James Thorpe

The Right Honourable 	The Right Honourable
James Thorpe 	James Thorpe
 	
31st Prime Minister of EnderronElections: 1982, 1986 	31st Prime Minister of EnderronElections: 1982, 1986
In office 	In office
12 November 1979 – 10 November 1986Acting: 12 November – 29 November 1979	12 November 1979 – 10 November 1986Acting: 12 November – 29 November 1979
President 	Jeremy Kenner
Deputy 	Taylor ColbeckPhil Costello
Preceded by 	William Watt
Succeeded by 	Mike Behrens
10th Leader of the Social Democratic Party 	10th Leader of the Social Democratic Party
In office 	In office
12 November 1979 – 10 November 1986 	12 November 1979 – 10 November 1986
Deputy 	Taylor ColbeckPhil Costello
Preceded by 	William Watt
Succeeded by 	Jeffrey Ruben
10th Governor of JanszoonElections: 1996 	10th Governor of JanszoonElections: 1996
In office 	In office
1 June 1996 – 1 June 2000 	1 June 1996 – 1 June 2000
Lieutenant 	Rashad Saini
Preceded by 	Greg Banks
Succeeded by 	Kurt Forza
Member of the Enderronian Parliamentfor Kingscliffe 	Member of the Enderronian Parliamentfor Kingscliffe
In office 	In office
17 October 1970 – 15 October 1994 	17 October 1970 – 15 October 1994
Preceded by 	Tom Whiting
Succeeded by 	Michelle Chew
Personal details 	Personal details
Born 	James Robert Lee Thorpe5 October 1938Shirakawa, Dominion of Enderron
Died 	10 March 2016 (aged 77)Wentworth, Enderron
Political party 	Social Democrats
Spouse(s) 	Caitlin Hamilton (m. 1967, div. 1993)
Children 	2
Education 	Kingscliffe Grammar School
Alma mater 	University of Wentworth
Religion 	Anglican
James Robert Lee Thorpe (5 October 1938 – 10 March 2016) was an Enderronian politician who served as the 31st Prime Minister of Enderron, from 1979 to 1986. He later served as the 10th Governor of Janszoon from 1996 to 2000. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 to 1994, representing the seat of Kingscliffe.
Born into a middle class English Enderronian family in Shirakawa, Thorpe was raised in Kingscliffe and completed his tertiary studies at the University of Wentworth. After graduating, he began his career as a rail engineer, before becoming a trade union official in the 1960s, rising to become the president of the Enderronian Rail and Transport Union in 1967. He was elected to the Enderronian Parliament at the 1970 landslide election. He was appointed to Cabinet by Prime Minister Calvin Rhinehart in 1973, serving as the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure (1973–1975), Minister for Industry and Commerce (1975–1979) and Minister for Defence (1979). He also served as the Leader of the House from 1978 to 1979.
In November 1979, Prime Minister William Watt was assassinated. Deputy Prime Minister Taylor Colbeck served as acting prime minister while the Social Democrats elected a new leader. Thorpe became the only person nominated in the leadership election; he was subsequently elected unopposed as leader, becoming Prime Minister.
Entering office having just turned 41, Thorpe became the youngest person to serve as prime minister (his record has since been surpassed by Sherry Matsuda). Thorpe initially continued the policies of his predecessors Watt and Rhinehart, supporting the refugee intake program, official multiculturalism, and the gradual liberalisation of the Enderronian economy. Early in his term his government had to endure the effects of the early 1980s recession. This, combined with lacklustre opinion polling, led many to believe that the Social Democrats would lose the 1982 federal election, but Thorpe's government was re-elected in an upset victory.
The Thorpe Government implemented several key reforms, most notably the creation of the Medicare universal healthcare system and introduction of compulsory superannuation. It also decriminalised abortion in certain circumstances, set a mandatory retirement age of 70 for Supreme Court judges, and enacted anti-discrimination laws in employment and education. Thorpe's administration had to contend with increasing Cold War tensions, anti-nuclear protests, and the AIDS crisis.
At the 1986 election, after 16 years in office, the Social Democratic government suffered a narrow defeat to the United Party, led by Mike Behrens. Thorpe resigned as SDP leader but remained in parliament as a backbencher, and returned to cabinet as Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations from 1990 to 1993 following the Social Democrats' return to government after the 1990 election. He retired from federal parliament in 1994.
Thorpe returned to politics to contest the 1996 Janszoon gubernatorial election as the Social Democratic nominee, defeating incumbent governor Greg Banks. He pledged to serve a single term, and retired from politics in 2000. He remained active in political discourse and charitable causes until his death in 2016. Thorpe is frequently ranked within the middle-to-upper tier of Enderronian prime ministers by historians, with the creation of Medicare being his most significant legacy.