Prime Minister Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1.0 Introduction
  • 1.1 General Course of Play
  • 1.2 Component List
  • 1.3 Politicians
  • 1.4 Player Mats
    • 1.4.1 Party Leader Mats (Front)
    • 1.4.2 Party Leader Mats (Reverse)
    • 1.4.3 Backbencher Mats
  • 1.5 Game Board
    • 1.5.1 Sectors
    • 1.5.2 Election Projections
  • 1.6 Markers
    • 1.6.1 Player Markers
    • 1.6.2 Party Markers
    • 1.6.3 Parliament Markers
    • 1.6.4 Action Cubes
    • 1.6.5 Election Marker
    • 1.6.6 Alternate Bill Markers
  • 1.7 Card Decks
  • 1.8 Game Standards
• 2.0 Setup
  • 2.1 Draw Politicians
  • 2.2 Set Government and Opposition
  • 2.3 Place Markers
  • 2.4 Set Decks
  • 2.5 3-Player Adjustments
• 3.0 Pact, Government & Opposition
  • 3.1 Pact
    • 3.1.1 Pact VP
    • 3.1.2 Ending the Pact
    • 3.1.3 Restarting the Pact
    • 3.1.4 Changing Government in a Pact
  • 3.2 Government
    • 3.2.1 Government Backbencher Resignation
    • 3.2.2 Rejoining Government
  • 3.3 Opposition
• 4.0 Sequence of Play: Parliamentary Order
• 5.0 Bill Selection Phase
  • 5.1 Drawing and Proposing Bills
  • 5.2 Selecting Bills
  • 5.3 Initial Vote Projections
• 6.0 Action Phase
  • 6.1 Politician Actions
    • 6.1.1 Campaign
    • 6.1.2 Debate
    • 6.1.3 Flatter
    • 6.1.4 Hobnob
    • 6.1.5 Influence
  • 6.2 Backbencher Action Turns
    • 6.2.1 Backbencher Debate Cards
    • 6.2.2 Backbencher Career Cards
    • 6.2.3 Government Backbencher Resignation
    • 6.2.4 Backbencher Standing Bonus
  • 6.3 Opposition Leader Action Turn
  • 6.4 PM Action Turn
• 7.0 Supporters
  • 7.1 Drawing Supporters
  • 7.2 Playing Supporters
  • 7.3 Supporter Hold Limit
  • 7.4 Father of the House Card
• 8.0 Events
  • 8.1 Action Cube Events
  • 8.2 By-Elections
• 9.0 Bill Resolution Phase
  • 9.1 Resolve Bill by Agreement
  • 9.2 Resolve Bill by Vote
  • 9.3 Resolve Bill by Withdrawal
  • 9.4 Apply Effects of Passed Bills
  • 9.5 Wrap Up Bill Resolution
• 10.0 Challenge Phase
  • 10.1 Order of Challenges
  • 10.2 Challenge Outcome
• 11.0 Election Phase
  • 11.1 Counting Seats
  • 11.2 Minority Government
    • 11.2.1 Minority Government By Challenge
    • 11.2.2 Minority Government By Royal Interference
  • 11.3 Election VP
  • 11.4 Government Changeover
  • 11.5 Reset Markers
• 12.0 Uncertainty
• 13.0 Victory
• Scenarios
  • Introduction
  • Scenario 1: A Nation in Crisis (4-Player Tournament Game)
  • Scenario 2: Home Rule for Ireland
  • Scenario 3: The Queen's Favour
  • Scenario 4: Repealing the Corn Laws
  • Scenario 5: The Second Reform Act
  • Scenario 6: Fractured Parliament
  • Scenario 7: The Liberal Unionist
• Guide to VP Pooling
• Example of Play
  • Introduction
  • Setup
  • Round 1
  • Round 2
  • Round 3
  • Round 4
  • Round 5
  • Round 6
  • Round 7
  • Round 8
  • Round 9
  • Round 10
  • Round 11
  • Round 13
• Optional Rules
  • Alternate Vote Tracker
  • Prime Minister's Question Time
• Credits
• Index
  • Round 12

1.0 Introduction

As the game starts, each player draws a Politician Card based on a historical Prime Minister from the Victorian era. Your Politician Card indicates your fixed abilities and your membership in the Liberal or Conservative Party. You'll play the same Politician throughout the game with an exchangeable player mat for your Politician's current position: Prime Minister (PM), Opposition Leader, or Backbencher. There's always one PM and one Opposition Leader, collectively referred to as Party Leaders. Any other players are Government or Opposition Backbenchers.

