Shortly after the coronation, all of Serdio turned out for the first elections since the day of the Directory. The coronation of Drake also put the Charter into force. Just days after the coronation, the provisional government dissolved it's self for the elections. Despite this jubilant time, the elections were hardly universal. The Charter set down strict census suffrage, and as such, only 72,000 Serdians, less than 1% of the population were entitled the vote. Many were aristocrats, but there was also an array of wealthy bourgeois. Thus, while elections were held through out Serdio, a portion of the electors were constrained in Serdio, given the requirements for nobles to attend court.

The elections banned the Jacobin party and the Consulist clique, thus dividing the electoral votes between Conservative Royalists (Ultra-Royalists, or Ultras), Liberal Royalists (Doctrinaires), and Independents, who supported neither Royalist Clique. Serdio did not have political parties, and thus on the ballots electors chose whom they wished to support from a list of possible deputies from their various electoral constituencies.

The Election Results!:
Total Seats: 400
Conservatives: 63,360 Votes
Liberals: 8631
Independents: 9

The elections brought a Conservative majority in the Chamber of Deputies. The Chamber of Deputies held four-hundred seats for the first election, thus any potential deputy who received at least one-hundred and eighty votes earned a seat in the Chamber.

Seat Allocation for the '59 Elections:
Conservatives: 352
Liberals: 48
Independents: 0

The results brought an overwhelming victory for the Reactionaries. Out of the 400 seats, more than half were held were held by Ultra-Royalists. The Liberals formed a scant minority, and potential deputies who ran as Independents failed to attract any large sort of vote.

Yet beneath the surface, problems lurked. In the provinces, and indeed all across Serdio, partisans of the Consul were still active and presented a potential problem. Still yet, the reactionary royalists carried out their own purges, with the support of the National Guards against possible radicals. Vast aristocratic estates, broken up under the revolution, were in some parts of the country, forcibly seized back. As such, fear struck into the hearts of the Jacobin and Consulist electors, who were loathe to cast their vote anyone but the Ultras. This gave birth to the so-called 'Unobtainable Chamber,' filled with Reactionary Ultra-Royalists who refused to accept the effects of the Revolution.

Despite these troubled times, the appointment of the Prime Minister fell to the King. This posed a problem. Naturally, he wished to appoint Talleyrand. But as he had served as part of the provisional government, it wasn't possible. A list of illustrious souls were presented before the King, yet none seemed capable of upholding the Charter. Reluctantly, Drake randomly chose from the list of Deputies one Thérèse Maigris*, who sat in the Chamber of Deputies as an Ultra-Royalist, for the borough of Têmes.



*Does the name seem familiar?

Drake's return to Serdio necessitated another election, given that the events following his flight had botched the democratic system and had ended with Méran overthrowing the unworkable government of Prime Minister Maigris in favor of a broad oligarchy that was more workable to his interests. When Drake returned, the Regency of Méran was abolished, yet his National Council remained, which Drake used to push through several laws to redefine system.

For one, all those who had 'aided' Prime Minister Maigris were banned from running in any further elections, for any office. Given the interpretation of aiding the former Prime Minister, nearly all the deputies of the 1st Chamber lost their right to run in any future election: this caused a great blow to the Ultra-Royalist cause; the Consul was no longer on the minds of people, and the Electors felt safe to cast their vote as they pleased.

A wide variety of opinions came to expressed by men running for the Chamber in the second election since the King's restoration. On the far-right remained the Ultra-Royalists, who wished for a return to the Ancien Régime, with a view toward absolutism: domination by the nobility. They were anti-Republican, anti-Democratic, and preached Government on High, by a marked noble elite. They tolerated vote censitaire: a form of democracy limited to taxpayers. Ultra-royalists were interested in preserving aristocracy and promoting absolutism, finding the Charter to be Revolutionary.

The moderates came in the form of the Constitutionnels, who were mostly rich and educated middle-class men: lawyers, senior officials of the Consulate and academics. They feared the triumph of the aristocracy as much as that of the democrats. They accepted the charter because it guaranteed freedom and civil equality and created a barrier to the popular masses who were considered unable, because of their ignorance, to be involved in the management of public affairs.

There were also liberal Royalists, the Doctrinaires who promoted a return to a moderate monarchy and were opposed to the extremists in the form of the Ultra-Royalists.

Independent deputies existed too; Independents were mostly lower middle class: doctors and lawyers, tradesmen, men of law and, in rural constituencies, traders of national goods. They rejected the charter, considering it too conservative. They rejected the Charter, the royal flag, and the pre-eminence of clergy and of nobility.

Thus, when the election day came around, there was a wide clashing of opinions to come to the polls. Gerrymandering was prominent by the King, who sought to secure a chamber who would be more pliable to his interests. At the end of the day, the results were announced:

The Election Results!:
Total Seats: 400
Conservatives: 12,420
Moderates: 36,900
Liberals: 14,940
Independents: 7,740

The elections produced a slight majority by the Moderates. Unlike the previous election, however, no total majority existed. The King was most pleased with the election results, believing it to show the true colors of the electors, to deliver a government that they truly wanted. Like the previous election, any deputy who secured one hundred and eighty votes secured a seat in the Chamber.

Seat Allocation for the '59 Election:
Conservatives: 69
Moderates: 205
Liberals: 83
Independents: 43

The moderates had secured a large portion of the seats, and just little over half of the entire chamber. Unlike the Ultra-Royalists of the previous chamber who had held so many seats that they could tyrannize the scant opposition, the moderates knew they would need to cooperate with other major factions in the Chamber to ensure stability. It was not surprising that the moderates declared that both Liberals and Independents would be included in the next government; a slap in the face for the Conservatives, who would find themselves locked out of government, for so long as this chamber remained in session.

Naturally, the appointment of the Prime Minister fell to the King. Keen to avoid the mistake of the last, Drake allowed his ministers to carefully advise him on a list of choices. Drake finally chose the Duc de Châtellerault, who had moderate ideas, but could be trusted as a friend of the court, with many contacts. A seasoned man with experience in conservative and liberal circles, he was the best choice to heal the wounds caused by Maigris.