Roland Knightly

The Hon. Dr. Roland Nicholas Francis Knightly MP(born 26th of April, 1950) is a Berringsland Christian Democratic Politician, Leader of the Christian Democrats and the First Minister of Berringsland. He also serves as the Member of Parliament for Adelford Trinity-Arthen. He is notable for instigating the "new" Centrist peaceful resistance movement from 1997 onwards and is considered the founder of the Christian Democrats.

Early Life
Roland Nicholas Francis Knightly was born on the 26th of April, 1950 in Adelford, Berringsland, to a well-off academic family. Both his parents were decidedly apolitical but they often voted Centrist. An intelligent man, Roland went to school at a private Christian boarding school and graduated with full honours from Adelford University in History and Politics, after which he went on to work on a PhD thesis, earning him the academic grade of doctor in 1975 with a thesis titled "Caught in the Middle? A Comparative Study of Centrist Ideologies around the world", out of disappointment by the disbandment of the Centre Party. At the age of 19, Roland had already joined the Centrist Party. He found it a waning power, full of corruption. Nevertheless, the young academic tried to convince his fellow youth wing members (and sometimes older party members, too) that the Centrist Party was in need of reform. When the Centrist Party was disbanded in 1974, Roland's disappointment with the rest of the political spectrum led to him dedicating himself to science, becoming an academic with the Political Science Department of Adelford University. After the Nationalist takeover in 1978, Roland tried for a year but found himself increasingly alienated in his own country, leaving the country for the Netherlands, where he went to teach at Leiden University.

Exile in the Netherlands (1978-1997)
It was in the Netherlands that Knightly became acquainted and inspired by Christian Democracy. He associated himself with the Christian Democratic Appeal, a newly founded Christian Democratic party founded out of three confessional partiers, and became close friends with both Piet Steenkamp, the first chairman of that party, and Dries van Agt, its first leader. He got inspired by the ideology's consensual basis, centrist values and ideology of social cohesion. He saw how it brought people together, and gradually, he developed an idea of how a Christian Democratic Berringsland would look. From the Netherlands, he wrote letters to his friends, some of whom had been Centrists and started to take over his ideas. Roland's wife, Christine Knightly-de Haan, is Dutch and his three children were all born in the Netherlands, attending the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden. To this day, the Knightly children possess a double nationality.

Return to Berringsland (1997-2010)
In 1997, Roland returned to Berringsland to teach Political Science at Adelford. He had missed his homeland, and took with him his Dutch wife, Christine Knightly-de Haan and his children, who had been attending international school. He worked at the University, but most of all he worked with his friends, silently and peacefully spreading the Christian Democratic ideology. When in 2005 the riots bubbled up, Roland and his friends urged calm but peaceful protest. As the Decembrist movement grew, the peaceful Christian Democratic movement joined with some old Centrists to form a "new" Centrist faction. Refusing to use violence, these men tried to overcome the regime with reason. Of this time, Knightly sometimes says: "I rejected to raise the sword in challenge, instead raising my voice, for the sword can only provoke the sword." During the December Revolution, they aided the revolutionaries peacefully and engaged in civil disobedience actions.

Founding and rise of the Christian Democrats (Early 2010)
After the December Revolution, Roland Knightly, formerly an academic, emerged onto the newly open political stage as delegate for Adelford Trinity-Arthen and, together with Charles Thomas and James Wilson, founded the Christian Democrats of Berringsland, bringing together "new" Centrists, old Centrists and previously apolitical or unaffiliated people. As the Provisional Leader of the new Party, Roland Knightly had high expectations of the newfound democracy, immediately setting out to introduce bills and policies. Regardless of his two co-founders, Knightly is often considered the sole founder of the Christian Democrats. Indeed, some of his fellow party members have likened him to the German CDU's Konrad Adenauer in terms of respect, authority and position within the Party.

In the first First Minister election, Roland Knightly was elected as First Minister of Berringsland.

First Minister of Berringsland (March 2010-present)
Knightly made a controversial move when he settled for a minority governing coalition with the Movement for Social Democracy, justifying that it allowed for more efficiency combined with more consultation than the widely expected government of national unity. Widely criticised for this course of action, Knightly and his Government nevertheless pushed on with enacting new police and labor relations legislation, which were initially heavily criticised by the Opposition. Despite all the criticism he attracted, Knightly was re-elected twice as First Minister and successfully introduced a compromise Constitutional proposal which is before the Assembly at the moment. As of his third Ministerial term, Knightly's coalition has been joined by the Radical Republican Party.

Despite the controversiality of his actions in the Assembly, the public seems until now to regard Knightly as a competent statesman who is doing his best for consensus and moderate progress. Thanks to his government, analysts say, the Christian Democrats are already starting to successfully develop a status as the natural party of Government.

Personality
Roland Knightly's demeanour is calm, collected and statesmanlike, but he can be quite an impassionated Christian Democrat. Like his Dutch friends, he is a little rigid in being a good and proper citizen. He isn't too much of an orator, but his passion sounds in his words when he speaks of his ideology. Nevertheless, when speaking about policy, his academic past results in his speeches being somewhat on the thoughtful side, making them perhaps too detailed for some audiences. Nevertheless, Roland is an able administrator and politician in the Christian Democratic tradition. Roland is fluent in English and Dutch and also speaks near-fluent French and German. His interests include sailing, reading, hiking and classical music.