Liberal Party of Craftia

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Liberal Party of Craftia克拉夫地亚自由党Kèlāfūdìyà Zìyóudǎngクラフティア自由党Kurafutia Jiyutō 	Liberal Party of Craftia克拉夫地亚自由党Kèlāfūdìyà Zìyóudǎngクラフティア自由党Kurafutia Jiyutō
colspan="2" 	
 	
Leader 	Katie Lynwood
Deputy Leader 	Ralph Sun
Senate Leader 	Kylie Lange
Founded 	1 May 1995
Ideology 	Social liberalismSocial progressivismLeft-libertarianismEconomic liberalism
Political position 	Centre-left
In government 	Kagstron
Colour 	Yellow/amber
Slogan 	Backing the Craftian dream
House of Representatives 	/ </noinclude>
Senate 	/ </noinclude>
State and Territory Parliaments 	/ </noinclude>
Premierships 	/ </noinclude>
Governorships 	/ </noinclude>
The Liberal Party of Craftia (LPC, commonly known as the Liberals, colloquially the Libs) is a centre-left liberal political party in Craftia. It generally sits on the left of the Craftian political spectrum in terms of social policy, while in the centre in terms of economic policy. The party is regarded as more economically liberal than the social democratic National United Party. The Liberal Party is often considered an ideologically left-libertarian and progressive party.
Founded in 1995, the party was historically more centrist and classically liberal, in line with the political views of founder Steve Bergensten. The party shifted from the centre towards the centre-left starting in the 2020s, in contrast to the United Party, which moved from a left-wing to a centre-left position at around the same time. While the NUP remains more economically left-leaning, the Liberals retain their original economically liberal position, generally being more supportive of free trade and market capitalism.
Today, the party is the main third party in Craftian politics, continuously holding the third-highest number of seats in the Craftian House of Representatives since the 2055 election (as well as for most of the time since the 2040s, as well as the third-highest number of seats in most state and territory parliaments. Its voting support usually remains between 15% and 25% of the popular vote, although it reached a high of 35.27% in the 2031 federal election and has formed government (as a senior coalition partner) at the federal level from 2002 to 2009, in 2031, and from 2040 to 2050, supplying two of Craftia's three longest-serving Prime Ministers (Steve Bergensten and Kevin Abbott). In the 2040s it threatened the grip of the United Party as Craftia's dominant left-leaning party, although in the 2050s it fell to approximately its current level of support.
The Liberal Party is informally divided into two main factions: a progressive, social liberal faction (known as the Left Liberals), and a more centrist, classical liberal or libertarian faction (known as the Bergensten Liberals). Throughout the party's history, the Bergensten faction was more dominant. Today the Left Liberals are the dominant faction.
The party gains most of its electoral support from young voters, middle class voters and professionals in urban areas as well as some exurban regions outside major cities. Indonesian and Indian Craftians have also traditionally supported the Liberals. The Liberal Party's strongest state has consistently been Kagstron, as well as the Bankera Capital Territory. While the federal Liberal Party has remained reluctant to serve in coalition with the centre-right Craftian Conservative Party, its state divisions have supported state Conservative governments throughout most of the party's history.
On the federal level, the party is in a loose coalition with the governing United Party, providing confidence and supply. It is currently the senior government coalition partner in Kagstron (since 2064). It is the junior coalition partner with the National United Party in Jagsland and Western Craftia, and with the Mojang Democratic Party in Lumina. It is also the Official Opposition in Meyang and Wintaro. The Liberals have formed government at least once in all states (as well as the BCT) except for Addams, which has traditionally been its weakest state.
The party's current leader has been Katie Lynwood since the 2074 leadership spill.
==History==
===Origins===
Craftian politics proved to highly volatile following the declaration of independence in 1987. Although the existing three major parties – the centre-left Craftia Liberty Party, centre-right National Party of Craftia and right-wing Protection of Craftia Party – had cemented themselves as the main players in Craftian politics, their internal party systems had been thrown into disarray following the rapid succession of events leading up to and following Craftian independence. All three parties struggled to form united intra-party decisions regarding West Craftia, relations with the Miners Republic, and post-independence economic and social reforms to pave the way for post-war recovery. The centre-right Craftian Conservative Party and the left-wing National United Party, founded in 1990 and 1991 respectively, had disrupted the entire three-party system by the 1992 federal election but left a large gap in the centre of the political spectrum.