Prime Minister's gameplay centers on Parliamentary bills and national Elections, with a bill resolved every round and an Election at least once every six rounds. Depending on your current player mat and your Politician's abilities, you may Campaign to increase your party's Popularity in different Sectors of the electorate, Debate for or against bills, Flatter Her Majesty to gain her Favour, or Influence Members of Parliament (MPs) to make them more Moderate or Partisan. You can also recruit prominent Victorians ("Supporters") to perform actions on your behalf. The number of actions you perform each round depends on your current player mat and your current Standing, a numerical rating that reflects your support in Parliament.

The PM of course has the widest range of actions and the greatest degree of control in guiding bills, responding to random Event Cards, and deciding when to hold an Election. But it's hard for the PM to hold on to power for long, especially in 4-player games. Prime Minister's structure favors turnover. Backbenchers automatically gain Standing each round, while the PM's Standing tends to falter in the wake of various crises and bill failures. When Backbenchers accumulate enough Standing, they can assert control of their party through a leadership Challenge, allowing them to take the PM or Opposition Leader player mat for themselves. The Opposition Leader can take over the PM's role by winning an Election or through a Standing-based Challenge. In close Elections and Challenges, your Favour level may prove decisive as Queen Victoria exerts her limited power. The different player mats may change hands several times in the course of one game.

Prime Minister's asymmetric, exchangeable player mats are part of what makes this an unusual game. Another unusual feature is VP pooling, which helps to structure and define the players' relationships. At the outset of the game, all players are in a two-party Pact; only the PM's Player Marker is on the game board's Score Track, where it represents everyone's VP score. As long as the Opposition remains in the Pact, the Opposition players earn the same VP as the Government, but can't attack the Government's bills. The timing of the Pact's dissolution is the key strategic decision in the game's early stages.

After the Pact ends, VP pooling continues for players who are in the same party: the PM pools VP with the Government Backbencher, while the Opposition Leader pools VP with the Opposition Backbencher. Players in the same party can continue to work as a team to score VP through Elections, bills, and Government control. Opposition players remain locked together in a VP pool as long as they remain in Opposition, but it's up to them to decide how closely to coordinate their actions. VP pooling on the Government side is more complex. If you're a Government Backbencher, you can choose to stay in Government and earn the same VP as the PM, with the proviso that you can't attack the Government's bills. Or you can forego VP and Resign your official appointments in a gambit to weaken the PM and take the PM's job for yourself.

Only one player can win the game by reaching 100 VP while holding the PM's seat.

1.1 General Course of Play

(See the Sequence of Play summary in section 4.0 for the phase-by-phase structure of a round.)

1.2 Component List

• 4 "Iconography/Parliamentary Order" Player Aids
• 1 "Resolving Bills/Elections" Player Aid
• 10 Politician Cards (1.3)
• 4 Player Mats (1 PM, 1 Opp. Leader, 2 Backbencher) (1.4)
• 1 Game Board (1.5)
• 1 Overlay for Game Board (see Optional Rules: Alternate Vote Tracker)

Wooden markers (1.6):

• 12 Player Markers
• 9 Liberal Party Markers
• 9 Conservative Party Markers
• 11 Action Cubes
• 9 Parliament Markers
• 1 Election Marker
• 3 Alternate Bill Markers (see Optional Rules: Alternate Vote Tracker)

Card Decks (1.7):

• 40 Cross-Party Bill Cards
• 18 Conservative Bill Cards
• 18 Liberal Bill Cards
• 34 Supporter Cards
• 40 Event Cards
• 18 Uncertainty Cards

Other Cards:

• 8 Career Cards (6.2.2)
• 3 Debate Cards (6.2.1)
• 1 Father of the House Card (7.4)
• 1 Pact Card (3.1)
• 1 Resignation Card (6.2.3)

Solitaire Components (see Clockwork Rulebook):

• 1 Clockwork Player Aid
• 10 Clockwork Politician Cards (Tarot size)
• 1 Clockwork Player Mat
• 28 Clockwork Supporter Cards
• 18 Clockwork Event Cards

1.3 Politicians

Each of the ten Politician Cards represents a historical Victorian-era Prime Minister or party leader, numbered 1 through 10. Each Politician has four action abilities: three rated at Level 1 and one rated at Level 2.

