Kenneth O'Conner

    

The Right Honorable Kenneth O'Conner MP, PC
O'Conner at the 2020 Royalist National Convention.
Deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sierra
Incumbent
Assumed office December 2, 2022
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Maggie Chan
Preceded by	Nazareth Ontoria-Diaz
Leader of the Opposition
In office December 4, 2020 – December 2, 2022
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Susan Kwon
Deputy	Isabelle Huynh
Preceded by	Alexander Lee
Succeeded by	Susan Kwon
Member of the K.S. House of Commons for Bristol Valley (Inland Empire's 13th district)
Incumbent
Assumed office May 17, 2004
Preceded by	Eric Pipitone
Majority	3,415 (4.3%)
Leader of the Royalist Party
Incumbent
Assumed office December 4th, 2020
Deputy	Isabelle Huynh
Preceded by	Nemesis Heartwell
Additional positions Shadow Minister of Defense In office May 4, 2020 – December 2, 2022 Leader Nemesis Heartwell Preceded by Felix Sypher In office October 16, 2013 – December 16, 2016 Preceded by George Reeves Succeeded by Felix Sypher Minister of Defense of Sierra In office December 16, 2016 – May 4, 2020 Prime Minister Daniel McComb (2016–2017) Nemesis Heartwell (2017–2020) Deputy Johan J. Esper Preceded by Henry McNail Succeeded by Felix Sypher Speaker of the Inland Empire Provincial Assembly In office September 12, 1996 – May 17, 2004 Preceded by Jackson Moore Succeeded by Michael Kruger
Personal details
Born	(1955-07-09) July 9, 1955 Riverside, Inland Empire, Kingdom of Sierra
Political party	Royalist
Education	University of Sierra, Riverside
Religion	Baptist
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Sierra
Branch/service	Sierran Royal Air Force
Unit	22nd Air Defense Regiment
Battles/wars	Vietnam War Easter Offensive

Kenneth O'Conner (born July 9 1955) is a Sierran politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from Bristol Valley (Inland Empire's 13th district) since 2004, Leader of the Royalist Party since 2020, and Deputy Prime Minister since 2022. Previously, he served as Minister of Defense and two terms as Shadow Minister of Defense under the shadow governments of both Daniel McComb and Nemesis Heartwell both before and after serving as Minister of Defense under both of their premierships and served as Leader of the Opposition from 2020 to 2022, opposing the government of Susan Kwon and briefly Maggie Chan.

A native citizen of the Inland Empire born in the provincial capital of Riverside, Kenneth O'Conner was raised in a very religious and traditional household who attended and graduated from the University of Sierra. In 1973, he enlisted in the Sierran Royal Air Force where he became a member of the 22nd Air Defense Regiment and fought in the Vietnam War during the final stages of the war. He was present for Anglo-American counter-attacks against North Vietnam during the final years of the war in defense of South Vietnam. After the war ended in a stalemate, O'Conner admitted that he felt disappointed not long after the war ended and remained in the air force until his retirement in 1988. After his retirement, he joined the Royalist Party and eventually became the speaker for the Inland Empire Provincial Assembly in 1996 and remained in that position until he resigned in 2004 when he ran in the 2004 federal election to represent the 13th district, Bristol Valley, a seat that he won.

After being elected as a member of the House of Commons, he would represent the Bristol Valley and by extension part of the Inland Empire in parliament and would soon become one of its most notable, albeit controversial members, for his interventionist foreign policy. During the 2008 Sierran federal election, O'Conner defended then-Prime Minister Diana Jeong and her decision to intervene in the Iraq War, but would result in the Royalists losing their coalition government in parliament. During the 2012 Royalist Party leadership election, O'Conner endorsed Daniel McComb and became one of his most vocal supporters and was eventually appointed Shadow Minister of Defense as party of McComb's shadow government until he became the official Minster of Defense in 2016 following the Royalist victory in the 2016 federal election.

