Thatcher Cooley

Thatcher Cooley was a Coalition for the Republic politician who served as the 7th Chancellor of Orion from 42 to 47. Prior to her election as Chancellor, Cooley served as the Premier of Orion Province and as the National Minister for Transport.

Early career
Shortly after the revolution, Cooley joined the Armed Forces, and was assigned to the Transport Division. After the election of Ruben Blair as National Premier, Cooley transitioned to the National Department of Transport, working as a policy planning assistant to the National Secretary. When Charron Shanor was elected in 15 and the Coalition lost power, Cooley left government and joined the party as a policy analyst, eventually rising to become the Coaition's Director of Policy Development. As the 20 A.R. election approached, Ruben Blair, party leader once more, tapped Cooley as national campaign manager.

Though the Coalition handily lost the election to the Rally for Orion, Cooley acquitted herself well and was named as Blair's chief of staff in her role as Leader of the Opposition. The relationship between Chancellor Hughes Stone Wheeler and Blair was relatively amicable, much to the dissatisfaction of the Coalition's voting base and MNAs. Much of Cooley's job as chief of staff was to keep the MNAs in line and to protect Blair from a motion of no confidence, especially from Lockhart Riley, the Shadow Minister for the Economy. After the 23 A.R. election, when the Coalition lost even more ground, Riley successfully moved for a motion of no confidence, triggering a leadership spill, which Blair only narrowly survived. In response, Blair fired Riley from her cabinet. Recognizing that a change in leadership was needed, Cooley accepted responsibility for the party's poor showing and resigned as Blair's chief of staff, hoping to stop the bleeding. However, just a year later, amid worsening poll numbers, Riley triggered another leadership spill and defeated Blair.

National Assembly
After resigning as chief of staff, Cooley announced that she would stand for election in Glasson, her family's conservative, suburban hometown. Though Riley, then the Leader of the Opposition, attempted to stop Cooley from winning the Coalition's nomination in the election, Cooley nevertheless prevailed and then easily won the general election in 25 A.R.. Nationwide, the Coalition did well, gaining 17 seats and significantly slimming the Rally's majority. Cooley was relegated to the backbenches, however, as Riley and her entire cabinet viewed her as a newer, younger version of Blair.