Ludwig Kohl

Ludwig Kohl after being appointed Governor-General

**Ludwig Kohl** (2 June 2938 - 14 December 3020) is a retired Wiltshirian politician and statesman who served in a number of key ministerial positions in Conservative governments throughout the 3010s. Kohl also served as the last Governor-General of Wiltshire during the 3019 Political Crisis.

Kohl was a Member of the Wiltshire National Assembly for North Walkerton and was a strong supporter of Walkerton sovereignty and German language bilingualism. During the September-November crisis, Kohl served as a caretaker Prime Minister following the disappearance of Jim Balfour, serving until the election of Henry Campbell-Trenneman.

During the New Corporate Republic occupation of the country, Kohl denounced the Wiltshire Republic, and retired early. However, during the Government-in-Exile, Kohl defected and moved to Washington to support Gaius Selan's government. Following Wiltshirian independence, Kohl was offered very high positions within the new government. However, he refused and returned to retirement.

## Early Life

Kohl was born in Germany during the times of reform for the United Federation of Planets. As a massive supporter of the Federation, he moved to the capital Washington E.R. in 2976 to attempt to be elected to the Federation Congress or the Federation Council. He failed to do so on a number of occasions but continued to live in the Doggerlands for the rest of his life. It was here that he met his husband, Philip, and over the next 2 decades would move from home to home across the Doggerlands. However, in 2998 (with the collapse of the Federation on Terra and Chisel Enterprises' conquest of the capital) he joined with Federation President Jaresh Inyo in travelling south to found the Juneville settlement, which would later be the basis for the formation of Wiltshire.

## Political Career (Wiltshire

His political career in Wiltshire started in 3010 with his election as the Conservative Assembly Member for North Walkerton. For the first two years of his time as an AM, he was simply a backbencher. He was a big supporter of the governments of Prime Minister Jaresh Inyo and Edward Jellico.

In 3012, with the passing of the Walkerton Act, he was named the Minister for the Walkerton Office (as a senior Conservative from Walkerton) in both Jellico Governments. In May 3013, however, Edward Jellico resigned as Prime Minister and Renly Stork became the first Socialist Prime Minister since Thomas Shore. Kohl was strongly opposed to Stork's government and would become one of the loudest campaigners against him in the May 3013 Election. In addition, he was also the first and strongest supporters of Martin Banks' bid for the Conservative Party Leadership. This meant that, once Banks had formed his government, Kohl was on the top of the list for a high profile cabinet position.

Kohl was appointed Foreign Minister and would serve as Foreign Minister until March 3014. In March he was moved (in a cabinet reshuffle) to become Minister for Utilities (Housing, Education and Food). He was considered the single most loyal member of Banks' government and a close friend and ally of Environment Minister, David Loynd. When Loynd won the Conservative Party Leadership to become Prime Minister he promoted his friend and supporter, Kohl, to become Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence. He would serve in this capacity until the election of Frank Eddington's Socialist Party in 3016.

Kohl returned to the back benches, not taking up a Shadow Cabinet position under the next two Opposition Conservative Leaders (Pete Bus and Andrea Drum). However, in March 3017 became the Chairman of the Conservative Backbench Association under the leadership of Walter Krussteg. Krussteg's Conservative Party then named him Opposition Chief Whip - which he would hold for 3 weeks before the February 3018 Election. In that election, Krussteg was defeated by Prime Minister Frank Eddington and he resigned the leadership. Kohl would remain the Chairman of the Conservative Backbench Association until he was elected Governor-General of Wiltshire in late December 3018.

He became Governor-General on January 1, replacing Jason Salon. He would serve as Governor-General until the present day. On November 6, 3019, he was asked by the remains of the Wiltshire Assembly to form a caretaker government until an election could be held on November 29. He actively decided not to stand as a candidate in that election (for Prime Minister) and said that he would serve the rest of his term as Governor-General, before retiring in 3020.