The Queen Of The Geraticaian Empire

Part 1

Chapter 1

Geratica Spring 5013

Alexandra Radcliffe was sat in her chambers at Castra University, listening to the latest radio reports of parliamentary affairs in Geratica. She was particularly interested tonight. The Conservative Party Association of Greenacres, the seat of the Radcliffes’ constituency, was shortly going to be announcing its official candidate for the imminent General Election—the first to be held under the new Constitution that she herself had only recently drafted! This was the reason why it had ultimately been delayed for seven weeks (extended from six), to allow the new ‘Parties’ to be formed and their manifestos drawn up before the traditional fortnight of campaigning. And after the decision of Teresa Brockenhurst, the previous sitting MP, to retire at the election, her mother, Linda Radcliffe, was considered the favourite to be chosen to succeed her as the Conservative Party’s official representative in the town. The decision was due at any moment.

Until the General Election, Teresa Brockenhurst had become temporarily the first leader of the new Conservative Party. It was also being widely speculated that if her mother did become an MP, then she might very well succeed her in the leadership election that would follow.

Benita Davis, Alexandra’s best friend at Castra, and who had been with her at her former public school of Charterhouse College, was at her side. She was rooting for Linda to win the selection, almost as much as Alexandra.

Abruptly, the phone rang making Alexandra jump and almost spill her coffee.

That blasted phone! Who in the world wants to call me at this time? she exclaimed.

Well, let’s see, shall we? replied Benita. I'll answer it for you. You keep listening to the radio.

Thanks! said Alexandra, gratefully.

In fact, Benita regularly performed this task, whenever she was visiting these chambers. Unless she was absolutely sure of who was ringing, Alexandra still hated answering ‘the blasted phone’.

Hello? Benita enquired, after picking up the receiver.

Hello, Benita. It’s Mrs Radcliffe, said Linda on the other end of the line. "I take it that this is my daughter’s chambers that I've been put through to?"

Oh! Hello, Mrs Radcliffe, replied Benita. This is most unexpected! We thought you’d be busy at the Association Meeting at the moment. Yes, of course you’re through to the right place, but I told Alexandra that I’d answer the phone for her.

Alexandra looked over in surprise, and then immediately sprang off her chair.

Hold on, she’s just coming, Benita told Linda, and handed Alexandra the receiver.

Mother! Have you already heard the result?

No, not yet. They’re telling me that it’s going to be another hour or so before the decision, so I thought I’d give you a quick call to let you know. Sources close to the panel are telling me that they’re still confident that I’m going to win, but would you believe it’s turned out that our old friend, Elizabeth Spencer is also trying to gain the candidacy?

Mrs Spencer, Mother? asked Alexandra incredulously. "She wants to stand as a prospective Conservative MP?"

It appears so, darling, unlikely as it might seem at first glance. I met her very briefly earlier, and I couldn’t resist asking her if she’d walked into the wrong Party Association by mistake, but she’s adamant that whilst she has always had radical views on education for boys and male rights in general, most of her other views are broadly in line with conservative policies. Above all else, she insists she opposes ‘socialism’. So, that’s one redeeming quality in her, at least!

You don’t think that she’s doing it purely to stop you winning the candidacy do you, Mother? asked Alexandra, thoughtfully.

"Oh, I’m sure that she’d love to thwart me, sweetheart! replied Linda. We both live in the constituency, and after all of our personal battles and disagreements, nothing would please her more than to become the local MP here, whilst denying me the opportunity in the process. But I think there’s more than just personal revenge on her part. I believe that her name is on the shortlist for a handful of Conservative candidacies. Even assuming that she loses here, she’ll be off to try her luck elsewhere. She’s determined to get into Parliament. And if she succeeds, her ambitions will be high, you can be sure of that."

"I'm also sure that you’re determined to get into Parliament too, Mother. And you’ll be just as ambitious."

"Yes. That’s very true, darling. I intend to become leader of this new Conservative Party, and in turn, Geratica’s first Prime Minister. I may have needed a little time to consider the situation, after Teresa Brockenhurst told me that she was standing down and suggested the full opportunity open to me—but not too long! I want to continue with the work that I started as Senior Administrator to Her Majesty, and the only way that I can achieve that is to get the top job in this new Constitution. Admittedly, I’ve rather put all of my eggs into one basket—as they say on Earth—as I’m only on the shortlist for the candidacy in Greenacres, but I really am quietly confident that I will win here, and I don’t want the hassle of having to take a residency in another constituency, just to get into the House."

With all of your experience, you must stand a very good chance, Mother, opined Alexandra. And it won’t be long now before you know, will it?