Whoever draws the Liberal Politician with the lowest number is the game's first PM. Whoever draws the Conservative Politician with the lowest number is the game's first Opposition Leader.

• 1 — Viscount Melbourne (Liberal): Campaign (Flatter or Influence or Whip) 2, Debate 1, Hobnob 2, Influence 1
• 2 — Earl Russell (Liberal): Campaign (Gentry or Liberals or Middle Class) 1, Debate 1, Hobnob 1, Influence 2
• 3 — Earl of Rosebery (Liberal): Campaign (Gentry or Liberals or Middle Class) 1, Debate 1, Flatter 2, Hobnob 1
• 4 — W.E. Gladstone (Liberal): Campaign (Ireland or Liberals or Workers) 1, Debate 2, Hobnob 1, Influence 1
• 5 — Viscount Palmerston (Liberal): Campaign (Flatter or Influence or Whip) 2, Debate 1, Hobnob 1, Influence 1
• 6 — Marquess of Salisbury (Conservative): Campaign (Conservatives or Gentry or Scotland) 1, Debate 1, Hobnob 1, Influence 2
• 7 — Earl of Derby (Conservative): Debate 2, Hobnob 1, Influence 1, Flatter 1 (not used in a 2-player game)
• 8 — Earl of Aberdeen (Conservative): Campaign (Conservatives or Gentry or Scotland) 1, Debate 1, Flatter 2, Hobnob 1
• 9 — Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative): Campaign (Conservatives or Middle Class or Workers) 1, Debate 1, Flatter 1, Hobnob 2
• 10 — Sir Robert Peel (Conservative): Campaign (Gentry or Influence or Moderate) 2, Debate 1, Hobnob 1, Influence 1 (not used in a 2-player game)

THEMATIC NOTE: Other parties were also active during the Victorian period. In this game, Whigs are treated as Liberals and Peelites as Conservatives.

"I think that the principle of the Conservative Party is jealousy of liberty and of the people, only qualified by fear; but I think the principle of the Liberal Party is trust in the people, only qualified by prudence." —W.E. Gladstone

"My objection to Liberalism is this—that it is the introduction into the practical business of life of the highest kind—namely, politics—of philosophical ideas instead of political principles." —Benjamin Disraeli

THEMATIC NOTE: British politicians wear colored "rosettes" for their party while campaigning. The orange rosette is for the Liberal Party; the blue rosette is for the Conservative Party.

1.4 Player Mats

Each player has one player mat for his or her current status: PM, Opposition Leader, or Backbencher. Exchange your mat when your status changes.

1.4.1 Party Leader Mats (Front)

Each player mat lists Politician Actions and their effects. Compare these to the abilities on your Politician Card (1.3). You may play only the actions that match your current player mat AND your Politician's fixed abilities.

EXAMPLE: Gladstone can never perform the Flatter action because he doesn't have the Flatter ability.

PM mat — Her Majesty's Government:

Action	Level 1 Effect	Level 2 Effect
Campaign	raise Popularity 1 step	raise Popularity 2 steps
Debate	±10 to a Vote Projection	±20 to a Vote Projection
Flatter	+1 Favour	±2 Favour
Hobnob	draw a Supporter Card	draw 2 Supporter Cards, keep 1
Influence	shift 10 MPs (Moderate↔Partisan)	shift 20 MPs (Moderate↔Partisan)

The PM's Standing track runs from 5 to 14. Draw an Event Card at the start of your Action Turn. Place 2 Action Cubes at Standing 5, a 3rd Action Cube if Standing >8, and a 4th Action Cube if Standing >12.

