British Presidential election, 2006 (Cromwell the Great)

The British Presidential election of 2006 was held to elect a new President of the Commonwealth of Britain. Incumbent President Tony Blair had announced in December 2005 that we would not seek re-election, based on his increasing unpopularity and the prosecution of a war in the Holy Land many considered unjustified.

Liberal candidates
President Tony Blair was considered to be safe in a re-election bid up until the local council elections in September 2005, at which the Liberal party was trounced. Pressure increased on President Blair to not seek a second term. In December, he capitulated to these forces and declared he would not be a candidate for the Presidency. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Britain's finance minister, Gordon Brown, nominated for the office and ran against Home Secretary David Blunkett for the nomination. Brown won easily and was endorsed as the Liberal Presidential candidate.

Conservative candidates
Speaker Liam Fox was the front-runner for the position for some time, before he declared he was pulling out of the race for personal reasons. The Tories offered four major candidates for President - MPs David Cameron and Anne Widdicombe, former Chancellor David Davis and former Foreign Secretary William Hague. Hague eventually won through, and was declared the Conservative candidate.

Results
With Brown tainted by the Blair legacy and his close involvement with the Holy Land war, Hague was the front-runner right up until election day. Brown conceded defeat at 11:30 on election night. After all votes were counted, Hague had won approximately 55% of the popular vote. William Hague was sworn in as Britain's 22nd President on June 5.