No. You’re right again Alexandra, of course. I’d better be getting back to my camp. I’ll call you as soon as I know, I promise, darling, and doubtless, the radio will be reporting it as soon as the result is made public. I love you with all of my heart, darling!

I love you with all of my heart, Mother—but yours will always be the strongest!

They exchanged kisses down the phone, and then hung up.

Chapter 2

Linda, Elizabeth, and two other candidates—Stephanie Ronson and Nadine Norris—sat in a lobby, whilst inside a room leading off behind it, the panel of the Greenacres Conservative Association made their final deliberations. There was an uncomfortably tense atmosphere.

I suppose you think that this is yours for the taking, eh Linda? asked Elizabeth, mischievously. I mean it’s no secret that you’re Teresa Brockenhurst’s chosen heir!

Linda refused to take the bait.

"I’m sure that we all feel that we could represent this constituency for the Conservatives, Mrs Spencer. I do naturally feel that my portfolio of experience, coupled with long residency in the town, should give me a good chance of being selected, but I never take anything for granted. I think you know that."

Oh, yes, Mrs Radcliffe. Naturally! replied Elizabeth inclining her head slightly, a faint smile on her lips. In truth, she believed herself that Linda was going to win. It was just that she wanted to at least try and stop her from entering Parliament. She too wanted to be leader of the Conservatives, but that position would be harder to come by with Mrs Radcliffe in the party, as well. But, if that did prove to be the case then so be it. She would just have to make sure that she got another seat, and then fight the subsequent leadership election—which would surely involve Linda—from there.

"But of course, Stephanie and I have also resided in Greenacres for many years," she continued.

Linda smiled back amiably.

I’m sure that you’ll be successful in one of your other candidacies, Mrs Spencer. If you keep knocking on doors for long enough, one is sure to open for you eventually.

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed slightly as the words of Linda’s reply hit the spot where they had been aimed.

"You haven’t won yet, Mrs Radcliffe!" she countered in a soft but menacing tone.

To the relief of both Stephanie and Nadine, the door then opened, thus bringing this exchange to an end.

Mrs Radcliffe, please come in for a moment, urged Rosiland Bannister, Chair of the Greenacres Conservative Party Association.

Thank you. Of course, replied Linda. As she got up, she avoided eye contact with Elizabeth, but both women realised the probable significance of Linda being called in first.

Once they were inside the room, Rosiland closed the door.

Take a seat, Linda, she offered, motioning to the table by the window, before taking hers on the other side. To her left and right were the two other women making up the selection panel.

I shall put you out of your misery straight away, Mrs Radcliffe, she began, we should like you to be our candidate for the Greenacres constituency in the imminent General Election!

Despite her confidence prior to the decision being made, Linda’s heart still beat a little faster in her excitement. Inwardly, she took a deep breath to compose herself, and then smiled broadly.

Thank you, Madam Chair! I am honoured, and will do my best to represent the interests of everybody in our constituency at Parliament.

Everyone in the room shook hands with, and congratulated Linda.

It is our pleasure, Mrs Radcliffe! replied Rosiland.

Naturally, this will be a blow to Mrs Spencer, declared Linda.

Rosiland cleared her throat nervously and pulled a face.

Yes. It will. She’s the first person that we will need to get in here after you, to tell the bad news to.

Still. I wouldn’t be too worried, added Linda. Of course, she’ll be disappointed, and even more so that she didn’t stop me, but she’s got other opportunities.

Well…her support for the Male Rights Protestors, plus that business at Charterhouse involving her late daughter and yours, surely won’t do her any favours, observed Rosalind. "I'm surprised that she didn’t prefer to try and stand as a Radical—or that our Conservative Party is prepared to think of her as ‘suitable’, come to that!"

I think that both of those things surprised many of us,' replied Linda, although to be fair, we perhaps never properly considered what her true views were on a broader range of issues. She just kept banging the same drum militantly, and infuriated those of us who felt more traditionally about that particular issue. But the tide may at least be beginning to turn in her favour over it now, anyhow. My hunch is that the Conservative Party is going to have to embrace some of the less extreme proposals from that accursed cause that she’s been championing for so long.

Personally, I found some of her actions at Charterhouse morally questionable, but after leaving under a cloud, I think her reputation has been slightly rebuilt. I’ll be genuinely surprised if she doesn’t manage to stand as a Conservative candidate somewhere, during the campaign. Though I think she’ll have to stand aside as leader of the Male Rights Protestors, if she’s got any serious ambitions of progressing up the political ladder—she can’t just be seen as a ‘one issue’ MP!

