As the final pieces of Blythenhale rain down like ash over the city, the Election of 1896 officially closes. While many were sure the Captivating Princess would win, it was the Jovial Contrarian, in his second run, who grasped victory.

It was quite the turnaround from the Election of 1894, where the Jovial Contrarian lost to Sinning Jenny with only 35% of the vote (compared to her 55%).

This year the two runners up were neck-in-neck, with Mr Slowcake at 24% and the Captivating Princess at 29%.

As with previous Elections, players could choose between three different political careers in order to support their chosen candidate:

The Campaigner : Leaflets and rosettes, shouting and posters. The Campaigner is part foot-soldier, part strategist.

The Fixer : Hints and nudges, velvet glove and iron fist. The Fixer arranges matters just so, sweeping obstacles from the path to victory.

The Agitator : Pressure and pamphlets, vitriol and rotten vegetables. The Agitator harries and harasses the opponent’s campaign.

While Agitators rose 2% from last year, the difference between Campaigner and Fixer softened with a 43% to 40% split.

Through engaging in a variety of political activities, your Career Level could be raised to a maximum of 20 points.

Campaigners fought hard this year to rise to the top, making up nearly 50% of Level 20s!

While the Princess and Contrarian share vary similar numbers across the three Career types, it is worth a momentary chin rub to consider that Mr Slowcake achieved the most Fixers.

This year Mr Huffam also conducted a series of five opinion polls about our fair candidates.

The Captivating Princess, true to her name, won most of these, including:

Who would you rather have a drink with?

Who would you rescue from a burning building?

And who would you trust to run a bath?

Poor Mr Slowcake came out very short on the first two questions, compared to the Princess and the Contrarian.

Meanwhile, the Contrarian managed to just barely beat the Captivating Princess on the last two questions released, which possibly show his gain in momentum further along in the campaign. Very interesting that Mr Huffam’s polls weren’t quite an accurate reflection of the true vote.

Who would you want for company on a lonely island at zee?

Who’s your second choice candidate?

Though it’s worth mentioning that, that last question was incredibly even across all three candidates (even Mr Slowcake)!

Each year you continue to amaze us with your political campaigning skills and scintillating debates, delicious friends. Despite one last explosion the Election of 1896 seems to have ended on a positive, if not calm, note. Now to wait and see what the Jovial Contrarian can bring to our marvellous city!

As always, we’re eager to know which citizens of the Neath would make exciting candidates for next year’s Mayoral Election! Thoughts can be shared in the official 1897 thread here.