PM Replacement Bonus: immediately score 6 VP when you take the PM's player mat from another player. Don't apply this bonus when first assigning the PM's player mat during setup.

Opposition Leader mat — Her Majesty's Most Loyal Opposition:

Action	Level 1 Effect	Level 2 Effect
Campaign	raise Popularity 1 step	raise Popularity 2 steps
Debate	±10 to a Vote Projection	±20 to a Vote Projection
Flatter	+1 Favour	±2 Favour
Hobnob	draw a Supporter Card	draw 2 Supporter Cards, keep 1
Influence	not available	shift 10 MPs (Moderate↔Partisan)

The Opposition Leader's Standing track runs from 4 to 11. Place 2 Action Cubes at Standing 4, a 3rd Action Cube if Standing >8.

The starting Standing level on each player mat is highlighted; place one of your Player Markers here during setup.

ICONOGRAPHY: An icon of "+1" over a picture frame means raise your Standing by one point.

THEMATIC NOTE: "I say that justice is truth in action. Truth should animate an opposition, and I hope it does animate this opposition." —Benjamin Disraeli

Each type of player mat has a Standing tracker with a unique range. Standing refers to your support in Parliament. When other players have more Standing than you, they can seize your player mat through a leadership Challenge (10.0). The PM's player mat has the highest Standing range, allowing you to fend off any Challenge as long as you maintain high Standing. Standing also affects your Action Cube income, reflecting your effectiveness as a leader.

Place your available Action Cubes at the bottom of your player mat at the start of each round. During your action turn, spend your Action Cubes on Politician Actions (6.0) or Events (8.1).

TIP: As you spend cubes, move them from the bottom row and place them on the actions you perform to keep a clear record of gameplay. Allow players to reverse their actions during their turn as long as no Supporter Card (7.0) has been drawn and viewed.

1.4.2 Party Leader Mats (Reverse)

3-player games: For reasons of balance, the Party Leader player mats each have an easier reverse side for Liberal Politicians in 3-player games. (In 3-player games, one Liberal plays against two Conservatives.) Look for the "Liberals use this side in 3-player games" label. The reverse sides have lower thresholds for Action Cube income, and the reverse side of the Opposition Leader mat grants a free Supporter Card at Standing Level 11. Take this free card every round as you take your Action Cube income.

TIP: Players may agree to use the reverse sides for other reasons, such as giving a handicap to a first-time player.

1.4.3 Backbencher Mats

Backbencher mat:

Action	Level 1 Effect	Level 2 Effect
Debate	±10 to a Vote Projection	not available
Hobnob	draw a Supporter Card	—

At the end of your Action Turn, raise your Standing by 1. The Backbencher Standing track runs from 0 to 8. Place your 1st Action Cube at Standing 0, and your 2nd Action Cube if Standing >2.

Backbencher mats are used only in 3- or 4-player games. The game includes two identical, two-sided Backbencher mats, one side for a Government Backbencher and a reverse side for an Opposition Backbencher. These mats have slots for Career Cards (6.2.2).

TIP: There's no need to exchange Backbencher mats when you switch between Government and Opposition—just flip your mat over.

1.5 Game Board

The game board includes the following features:

• Score Track. Use Player Marker(s) to track Victory Points (VP) here. The first PM to reach 100 VP wins the game (13.0). (ICONOGRAPHY: a numeral in a green box means score that many Victory Points.)
• Election Projections Table (1.5.2).
• Favour Tracker. Use your Player Marker here to track Queen Victoria's approval of you. Her Majesty can help her favorite Politicians win close Elections and Challenges. (ICONOGRAPHY: a numeral in a red shield means raise your Favour by that many points.)
• Slots for Pact and Resignation Cards (3.1, 3.2.1).
• Sectors of the electorate (1.5.1).
• Bill slots (5.0). (The game includes an optional overlay for this area of the game board. For information, see the Optional Rules section of this rulebook.)
• Election Marker space (1.6.5).
• Government MP Tracker. Use this to track the Government's MPs: their total number and their distribution between Moderates and Partisans. Round off to the nearest 10 (11.5).

At the start of the game, place Party Markers in the starting values (look for the circles with a gold border).