Speaking of Party policy, and progressing up the political ladder, said Rosalind. Now that you are confirmed as a Party candidate Mrs Radcliffe, may we possibly enquire what your plans might be in that regard? We will shortly need to elect a leader, to possibly become Prime Minister—should we win the forthcoming General Election.

"We will win the election!" asserted Linda, strongly.

"Yes. Well, the rumours nationally have been that you will probably stand as a candidate for the leadership, Mrs Radcliffe, as you must surely know. Have you made any firm decisions on that yet?"

Linda looked Rosalind straight in the eye.

I have, and I will be standing, she said simply.

Oh excellent. That’s great! exclaimed Rosalind, thrilled that she might possibly turn out to have played a part in selecting an MP that became the first official Conservative Party leader, and Geratica’s first Prime Minister. I’m sure that your record and the policies you put forward will appeal to many Conservative MPs at Parliament House.

I am confident that my record and policies will appeal to many Geraticans too, declared Linda. "I want us to win this election, so that my becoming Party leader, also makes me Prime Minister. Nothing less will satisfy me. I will have much of the work which I began and established as Senior Court Administrator to Her Majesty, continued with under this new Constitution, and I can only guarantee that by being at the head of Her Majesty’s government."

Oh, absolutely, concurred Rosalind. She had no intention of disagreeing with her. If Mrs Radcliffe had set her sights on leading Geratica, then she was sure that Mrs Radcliffe would do just that.

******

Elizabeth Spencer was duly called into the office a short time later. She wasn’t altogether surprised at the news and took it quite well—better than Rosiland had feared, in fact.

Afterwards, Elizabeth congratulated Linda, and told her that she was determined to prove her prediction of success, in another constituency, correct.

Then she hurried away to her car, and drove home. She wanted to get a good night’s sleep and prepare for another selection process tomorrow, in the constituency of Strawbridge, a small town some 150 miles away on Castra’s west coast.

Chapter 3

Elizabeth had just got home quite late, when the phone rang.

Blast! she exclaimed in exasperation.

She was unable to keep the impatience from her voice when she answered it. The caller, somewhat to her surprise, was ‘Red Rosie’ Wilson, who had become the leader of the new Radicals Party.

Rosie, what in the name of Geratica do you want at this time of day? she asked wearily. I’ve had a busy day, and there’s another one tomorrow!

"I’ve just heard that you didn’t get selected for Greenacres and lost out to ‘Mrs Radcliffe’! Don’t you realise that you’ll never get into Parliament with that lot? Stuck up, posh cows, the lot of them—especially that Linda Radcliffe. I suppose they’ll make her leader once the election’s over, and Brockenhurst’s retired. I’ll have to face her across the dispatch box every week in Parliament. You’re not one of them, you’re one of us—a radical! How many Conservatives truly support Male Rights? At least you might get more of a chance on our side. Why not try for selection as a Radical in a constituency whose current MP is on my side? I can twist a few arms at a Radical Party Association to get them to select you. A couple of MP's are retiring on our side of the House too, you know."

For two reasons, Rosie, retorted Elizabeth crossly. "Firstly, I want to stand for Parliament on my own merit, and not just due to someone else pulling the strings. And secondly, I am only a ‘Radical’ up to a point. I may have been at odds with the establishment view over Male Rights—although there are now some small signs that they’re slowly shifting their position—but on many other subjects, I am very much a Conservative. I am no socialist!"

We aren’t just socialists… Rosie began to protest.

However, Elizabeth was in no mood to discuss that issue in great detail tonight.

"Most of your policies are about socialism, Rosie! she interrupted. I doubt if many of you and your militant friends in the Radicals Party, the Unions, or amongst a lot of the traditional ‘working class’ women in the workplace—or even outside of it—care one jot for Male Rights, despite what you may claim. There are some who I’ve met, who feel differently—I won’t deny it—but in my experience, many of them are even more ‘conservative’ in their views on the subject, than the official Conservative Party. Some of the biggest bastions of female chauvinism are on the Radical side. I want to be in a party that allows me to fight for what I want to achieve, by dialogue and genuine persuasion—not simply one which primarily has a socialist agenda, and just wants to use issues like Male Rights as a convenient anti-establishment tool to beat the Conservatives with, but with no real sympathy for the cause. I believe that the Conservatives now offer me the best opportunity—and probably always did. I’m sorry Rosie, but I’ve made my decision—not that it was ever much in doubt. I will never join your rabble!"

Rosie was seething down the phone, desperately trying to keep her hot temper under control.

