PoliticsUK

Name: Victoria Penny
Gender: Female 15 points
Sexuality: Straight, married with 2 children 0 points
Age first elected: 46 0 points
Party and faction: Liberal Democrat, Beveridge Group
Religion: Church of England 0 points
Education: Bachelor of Commerce University of the Sorbonne-Paris 0 points, Master's of Arts in Economics from London School of Economics 5 points, Doctor of Philosophy in Economics from the University of Portsmouth [10 points]

Career

• Professor of the School of Economics, University of Portsmouth 10 points
• Head Professor of the School of Economics, University of Portsmouth 15 points
• Public intellectual 5 points
• Groundbreaking academic paper on corruption in government 10 points

Political experience

• Two-term councillor, city of Portsmouth 13 points
• Three-term Mayor, city of Portsmouth 10 points
• Two-term Member of Parliment for Portsmouth South, city of Portsmouth 10 points
• Well known speech on reducing economic inequities 3 points

Victoria Jane Penny was born in St. Ives, England to a shopkeep (Albert Nathan) and an educator (Molly Shanes) in 1951. Vic, as she is known to friends, moved to Paris for her education at the Sorbonne before returning to the UK to complete her higher education, first in London and then in Portsmouth, where she would settle and raise her family.

Attending the University of Portsmouth to complete a doctorate in Economic, Vic's groundbreaking work on exposing the links of corruption in government to the conditions for busisness was globally celebrated and sourced by economics, academics, and legal professionals around the world in the fight against corruption. Vic would join the Board of Directors of the Tranparency International Secretariat as a result of her work and be invited as a tenured professor at the University.

After just five years Vic became the head professor in economics and began writing and interviewing on the media curcuit to promote her ideas. In 1986, she married Portsmouth FC midfielder David Penny and had two children (Mark b, 1990 and Emily b. 1991). Just after her high profile marriage, Vic ran for City Council and after just two terms led the Liberal Democrats to a majority and became the mayor, she would serve three terms and promoted the development of the city, parks and recycling, and community safety as priorites. She was recruited to run for the Liberal Democrats in Portsmouth South in the 1997 elections, she was re-elected in 2001.

The family lives in the Southsea community and owns a summer home on the Isle of Wight. Victoria maintains her strong family ties to Cornwall, where her parents and siblings continue to live around St. Ives and Penzance.

Hi Victoria,

As I mentioned in PM, the Lib Dems are currently full. While we may, eventually, open them up to more players it is currently unavailable. For now, you may join either the Tories or the Labour Party.

Thank you, I'll join the waitlist for now and await a time to start playing. I hope to be able to join soon

For the record, there is no posting of this cap on the Liberal Democrats. I've played this game a long time ago and I am not used to things not being posted on the forum, it seems like a cabal mentality to "know" that rules exist but to not allow new players to navigate them until after the fact. I simply ask for the future that you post these rules in a public, accessible place. To grow the player base, please improve accessibility, the more you use tools like Discord the more exclusive you are being and the less accessible the game becomes to those on the outside.

I will continue to wait patiently for this role, but I would ask that the administrators please communicate rules on this forum and not to a select group of friends who make up their universe. We can do better.

Hi Victoria! Thank you for your valid criticisms - you're absolutely right to post them. A few points that I would raise. First, the fact that the Liberal Democrats are application only implies that an application may be rejected. So while the cap may not be explicit, the intention is there - but it should be made explicit, you're absolutely right about that. The forum just underwent a transformation, so we're working on getting all of the rules posted Second, the use of Discord is not particularly exclusive and I would invite you to join the Discord server. As PolUK evolved through the years it now uses Discord more and more of in game events, as well as for communications between the players. This is not a sign of exclusivity as everyone is welcome. Without joining the Discord, you may find it difficult to interact with your fellow players and participate in key aspects of the game. That said, you raised a valid point about not having a Discord link directly available on the forum (and causing exclusivity issues) and I trust that will be rectified soon. Regarding waiting for the Liberal Democrat role, you are more than welcome to join either the Conservatives or Labour and, if a spot in the Liberal Democrats becomes available, you can apply to join then.

Hopefully we'll see you on Discord soon!

