Think of this as a pilot for something bigger I might do eventually.
The Grundys, and Their Oppressors
Chairmen of the Ambridge Collective
1925-1926: George Grundy (Independent Agriculturalist-Silver Badge backed by the Trade Union Industrial Army and the Worker's, Farmer's and Soldier's Provisional Government)
1926-1930: George Grundy (Democratic Farmer's and Democratic Soldier's)
1926 (United Front with Labour and Democratic Unity) def. George Lawson-Hope (Country), Harold Bellamy (Vigilante Society)
1930-1931: George Grundy (Democratic Farmer-Soldier)
1930 (United Front with Labour and Democratic Unity) def. George Lawson-Hope (Country)
1931-1956: George Grundy (Democratic Farmer-Soldier)
1934 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. George Lawson-Hope (Country), vacant (Labour), Tom Forrest (Democratic Unity), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation)
1938 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. George Fairbrother (Country), vacant (Labour), Tom Forrest (Democratic Unity), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation)
1942 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. George Fairbrother (Country), vacant (Labour), Tom Forrest (Democratic Unity), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation)
1946 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. George Fairbrother (Country), vacant (Labour), Tom Forrest (Democratic Unity), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation)
1950 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. Clive Lawson-Hope (Country), vacant (Labour), Jethro Larkin (Democratic Unity), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation)
1954 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. Dan Archer (Country-Democratic Unity), vacant (Labour), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation)
1956-1972: Joe Grundy (Democratic Farmer's)
1958 (Coalition with Labour and Democratic Unity, backed by BTUC) def. Clive Lawson-Hope (Country), Walter Gabriel (Democratic Soldier's), vacant (Labour), Jethro Larkin (Democratic Unity), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1962 (Coalition with Labour and Democratic Soldier's, backed by BTUC) def. Charles Grenville (Country-Democratic Unity), vacant (Labour), Walter Gabriel (Democratic Soldier's), Jack Woolley (Independent Liberal), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1966 (Coalition with Labour and Democratic Unity, backed by BTUC) def. Ralph Bellamy (Country), vacant (Labour), Jethro Larkin (Democratic Unity), Nelson Gabriel (Democratic Soldier's), Jack Woolley (Independent Liberal), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1972-1974: Ralph Bellamy (Country)
1972 (Coalition with Democratic Soldier's and Independent Liberals) def. Joe Grundy (Democratic Farmer's), Jethro Larkin (Democratic Unity), Jill Archer (Independent Farmer-Labour), vacant (Labour), Nelson Gabriel (Democratic Soldier's), Jack Woolley (Independent Liberal), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1974-1975: Joe Grundy (Democratic Farmer's-Democratic Unity-Independent Farmer-Labour-Labour coalition, backed by the Borchester Trades Union Council)
1975-1976: Brian Aldridge (Country-Democratic Unity-Democratic Soldier's-Independent Liberal coalition)
1976-1978: Joe Grundy (Democratic Farmer's)
1976 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. Brian Aldridge (Country-Democratic Unity), Jill Archer (Labour), Jack Woolley (Independent Liberal), Nelson Gabriel (Democratic Soldier's), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1978-1979: Neil Carter (Democratic Farmer's-Labour coalition, backed by the Borchester Trades Union Council)
1979-1993: Joe Grundy (Democratic Farmer's)
1980 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. Brian Aldridge (United Opposition), Neil Carter (Labour), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1984 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. Brian Aldridge (United Opposition), Mike Tucker (Labour), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1988 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. Brian Aldridge (United Opposition), Mike Tucker (Labour), Nigel Pargetter (Independent Democrat), Godfrey Wendover (New Silver Badge), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1992 (Coalition with Labour, backed by BTUC) def. Brian Aldridge ('Blue' Opposition), Mike Tucker (Labour), Robert Snell / Pat Archer ('Green' Opposition), Nelson Gabriel (Democratic Soldier's), [Borchester Trades Union Council delegation]
1993-1993: Clive Horrobin (Vigilante Society leading Emergency Junta)
1993-1996: Joe Grundy (Democratic Farmer's-Labour coalition, backed by the Borchester Trades Union Council)
Ambridge celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Second Glorious Revolution this year of 1995, in which the workers, farmers and soldiers of Britain rose up and took the reins of power from the aristocrats and donkey-brained generals who had led them to defeat in the Great War and into economic ruin after it.
And for almost all of those 70 years, Ambridge has been governed by the scions of one family. The Grundys. George Grundy returned from the apocalypse of Flanders to find the countryside changing around him. The nearby Archers had avoided conscription and in his absence had taken on further responsibilities and opportunities for profit from Squire Lawson-Hope, and when the revolution came George was at the forefront of the aggrieved - a simple man who was an exploited farmer and an abandoned soldier all in one.
Following 1931, local government was reshaped and all - even the anti-revolutionists of the Country Party - began to plough a new and soon to be very familiar furrow. George's powerful Farmer-Soldier coalition held a tight grip on power, his only real opposition being the continuity squirearchy unhappy at their considerably diminished high standing and wealth. With his death however, that coalition rapidly fragmented and while his son handily won the Democratic Farmer's leadership, the Democratic Soldier's caucus soon became a thorn in Joe's side.
The 1960s and 1970s were chaotic, as Joe struggled to extract concessions and supply agreements from fellow parties in the Collective and often struggled for a majority even with the backing of the BTUC. The arrival of political dissident exiles from other parts of the country such as Jack Woolley and Brian Aldridge and the return of aristocratic prodigal sons such as Ralph Bellamy from the fortified reactionary hermit state of Guernsey introduced a further chaotic element. The corruption and spinelessness of the weak Labour caucus was virtually displaced by Jill Archer's radically reformist Independent Farmer-Labour group - a displacement that became reality in time.
Two non-Grundy governments were eventually formed, bringing together parties of the right, and in the case of Jethro Larkin those who simply held Joe Grundy in contempt. These governments proved short-lived - Ralph Bellamy had a healthscare that saw him return to Guernsey with his wife Lillian - and Brian Aldridge was simply defeated at an election when Jill Archer took formal control of the Labour caucus and sought common cause with Joe.
Since then, Grundy rule has been interrupted only twice more. The first was due to a severe bout of influenza and depression, during which the young union leader Neil Carter took charge - a position he only occupied due to Jill taking a step back from politics to spend more time with her family. Once Joe's health returned however, he took power once more and Neil gratefully handed over to his more ambitious comrade Mike Tucker. These latter years have seen a consolidation of the opposition behind Brian Aldridge but his authoritarian behaviour and the rise of a younger generation have seen a return to fragmentation in recent elections.
The most recent crisis was the day long reign of Clive Horrobin. Horrobin led the local Vigilante Society - a reactionary paramilitary which has waged an on-and-off war against the revolution since it began - and captured Arkwright Hall, the beating heart of the Ambridge Collective. The boundaries of his influence stretched no farther than the walls of the Hall but everyone was audience to the proclamations he made. After a brief siege Horrobin was arrested and Joe Grundy returned to power, though to an office bearing the scars of its former occupier's care and attention.
Now in his 70s, and with an election approaching next year, it is believed that Joe is considering retirement. His son Eddie, a stalwart anti-capitalist almost from infancy, is waiting in the wings and few expect anything other than a renewal of the traditional mandate. But the denizens of Ambridge always have a few surprises up their sleeves...