Iain Duncan Smith

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This article is written in the 'future' (2022) and thus does not reflect the state of affairs in the present day, 1954. It does however represent a premonition of what is to come.

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## Politics

### Ranks held

4th President of Britain 2009-2014

**George Iain Duncan Smith**, commonly called by his initials **IDS**, is a British politician who served as President of the Union of Britain from 2009 to 2014. A member of the New Union Party, he presided over a coalition government with the previously-incumbent United Democrat Party, and was consistently identified as representing the hard-right of his party. He has served as Member of Parliament for South Basildon and Thurrock East since 2000.

Born to a Royal Air Force pilot in South Africa just months before its partition, Duncan Smith's childhood was shaped by the bloodshed of the South African War, and he served as a soldier in the conflict's final months. One of the lucky few to be evacuated from the Fall of Cape Town, he chose not to flee to Australasia as many other Exiles did but instead settled in the Russian Republic, where like other refugees of the war he was given the surname **Afrikovsky**.

After a brief stint in the Russian armed forces, Duncan Smith worked for the Russian aerospace giant Sukhoi, and in this capacity was dispatched to the Union of Britain as a liaison between Russian businesses and the nascent corporations of Tony Blair's economic reforms. When in 1999 Blair's government formally readmitted the British Government-in-Exile, Duncan Smith automatically gained British citizenship by virtue of having served in the Exiled armed forces. He chose not to return to Russia therefore, and shortly joined the New Union Party. In the 1999 British general election he became one of 52 Unionists elected to the restored House of Parliament.

After serving for four years as Shadow Defence Secretary, Michael Portillo's resignation as Unionist leader in the aftermath of the 2004 general election prompted Duncan Smith to stand for leadership of the party. Despite being initially viewed as an outsider, being derided as 'Ivan Afrikovsky' by his opponents and the media, his campaign grew traction aided by his Exile heritage and an endorsement from Portillo. Ultimately Duncan Smith defeated his main rival David Cameron to become Unionist leader, and the party's subsequent electoral triumph in the 2009 general election enabled him to form a coalition government and become the fourth President of the Union of Britain.

A period of rapid economic recovery from the 2008 Financial Crash and then subsequent boom followed, though this was largely the work of Finance Secretary George Osborne. Duncan Smith himself proved an uninspiring leader and though his party's popularity grew, his own seemed to steadily shrink. In 2013, less than a year before the next general election, Duncan Smith's presidency was rocked by the December 20th disaster. Though David Cameron as Transport Secretary was quickly scapegoated and sacked, this was not enough in the minds of Unionist MPs to save their chances of successful reelection. In March 2004, only two months before the scheduled election, they triggered a vote of no confidence in Duncan Smith's leadership, and though he survived the first round his authority was fatally damaged. He resigned a day later, paving the way for George Osborne to eventually be elected the new President. Duncan Smith moved to the backbenches, and was able to survive all subsequent elections unlike many of his colleagues to continue serving as an MP today.