Georgeland Alliance

The Georgeland Alliance is a Georgeland political party of the radical centre. Its current leader is Michael Elderton, a former Prime Minister.

Structure
The Alliance is a federal party, with the seven state branches (plus the F.D. branch) all members of the federal party. The party membership elects a national President, Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer. The leadership also elects a party leader at the beginning of every annual party conference. At the latest party conference in 2004, incumbent leader Michael Elderton was elected leader and former Scoitan Independent MP Katherine Doody was elected as the party's Vice President and Deputy Leader. Doody was later elected to the Senate.

Party Policy
The Alliance is a centrist party that broadly supports responsible economic management and slow social progress, 'slow' defined as gradual and without urgency. Alliance doctrine says Georgeland must develop socially but at its own pace, without 'egging on' by governments. To some extent the Alliance is a 'third way' party, though Elderton is known as being more distinctly right-wing than many third-way adherents. The Alliance believes in the empowerment of the individual, leading some to place them as populists. Alliance policy declares that each individual should be the highest authority in their own lives, and that government has no place intruding into the lives of citizens. This viewpoint is associated with the Conservative Party of Georgeland as well (see 'criticism'. below). As a minor party, the Alliance supports electoral reforms to institute proportional representation. They also support an elected President with more powers, and some party members, including Elderton, have advocated a shift towards a U.S.-style executive Presidency.

Criticism
Some critics have claimed the Alliance is nothing more than an attempt by Elderton to remain in the political spotlight after a failed premiership. Others label the Alliance and Elderton as "Tory Lite" because of their centre-right stances on several issues, including deregulation, privatisation, private school funding, welfare cuts and immigration, as well as security and a pro-US foreign policy. Alliance supporters claim these criticisms are unfair and that the Alliance 'transcends' traditional political boundaries.