party's candidate for Chancellor, in the number of campaign rallies held. Whitehouse became one of 42 PRM parliamentarians elected to the Chamber of Deputies. He was not in the Second Merkel Cabinet, as only two positions were allotted to PRM. These two were taken by Sessions and Donald Rumsfeld.
=== Federal Election, 575 ===
Sessions resigned as PRM's parliamentary leader in January, leaving Whitehouse as the obvious successor. Whitehouse thus became the party's second candidate for the Chancellery of Falleentium after unanimous confirmation by the 42 PRM parliamentarians. Despite the fact that, by the previous year's data, the party had only 13,000 members, Whitehouse received over 20 million votes, ending up with the third-largest share of the vote behind only Amber Rudd of the United Koalition of Imperialist Parties and Willy Brandt of the Socialist Party.
As UKIP and SP had mutually rejected the idea of working with each other again, Whitehouse played kingmaker of who would be able to piece together the largest coalition and thus form a government. He first met with Amber Rudd. While the two were able to reconcile some policy disagreements, Rudd's hawkish foreign policy and opposition to the current version of PRM's flagship Buy Falleen, Hire Falleen Act disappointed Whitehouse. Talks afterwards with Willy Brandt were more successful, as the Socialists were a kindred spirit in non-intervention and whole-heartedly supported the Buy Falleen, Hire Falleen legislation. Because of this, Whitehouse formed a coalition with the Socialist Party and New Progressives, with support from the Center Party and Federal Liberal Party.
Only a few months into the legislative session, Whitehouse commented on the difficulty of passing legislation in the current parliamentary climate; his former partners in UKIP were increasingly hostile, his nominal allies in the Federal Liberal Party were often opposed to PRM priorities, and substantial support from outside of the government coalition was at times hopelessly hard to come by. The Imperial Senate proved even more of a nightmare, with entrenched state representatives bent against almost every PRM bill that came before them. Even the Emperor himself caused the government distress as he vetoed the first budget in 576.
=== Leadership Challenge ===
Whitehouse called for a new leadership election after the failure of unionist campaigns to convince voters in Hastiga and Veldunium to stay in the Falleen Empire to re-energize and unify the party. After delaying the vote by two years to avoid campaigning during the height of the Third World War, the contest resumed. Whitehouse faced off against prominent PRM figures Willi Stoph, Donald Rumsfeld, and Cumbernick Bandersnatch in the election. Although there was evidence late in the election that he might not get the 50% of the vote he needed to avoid a runoff election, Whitehouse ultimately outperformed polls - winning with 59% on the first ballot - when voters rallied behind him in lieu of a national poll in early 580AER that showed PRM was ahead of every other political party.
=== Federal Election, 582 ===
The Popular Republican Movement was soaring high in the polls leading up to and during the 582 campaign. Sheldon Whitehouse campaigned hard, as it seemed he had an excellent chance of becoming the next Chancellor. Supporters praised his hard-hitting debate style, while opponents characterized him as mean-spirited. Whitehouse's campaign strategy was to drum up support by putting the spotlight on the party's centrist roots, which caused him criticism from Brandt during the debates. At the end of the day, PRM under Whitehouse got more votes than any other party, although in a very close second, the Coalition of Conservative Unionists ended up forming government, and Whitehouse began leading opposition.
=== Federal Election, 584 & As Imperial Chancellor ===
After the premature fall of the Brokenshire administration, elections were called again. The campaign season was short, and resulted in Whitehouse holding his ground at 20% of the vote, but with fewer total votes due to a depressed turnout, and the Popular Republican legislative delegation lost one seat. Whitehouse secured a coalition with the Labour Democrats and had confidence from the New Progressives and the Faithful Falleen Distributist Party. His government platform included issuing securities to sustain the national treasury; neutralizing the deficit by the end of a four year term; instituting an individual mandate healthcare scheme including a public healthcare option; allocating a historic economic stimulus package; and negotiating the exit of Hastiga and Veldunium from Falleentium and putting the final agreements up for a referendum.Category:The Imperial Constitution
Category:The Popular Republican Movement