Social Democratic Party (Juno) leadership election, 4084

The 4084 leadership election of the Social Democratic Party is the most recent leadership election and took place from 14 March to the 1 April. Maria Woodborough had announced that she would be stepping down in favor of introducing new leadership to the party.

The election was to be a ballot of all members of the party. The parliamentary party were not given any extra voting power which was extremely rare at the time. Nominations began on the 14 March and nominations closed on the 25 March. This was the first Social Democratic leadership election that included some form of campaigning.

Dennis Rodham received the nomination from the SDP Parliamentary Committee while Aaron Quinn received the nomination from the Members Committee and the Youth Wing. Woodborough refused to endorse any candidate and at first Rodham was in lead in pre-election polling. 3 other candidates then came forward: Edwin Woodbourough, Lenny Ricardo and Jules Dwyer. Dwyer dropped out before the first ballot began. Woodborough announced before the first ballot he would not seek leadership but he was kept on the ticket anyway. Ricardo and Woodborough were both eliminated and support surged for Quinn through transferred votes. It soon became clear that Quinn had won by over 9,000,000 votes. Rodham spoke to Quinn privately and conceded but never officially announced until counting was finished.

The next day Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Robin Emine, inaugurated Quinn as the 20th leader of the Social Democratic Party.

Dennis Rodham
Rodham was the first person to put their name forward for the election. At first Rodham was the outright favourite to win the election and many party members believed it was impossible he couldn't win. Many people were oblivious to the fact that the leadership elections had changed. All elections were to be open to all members of the party and all members were to have an equal vote. This significantly affected Rodhams leverage though his support within the parliamentary party was very strong, with grass roots members of the party it was different. Rodham was very wealthy as was all politicians at the time. Many of the SDP voters believed Rodham had little empathy with the working class and would not be an effective leader. Polls showed Rodhams approval rating among the general membership as nose diving after Quinns candidacy.

Aaron Quinn
Quinn started off as the underdog in the race accredited mainly due to the fact he was only in office for less then 4 months. His notoriety within the party however was unmatched. Quinn had been well known as being a campaigner for working class rights. He was even rumoured to be running for the chairmanship of the party which was ruled out after he won his election by a landslide. Quinn had little support from the parliamentary party except from a few backbenchers. The shadow cabinet were heavily opposed to such a young and new leader. Quinn had to significant advantages: he had the support of the party membership. This was seen as vital and made it very hard for the party to choose any other candidate. He also had the support of the youth vote. This showed Quinn would continue to have support in the future as these youth members grew into full party members.

Edwin Woodborough
Woodborough was, like Quinn, a new member of the party. His aunt was the leader of the party, Maria. Edwin believed he could win the election with his aunty's endorsement but this was not the case. Maria Woodborough refused to endorse any candidate and encouraged the membership to vote for their choice. Edwins rating was down in the dumps throughout the campaign. He had little experience in politics before his election and was only known because of his relations. Woodborough's approval ratings reached an alltime low a few days before the second ballot. He dropped out after public pressure and his aunt's endorsement of Quinn.

Lenny Ricardo
A defector from the Socialist Party and a hard left member of the party, Ricardo was popular among backbenchers and won most of the backbencher support. He was detested by party leadership and his popularity among the majority of the membership was poor. Ricardo was also the only candidate to receive outside criticism. The Federal Republican Party and the Liberal Party all called for Ricardo to be suspended from the race. Ricardo trudged on and eventually was eliminated in the first ballot.

Jules Dwyer
Dwyer was a short term member of the party. She had defected from the Peoples Freedom Party and ran for the leadership under the manifesto of reforming the party. This reformation plan backfired and was accused of bringing the party far to close to center. Dwyer quickly dropped out and after the election of Quinn she left the party to sit as a independent. She rejoined the Peoples Freedom Party and was hugely unpopular among her constituents. She lost her seat in the subsequent election and killed herself a year later from depression.

Results
All 113,500,700 of the party were eligible to vote. Only 78,500,505 showed up to vote. 201,175 votes were voided due to incorrect voting. At first Rodham won the plurality of votes but not a majority. That meant that he could not be elected as leader. Quinn w and as quickly behind winnin over 30 million votes. Woodborough won a surprising 9,000,000+ votes and Ricardo won a reasonable 6,000,000+ votes. Woodborough and Ricardo were both eliminated due to coming 3rd and 4th. On the 1 April the second preference vote was counted and transfers were made. Quinn won 7,290,394 of Woodboroughs votes and 6,033,500 of Ricardo's votes. It was clear Quinn had won by just under 9,000,000 votes. Rodham conceded and congratulated Quinn on his election and hoped they would have a lengthy career together.

Committee rules
This was the first SDP election to be held under the new reformed rules. Before the parliamentary party held 60% of the voting power in the election. Whoever could win 3/4 of the parliamentary party would essentially win the election. This led to a string of unpopular leaders who had no support of the general membership. The executive committee of the party addressed this issue and formally declared the new rules 3 years before the election. It stated that:
 * All members of the Social Democratic Party have one equal vote. No deputy, senator or any executive staff member shall have any extra voting power in the election.
 * The first past the post system is to be replaced by a single transferable vote proprotional represenation voting style. This is to ensure that candidates who have a large amount of first preference and second preference votes should win. This helps the equality of the vote.
 * Voting should now take place by secret ballot. Open ballot should be banned as it is easily manipulated and very confusing.
 * The role of returning officer should be a member nominated by the executive committee no longer the executive secretary.