It was a straight shoot for the finish line. Everyone expected pretty much the same outcome: the Democratic Liberal Party would lose its simple majority in Parliament, necessitating the formation of a coalition. Most expected a unity government with the more centrist parts of the Labour Free Party to eke out a vote of confidence, with a confidence-and-supply agreement with the national party coming next. While the majority of the DLP was somewhat of an anomaly in a proportional representative system and a society as kaleidoscopic as Jerusalem's, most pundits took the unprecedented economic and educational growth in consideration. The consensus was the DLP only needing a couple of seats to form a government, in which it would have to perhaps sacrifice a policy position or two, but would be mainly set.

What most pundits did not take into consideration was the arrival of Princess Victoria. While leaning left-wards on the political spectrum, she appreciated PM Kinner's offer of security and was intensely wary of the LFP's dovish stances, especially with regards to her immediate family members. She endorsed the DLP months before the election, providing a much needed stimulus.

The most striking image to arrive was convoys of voters crowding the hourly ferries connecting Catwood with the mainland. With the government scheduling the turnover for the New Year, they were still under Jerusalemite protection. While they were not automatically given a vote due to being Welsh citizens primarily, there was a loop-hole of sorts where anyone living in Jerusalem-protected Wales could attain citizenship and vote in a greatly expedited process, emanating from a desire to not withhold representation from those being protected. Hundreds if not thousands took the day-trip to the mainland to submit their ballots for the DLP, remembering their status as refugees fleeing from the March Kingdom and protected by Kinner and also the urges of Princess Victoria, whom they were more loyal to than her family at the least.

More significantly, this story touched a nerve in many of Jerusalem's recent expansions. The citizens of Swindon and Bath, until recently being citizens of independent city states, distinctly remembered tales of fortnightly raids and murders outside their city gates only stopped by the expansionist agenda of the DLP. While some would inevitably move to the right-ward National Party, most preferred the defensive emphasis of the DLP militarily, which preserved enough of the budget to invest in economic prosperity (they were also less keen on the NP's nativist rhetoric understandably).

This culminated in the DLP retaining its slim majority, with a historical circumstance being replaced by firm political support from those that did vote for them. Some parts of the agenda are more popular universally, particularly those based around the protection of democracy, and some parts such as the social market economic ideas being common objects for debate. At least the election itself was in good spirits, and in good fun.

The Federation of Jerusalem in England, Parliament 2135