In 2017, O'Conner defended McComb even as he was under increasing pressure and scrutiny as a result of a series of sexual abuse and assault allegations became more and more public. After McComb resigned, he ran in the 2017 Royalist Party leadership election and made it past the firs two rounds, but lost the third one and would later support Nemesis Heartwell as party leader in the third and final round. Since Heartwell became Prime Minister, O'Conner has remained Minister of Defense and has continued his vocal support for an interventionist foreign policy and is the most well known member of the Royalist Party's neoconservative faction. Just like with McComb, O'Conner is one of Heartwell's most staunch defenders and has frequently defender her in public, in the media, in parliament and in the CAS as well.

On May 1, 2020, the 2020 Sierran federal election was held and while O'Conner kept his seat, his party had lost and suffered a major defeat with the Royalists forced back into the Opposition and lost his position as Minister of Defense. On May 4, it was announced that he was appointed by Nemesis Heartwell, current Leader of the Opposition, to serve as part of her Opposition Cabinet as Shadow Minister of Defense, a post he held during McComb's shadow government before 2016. O'Conner accepted it and stated that he would work hard to hold the Ministry of Defense to account and stated his intent to "remind" his successor, Felix Sypher, of "Sierra's vital and moral responsibility to the world" as a critique of Sypher's non-interventionism. On October 12, O'Conner announced his candidacy for the 2020 Royalist Party leadership election and would go on to emerge victorious in the election on December 1. He was sworn in on December 4 on the fourth and last day of the 2020 Royalist National Convention.

As Leader of the Opposition, O'Conner opposed the tenure of Susan Kwon, specifically opposing her social democratic and progressive policies. He opposed the National Health Protection Act of 2020 and the Public Security Reformation Act of 2021, and reaffirmed the Royalist Party's commitment to Sierran conservative values. However, as leader of the Royalist Party, O'Conner has taken steps towards moderating the party's platform, distancing the party from the conservative populism promoted by McComb and Heartwell and improving its image following a plethora of scandals. O'Conner led the Royalist Party in the 2021 and 2022 federal election, regaining traditional strongholds while improving performance in the Styxie.

On December 2, 2022, O'Conner and newly-elected Prime Minister Maggie Chan reached an agreement in which the Democratic-Republicans, Royalists, and their respective allies joined together in a grand coalition. As leader of the second-largest party, O'Conner was made Deputy Prime Minister, replacing Social Democrat Nazareth Ontoria-Diaz.

Early life

Kenneth O'Conner was born on July 5th, 1955 in the city of Riverside, capital of the Inland Empire. He grew up in a strict religious and traditional household and lived within the suburbs of Riverside away from the urban center of the city. Growing up, O'Conner had a relatively normal childhood, but admitted that he felt alienated in middle and high school due to him being the most religious student in his classes as well as the most vocal religious student. He had a few friends and admitted to rebelling in his youth such as going out with friends to the city center in his free time on weekend nights. He admitted to sneaking out at night and wasn't until his parents found out and made him take up a job to pay for his outings that he eventually stopped. His father, Neil O'Conner, sought to enforce discipline in him and so made him sign up for the air force when he turned 18 in 1973 and enlisted two months after graduating high school.

Minister of Defense

Appointment

O'Conner was chosen by McComb to be the Minister of Defense before the formation of the new government following the 2016 federal election which saw McComb and the Royalists rise to power. The decision was unsurprising as O'Conner was the Shadow Minister of Defense in McComb's Opposition Cabinet. The first major act of the Senate was the appointment of O'Conner who was approved by the Senate with support bing drawn upon partisan lines with the Senate Royalists and most Libertarians backing him while the Senate Democratic-Republicans, Social Democrats and Greens voting against his appointment. His appointment was controversial as his pro-war and interventionist stance was well known, especially his support for the Iraq War, calling for a stronger presence in the Styxie to combat dissident republicans and acceptance of wider surveillance was well known and his eventual appointment and swearing in caused protests to break out.

