Apples

Apples Clarke (born February 13, 1977) is a Dogger politician serving as member of the National Assembly of Doggerland and the Deputy Thwomp of the Thwompist group. He has served as a member of the Grand Brun-South Assembly, minister of Rural Development and Infrastructure in Brun-South and as junior counsellor in the Executive Council of Brun-South. He's a member of the Doggerland Communist Party and the Labour Union of Brun-South.

Early Life
Apples Clarke was born on February 13, 1977 in Abester, Brun-South to a middle class family. He moved to Nandels Port to continue his education studying law.

Early Political Career
Grand Brun-South Assembly

Clarke joined the Labour Union of Brun-South after graduating and helped organize local events such as rallies in support of the People's Freedom and Justice Party during elections. He was a strong advocate for workers' rights and blamed the deteriorating economic situation in the province on the incumbent governor and his administration. After years of grassroots organising he signed up to the party list of the PFJP alliance as a member of the Labour Union of Brun-South and was accepted. He was elected to the Grand Brun-South Assembly on April 29, 2006, becoming the youngest member at just 29 years old. In the assembly he was a big opponent of the incumbent administration but wasn't afraid of trying to work across the aisle. Considering the majority the government had in the chamber he was left little choice besides it anyway. During his time in the assembly he was able to pass the "Workers' Preservation Act", a bill sponsored by him, by working with the liberal members of the incumbent alliance. This was his proudest achievement yet and got him a wave of support all around Brun-South because he never stopped campaigning. The incumbent governor wildly opposed the newly passed act which brought him a lot of unpopularity, culminating with him losing his council seat after the 2010 election.

Minister of Rural Development and Infrastructure

A new governor was elected from the National Conservative Party, the Civic Union equivalent in Brun-South. Perhaps because Apples was working with the government or perhaps because he thought the young MP would have less power outside the assembly the governor appointed him minister of Rural Development and Infrastructure. He took office on May 11, 2010. In this position Clarke worked to narrow the gap between urban and rural development in the province. He worked on infrastructure projects to connect rural Brent-South with its urban areas. This stagnated the economy but ended up improving living conditions and developing areas which lacked any investment. He worked on a land reform made to improve the standards of farmers but it was shot down in the Grand Brun-South Assembly after being voted down 94 to 122 on March 9, 2013. During his time as minister he remained popular and campaigned for the Labour Union and the People's Freedom and Justice Party as a whole. This led to problems between him and new governor Jeremiah Meligston of the Union Party after his election in 2014. Meligston and Apples never liked each other but were getting along for the sake of work, however, when the governor heard that Clarke was working on a new land reform, two years after his previous project failed, he sacked him. Apples left the Rural Development ministry on August 6, 2015.

Executive Council of Brun-South

Having just recently been kicked out of the position of minister, Clarke used this time to further his popularity and support for him. He decided to run for Counsellor of the Executive Council of Brun-South in the 2016 election. He ended up winning the race but was unable to replace the incumbent governor since progressives had very little support in the body. During his term in the council he opposed Meligston and most of his policy but was unable to stop much of it because of the limited power of the council. He used most of the time to campaign and grass roots organise against government counsellors. His efforts were successful when more progressives were elected to the body in 2018 and 2020. The then chief counsellor and close ally to Apples David Ledgnot of the Social Democratic Union was elected governor, replacing Jeremiah Meligston after 2 liberal counsellors who would normally have supported the incumbent decided to back him due to Meligston's unpopularity. Clarke pushed the new governor to establish Thwomp representation in Brun-South, through executive act if needed. His request was accepted by Ledgnot who later signed the Thwompist Rights executive act. Apples' support was vital for keeping the government stable but he decided to run for the National Assembly of Doggerland after he found a popular replacement for him in the council.

Early Days as an MP
Doggerland's Left

He was elected to the National Assembly of Doggerland on March 28, 2021 following the March 2021 Doggerland legislative elections as member of the Doggerland Left party with which he registered to run. He didn't do much during his time besides voting for bills. He was also pretty absent between conversations from within the party.

Populist Party

He later decided to quit the partisanship of the DL and join the Populist Party as a founding member after being approached by Robert La Follette. Apples thought he will have more influence as a member of the Populist Party in the assembly and be able to more easily work with other assembly members. This however, didn't last long since La Follette passed away 3 days after the founding of the party leading to the its disbandment.

Labour Workers' Party

Apples followed the other former populist party members to the Labour Workers' Party. He supported Theodor Robert "Trashman" Mann's candidacy for leader of the party and Arjun The Great's candidacy for deputy leader after he was approached by Arjun The Great. Arjun easily defeated other challengers and Mann too won his race, partly due to his support, but there was major fraud discovered. Incumbent leader Melvin John "Mel" Bradley had tampered with the results to increase his vote share but his efforts failed. Apples stayed out of it, however, due to the chaos in the party the LWP ended up losing many seats during the April 2021 Doggerland legislative elections making Apples barely be left out of the assembly as he was put 10th on the party list and the party received just 9 seats. Apples re entered the assembly following the May 2021 Doggerland legislative elections as a member of the LWP. He voted against Saber Pardon's premiership but he was confirmed prime minister with the narrow majority of 2. Many LWP members left the party in favour of joining the Volt+Pirates Party. This led Apples to also leave the LWP but join the Communist Party.

Communist Party MP
Defection

After many of his fellow LWP MPs voted for the formation of the Liberal Government and proceeded to defect to a government friendly party, Apples left the LWP for the Communist Party which he thought is more stable and consistent. His defection was met with surprise, as he was the only person to defect from the LWP to a more leftist organisation. Overall his defection didn't lead to much since both the DCP and the LWP were in opposition to the government.

Work in the National Assembly

During his time in the national assembly as a Communist MP, Apples has done the exact opposite of what was expected from a defecting LWP to CP member. He started advocating and himself working towards further co operation with the government. Apples worked on many amendments which made bills toll the middle line between the political parties in Doggerland and broaden their support. Clarke has worked closely with other opposition parties and is a big critic of the May budget released by the government. Apples is the author of the compromise revisited REST Act which sees to keep the fundamental values of the original while making it acceptable to the governing parties advocating for the repeal of the entire bill. Heiligerhahn was able to bring government leaders to the negotiating table regarding the act, even though both him and Apples were sceptical at first if the government will consider a compromise solution.

Deputy Thwomp of the Thwompist Group

On May 30th, 2021 Apples was awarded the title of Deputy Thwomp of the Thwompist Group by Theodore Wheatley for his efforts to further the Thwompist movement. Apples was honoured to accept the position and pledged to continue his unconditional support for Thwompist rights.