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With the Party President (PP) election tomorrow, I thought I'd take a brief look at the full list of candidates, and try to weigh up their pros and cons.



BigAnt
The current TUP PP, and also CP.

BigAnt is a self-confessed supporter (and normally member) of Vendetta. He PTO'd TUP last month as part of his long-running battle with several senior figures in TUP, many of whom have now left.

BigAnt took over TUP using two tactics. Firstly, he made several promises about improvements he would make to the party if elected as PP. Secondly he organised a campaign whereby a number of Vendetta members joined TUP specifically to help vote BigAnt in as PP.

His tactics worked, and he was elected as PP by a narrow margin. Unfortunately, since then he hasn't come through on any of his pre-election promises. All he has done is use TUP as a vehicle to put himself forward as the TUP candidate for the Country President (CP) election, without giving anyone else in TUP the opportunity to stand.

So, from a TUP point of view, BigAnt's term as PP has been a complete non-event. He is now standing for re-election, but - so far - has chosen not to do any campaigning.

Summary: enemy of TUP

MilosPavlovic
Milos is a Serbian player and is suspected of being one of the Vendetta guys BigAnt shipped in to TUP last month when he PTO'd the party. This begs the question why is Milos standing against BigAnt this time round?

Milos has very little relevant history or achievements to speak of, and has not done any campaigning for this election, so we cannot say what he will do if elected. At level 24, he is one of the least experienced candidates in the race.

Summary: inactive

Madelina de Melrose
Madelina is a long-standing member of TUP, who is running in this election on a platform of taking control of the party back from BigAnt and Vendetta.

She is a very experienced player (at level 42, she's the most experienced genuine TUP candidate), who has held many roles within the eUK. She set up and runs the eBrit University (which trains new players up), is a Director of the NHS, and an experienced captain in her military unit.

Madelina has published two manifesto articles in her newspaper covering her plans and intentions as TUP PP. You can read those manifestos here.

Many TUPers who want to gain control of the party back from Vendetta (including me) are standing behind Madelina as the best candidate. By selecting a single candidate to campaign for, the intention is to avoid splitting the anti-Vendetta vote across several candidates and accidentally allowing BigAnt back in.

Summary: dependable

OllyTheBoss
Olly is a bit of an enigma in this election. He's a genuine TUP member, but hasn't got a newspaper or an avatar, and at level 21 he is the least experience candidate in the race.

Like many of the candidates, Olly hasn't published any campaign messages, so we don't know what his intentions are if elected. I've tried PMing him, but didn't get a response.

There's not a lot more that can be said about Olly, except that you'd think he has almost no chance of winning. A vote for Olly may well be wasted.

Summary: unknown

SirPreston
SirPreston is another unknown quantity in this election. He has published a short manifesto in his newspaper (which you can read here), which centres upon encouraging more young people into the party and helping them grow. This is a noble aim, but given that genuine TUPers (like Preston) are concentrating on fighting against the Vendetta take-over, you have to wonder about his timing.

Other than his manifesto, nothing has been heard from Sir Preston. Importantly, there's been nothing on how he intends to achieve the aims set out in his manifesto.

Summary: one for the future?

Percy Spencer
At level 39 Percy clearly has plenty of experience (of the genuine TUPers he's second only to Madelina in this respect) and is a genuine TUP member - not a Vendetta stooge. However, we haven't heard anything at all from him in this election campaign, so it's difficult to know what platform he's standing on, or what his plans are. I've tried PMing him, but didn't get a response.

The fact that Percy is not a member of a military unit (MU) and has no newspaper is of note - normally you would expect a player of his experience to have both. However, beyond that there's not much more that can be said because of the lack of communication.

Summary: silence

Kostic Bojan
As a Vendetta supporter, Kostic has been a very vocal supporter of BigAnt. Therefore it seems strange that he's now standing against BigAnt in this election.

I've checked his newspaper but it's all in Serbian - so clearly it's not aimed at an eUK audience. That in itself is fine, but it makes you wonder why he's standing as PP in an eUK party. Certainly there doesn't seem to be an election manifesto there, and I haven't heard him do any campaigning by message, shoutbox or forum, so - once again - it's difficult to say what his plans, intentions and motives are.

Summary: questionable motives?



Tactical voting may be the key...
This is an uncertain time for TUP, and this election is a crucial one - perhaps more than any other - as it decides the future direction of the party. Do we stick with the Vendetta take-over and let them continue? Or do we take the party back and start again?

This will also be an election where tactical voting plays a part. There are three pro-Vendetta candidates and four pro-TUP ones. Last time round the Vendetta vs TUP vote was pretty evenly matched, so it's clear that if either side split their vote across their candidates, the results could be dramatic. For this reason there's been a strong campaign in the pro-TUP camp to select Madelina de Melrose as the single candidate to vote for. There has been no campaign from the pro-V camp so it's difficult to say who they favour: you'd assume BigAnt as he's the incumbent PP. Certainly, if either camp do manage to unify their vote behind one candidate, you'd think that the other candidates on that side don't stand a chance and it'll become a simple one-versus-one fight.

However, one thing is certain: every vote is important. Last time BigAnt won by a very slim margin, despite running a serious campaign and bringing in supporters to help PTO the party. He hasn't campaigned this time (in contrast to Madelina), but a lot of the supporters he shipped in last time are still here and are guaranteed to vote for their Vendetta team-mate. Therefore, for the pro-TUP side in particular, don't assume that your vote won't be needed.

My personal view is that BigAnt is only interested in the TUP to help further his own aims, while annoying some of his long-standing adversaries. In stark contrast, Madelina de Melrose is a genuine, loyal TUPer who wants to win the party back from Vendetta and start it on a path of democracy and inclusion. For that reason, my advice is...

+++ VOTE MADELINA! +++