Leader of the Royalist Party

Election

Main article: 2020 Royalist Party leadership election

On October 12 2020, Nemesis Heartwell had abruptly resigned as Leader of the Royalist Party following mounting pressure from an antisemitism controversy which resulted in calls from both within and outside of the Royalist Party for her to resign, which she did and named Alexander Lee acting party leader. This would trigger a leadership election with O'Conner entering into the race on October 15, two days after Camden Robinson announced his candidacy. O'Conner entered into the race with high name recognition due to his record of serving under McComb and Heartwell in both of their respective opposition cabinets and governments and also for serving as the Defense Minister from 2016 until 2020. O'Conner campaigned on opposing normalizing relations with the United Commonwealth and containing them, opposing China, continued involvement in Syria and the repeal of the National Health Protection Act.

Alongside Robinson, O'Conner also ran against Joseph Clark from Maricopa and Laura Jones from Kings in a four-way race. Throughout the leadership election, O'Conner remained the front runner and peformed well in all of the leadership debates praised for his presence, speaking abilities, and holding his ground against three other people with Robinson being the most notable opponent he faced off against. While criticized for it, O'Conner defended his record of support for bipartisanship and stated he would aim towards it, but reiterrated his opposition to Susan Kwon and her Social Democratic government. The final vote was held on December 1 on the first day of the 2020 Royalist National Convention and emerged victorious. He was sworn in on December 4 with his acceptance speech being the closing speech of the convention.

Tenure

O'Conner's first order as party leader occured on December 6 where he ordered that an election would be held to elect a new deputy leader, a position that has been vacant since the abrupt resignation of Harvey MacDonald in 2014. The RNC approved of it and the 2020 Royalist Party deputy leadership election was schedueled for December 18 until the 28. Isabelle Huynh, a fellow Royalist who served with O'Conner in Heartwell's government and shadow cabinet, was the first to enter into the race with O'Conner endorsing her on the same day she announced her candidacy. Huynh would eventually go onto win the election, becoming O'Conner's deputy on December 28th.

Political positions

Main article: Political positions of Kenneth O'Conner

Throughout his political career, Kenneth O'Conner has been described as a "moderate Royalist" and a moderate conservative in his political leanings. He refers to himself as a "traditional Sierran from the south" that leans conservative, but claims to have "some non-right leanings". As Speaker of the Inland Empire Provincial Assembly, O'Conner was an important figure for the province's Royalist Party chapter and conservatives, but was willing to vote with Inland Empire's Democratic-Republicans in bipartisan decisions. He describes himself as a social and cultural conservative with a "small bit of liberalism", but cites Democratic-Republican Prime Minister Henry Faulkner as one of his inspirations for his foreign policy views.

National surveillance

O'Conner has voted in favor of national surveillance and has justified it by citing numerous incidents as proof that it's necessary. In a 2011 interview, O'Conner claimed that surveillance was important as a means of arresting potential terrorists and sleeper agents from Mexico, the latter of which he's called Sierra's greatest threat, and believes that surveillance is key to stopping Mexican-sponsored terrorist attacks. In 2014, O'Conner voted for the Inland Empire Protection Act which expanded surveillance in the province and gave provincial law enforcement agencies the ability to engage in further surveillance.

Foreign policy

O'Conner has been vocal in his support for an interventionist foreign policy in both interviews and speeches as well as his voting record. In 2003, he helped pass a joint resolution in the Inland Empire Assembly that announced support to the Iraq War and referred to the invasion as "a necessary means to bringing democracy and stability in the Middle East". O'Conner has also been vocal in his support for the War in Afghanistan and has supported stationing more Sierran troops in places like Iraq, South Vietnam, Korea and Central Europe to deter Sierra's regional adversaries. In 2017, O'Conner traveled to Manchuria to meet with military leaders in an attempt to convince the Manchu government to consider allowing Sierran troops to be stationed on their border with the Eurasian Commonwealth to deter the union.