Steve Bergensten, a longtime moderate politician who had been sitting in Parliament since 1981, founded the Liberal Party of Craftia in 1995 after switching between a multitude of parties as a result of the frequent policy changes and a perceived absence of liberalism represented in Craftian politics. Bergensten had previously represented the Independent Craftia Party (pre-1980), Liberty (1980–1981), National (1981–1986), Craftian Democrats (1986–1989), before moving back to Liberty (1989–1995). The decline of the Liberty Party by 1995 had convinced Bergensten to form a new party representing classical liberalism, centrism and pragmatism.
The Liberal Party was formally established on 1 May 1995, in time for the federal election later that year. In its first electoral test, the Liberals cleared the 2% threshold to enter parliament (winning 4.91% of the popular vote) and gained 4 seats. The new party, running on a platform of 'fresh liberalism', rapidly rose in popularity, ousting Liberty from its position as third-largest party in 1998, and claiming its place as the new kingmaker in an upturning of Craftian politics. The party first entered government in the 2001 election after forming a coalition agreement with the larger United Party. Bergensten became Deputy Prime Minister of Craftia under James Herbert.
==Federal party leaders==
No.	Name 	Term 	Term 	Time in office 	Term as Prime Minister
No.	Name 	Term began 	Term ended 	Time in office 	Term as Prime Minister
1 	Steve Bergensten	1 May 1995 	31 August 2009 	14 years, 3 months, 31 days (5237 days)	2002–2009
2 	Joe Bergensten 	1 September 2009 	12 September 2010	1 year, 12 days (377 days) 	
3 	Tim Bergensten 	13 September 2010	4 March 2017 	6 years, 5 months, 20 days (2365 days) 	
(2)	Joe Bergensten 	5 March 2017 	18 September 2022	5 years, 6 months, 14 days (2024 days) 	
4 	Ted Holmstrom 	19 September 2022	9 September 2028 	5 years, 11 months, 22 days (2183 days)	
5 	Ryan Nguyen 	10 September 2028	4 October 2031 	3 years, 25 days (1120 days) 	2031
6 	Kevin Abbott 	5 October 2031 	7 October 2050 	19 years, 3 days (6943 days) 	2040–2050
7 	Louise Johnston 	8 October 2050 	17 April 2054 	3 years, 6 months, 10 days (1288 days) 	
8 	Howard Truman 	18 April 2054 	27 December 2056 	2 years, 8 months, 10 days (985 days) 	
9 	Bob Howard 	28 December 2056 	26 January 2059 	2 years, 30 days (760 days) 	
10 	Margaret Strong 	27 January 2059 	1 November 2067 	8 years, 9 months, 6 days (3201 days) 	
11 	Dylan Chen 	2 November 2067 	13 April 2074 	6 years, 7 months, 11 days (2415 days) 	
12 	Katie Lynwood 	14 April 2074 	Incumbent 	1 month, 18 days (48 days) 	
===Deputy party leaders===
1. Bob Kay (1 May 1995 – 14 September 1998, S. Bergensten)
2. Joe Bergensten (15 September 1998 – 27 July 2005, S. Bergensten)
3. Jackie Solomon (28 July 2005 – 9 December 2007, S. Bergensten)
4. Tim Bergensten (10 December 2007 – 16 October 2008, S. Bergensten)
(2) Joe Bergensten (17 October 2008 – 31 August 2009, S. Bergensten)
(4) Tim Bergensten (1 September 2009 – 28 September 2009, J. Bergensten)
5. Christine Lester (29 September 2009 – 2 June 2012, J. Bergensten/T. Bergensten)
6. Bob Green (3 June 2012 – 19 September 2013, T. Bergensten)
7. Miles Dewar (20 September 2013 – 4 March 2017, T. Bergensten)
(5) Christine Lester (5 March 2017 – 24 May 2020, J. Bergensten)
(4) Tim Bergensten (25 May 2020 – 10 July 2020, J. Bergensten)
8. Ted Holmstrom (11 July 2020 – 18 September 2022, J. Bergensten)
