YOUNGEST CABINET IN NATIONS HISTORY High Queen Philippina has today finalised her cabinet and it is the youngest in the nations history. The High Queen had promised that she would not be appointing people based on previous service within the cabinet nor family connections and would instead be seeking to appoint people with relevant experience in the fields that they would become Minister in. With an average age of just over 33 some have said that they are concerned about the lack of experience. One of these is King Nikolaas Kerner of Kiischpelt who has said "We have in the past had excellent cabinets drawn from the two Councils, none of these people have even stood for election to the Combined Council and yet now they have a portfolio to manage. They do not understand the systems required to make things work. I can only hope they hit the ground running."
The High Queen though has denied that this need be a concern saying, "Over the past decade we have seen a cabinet drawn from the Councils, people who have made a career out of just being politicians. I believe that they have lost touch with the real world in some ways. I've selected people with a record of success in their field. I've thankfully convinced some to leave careers they are doing great at to come and serve me and the nation. I'm excited what we can do together." The various members of the cabinet will arrive in the capital of Wahlstadt tomorrow and swear the oath of office before attending a meeting with the High Queen.
Below we have a break down of the cabinet and its new members.
Minister of Finance - Pien Drechsler - Aged 29 Miss Drechsler has been a member of the Kingdom of Winseler's Economic Forum for the past three years. The Forum exists to help manage the finances of the largest of the four Kingdoms that make up Mersch. She has been advocating "Caveated Taxation" for business in which incentives are given for businesses to pay less tax if they meet criteria such as reinvesting profits, sharing profits with employees and various other "positive actions". This approach has however received criticism from some who say it is too complex.
Minister of Education - Liselotte Kristiansen - Aged 33 she is somewhat of a national Twitter celebrity among teachers. Qualified as a Literature teacher she set up the "Book Nerd Network" (BNN) which saw teachers using Twitter to share teaching resources and ideas. The BNN even began to organise social events between teachers and eight years ago hosted its first "Big Book Club" conference, which is now an annual gathering of around 300 teachers. She has published six books focusing on different aspects of promoting teaching and learning.
Minister of Home Affairs - Vilhelm Jensen - Aged 31 he is a former member of the National Border Force. In 2020 he became the youngest commander of a Border Force Patrol Ship in history. He left the service six months ago having become the father of a son with medical conditions that drove him to want to spend more time ashore. He is perhaps one of the least well known to the public members of the cabinet.
Minister for Foreign Affairs - Wanda Grosse - Aged 27 she is a former researcher for the Erderm Institute, a think tank dedicated to pushing for greater international co-operation in many different fields. She had worked for the Institute for four years and in that time had written no less than sixteen position papers including two examining the nations relationship with MICA and the AKO. She is the only member of the cabinet to a member of the Cult of Helus with all other members following Labrysism
Minister for Justice - Ulf Baumann - At the age of 46 Mr.Baumann is the oldest member of the new cabinet. He has served as a public prosecutor for the last seven years and has experience of tutoring at University. In 2017 he was part of the prosecution team that successfully oversaw the famous Jerssonstadt murder case where Thomas Holm was found guilty of 17 murders over six years. He has on several occasions advocated for a return to the death penalty.
Minister of Defence - Hendrik Kuijpers - The 33 year old is a injured member of the nations Air Force. Mr. Kuijpers was a pilot of a strike fighter which in 2020 experienced engine difficulty and ditched in the Illumic during which he fractured his leg and now walks with a cane. While recuperating he began working with several veterans societies to help organise events to commemorate and celebrate the nations forces. He served briefly as one of three aide-de-camps to the mother of High Queen Philippina but resigned after three months as he disagreed with the Dowager Queen's stances on regional politics.
Minister for Transport - Frode Messmann - The 39 year old is the former Director of Push Deliveries, a company that utilised bicycles to conduct deliveries around the pedestrianised centres of some of the older medieval centres found in some cities of Mersch. In 2018 he sold his share of the company to his two business partners and has since spent time supporting sport in the Kingdom via gaining shares in football, rugby and hockey teams.
Minister for the Environment - Meinard Essert - The 27 year old is a Professor of Environmental Management and has spent the last twelve months conducting an indepenent government review into coastal beach management. While a student Mr.Essert was a member of the National Students Environmental Society that campaigned for several reforms across the nation in terms of waste water, soil pollution and use of green energy.
Minister of Farms, Forest and Fisheries - Renate Fisker - The 34 year old is the middle child of the Fisker Family who have for the past 100 years run the Fisker Alliance, an organisation that has taken the families fortunes from coal mining in the 1800's and utilised it to support restoration of former mining areas. In many places this has seen them turn what was once spoil and slag heaps of mines into woodland habitats for animals and in some places farmland. Renate is the only daughter of the family and has been heavily involved in the front line of the Alliances efforts to restore woodland in the south of the nation.
Minister of Culture and Sport - Anuschka Burgstaller - The 31 year old is a former performer of the Royal Ballet who for the last six years has also operated her own dance production company. In 2019 she won a national award for cerography and in 2020 she was recognised as one of the nations best young producers of dance. She has been a regular campaigner for more funding in music and dance in schools over the past 18 months. Her uncle Philip is also Assistant Coach on the national hockey team.