Mel

Mel (born July 13th, 1967 is an English-Dogger politician serving as a Labor Worker's Party MP since 2013, and as both Deputy Leader and Whip of the Labor Worker's Party after being appointed by LWP leader Robert La Follette on January 26th, 2021. Before his election to the National Assembly, Mel served as president of the United Dockworker's Union from 1998 to 2014 and served for two terms as mayor of Hoovsted from 2014 to 2021.

Early Career
Mel was born in Hoovsted on July 13th, 1967, born to an English working-class family, and attended the University of Steibo. While in University, he got elected president of the Steibo Young Social Democrats, a Youth Wing of the Worker's Party (today a part of the LWP), and then graduating in 1980. Mel was then hired to work as a secretary for the mayor of Hoovsted at the time, Henry Davies of the LWP. Mel continued to work at this position until 1982 when Davies lost the election to Jack Walker, the Liberal Party candidate. After Davies's loss in the 1982 election, Mel was hired to work at the United Dockworker's Union.

United Dockworker's Workers Politics (1990-2014)
Mel continued to work at the United Dockworker's Union, eventually being elected the union's president in 1998. In 1999, he was able to negotiate a landmark deal with the Dock companies after a 4 month long strike, which resulted in a rising of wages, less hours, and better working conditions for Dockworkers. The resulting name recognition among dockworkers led him to be continually reelected.

Mayor of Hoovsted (2014-2021)
He eventually began to explore a run for the mayor in 2010, to be able to more directly have a say in city politics, and ended up running in the 2010 Labor Worker's primary. He lost in the primary against Elizabeth Brown, a non-profit CEO who ran on socially progressive policies, she ended up losing the mayoral election against Ed Morris, a Civic Union candidate. Morris's government was unpopular with the left-wing voter base in Hoovsted, leading to it being widely expected he would lose reelection. This led to a competitive LWP primary in 2010 in which Mel was the frontrunner, and would end up winning the primary. Mel would go on to win the mayorship against Ed Morris.

His administration was mostly characterized by heavy collaboration with local unions (especially the UDW) and with several major left-wing economic reforms, making Mel a national political figure as mayor of the 2nd largest city. A notable decision made under Mel's administration was the massive investment into public transportation, paid for by the introduction of a wealth tax, the addition of a proposal similar to this to the LWP manifesto has been attributed to the successful implementation of this policy within Hoovsted. Mel was widely expected to run for a third term for mayor, but soon announced he would be joining the Labor Worker's Party List for the National Assembly in the 2021 general election following the political reform. In his place, the current appointed acting mayor is Emma Dekker, a city council member.

National Assembly (2021-Present)
During the January 2021 election cycle, after Robert La Follette was elected as Labor Worker's Leader, Mel was appointed as both the Deputy Leader and Whip and was placed second on the party list. He was vocal about his support of the plan to form a left-wing coalition with the United Left People's Party, a goal which ended up being achieved. He has was elected as a Labor Worker's Party MP on January 29th and was the Minister for Industry within the Forward! Alliance for Progressive Action. On Febuary 9th, after Robert La Follette's resignation as Party Leader, Mel serves as acting Party Leader, with a reshuffling of party leadership imminent, and now serves as Deputy Prime Minister.

Political Positions
Self-identifying as a social democrat, he believes strongly that strengthening unions and expanding the welfare system should be the first priority of the government. As well, he is strongly pro EU membership for Doggerland, believing it will strengthen Doggerland's economy and invite in new economic investment, which the strong labor movement can use it its advantage.