Caroline Deyes

**Caroline Amelia Deyes** (born 2 April 1980) is a Ditrovian politician who has served as prime minister of the Ditrovian Kingdom and leader of the Labor Party since 2019, becoming the second woman to serve as prime minister and the first to lead the Labor Party. Previously, Deyes served as Home Secretary from 2017 to 2019, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2015 to 2017, and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Employment for four months in 2015. She has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Swanford South since 2012.

Born to a working-class family and raised on a council estate in Ashford, Deyes attended Ashford Academy until dropping out at age 16, having become pregnant. After two years of single motherhood and working part-time jobs, Deyes returned to her education, and soon began working as a nursing assistant at a nursing home. In 2006, Deyes became a trade union leader after being elected as a trade union representative for the Ditrovian Union of Public Service Workers (DUPSW). In this position, she became active in local politics, later launching a bid for the Ashford Metropolitan Borough Council in the 2010 local elections, but withdrew her candidacy after becoming pregnant. Two years later, Deyes was selected as the Labor candidate for the constituency of Swanford South in the 2012 general election. Considered to be a safe Labor seat, Deyes easily won the election and succeeded the retiring Abraham Richards as a Member of Parliament (MP).

While still in her first term as an MP, Deyes was promoted by Donald Westcoate to serve as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Employment in the Department for Work and Pensions in May 2015, to replace the resigning Blake Baxter. With only four months in the office, she was promoted to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in the first Westcoate ministry following a cabinet reshuffle. In this post, Deyes served in a role akin to a minister of labor, and was tasked with overseeing the nation's trade unions, laborers, pensions, and employment programs. Following the 2016 general election, Deyes continued in her role in the second Westcoate ministry, and began to increase her nationwide profile amidst praise for her work in strengthening the power and prevalence of trade unions. In 2017, Deyes was selected by Westcoate to serve as Home Secretary, to replace the resigning Edwin Stewart. The position is one of the four Great Offices of State, considered to be the four most powerful cabinet ministers and advisors to the prime minister. As Home Secretary, Deyes was tasked with overseeing the nation's immigration levels, police force, and national security.

In June 2019, Westcoate announced his planned resignation from office, citing ailing health, and the 2019 leadership election was called. Instantly considered to be one of the frontrunners in the election, Deyes soon declared her candidacy. She led the pack of twelve candidates for most of the election, with her closest competitor being Secretary of State for Education Johnny Anderson. Deyes ultimately advanced to the ballot of registered party members, where she won a decisive victory after receiving 51.7% of the vote in a pack of four candidates. With her election, Deyes was soon sworn in as prime minister and party leader in November 2019, becoming the second woman to serve as prime minister and the first to lead the Labor Party. The Deyes ministry was soon sworn in the same day. As party leader, she will lead the party into the upcoming 2020 general election.

As the prime minister of the Ditrovian Kingdom, Deyes has advocated for left-wing reform in regards to employment, healthcare, and education, which she has referred to as "common sense reform." She has additionally advocated for the rights of minorities and immigrants in the Ditrovian Kingdom, and has been invited to speak at numerous international conferences on women's rights and feminism. Since 2019, she has been variously referred to as both the most powerful woman in the world and the most powerful person in the world.

## Early life and education

Deyes was born on 2 April 1980 in Ashford to parents Garett (born 1955) and Emily Deyes (née *Watson*; born 1956). Her parents both came from working-class backgrounds; her father worked as a blue-collar industrial worker, while her mother was a nail technician and later professional beautician. Deyes is the elder of two daughters; her younger sister is Eleanor, born  (1983-01-09) 9 January 1983 (age 41). She was raised on a council estate in Ashford, where the family resided in a small two-bedroom living space.

Deyes began her education in 1986, attending a local primary school, where she was said to be a gifted student. After graduating in 1991, Deyes continued her education at Ashford Academy, the local secondary school. In secondary school, Deyes continued to prove herself as a gifted student, but fell into the "wrong crowd" as she was introduced to partying and boys. By the age of 14, her grades had dropped sharply and Deyes abandoned her previous ambitions of becoming an attorney. She ultimately did not graduate, and stopped attending classes in April 1996, when she was five months pregnant. After dropping out of school, Deyes had no qualifications, and began working part-time as a sales clerk at a video rental store.

After losing her job in 1998, Deyes decided to return to school in order to provide a better life for her son. She earned a secondary school diploma and five SECCs in Ditrovian language, mathematics, biology, chemistry, and social studies, and then enrolled in an upper secondary program at Ashford College, studying medical assisting. In 2001, she graduated with qualifications to work as a nursing assistant, and soon was hired at a local nursing home.

## Trade union representative

Since beginning her work as a nursing assistant at a nursing home, Deyes became a member of the National Health Service (NHS), and with that joined the Ditrovian Union of Public Service Workers (DUPSW). The DUPSW is the largest trade union in the Ditrovian Kingdom, which represents health workers, local government employees, and other local public sector workers, and is an affiliate of the Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU).

