Tiberius Polax
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|---|---|
| Position | First Lord of the Treasury; Prime Minister |
| Term of Office: | 4 years |
| Predecessor: | The Rt. Hon. Sir Lucius Agrippa, MP |
| Successor: | Incumbent |
| Birthdate | 17th June 1952 |
| Place of Birth: | Uxbridge Palace, Praetonia |
| Spouse | Lady Antonia Polax |
| Profession | Politician, Businessman |
| Political party | Liberal-Tory Party; Liberal Imperialist Party (former) |
| Languages spoken | English, Latin, Composite Praetonian, Ancient Greek, Pacitalian |
| Degrees |
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The Rt. Hon. Sir Tiberius Polax, MP, GBS, MA (Hons), LL.D., D.Univ., JP, (born 17th June 1952 at Uxbridge Palace, Praetonia) is the current Prime Minister of Praetonia and First Lord of the Treasury. He is also the leader of the Liberal-Tory Party after breaking away from the Liberal Imperialist Party, in whose former Government he served as Foreign Secretary for several years.
Family
As is clear from his Latin name, Tiberius is a member of the high aristocracy and was born the eldest son and heir to his family dynasty at their ancestral home, Uxbridge Palace, one of the lavishest private dwellings in the nation and Commonwealth. His father served as Major-General of the 8th Division Dragoon Guards and was already a member of the Imperial General Staff upon Tiberius's birth. He later rose to Field Marshal before retiring at 70 to Uxbridge Palace. His mother managed the family's extensive business involvements until her death at 87 with great success, and the family is now in controlling possession of Imperial Oil & Gas with an annual profit of some billions. He has 5 syblings (3 brothers and 2 sisters), 3 children (1 son, 2 daughters) and 8 grandchildren (3 grandsons, 5 granddaughters). Several members his family also hold seats in Parliament, some in the House of Lords and many hold commissions in the military, including one of Tiberius's brothers, who is the Captain of an Imperial Class Superdreadnought.
Early Life
Tiberius spent most of his early life and home and was schooled until the age of 12 with his syblings by a private tutor at Uxbridge Palace. At the age of 12, he was sent, like most young aristocrats, to a boarding school also in Uxbridge but some 110 miles from his home. At 15, he was moved to a new school in Praeton, which he is said to have enjoyed much more than the boarding school, and at 18 returned to his home County to attend Imperial College Uxbridge, one of the most prestigous universities in the nation and Commonwealth. He received a First in Economics and decided to stay on, completing a Master's degree in the same subject. Throughout this time he trained and served as a Lieutenant and then Captain in the Imperial Royal Officer Reserve (IROR) and distinguished himself in several exercises he attended with the Territorial Army.
Entry into Power
Despite many of his friends attempting to persuade him into taking up a career in the military, Sir Tiberius joined the Liberal Imperialist Party at the age of 23, and was returned as Member of Parliament for Uxbridge in the General Election of 1976, displacing the long-serving Imperial Monarchist candidate, shortly before his 24th birthday. After just 2 years in Parliament, he was made a junior minister in the Ministry of Defence, where his numerous contacts in the military through aquaintances at university and his own family allowed him to impress his political masters. After the 1980 General Election, when he was returned for his second term, Tiberius was appointed Minister for the Environment, a post which he hated, but which was one step on the political ladder. He oversaw a time of great upheaval in environmental and planning legislation - a liberalisation that would allow heavy industry to flourish.
Foreign Secretary
Following the next General Election, Tiberius was made Foreign Secretary and his future in the party and in government seemed secure. Holding one of the 'big three' offices (Prime Minister, Chancellor and Foreign Secretary) he went from being a relative political unknown into a major public figure, and one who had the duty of presiding over almost all of the most dramatic events that would capture the public imagination, including various wars and the colonisation of distant lands that are now called the Commonwealth. During his lengthy multi-term period as Foreign Secretary, his department set out almost all of the legislation by which the Commonwealth is governed, and worked greatly to expand Praetonia's international image. It was while Foreign Secretary that he received his Knighthood, being made a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the Broken Sceptre and his first Honourary Degree.
Schism and Triumph
As the long Liberal Imperialist term began to stagnate, Sir Tiberius lead a group of LIP members who were growing increasingly dissastified by the growing left-wing slant of the party to split from the main party, forming the Liberal-Tory Party which currently governs Praetonia. The period was an intense period of political upheaval in Praetonian Politics and threatened to split the country in two. His Majesty the King dissolved Parliament and the incumbent Prime Minister Sir Lucius Agrippa called a fresh General Election, which was won cleanly by the Liberal-Tory Party, although fears of a Hung Parliament had lead them to make policy compromises with the Imperial Monarchist Party before the election. The two parties still largely enjoy he others' support.
As Prime Minister, Sir Tiberius quickly presided over a massive economic resurgence, spurred on by liberal market policies and vast privatisation of formerly state owned companies, leading to the Praetonian economy outstripping the Sarzonian, Doomingslandi and Automagfreek economies of the day in terms of GDP. Sir Tiberius is currently presiding over a conflict with several other nations, including Doomingsland and MassPwnage, over the control and government and ViZion. His claims of military success will rest largely on the success or otherwise of Praetonian forces currently engaged with Doomingslandi and MassPwnage units in the centre of ViZion City.
