Utanian Press Agency, Release 22 February 301 AP

UPA (Utanian Press Agency)
Release: February 22, 301 AP.

Kemp appointee wins Conservative chairmanship

The tide is turning in favour of the Conservative parliamentary opposition leader over former President Hope in the race for the Conservative Presidential preselection.

The federal opposition leader and leader of the federal parliamentary Conservative Party, Thomas Kemp, has won a crucial preliminary battle in the race for Conservative preselection for the presidency, by getting his appointee to the Nystonia state party commission Chairmanship approved, despite vigourous opposition from Hope-conservatives.

The appointment means that the Nystonia state party "machine" largely backs Kemp, rather than Hope, and will likely allocate greater resources to the Kemp race, than his closest rival, the former President-now-governor, Edward Hope.

"The Governor does largely hold a stranglehold over his own state, this is true", Mr Kemp commented to reporters after the successful nomination, "but this victory shows that he does not hold control over the rest of the country, and please remember that the election will not be fought in Luka alone." Mr Kemp is well-known for his contempt of the young Governor, despite serving eight months as a key member of the Hope cabinet. The two men are leaders of the opposing, and only, factions within the Conservative Party: Governor Hope leading the "Asherists", named after former state governor Charles Asher, who believe in small, inobtrusive and fiscally-responsible government; and the "anti-Asherists" or "Durning faction", those who support the populist, conservative but compassionate policies of Asher's predecessor, Charles Durning, a faction lead by Mr Kemp.

The Nystonia Conservative Party represents those Conservative Party branches within the state of Nystonia, and will be crucial in determining a successful party nomination. The Conservative Party branches will vote according to the number of Conservative voters their electorate represents, and 444,078 people voted Conservative in Nystonia (compared to over three million nationally).

The Nystonia vote, however, may be muddied by the possible joining of the Cruistian-Democrat and Conservative preselections, entering Nystonian state governor, Edward Cryer, into the competition. If so, the CDP would add almost 700,000 voters (from the last election) to the state's numbers, making the state even more prized, and Mr Kemp's victory even more sweet - provided he can keep the CDP Governor to the sidelines. Governor Cryer has already indicated he would run for Presidential preselection.

Almost one million conservative voters came from Utani B'yan, mostly near the capital, where the Parliament is based, making them likely Kemp-supporters. Governor Hope is a very popular governor, but must first convince the rest of the country he is worthy of their support.