Caroline Blakesley wrote: ↑Mon Dec 14, 2020 6:42 pm Hi Victoria! Thank you for your valid criticisms - you're absolutely right to post them. A few points that I would raise. First, the fact that the Liberal Democrats are application only implies that an application may be rejected. So while the cap may not be explicit, the intention is there - but it should be made explicit, you're absolutely right about that. The forum just underwent a transformation, so we're working on getting all of the rules posted Second, the use of Discord is not particularly exclusive and I would invite you to join the Discord server. As PolUK evolved through the years it now uses Discord more and more of in game events, as well as for communications between the players. This is not a sign of exclusivity as everyone is welcome. Without joining the Discord, you may find it difficult to interact with your fellow players and participate in key aspects of the game. That said, you raised a valid point about not having a Discord link directly available on the forum (and causing exclusivity issues) and I trust that will be rectified soon. Regarding waiting for the Liberal Democrat role, you are more than welcome to join either the Conservatives or Labour and, if a spot in the Liberal Democrats becomes available, you can apply to join then.

Hopefully we'll see you on Discord soon!

Thank you, Caroline. Yes, the nuance may be implied by an application process, but there is no information about the application process at all, one might assume that the process were true of all parties by the same logic. Direct communication can only help this, so whilte I appreciate your defence of this system (can we tell that this is a debating game yet?) you clearly enjoy, it's a pretty poor argument for mediocrity.

I've also already put in an application and been informed about being on the wait list, so that is where I shall stay. I'm putting this forward because I would like to just play on the forum and not on a chat room, and because I suspect that I can't be the only person in the world who feels this way. If people want to connect online and chat, that's great, but the game should exist in one common space for all of us to engage.

Thank you for the warm welcome. Best,
V

Just to clarify, Victoria, the "wait list" which you are on is not in any way a confirmation that you will have the opportunity to play as a Liberal Democrat in this round. Only that, if we ever need to add a Liberal Democrat or replace a Liberal Democrat, that we will keep you in mind. As I mentioned in private message, this round has yet to start and we have three active members currently slotted to play as Lib Dems. The fact that the round has yet to start is also an explanation as to why the forum is not yet fully set up with the information that you are seeking. I would ask that you have patience and do highly recommend that you sign in as a Conservative or Labour member should you wish to play this round and, in the case that a Liberal Democrat slot opens up, you can then apply should you wish.

Barclay wrote: ↑Mon Dec 14, 2020 8:19 pm Just to clarify, Victoria, the "wait list" which you are on is not in any way a confirmation that you will have the opportunity to play as a Liberal Democrat in this round. Only that, if we ever need to add a Liberal Democrat or replace a Liberal Democrat, that we will keep you in mind. As I mentioned in private message, this round has yet to start and we have three active members currently slotted to play as Lib Dems. The fact that the round has yet to start is also an explanation as to why the forum is not yet fully set up with the information that you are seeking. I would ask that you have patience and do highly recommend that you sign in as a Conservative or Labour member should you wish to play this round and, in the case that a Liberal Democrat slot opens up, you can then apply should you wish.

I would very much like to apply, again this has been a less than clear process and I am trying to follow the bouncing ball. Please let me know what you would like for me in order to apply. Yes, I will be patient and would very much like to wait in line as we have discussed. Please let me know if there are any facts or information on the application or decision-making process so that I can best prepare an application.

Victoria Penny wrote: ↑Mon Dec 14, 2020 8:48 pm

Barclay wrote: ↑Mon Dec 14, 2020 8:19 pm Just to clarify, Victoria, the "wait list" which you are on is not in any way a confirmation that you will have the opportunity to play as a Liberal Democrat in this round. Only that, if we ever need to add a Liberal Democrat or replace a Liberal Democrat, that we will keep you in mind. As I mentioned in private message, this round has yet to start and we have three active members currently slotted to play as Lib Dems. The fact that the round has yet to start is also an explanation as to why the forum is not yet fully set up with the information that you are seeking. I would ask that you have patience and do highly recommend that you sign in as a Conservative or Labour member should you wish to play this round and, in the case that a Liberal Democrat slot opens up, you can then apply should you wish.

I would very much like to apply, again this has been a less than clear process and I am trying to follow the bouncing ball. Please let me know what you would like for me in order to apply. Yes, I will be patient and would very much like to wait in line as we have discussed. Please let me know if there are any facts or information on the application or decision-making process so that I can best prepare an application.

No, I'm afraid you've misunderstood me again. Applications for Lib Dems are closed. We are not currently taking applications.