1.5.1 Sectors

ICONOGRAPHY: Sector Icon Examples — G = Gentry, S = Scotland.

Prime Minister features eight key Sectors of the electorate, arranged in alphabetical order: Conservatives, Farmers, Gentry, Ireland, Liberals, Middle Class, Scotland, and Workers. Each party's Popularity is tracked in each Sector, and the parties' relative Popularity points determine the Election Projections. Different Sectors have different point spreads, reflecting their importance in the Victorian-era electorate.

At the start of the game, place Party Markers in the starting values (look for the circles with a gold border).

The number of Popularity points you earn by moving up or down a step is variable, ranging from 1 to 3 points. EXAMPLE: If you are at 13 points in the Gentry Sector, you can earn 3 points by moving up a step, or lose 2 points by moving down a step. The points you earn or lose are immediately tracked on the Election Projections table (1.5.2).

Partisan points (shown in purple) determine the post-Election number of Partisan Government MPs (11.5). Parties can earn Partisan points by paying particular attention to the Sectors that traditionally support them. EXAMPLE: In the Liberals Sector, every step in Popularity earns Partisan points for the Liberal Party, meaning that voters in this Sector who support the Liberal Party prefer Partisan Liberal MPs.

EXAMPLE: The Liberal Party can earn up to 11 Popularity points in the Workers Sector and up to 70 purple Partisan points. These Partisan points reflect the support of radical Workers who favor Partisan Liberal MPs. The Conservative Party can also earn 11 Popularity points in the Workers Sector, but can't earn any Partisan points here because Workers who support the Conservative Party prefer Moderate MPs.

THEMATIC NOTES: Sectors overlap so that one voter might belong to several different Sectors. For example, a landowner in Scotland might belong to the Conservative, Gentry, Farmer, and Scotland Sectors. The Conservative Party might win his vote by appealing to his identity as a Conservative, or the Liberal Party might win his vote by appealing to his Scottish identity.

"Not the number of noses, but the magnitude of interests, should furnish the elements by which the proportion of representation should be computed...The classes that represent civilisation, the holders of accumulated capital and accumulated thought have a right to require securities to protect them from being overwhelmed by hordes who have neither knowledge to guide them nor stake in the Commonwealth to control them." —Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

1.5.2 Election Projections

The Election Projections feature combines a Popularity point tracker with a table that tells you how many Parliamentary seats you're projected to win in the next Election. You can always see at a glance how your party is doing.

Only one party at a time places its Party Marker here: the party that's leading in Popularity points, i.e., the party projected to win the next Election. When the parties are tied in Popularity points, no Party Marker is placed here.

Track a party's lead in Popularity points, NOT the total sum of its points. It's the relative difference in points that determines Election results.

Move the Party Marker here every time any party gains or loses Popularity. Every point gain for one party is a relative point loss for the other party.

EXAMPLE: If your Conservative Party has 15 more Popularity points than the Liberal Party, your blue Conservative Party Marker will be in the "15" position. You are projected to win the next Election with 355 seats in Parliament, while the Liberal Party is projected to get only 303 seats.

EXAMPLE: Your Conservative Party was ahead by 43 Popularity points, but the Liberal Party just gained 3 Popularity points in the Liberals Sector. Move your Conservative Party marker down 3 points to 40.

EXAMPLE: The Conservative Party was ahead by 1 Popularity point, but it just lost 2 points in the Workers Sector. Remove the Conservative Party Marker and replace it with the Liberal Party Marker. The Liberal Party is now projected to win the next Election.

THEMATIC NOTE: As a party moves higher up on the Popularity point tracker, its number of projected Parliamentary seats grows exponentially, reflecting the U.K.'s winner-take-all voting system.

CLARIFICATION: Election Projections are determined by Popularity points only, not by Partisan points. Partisan points determine how many post-Election MPs are Partisan.

1.6 Markers

1.6.1 Player Markers

12 Player Markers (3 of each color) (8mm cubes). Player Markers are not pre-assigned to any Politicians or parties—choose whatever color you like. Player Markers are used on the Score Track, Favour Tracker, and Standing Trackers.

