Following the Imperial Party's spectacular election results it has had some difficulty in choosing how its new First Minister ought to be. The word in the corridors of power has it that this is because of the uneasiness in choosing between the two primary candidates, neither of whom are palatable to everyone.
Many have seen Lord Armstrong as a stronger candidate for FM than Seb Rathbone, although it all depends on the individual Senators where their sympathies lie. But it is very much choosing between two evils…
The thing with Seb is that he is a potential candidate for First Citizen, and there could be a vacancy there soon. Making him FM will almost certainly accelerate him to the front of the race for FC when it comes up. From Seb's point of view this is excellent, but he's a bit too brash and ambitious to be a good FC, and there is the possibility that he might actually try and run the Empire given that he'll have been the FM previously…
Armstrong on the other hand has the smell of fascism lingering a bit too closely about him. He's been the subject of a high level worry that he might be about to go it alone, and has been through the governmental equivalent of a strip search. That said, he's been the most successful Quadrant Governor in the Imperium ever (or at least for a very long time indeed). I doubt anyone has added more systems to the Empire in their tenure than he has. Whatever happens you want him in the tent.
In the circumstances Ashanti has accepted that he ought to make way for an Imperial Party Senator and has urged Senators to vote for the successor that he felt was most likely to be in the best interests of the Imperium. Surprisingly Ashanti told people that Senator Armstrong was his preferred candidate.
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