9. Harrison Lake (19 September 2022 – 25 February 2029, Holmstrom/Nguyen)
10. Kevin Abbott (26 February 2029 – 4 October 2031, Nguyen)
11. George Whisky (5 October 2031 – 3 January 2032, Abbott)
12. Petra Bergensten (4 January 2032 – 2 September 2040, Abbott)
13. Louise Johnston (3 September 2040 – 17 September 2049, Abbott)
14. Anthony Rudd (18 September 2049 – 7 October 2050, Abbott)
15. Bob Howard (8 October 2050 – 8 September 2052, Johnston)
16. Howard Truman (9 September 2052 – 20 July 2053, Johnston)
(15) Bob Howard (21 July 2053 – 20 September 2055, Johnston/Truman)
17. Nicola Rhee (21 September 2055 – 17 September 2058, Truman/Howard)
18. Margaret Strong (18 September 2058 – 26 January 2059, Howard)
19. Neleh Bergensten (27 January 2059 – 11 May 2065, Strong)
20. Kelly Ding (12 May 2065 – 15 August 2072, Strong/Chen)
21. Ralph Sun (16 August 2072 – present, Chen/Lynwood)
==State and territory parliamentary leaders==
ImageSize = height:700 width:240
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 color:yellow mark:(line,black) align:left fontsize:S width:15
 shift:(20,0) # shift text to right side of bar
 # there is no automatic collision detection,
 # so shift texts up or down manually to avoid overlap
 from:1995 till:2009 text:"[[Steve Bergensten]] 1995–2009"
 from:2009 till:2010 text:"[[Joe Bergensten]] 2009–10"
 from:2010 till:2017 text:"[[Tim Bergensten]] 2010–17"
 from:2017 till:2022 text:"[[Joe Bergensten]] 2017–22"
 from:2022 till:2028 text:"[[Ted Holmstrom]] 2022–28"
 from:2028 till:2031 text:"[[Ryan Nguyen]] 2028–31"
 from:2031 till:2050 text:"[[Kevin Abbott]] 2031–50"
 from:2050 till:2054 text:"[[Louise Johnston]] 2050–54"
 from:2054 till:2056 text:"[[Howard Truman]] 2054–56"
 from:2056 till:2059 text:"[[Bob Howard]] 2056–59"
 from:2059 till:2067 text:"[[Margaret Strong]] 2059–67"
 from:2067 till:2074 text:"[[Dylan Chen]] 2067–74"
 from:2074 till:2074 text:"[[Katie Lynwood]] 2074–present"
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State and Territory Assembly Seats	State and Territory Assembly Seats
colspan="2" 	
JS Parliament 	/ </noinclude>
AD Parliament 	/ </noinclude>
MY Parliament 	/ </noinclude>
BE Parliament 	/ </noinclude>
JL Parliament 	/ </noinclude>
WT Parliament 	/ </noinclude>
WC Parliament 	/ </noinclude>
KT Parliament 	/ </noinclude>
LM Parliament 	/ </noinclude>
BCT Parliament 	/ </noinclude>
CIT Parliament 	/ </noinclude>
===Current===
* Alexandra Chen - Premier of Kagstron since 17 June 2068
===Past premiers and chief ministers===
====Jebsten====
* Trace Dezch (2057–61)
* Anna Burges (2057)
* Garry Hinhoff (2055–57)
====Meyang====
* Sene Edune (2054–56)
* Mark Chatham (2053–54)
====Berhardsson====
* Jerry Pak (2046–49)
====Jagsland====
* Jason Vien (2012–15, first Asian Craftian premier of Jagsland)
====Wintaro====
* Emmett Brownjohn (2035–38)
====Western Crafia====
* Ben Rodriguez (2035–36)
* Phil Fry (2030–35)
====Kagstron====
* Charlie Kim (2066–68)
* Melanie Campbell (2064–66)
* Jon Misuto (2056–58)
* Anthony Schmidt (2049–56)
====Lumina====
* Jack Jaxon-Soh (2039–45)
====Bankera Capital Territory====
* Adrian Goward (2046–55)
* Brian Fillus (2019–22)
===Timeline of state and territory governments===
Federal (2002–2009), Jagsland (2012–2015), BCT (2019–2022), Western Craftia (2030–2036), Wintaro (2035–2038), Lumina (2039–2045), Federal (2040–2050), Berhardsson (2046–2049), BCT (2046–2055), Kagstron (2049–2058), Meyang (2053–2056), Jebsten (2055–2061), Kagstron (2064–).