After being involved in the local administration of DUPSW, Deyes was elected as a union representative by other union members in 2006. In this post, she was responsible for communicating official union policy, memos, and directives to local members. In 2009, she was elected chairperson of the North West branch of the DUPSW. This made her the most senior union official in the region. She left the post in 2012, in order to enter politics.

## Political career

### Early politics

Deyes began her first foray into politics in 2010, when she was selected to stand as a Labor Party candidate for the Ashford Metropolitan Borough Council in the 2010 local elections. Deyes was standing for one of the three seats in the Wheatley North electoral ward of the Ashford constituency, considered to be a Labor safe seat. In July 2010, she suspended her candidacy after discovering that she was pregnant, as she did not want to overexert herself or create a stressful environment while carrying a child. She was replaced as the Labor Party candidate by Jessica Houghton, who went on to win the seat.

Deyes subsequently returned to her trade union work, until being selected to stand as the Labor Party candidate in the 2012 general election, contesting the Swanford South constituency to replace the retiring Abraham Richards, considered to be a Labor safe seat. In the election, Deyes won 57.6% of the vote, and was elected to the House of Commons.

### Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

After serving in the House of Commons for three years, Deyes was nominated by Donald Westcoate to serve as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Employment in May 2015, to replace the resigning Blake Baxter. In the position, Deyes was responsible for labor strategy and unemployment services, while focusing on labor qualifications and certifications for under-represented groups and the youth. The position is located in the Department of Work and Pensions, and serves beneath the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

After only four months of serving in the post, Deyes was promoted by Westcoate to serve as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in his first ministry, replacing James Riley after a cabinet reshuffle. In this post, Deyes was responsible for overseeing the entire Department of Work and Pensions, focusing on laborers, employers, pensioners, families and children, and disabled individuals in regards to labor. With this, the position is akin to a minister of labor. Following the 2016 general election, Deyes continued in her role in the second Westcoate ministry, and began to increase her nationwide profile amidst praise for her work in strengthening the power and prevalence of trade unions.

### Home Secretary

In July 2017, Deyes was nominated to serve as Home Secretary by Westcoate, replacing Edwin Stewart who had resigned amidst a tax evasion scandal. The position of the Home Secretary is one of the four Great Offices of State, considered to be the four most powerful cabinet ministers and advisors to the prime minister. As Home Secretary, Deyes was tasked with overseeing the nation's immigration levels, police force, and national security. Following her nomination, Deyes was reported to be one of Westcoate's "closest allies" and was strongly rumored to be a potential successor for him as party leader and prime minister.

In November 2017, Deyes announced a "comprehensive immigration reform" plan, which would incentivize skilled immigrant laborers to immigrate to the Ditrovian Kingdom, while also implementing public sector centers meant to assist in Ditrovian language learning, finding a home, and seeking employment. She referred to the plan as her "crowning achievement," and significantly increased her popularity within the Labor Party, although it was considered to be a controversial plan by Conservatives.

In June 2019, Westcoate announced that he would be resigning as prime minister and party leader due to ailing health, and a leadership election was called to determine his successor. Deyes was immediately considered to be a frontrunner to succeed Westcoate, whom she had been a close ally of, and declared her candidacy on 2 July 2019. Upon announcing her candidacy, Deyes eventually secured enough support of Labor Party MPs and Ditrovian trade unions in order to proceed to the general ballot. Deyes consistently polled in the lead, ahead of her closest competitor Johnny Anderson by 5–10 percentage points. In the election, Deyes ultimately secured 51.7% of the vote, being elected party leader.

### Prime minister and party leader

Following her victory in the leadership election, Deyes was sworn in as leader of the Labor Party on 25 November 2019. As party leader, Deyes was afterwards sworn in as prime minister as well, with her ministry being sworn into office afterwards. After taking office, she became the second woman to serve as prime minister, and the first to lead the Labor Party in Ditrovian history.

In her first speech as prime minister, Deyes pledged to "protect" the under-represented and to strengthen trade unions, healthcare, and education for all Ditrovians. Since being elected to the office, she has been variously ranked as both the most powerful woman in the world and the most powerful person in the world; as the prime minister of the Ditrovian Kingdom is commonly seen as the most powerful person in the world, this was the first time a woman had received the distinction in nearly four decades.

## Personal life

Deyes became pregnant at the age of 15, by her then-boyfriend Joshua White. She and White became engaged in April 1996, when she was five months pregnant, before breaking up a month after the birth of their son, in September 1996. Her second child was born in January 2011, and Deyes has not publicly disclosed who the father is.

Deyes's two children are Henry, born  (1996-08-10) 10 August 1996 (age 27), and Victoria, born  (2011-01-28) 28 January 2011 (age 12). She previously resided in the town of Swanford in Greater Bournemouth with her family, and rented an apartment in Dollchester for her parliamentary duties. After becoming prime minister in 2019, the family moved into 25 Greenflower Street, the traditional residence of the prime minister and their family. In June 2020, Deyes became engaged to trade unionist Peter Rotherham, whom she had been in a relationship with for five years. After the engagement, Rotherham moved into 25 Greenflower Street, making them the first non-married couple to reside there.