Samuel Henderson

**Samuel Clive Henderson** (3rd February, 1899 - 15th May, 1978, aged 79) was a Kymrian politician who served as the Prime Minister of Kymry from 1955 to 1963. He was the leader of the Anti-Revolutionary party from 1953-63, leader of the opposition from 1953-5, and Minister of the Treasury from 1946-50. He served as the MP for Dwardland from 1946-50, and after its abolishment MP for Nyeddaid and Berkly from 1955-70. He was the last prime minister to be born in the 19th century and at 7 years, 7 days he is the longest serving prime minister to come from the Anti-Revolutionary Party.

Henderson studied law at the Mynydd University, and entered the civil service working for the Ministry of the Treasury during the 1920's-40's, being a member of the then ruling fascist National Renweal Party which would go onto cause controversy in his later career. After World War Two Henderson became a member of the Anti-Revolutionary Party under Warren Meredith who inaugurated him as his Minister of the Treasury. As the "Iron Treasurer" Henderson implemented policies that led to the reconstruction of Kymry after the devastation wrought by the second world war, but his tough austerity policies including the retention of rationing made the Meredith government extremely unpopular and contributed to their defeat in the 1950 election to the Labour party under Dominic Lennox.

In 1953 Meredith died, with Henderson being elected as his successor as National leader. Henderson was on the right of his party, identify as a national conservative and a staunch anti-communist. Capitalising on anti-communist sentiment Henderson led the Anti-Revolutionary party in a coalition with the Radical Liberal Party to achieve victory in 1955, ousting the then incumbent government of Lennox.

As Prime Minister, Henderson, a committed Atlantacist, managed to avoid the political minefield of the Vietnam War whilst remaining committed to the US-Kymrian alliance. The Henderson government also lessened some of the regulations of the previous Labour government, although largely maintained the mixed economy and welfare state created by by the Labour government. His time in government saw substantial prosperity in Kymrian life as his government attempted to "guide" the economy through the imposition of price and wage controls. In 1960, the government was re-elected with a reduced majority.

However, the Henderson government lost popularity when the Treasury Minister Frederick Joseph took the politically damaging decision to devalue the pound in order to combat creeping inflation. This coincided with the increasing counterculture movement of the 1960's, with Henderson's authoritarian and conservative government appearing to be rigid, inflexible to public opinion and anachronistic. In 1963 Henderson stepped down as Prime Minister, handing power to foreign minister Mervyn Pryce who went onto lose the 1965 election. In 1970, he retired from the House of Councillors, and until his death in 1978 was seen as an elder statesmen.

Henderson is generally ranked in the upper tier Kymrian Prime Ministers. During Henderson's period in office economic prosperity reached its heights, whilst his skill international relations and pragmatic social policies also have elicited praise. However his traditional conservatism and paternalistic style of governance made him seem by 1965 as out-of-touch and old fashioned, with his prior involvement in the fascist regime being particularly controversial. In recent years his reputation has undergone a reassessment, as some conservative historians state that the image of the stern, authotarian and backwards looking Henderson was largely manufactured by left-wing critics in the 1960's, and is today ranked as one of the best Kymrian Prime Ministers.