Liberal Democratic Party of the United Islands leadership election, 2007

The 2007 election to decide the new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of the United Islands elected Robin Sales as the party's federal leader and Zoe Parker's replacement.
The leadership election was brought about by the resignation of Zoe Parker as leader following the party's election loss.
Senator Robin Sales was elected the party's leader on July 9 by a party room vote, eliminating the need for a second round of postal voting. Sales won 74 votes to challenger Andrea Perkins' 61, with 4 abstentions.

Rules and procedure

The election was the second conducted under the party's new leadership contest rules. The first round of voting was held by Members of Parliament and Senators from the LDP, of which there are 139 in total. Only two candidates stood in this election, and the winner, Senator Sales, emerged with a clear majority. The need for a second round was therefore eliminated
The second round of voting would have been conducted by postal ballot. All members of the Liberal Democrats would have been eligible to vote in the election. There are approximately 56,000 LDP members.
The voting would have taken place over nine days, and counting was expected to take approximately one to two days. The winner would have been the candidate with the most votes in the postal round.
For the interim period, Michael Boyle, formerly the party's deputy leader, assumed the leadership on an acting basis.
Though he has been elected as leader, Sales is ineligible to become Leader of the Opposition because he is not a member of the House of Commons. Sales announced that Lawrence Porter would be the party's deputy leader and would be Opposition Leader until Sales was able to enter the Lower House, which he hoped to do by the end of the Parliamentary term.

Timing

The first round of voting took place on July 9th, with nominations closing the day before. Had a postal vote occured, ballots would have posted to members on July 16th. The voting period would have ended on July 25th and the winner announced on the 26th or 27th of July, 2007.
In line with conventional practice, Parliament could not begin sitting until a Leader of the Opposition has been chosen. The first session of the 38th Parliament will be held in mid-August.

Confirmed candidates

• Andrea Perkins, former Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the party's faction composed of former Democrats announced on July 3rd that she would be a candidate for the leadership. Perkins, who contested the leadership in 2005 but lost, will garner significant support from rank-and-file members but is regarded unfavorably by party factional leaders and "traditional" Liberal Democrats. If she wins the vote, Perkins will become the first woman to succeed a woman as leader of a national political party and the second woman to be Leader of the Opposition.
• Robin Sales announced on the afternoon of the 6th of July that he would seek the party leadership, even though he is still a member of the Senate. While it is certainly possible for a Senator to be a party leader, only a member of the House of Commons may be Leader of the Opposition. If Sales were to be elected, he would need to name a party leader in the Commons and that person would be the official Leader of the Opposition. Sales announced that he would, once elected leader, enter the House of Commons at "the first available opportunity", leading some to speculate he will run for Zoe Parker's seat of Peterson. Sales is a member of the party's right-wing, or moderate, faction and a former Chief Minister of East Mainland.

Potential candidates

• Michael Skipper, Chairman of the parliamentary LDP and a right-wing powerbroker and kingmaker, has been suggested as a "compromise" candidate for the party's moderates. Skipper failed to nominate by the close of nominations.

Withdrew

• Adam St. John, Zoe Parker's Finance minister, declared on the morning of July 5 that he would seek the leadership. He was, however, realistic about his chances. "I'm in it to win," he said, "but I also understand my work is cut out for me." St. John, 41, is a protege of Xavier McLaren's, and represents the Centrist faction consisting of many former Georgeland Party MPs. St. John is in many ways the "sole hope" of the centrists, as former heavyweight Christine Hinkle now represents the Georgeland Alliance, and Patricia Gibson only barely managed to retain her seat. St. John had been in Cabinet less than a year, and that he voted against Charlton Robards in a no-confidence motion in 2005.
  

One day after he announced he was running, St. John officially withdrew from the race, saying that he did not feel he had the numbers and that there had been "limited support" for his campaign. He declined to endorse another candidate. The St. John candidacy was widely recognised as a blunder and showed the Liberal Democrats in a less-than-spectacular light.

• Lawrence Porter initially nominated for the leadership on July 6, but the following day announced he would withdraw from the contest and that he supported Robin Sales. This may indicate that a deal has been struck between the Moderates and the Broad Left to support a Sales candidacy. It may also indicate that Porter will become deputy leader or House of Commons leader if Sales wins.

Not running

• Charlton Robards was asked if he'd consider returning to lead his party from opposition. Robards is no longer a member of parliament and categorically ruled out that option, and refused to endorse a candidate (though he hinted he would support his wife if she ran).
• Clare Price, Parker's Health Minister and a leader of the Broad Left, announced she would not contest and encouraged Lawrence Porter to do so. Price ran for the leadership in 2005 but was eliminated in the first round.
• Michael Boyle, acting leader of the party following Parker's resignation, announced on July 4 that he would not seek the leadership and that he supported Perkins' candidacy.
• Deborah Robards announced on July 4 that she would not seek the leadership. She declared her intentions after her husband, former Prime Minister Charlton Robards, suggested he'd support her if she chose to run for leader.
• Keith Briggs his considered to be the moderate faction's leader, and suggested that he might nominate if no other candidate from his faction did. Briggs is seen as intelligent and articulate, but is also percieved by some in the community as 'pompous' or 'snobbish'. He is also both homosexual and Buddhist, which has led to some doubt over his electability. Briggs will also be 62 at the next election. On July 4, Briggs revealed he had no plans to run for the leadership, and suggested David Keeler's name as a possible moderate candidate.
• Dr. Erica Lucas also ruled herself out as a candidate from the moderate faction on July 4.
• David Keeler ruled himself out on July 5.
• Xavier McLaren ruled out a run on July 5. McLaren fared very poorly in the 2005 election, recieving the fewest votes in the first round. When Adam St. John announced his candidacy, McLaren endorsed him and said he would not run.
• Geraldine McLean, minister under Zoe Parker and former Mayor of Santa Christina, ruled herself out of consideration on the evening of July 5.

Issues

The primary challenge facing any new leader would be how to re-capture public attention and "claw back" the number of seats lost to the Tories at the general election. A number of commentators have suggested the new leader would need to 'reform' certain aspects of policy and shift the party's position back towards the left, as the move towards the centre is often suggested as a key factor in the government's defeat in 2007.

Result

• Robin Sales - 74 votes
• Andrea Perkins - 61 votes
• Abstained - 4

Deputy leadership

Lawrence Porter was chosen as Deputy Leader by Sales, and was appointed to be Leader of the Opposition on an interim basis until Sales could enter the Lower House. Porter had withdrawn from the contest, presumably as part of a right-left deal with Sales.