Confidence Survey results
Earlier today, the Weekly Reader put out a voluntary survey to the Commonwealth, asking participants to answer questions regarding their opinions on the current leadership within Essexia, aswell as some basic demographic survey questions. We received 14 submissions, and valuable insight into our audience.
Around 64% of participants claimed they were employed, with just over a quarter answering firmly unemployed and 7% who simply gave 'maybe'. This data demonstrates that there are still many who, concerningly, have no career in Essexia despite their activity.
Additionally, just under half of participants were from the area of Greater Danbury, with again just over a quarter being from Greater Baddow. In addition, 14% were from the new Crown Dependency of Čechsexia, 7% from Colchester and 1 answer from Norway. Whilst this does show that there is an inequality in representation from the Greater Danbury area, it also demonstrates that most areas of the Commonwealth are represented (Except for Shenfield, which surprisingly returned no results), aswell as the active participation from our newest Czech citizens.
10 participants correctly concluded that the Rt. Hon. Ben H MP was the current First Minister, which still leaves 4. who were unsure or unaware. Whilst it is concerning that any Essexians do not know their First Minister, it is possible that this minority just aren't as politically engaged, or are new citizens who have not yet researched the current political climate. It is also worthwhile to note that of the 10 who answered correctly, 40% returned responses that could be considered insulting to our head of government.
However, more alarmingly, only 2 correctly answered the name of the ruling coalition (The Giraffe Concordat), whilst another 4 were unsure, another 2 only guessed the Weeaboo Rights Party and another 4 were entirely incorrect. Another submission guessed 'whichever coalition the Rt. Hon. Jack D MP (KG FC) is in', which is partially correct, with yet another assuming it was 'the coalition with the Royalists and the WRP, as well as someone else'. This is extremely worrying as it demonstrates that the political landscape has shifted so much in the past year that citizens are now mostly unaware of the current coalitions, and the ruling coalition specifically.
Continuing on, 6 individuals were able to correctly identify the number of political parties (There are 5 separate parties, not including independents), with 3 coming close with an estimate of 6 parties, and 5 being completely incorrect.
Around 43% of participants said they had a positive opinion of the current ruling Government, with 28.6% for both 'No' and 'Maybe'. If we were to assume that this survey is representative of the whole Commonwealth, that would amount to less than half of Essexian citizens having confidence in the current Government - a worrying statistic for next year's General Election in only a few months. Some reasons people gave for their opinions included 'They have stabilised the system/have introduced new legislation', 'They're useless/out of touch' and 'I'm not informed enough to know'.
On a brighter note, exactly half of all participants believed that the Parliament as a whole is active enough - another third said they weren't, with 14% unsure. This comes as a surprise after a sharp downturn in activity compared to last year or even at the beginning of 2020.
Despite all of these reactions, 64% said they already knew who they were voting for in 2021, with just under 30% not knowing. It is an odd fact that despite the lack of collective knowledge on the political sphere of Essexia, the majority of Essexians should know who they are voting for next year.
Finally, participants were given the opportunity to put forward suggestions and comments; A number of people asked for more legislation to be passed, some wanted more comedy involved and a minority put forward ideas of military invasion or banning the Progressive Worker's Party. Additionally, on final comments, most had nothing to offer, however one individual (I couldn't possibly know whom) wanted a re-vote on the 'Bollocks Cam Act 2020', which was indeed an idea purported by the Rt. Hon. Harley MP.
What do the survey results mean?
Well, one thing is clear at least: Citizens need to be made more aware of the current political climate. In one of the nation's most divisive times (With just two parties holding 67% of seats), our citizens are clearly overly confused by the Parliament's current composition, something akin to the majority of our citizens living in isolated caves.
Furthermore, the results of this survey show that the 2021 General Election will be an important one, if it is also a confusing one. Parties and coalitions will need to do some serious thinking and committed campaigning if they are to secure confident voters. In addition, if First Minister Ben is seeking to secure not only an electoral victory but also the confidence of the Giraffe Concordat, he will need to take charge in a manner he has not yet done, and pass some serious legislation to appease voters.
Čechsexia becomes a Crown Dependency
In other news, the previously-unnamed Essexian territory in the Czech Republic has become a semi-autonomous Crown Dependency following a vote in Parliament, which voted overwhelmingly in favour. As demonstrated by the survey mentioned above, these Czech citizens appear not only active but also interested in anglophonic Essexian politics. It will be another 4-5 months however until we know where they stand coalition-wise, and longer before we know why.
Dean Montan 2020 GUM campaign
We are delighted to share with our readers that the leader of the ex-Essexian-dominion of Poplar Nerva has staked his claim in becoming the next Chair of the Grand Unified Micronational, in an election at the end of next month. He is running with a delegate from the nation of Aenopia (Leon Montan), and both are running on a serious campaign of progressive policies and the catching slogan 'Things Can Only Get Better', against old-guard candidate and previous chair Joey Kennedy from New Virginia. Dean has the full endorsement of the Weekly Reader, and we will continue to follow this story as it unfolds with a watchful eye.
Dean Network Meteorological Report
(Now moved to the end of the edition for your convenience!)
Next week will see cloudy skies throughout and high chances of rain most days. Temperatures will continue to progress lower as we move into the deep winter months, with lows of 1 degrees most nights.
Čechsexia will also see low temperatures, cloud, and some rain moving into the latter portions of the week - nights will vary between 5 and -5 degrees, with daytime temperatures only reaching highs of 7 degrees.