Independent Democracy Party

The Independent Democracy Party is a right-wing syncretic populist party currently led by Beady, who became chairman after a leadership crisis resulting in three different people leading the party at different times on January 27, 2021. It currently has 8 registered members.

The IDP manifesto for the January 2021 legislative elections sets out the party as protectionist, redistributionist and trade unionist. The party also calls for limits to legal immigration, backs gun ownership, commits the party to a system of firm Christian morality, and rejects lockdown efforts in relation to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

2008-Today
Following the 2008 election which saw the IDPs largest percentage of the vote in the party’s history, Beady announced his resignation from his post of chairman of the IDP after 22 years of campaigning. This was largely unexpected, as the party was increasingly gaining support and was poised to overtake the left wing coalition to become the 3rd largest party in parliament. In the new infamous post-election conference, Beady explained that despite various minor victories along the way, the political system was rotten to its core and would not allow for real change to take place. In the speech he elaborated on the the leadership contest that would take place after his departure. Beady would continue to be a member of the party, but would take a far less active role, resigning himself to an advisor of succeeding party leaders.

Despite his diminished role, the Dogger media would continue to report on his day to day activities, as he had captured the public’s imagination due to a mixture of morbid curiosity and genuine interest in his ideas and policies.

Beady continued to live with his estranged wife Marta at his cottage on the outskirts of Midtte. In his self imposed isolation Beady published new poetry and artwork which he had departed from during his political career. Such works included The Silent Village, The Forgotten Dream, and Blind Dog, all praised for their artistic merit and more melancholy and reserved tone compared to his earlier works. During Beady’s period of withdrawal from public life, his children made themselves increasingly prominent within the IDP. Both Robert and Tomas Beady took up various senior roles within the party such as vice chair and chief whip respectively. The youngest child, Kara Beady made a relatively late appearance in party politics compared to her brothers. She only became active within the party in late 2017. Beady’s oldest daughter Madison was the only child to not be actively involved in the party, instead choosing a career as a lawyer.

Following Beady's departure, the IDP saw a brief surge in the polls commonly credited to Beady's divisive and polarising personality. However this was not permanent, as at the next general election the party only received a marginal gain in support which only stagnated onwards.

Following over a decade of increasing irrelevancy, the IDP found itself at a crossroads. The party had 4 different leaders in the space of 2 years, fallen to infighting and factionalism, and had been ostracised by the other parties due to the increasingly left wing political climate. In the run-up to 2021, an election was held to determine the leader of the party. Hugh Cornpone was narrowly elected as chair, but soon after stood down due to the death of a loved one. Cornpone was succeeded by his appointed vice chair Oliver Lonleygothisname, who was unpopular within the party as he was regarded as too moderate and as an establishment conservative. Following Lonleygothisname becoming chairman of the party, there were rumblings within the IDP rank and file of a challenge to his leadership.

With no clear challenger emerging and the IDP on track to loosing all their seats in the 2021 election, Beady announced that he would be coming out of retirement to challenge Lonleygothisname for the leadership position. Despite being initially being written off as a “has-been” and a “political dinosaur from a by gone age”, Beady easily defeated lonleygothisname, acquiring 67% of the vote.

The media reacted with shock to Beady's return to the political scene, with some commenting that his leadership bid was “merely a vanity project” and “a pathetic attempt to rejuvenate a dead party”.

Following Beady's ascension to power, a considerable amount of old personnel were gutted and replaced with a new generation of party members. This angered some of the party’s old guard, but helped to gain an energetic following behind the returning leader. The department switch up that is said to have had the greatest impact was an entirely new campaign staff. The 2021 IDP election campaign was disproportionately focused on online advertising with a what some regard as satirical and “memetic” character. This helped to attract a new younger support to the party, as well as disaffected voters who had not voted in previous elections. Many IDP campaign advertisements became infamous online and a commonly shared and parodied today.

Due to the leadership crisis in the new National People’s Party, Beady negotiated an electoral alliance between the two parties, in which Beady would take over the leadership of the NPP and the two would share a common platform. This was widely regarded as tactful yet underhanded political manuvering. Following the election the IDP would later completely envelop the NPP

The 2021 election saw a modest yet unexpected return to form for the party despite many media pundits predicting that the party would be wiped out completely. The IDP increased its share of the vote by just under half. Including the results of the NPP, there was a 4x increase in representation from the previous election

National Bloc
On January 28, 2021, the National People's Party and the IDP formed a coalition called the National Bloc. On January 29, the IDP formally absorbed the NPP.