==Federal election results==
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 bar:% color:yellow width:18 mark:(line,white) align:center fontsize:S
 bar:1995 from:start till:4.91 text:4.91
 bar:1998 from:start till:11.89 text:11.89
 bar:2001 from:start till:14.58 text:14.58
 bar:2004 from:start till:29.23 text:29.23
 bar:2007 from:start till:26.13 text:26.13
 bar:2010 from:start till:20.77 text:20.77
 bar:2013 from:start till:5.51 text:5.51
 bar:2016 from:start till:8.94 text:8.94
 bar:2019 from:start till:5.96 text:5.96
 bar:2022 from:start till:9.12 text:9.12
 bar:2025 from:start till:10.38 text:10.38
 bar:2028 from:start till:7.32 text:7.32
 bar:2031 from:start till:35.27 text:35.27
 bar:2034 from:start till:10.90 text:10.90
 bar:2037 from:start till:12.71 text:12.71
 bar:2040 from:start till:23.78 text:23.78
 bar:2043 from:start till:30.16 text:30.16
 bar:2046 from:start till:27.63 text:27.63
 bar:2049 from:start till:25.28 text:25.28
 bar:2052 from:start till:24.39 text:24.39
 bar:2055 from:start till:7.21 text:7.21
 bar:2058 from:start till:11.82 text:11.82
 bar:2061 from:start till:13.46 text:13.46
 bar:2064 from:start till:17.25 text:17.25
 bar:2067 from:start till:19.69 text:19.69
 bar:2070 from:start till:19.84 text:19.84
 
Election	Seats won 	± 	Total votes	% 	Swing 	Position	Government 	Leader
1995 	/ <noinclude>	4 	33,760 	4.91% 	4.91% 	4th 	Fourth party 	Steve Bergensten
1998 	/ <noinclude>	6 	99,048 	11.89%	6.98% 	3rd 	Third party 	Steve Bergensten
2001 	/ <noinclude>	2 	144,904 	14.58%	2.69% 	3rd 	Coalition(NUP-BEP) 	Steve Bergensten
2004 	/ <noinclude>	15	342,066 	29.23%	14.65%	2nd 	Government(BEP-NUP) 	Steve Bergensten
2007 	/ <noinclude>	3 	343,055 	26.13%	3.10% 	2nd 	Government(BEP-NUP-CLP) 	Steve Bergensten
2010 	/ <noinclude>	5 	295,577 	20.77%	5.36% 	3rd 	Coalition(CLP-BEP-NUP) 	Joe Bergensten
2013 	/ <noinclude>	14	90,607 	5.51% 	15.26%	5th 	Coalition(MIP-NUP-BEP) 	Tim Bergensten
2016 	/ <noinclude>	3 	167,237 	8.94% 	3.43% 	5th 	Coalition(HIP-CCP-BEP) 	Tim Bergensten
2019 	/ <noinclude>	3 	126,697 	5.96% 	2.98% 	5th 	Fifth party 	Joe Bergensten
2022 	/ <noinclude>	4 	227,122 	9.12% 	3.16% 	4th 	Fourth party 	Joe Bergensten
2025 	/ <noinclude>	1 	327,404 	10.38%	1.26% 	4th 	Fourth party 	Ted Holmstrom
2028 	/ <noinclude>	3 	243,804 	7.32% 	3.04% 	4th 	Fourth party 	Ted Holmstrom
2031 	/ <noinclude>	35	1,352,819 	35.27%	27.95%	1st 	Government(BEP-NUP) 	Ryan Nguyen
2034 	/ <noinclude>	29	481,997 	10.90%	24.37%	4th 	Fourth party 	Kevin Abbott
2037 	/ <noinclude>	2 	661,199 	12.71%	1.81% 	4th 	Fourth party 	Kevin Abbott
2040 	/ <noinclude>	14	1,342,442 	23.78%	11.07%	2nd 	Government(BEP-NUP-GPC-MIP-LDP-SPC)	Kevin Abbott
2043 	/ <noinclude>	9 	1,812,391 	30.16%	6.38% 	1st 	Government(BLP-NUP) 	Kevin Abbott
2046 	/ <noinclude>	3 	1,896,364 	27.63%	2.53% 	1st 	Government(BLP-NUP) 	Kevin Abbott
2049 	/ <noinclude>	0 	1,925,389 	25.28%	2.35% 	2nd 	Government(BLP-NUP-GPC-SPC) 	Kevin Abbott
2052 	/ <noinclude>	1 	2,047,824 	24.39%	0.89% 	2nd 	Opposition 	Louise Johnston
2055 	/ <noinclude>	23	648,191 	7.21% 	16.61%	3rd 	Third party 	Howard Truman
2058 	/ <noinclude>	7 	1,202,347 	11.82%	4.61% 	3rd 	Third party 	Bob Howard
2061 	/ <noinclude>	3 	1,549,930 	13.46%	1.64% 	3rd 	Coalition(NUP-BEP) 	Margaret Strong
2064 	/ <noinclude>	6 	2,122,833 	17.25%	3.79% 	3rd 	Third party 	Margaret Strong
2067 	/ <noinclude>	4 	2,581,449 	19.69%	2.44% 	3rd 	Coalition(NUP-BLP) 	Margaret Strong
2070 	/ <noinclude>	0 	2,964,365 	19.84%	0.15% 	3rd 	Coalition(NUP-BLP) 	Dylan Chen