Astryd Rigby

Astryd Rigby in 1960

**Astryd Rigby**, born on the 29th of February 1940, is a Dissauian politician who is known for being the Prime Minister of Dissau three times between 1961 to 1968, 1970 to 1977, and 1985 to 1995. Rigby was the first female Prime Minister in Dissau and introduced three separate waves of social, political, and economic progress, in the country. Rigby was also leader of Labor between 1961 to 1968, and once again between 1970 to 1997. It was believed that Astryd Rigby and her brother Jonas Rigby had a feud during their time in politics but both have refused to accept those claims. Rigby was the only person to Prime Minister of Dissau three times and in total has been Prime Minister for a total of 25 years, longer than any other Prime Minister by a mile. Rigby was voted as the most influential woman of Dissau in 1969, 1980, 2000, and 2019. She was also voted as the most influential Dissauian of the 20th century in 1999. She was a part of many feminists organisations throughout her lifetime and contributed to a large wave of women's rights in Dissau.

Rigby was born to Lily Rigby and David Rigby in Great Cinecha, Dissau, on the 29th of February 1940. She attended Old Racha Primary School between 1945 to 1952 and then attended Rachatam Secondary School between 1952 to 1958. Rigby then became determined to become an MP after leaving school, joining the Labor Party a couple months later, and being picked to contest the seat of Mackleachton in the 1960 Dissauian General Election. She won the election, becoming the youngest MP ever elected, and soon rose to power over the men in her party. She was appointed Deputy Leader of the Labor Party on the 2nd of December 1960 after Jordan Powell resigned as Deputy Leader. She then rose to become leader of the party after winning the 1961 Labor Party Leadership Election. She led here party to victory in the 1961 Dissauian General Election even after masses of negative press against the possibility of a woman becoming Prime Minister. Nevertheless, Rigby became Prime Minister in 1961, becoming both the youngest Prime Minister to be elected in Dissau and the first woman Prime Minister in Dissau. Rigby was frequently praised by human rights organisations, lgbtq+ rights organisations, animal welfare organisations, and trade unions, for her progressive or/and left-wing politics. She led her party to a second victory in 1963 with a an even larger majority than 1961. She continued as Prime Minister with positive reactions from the public and managed to win the 1964 Election with one of the best election results in the country's history. She finally lost the 1968 General Election and was forced out of government by National Moderate leader, Otto Weisbach.

After losing the election, she would resign as leader of party and the subsequent leadership election would lead to Viggo Tauar becoming leader of the party. After Tauar won the 1969 election, the party became divided once again and the threat of losing the next election seemed imminent. MPs began rallying behind Rigby's return and in 1970 Labor MPs forced a vote of no confidence in Tauer's leadership, leading to a leadership election being called. Rigby agreed to return and won 76% of votes in the 1st round. Rigby became Prime Minister once again in 1970 and wanted to showcase even more left-wing and progressive policies. She was successful in brining the economy to its best place since the late 50s to mid 60s. Her second term in government was widely considered to be just as successful her first premiership as Prime Minister. She won the 1972 election with an increased majority and a large amount of support. Rigby continued her success in the 1973 election with a decreased majority, and then lost her majority in the 1976 election. This led to a failure to implement important progressive policies and inevitably calling an early election in 1977 and losing the election.

After losing the 1977 Dissauian General Election, Rigby remained leader of Labor after the election and throughout the rest of the 70s and 80s until winning the 1985 General Election and once again becoming Prime Minister for the third time. This time, her leftists ideals changed and her original ideals of socialism slowly morphed into social democracy between the late 80s and early 90s. She represented a change in the party's policies and ushered in a new age for the party. She led her party to further victories in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, and 1992, before losing the 1995 General Election to the National Moderate Party.

After losing the 1995 General Election, Rigby decided to retire from frontline politics and instead remain an MP but with less influence. Her decision was welcomed by her party, the opposition, the public, and the media, with many thanking her for her years of service as Prime Minister. She remained in government until deciding to not contest the 2010 General Election. After resigning as and MP, she decided to focus on her lifelong passion of music. She release two independent albums under the name of Astryd Rigby before forming a band with three other people in late 2012. Her band, called the Labrador's, released their first album in June 2013 titled "the Labrador's." The album was pretty successful in Dissau and charted at number 57 on the charts. The band went on to release four album after then. One in 2016, one in 2017, one in 2020, and one in 2023.

## Life

### Entry into Politics: 1958 - 1961

#### 1961 Labor Party Leadership Election

Main Article: *1961 Labor Party Leadership Election*

#### 1961 General Election

Main Article: *1961 Dissauian General Election*

### Loss of Leadership & Out of Government: 1968 - 1970

#### 1970 Labor Party Leadership Election

Main Article: *1970 Labor Party Leadership Election*

## Discography

### Solo Discography

* Astryd Rigby Plays Rock n' Roll - 2010
* The Astryd Rigby Band- 2012

### The Labrador's Discography

* The Labrador's - 2013
* Chemical Compound - 2016
* Alas! A-hoy! - 2017
* Scurvy - 2020
* Mountain Pass, Please - 2023