"Well, if that’s the way you feel, then I’ve obviously wasted my time phoning! I’m only sorry that I misjudged you. I thought you might feel more allegiance to the Radicals than the Conservatives, but clearly, I was wrong. You’re just as much of a pompous windbag as Radcliffe! I knew that you taught a lot of those rich bitches’ daughters, but I thought that you tried to use your position as Charterhouse Headmistress to help the poor. But it’s true what I’ve always said—you privileged few look after your own, and damn the rest!"

I never said anything of the sort! retorted Elizabeth, indignantly.

But this time, it was Rosie who was having no more. For some time, she’d been hoping to court Elizabeth Spencer to Parliament, so that the Radicals could have someone of her position on their side in the House, and now tonight, she was genuinely shocked to find out that the blasted woman was a Conservative after all. Never a good loser, particularly to the other political side, she now fully confirmed her reputation.

When I become Prime Minister, I shall tax your kind’s earnings so high that you won’t be able to afford the comfortable pads you currently live in! she ranted. I’ll leave you with nothing, and put you out on the streets within six months! Then the State will take your houses and use them how it sees fit—for the benefit of the poor! You’ve made an enemy of me today, and you’d better not forget it!

Elizabeth took a gasping intake of breath at the invective coming down the receiver into her ear. Sometimes, no shrinking violet herself in that regard, her own anger was stirring, and after yet another loss to Linda Radcliffe today, she was looking for someone to take it out on. However, before she got the chance to respond with the comment that it might be a case of ‘if" rather than ‘when’ Miss Wilson became Prime Minister, ‘Red Rosie’ was gone, slamming down the phone in her own fury. Elizabeth did likewise, and with an effort, managed to calm herself down. She sighed heavily. Now, she was beginning to appreciate how Linda Radcliffe felt about Rosie Wilson, and how much she loathed her.

Not a likeable woman! she thought, as she went off to get her dinner and ready herself for tomorrow.

Rosie did not calm down so quickly though. After slamming down the handset, she hurled the entire phone across her hallway, so that the wiring was forced out of its socket, causing a flash of sparkling energy as the cable snapped. The realisation that she was now without a phone until she got it fixed, caused a further wave of fury within her, and she tipped over the entire table where the device had formerly been, so that it crashed to the hall floor, scattering directories and notes in all directions. Then she flounced away.

******

Meanwhile, before returning home after completing a radio interview, and a press conference, Linda phoned Alexandra back in her Chambers at Castra. She hadn’t had a chance to until then. Her daughter warmly congratulated her.

So, now I have my foot in the door, at least, commented Linda.

Alexandra, you really must stop Benita from answering your own personal phone at Castra, she urged her daughter, changing the subject. It’s most confusing for me when I ring and someone else answers. I think that I’ve been put through to the wrong chambers!

Sorry, Mother, replied Alexandra. "It's just that when Benita’s there, she knows that I hate answering it unless I know for sure whose calling. She doesn’t mind, and it seems to work well for me here. But you know that if you order it, I will make sure that it doesn’t happen anymore, and I’ll answer every call!"

Linda sighed.

Well, one day you’ll be the Lady of your own house, darling. I would normally expect a woman in that position to answer her own phone. That’s part of being in control and taking charge of your household. Unless you’re planning to have Tom do it for you?

Er, well Mother, um that is, I haven’t…

Now Linda chuckled.

You’re floundering again! It’s all right, sweetheart, I’m not going to ‘order’ you to do something like that. It’s none of my business what you do in your own environment. I’m just making an observation, from a traditionalist Geratican’s point of view, that’s all. But I realise that times may be changing—and not all of the change may be for the worse either. If it helps you, then I suppose I can’t complain all that much.

Mother, that’s remarkably forward thinking and liberal of you! exclaimed Alexandra, teasingly. Are you getting into practice for when you start campaigning at the General Election?

Linda nearly dropped the phone receiver.

Why, you cheeky little…How dare you? she exclaimed, as her daughter giggled. If anyone thinks that I’m going to try and be elected to Geratica’s parliament, preaching soft cuddly nonsense, then they’ve got another thing coming! Sensible, traditionalist conservatism will always be my message. You won’t find me talking of any other way!

And no one would believe anything else of you, Mother, replied Alexandra. She knew that this was true, though she also knew that deep inside, her mother had more of a softer side to her than she sometimes let on in public. Despite the strictness of her upbringing, and the dominance of her mother in her life, she had experienced that side on numerous occasions.

******

Later, Linda returned to The Grange in triumph.

I always knew you'd do it! exhorted James, as he welcomed her with a kiss. "Well