Bowell Ministry (Wiltshire)

The **Bowell Ministry** was formed on 4 February 3023 following the Social Democrats landslide victory in the Wiltshire general election. President Frank Eddington appointed Sir Ramsay Bowell as Prime Minister, ending three terms of Stability government.

Upon entering office, Ramsay Bowell announced that the state would begin to provide "basic housing needs" for every Wiltshirian, effectively ending homelessness in Wiltshire. The policy was followed by the Homes For All Act 3023, which put the policy onto the statute books.

After just 8 days in office, Bill Sterling resigned as Chancellor of the Exchequer after announcing he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was quickly replaced with Renee Borne. Borne's appointment was seen by many as a fix to the problem of the Social Democrats' public perception as being poor with financial matters - a trait inherited from its predecessor, the Labour Party.

Once in power, the government underwent three months of radically reformative government. Through nationalising public roads and state education, lowering the retirement age to 62 from 66, and refocusing the Wiltshirian military doctrine to national security above power projection, the Bowell government is seen by many to be as reformative as Crawley's first ministry.

Following a set of poor local election results in May 3023, Bowell triggered a major reshuffle of the cabinet in order to "refocus" the government.

## Major legislation of the Bowell Ministry

### **Homes for All Act 3023**

The Homes for All Act 3023, formally the Housing Provision and Basic Housing Right Act 3023, was the first major piece of legislation passed by Ramsay Bowell's Social Democratic government. The law enshrined into law the basic right of housing for every individual with citizenship. By creating the National Housing Register, the government was, for the first table, able to document the housing needs of every citizen. The law included the following provisions:

* Investment in and construction of temporary accommodation for the homeless;
* Funding to local government to house every homeless person in temporary accommodation;
* Investment in support services for the homeless, in order to provide careers advice, education support, and housing support for those in temporary accommodation;
* The nationalization of over 3,000 housing units deemed to be "unsatisfactory" and funding to restore houses to industry standard;
* Inclusion of new housing regulations that create minimum standards;
* New rights for renters, including eviction rights.

### **Road Nationalization Act 3023**

The Road and Highway Nationalization Act 3023 saw all roads deemed to be "public" brought into public ownership, purchasing from individual owners and corporate management. The nationalization took from two main road service providers: the Karl Marx Transit Authority (KMTA) and Road Balancía (Rockfield), as well as some individual owners of farmland and other individual cases. The road service providers were compensated to a small degree, far below market value.

The law also standardized Wiltshire's road system with the creation of the Road Commission to set out a new guideline. All KMTA and Road Balancía regulations were moved over to the Road Commission, with a whole review ordered by the government. Transport policing was centralized under the Home Office.

In addition, transportation decisions were taken away from local government and were centralized in the Ministry of Social Affairs under the Junior Minister for Transportation.