No Party Given: Difference between revisions
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When a fictional work features a politician, or two characters running for an elected position, often the parties they represent are not identified.
If, for example, a movie features a [[President Evil]], identifying their party might make a political statement that the writer does not intend to make. It may simply be a lack of commitment on the writer's
It sometimes stretches credibility, but sometimes not. [[Real Life|Real-life]] politicians in the US often say "Smith for Congress" without mentioning party affiliation, but in Britain campaigns often give the party name, e.g. "Vote Labour/Conservative - vote [[wikipedia:John Smith (Politician)|John Smith]]". Some ballot papers don't name the candidates' parties, as in Britain until 1968, and [http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/virginia-ballots-skimp-on-party-id/2011/10/21/gIQAHYuuGM_story.html some US elections today].
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** On one occasion, in fact, Hacker is heard musing on what the Conservative or Labour parties would do in a similar situation, implying he is neither.
** Hacker is also seen wearing a white rosette as the election results are read out at the start of the pilot episode Open Government, alongside others wearing blue (Conservative) and red (Labour) rosettes.
** This is actually part of the point of the
{{quote|''"The Opposition aren't really the Opposition. They're just called the Opposition. But in fact they are the Opposition in exile. The Civil Service are the Opposition in residence."''|Journalist Anthony Jay, paraphrased in an early episode of ''[[Yes Minister]]''}}
** In the [[Novelization|novelisation of the episode]] The Skeleton In The Cupboard, Hacker refers to the opposition being in power at the time of Humphrey's mistake. The episode was made in 1982 and is set no later than 1984, setting Humphrey's mistake during Churchill's administration. This would seem to rule out the Conservative Party.
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* The short-lived ''[[Commander in Chief]]'' had Geena Davis' Vice President run as an Independent with suggested libertarian leanings. When she ends up assuming the presidency after the current president dies, this is brought up as a subject of disquiet more than her gender is.
** She canonically started out as a moderate, New England-style Republican (flashbacks in the Pilot episode show the Connecticut Republican Party recruiting her to run for Congress and she became the arch-conservative President Bridges's running mate because he needed a moderate Republican to balance the ticket). After this, though, she officially became an Independent.
* The Politician's party that Carrie from ''[[Sex and the City]]'' dates for a brief period is kept intentionally
* In an episode of ''[[The Monkees]]'', Mike runs for mayor in order to unseat the corrupt incumbent; neither the party of Mike nor the incumbent mayor is ever given (though Mike can possibly be assumed to be running as an Independent). This leads to a slightly awkward bit of dialogue early on where Mike threatens to take his complaint with the mayor and "dump it in the opposing party's lap".
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* [[Pinky and The Brain|Pinky]] similarly took up stock with the "Pink Party" when he ran for President. The party's chief adviser had previously worked for Nixon, Kennedy, and Dukakis.
=== [[Real Life]] Examples
* In Canada, the Legislative Assemblies of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are non-partisan and all candidates run independently of whatever party they might be a member of (if they hold membership at all).
* The first President of the United States of America, [[George Washington]], is the only president not to belong to any political party. It explains some of the prez/vice prez combinations that followed...
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* Jack Ryan, from the Tom Clancy novel series, is explicitly described as an independent, though he clearly holds policies that mark him as a very conservative [[Author Avatar]].
* Ed Kealty comes close, but it's quite clear that he's nothing more than an amoral, conniving man who's politics only matter in which of Ryan's statements he twists to meet his needs. Durling, while obviously a liberal (as he is Fowler's VP. a character who is clearly in opposition to Ryan's conservatism) is clearly respected by Ryan and returns that respect. Fowler himself is shown as a good man, with very cogent arguments against Ryan's politics and views, his treatment of Ryan bordering on persecution is clearly shown as being caused, not by political differences, but because of misinformation and distortion of the man by Liz Elliot, who maintains a vendetta against him up until her complete breakdown after Denver got nuked. As for Ryan himself, he's very conservative, and something of a Gary Stu, but his views very much resemble real-world ones, if somewhat simplified for plot reasons.
* Rudy Rucker's novel ''Mathematicians In Love'' is a rare example of someone bothering to change the names of the parties -- "Heritagist" and "Common Ground"
* Sneakily averted in the [[Little Britain]] sketches featuring Anthony Stewart Head as the Prime Minister. While his party affiliation is never ''explicitly'' revealed, there are enough clues given to make it blindingly clear that he's Labour - he wears a red tie while the Leader of the Opposition wears a blue one, and his Chancellor of the Exchequer is very obviously based on Gordon Brown (the Prime Minister himself is more loosely based on Tony Blair).
* Alan B'stard in the ''The New Statesman'' just ''had'' to be a Conservative.
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