O'Conner has been one of the most vocal critics of Mexico and has frequently called the country a rogue nation and accused President Pablo Hidalgo de Veracruz of being a dictator and a sponsor of terrorism in Sierra. In a 2017 interview with the Riverside Times, O'Conner applauded McComb's calls to contain Mexico saying that "it's necessary to both Sierra and Brazoria that we keep our borders safe. Mexico is a hostile foreign power and a fascistic dictatorship that threatens the stability of Anglo-America. In 2018, O'Conner traveled to the United Commonwealth to negotiate with Commonwealth officials in imposing an arms embargo on Mexico to prevent them from modernizing their military as part of their Emergency Mobilization Plan. In 2015, O'Conner supported the Mexico Resolution and called parliament's decision to not pass it a "grave disappointment".

O'Conner himself self-identifies as a light American unionist where despite sharing criticisms of the Conference of American States, he largely supports the intergovernmental organization and believes that it can act as a force for good in the world and thus supports Sierra's membership in the CAS, though he didn't oppose the 2017 CAS act proposed under McComb and voted for remain in the ensuing referendum. O'Conner supports the expansion of the Combined Armed Forces of America believing that the CAS and its members have the capacity to wield significant military power and believe that they should act upon it and has campaigned for members of the American Parliament that support his interventionist worldview and expanding CAFA into a major multinational expeditionary military force that should have a far more active role in international affairs.

O'Conner has been very critical of China having accused the country of having imperialistic ambitions such as in 2014 when China annexed Rehe province from Manchuria which resulted in widespread international condemnation and for economic sanctions to be imposed on the country. O'Conner would vote to impose sanctions on China and also voted to approve the deployment of Sierran troops to Manchuria as part of the CAS Forces – Manchuria in 2015 when the unit was formed. O'Conner has been supportive of continued Sierran involvement in the Syrian Civil War and voted against attempts to scale back Sierran involvement.

Free speech

In July 2014, a man was arrested for during a copy of the Quran in San Francisco and was arrested by the provincial police for violating the province's hate speech law. In response, O'Conner said that the decision was just and that parliament should look into regulating some forms of speech. In 2017 he stated how he believes that individuals that express statements supporting Mexico and the actions of Mexican-backed militants and terrorist organizations should be treated with suspicion and looked into as possible terrorist sympathizers saying how it was "irresponsible not to" when interviewed by The Bunker Hill Journal.

Gun rights

O'Conner has been a long-time gun rights advocate and is a card carrying and registered member of the National Rifle Association of Sierra and is a frequent speaker and guest at their conventions. O'Conner has opposed measures to impose gun control and was critical of the gun control legislation pushed by Steven Hong during his tenure as Prime Minister and supported McComb's efforts to overturn Hong-era gun regulations and federal laws.

Climate change

O'Conner has been skeptical in the scientific consensus surrounding climate change calling it "much to believe" saying that the idea of a scientific consensus seemed "ridiculous and counter-productive to scientific research". In 2018 he said that the earth's temperature was rising and that it could be a potential issue down the line, but believed that the concerns surrounding its effects have been overblown and accused the Democratic-Republican Party and Social Democrats of falling for "far-left Marxist hysteria".

Electoral history

Main article: Electoral history of Kenneth O'Conner

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Political offices
Parliament of the Kingdom of Sierra
Preceded by Thomas Duncan	Member of Parliament for Bristol Valley (Inland Empire's 13th district) May 17, 2004 – Present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Henry McNeil	Minister of Defense December 16, 2016 – May 4, 2020	Succeeded by Felix Sypher
Preceded by George Reeves	Shadow Minister of Defense October 16, 2013 – December 16, 2016	Succeeded by Felix Sypher
Preceded by Felix Sypher	Shadow Minister of Defense May 4, 2020 – December 2, 2022	Succeeded by TBD
Preceded by Nemesis Heartwell	Leader of the Opposition December 4, 2020 – December 2, 2022	Succeeded by Susan Kwon
Party political offices
Preceded by Nemesis Heartwell	Leader of the Royalist Party December 4, 2020 – Present	Succeeded by Incumbent