1.6.2 Party Markers

9 orange Liberal Party Markers, 9 blue Conservative Party Markers (8mm x 10mm cylinders). Use Party Markers to track party positions in the eight Sectors of the electorate. The party projected to win the next Election places its ninth Party Marker on the Election Projections table.

1.6.3 Parliament Markers

9 Parliament Markers (8mm x 10mm white cylinders). Use Parliament Markers to track Government MPs and Vote projections on bills.

1.6.4 Action Cubes

11 Action Cubes (12mm white cubes). Use Action Cubes to perform Politician Actions (6.0). The PM may also spend Action Cubes on Events (8.1).

1.6.5 Election Marker

1 Election Marker (40mm circular disc). When the Election Marker is on the game board, it covers the word "Election." If the PM has <85 VP, the PM may remove the Election Marker to postpone the next Election (11.0). If it was removed, return it to its place on the board after the next Election.

1.6.6 Alternate Bill Markers

3 Alternate Bill Markers (8mm x 10mm white rectangle; 8mm x 10mm gray cylinder; 8mm x 10mm black hexagon). See Optional Rules: Alternate Vote Tracker.

1.7 Card Decks

• 40 Cross-Party Bill Cards
• 18 Conservative Bill Cards
• 18 Liberal Bill Cards
• 34 Supporter Cards
• 40 Event Cards
• 18 Uncertainty Cards (reshuffle before each draw)

1.8 Game Standards

Reaching the minimum or maximum value on a tracker never blocks you from performing an action, but it may negate an effect. EXAMPLE: If you are at Favour Level 0 and you want to do something that would lower your Favour by another point, you are free to do so—and since the Favour Tracker can't go lower than zero, your Favour penalty is negated.

Players may make promises to each other, but any promises regarding future actions are not enforceable.

Effects stated on a card normally apply to whoever plays, draws, or enacts the card. Favour and Standing always apply to you as an individual player, while Popularity always applies to your party. Exceptions:

• The pointing-finger icon means that you apply an effect to any one party (for Popularity) or to any one player of your choice (for Favour or Standing), including yourself.
• Rosettes may specify that an effect applies to a particular party. A rosette applies to all icons to its right. On Cross-Party Bills, both rosettes appear as a reminder that Cross-Party Bill VP applies to both the Government and Opposition (9.4).

EXAMPLE: If this Conservative Bill ("Irish Coercion Act") is enacted, the Liberal Party gains a Popularity step in the Ireland Sector. The Conservative Party loses a Popularity step in both the Ireland and Liberal Sectors. The Conservative Government gains 5 VP.

EXAMPLE: Whoever plays this Supporter Card ("Daniel O'Connell") has a choice: (1) gain two Popularity steps for your party in the Ireland Sector, offset by a loss of a Popularity step in the Conservatives Sector, or (2) lower any party's Popularity a step in the Ireland Sector.

For complete iconography, see the Iconography Player Aid.

2.0 Setup

2.1 Draw Politicians

Each player takes a Politician Card. Assign them by agreement or draw randomly, making sure you have the correct number of Conservative and Liberal Politicians (see table below). To draw randomly, shuffle the Politician deck, place it face down, and have each player draw a card. If you draw an excess Conservative or Liberal Politician, put it aside and draw again.

2- or 3-Player Games: Remove Rosebery from the Politician deck in 2- or 3-player games, and remove Aberdeen in 2-player games. (Their abilities are less useful when they're the only players in their parties.)

# of players	Politician Cards
2	1 Conservative, 1 Liberal
3	2 Conservatives, 1 Liberal
4	2 Conservatives, 2 Liberals

2.2 Set Government and Opposition

The starting PM will be a Liberal, which means that the Liberal Party starts as the Government party. If you have more than one Liberal Politician, consult the numbers in the upper left-hand corner of the Politician Cards (1.3). The Politician with the lowest number takes the PM's player mat (1.4.1). Any other Liberal Politician starts the game as a Government Backbencher and takes a Backbencher player mat (1.4.3), the Government Backbencher Debate Card (6.2.1), the Government Career Cards (6.2.2), and the Resignation Card (6.2.3).

The Conservative Party forms the first Opposition. If you have more than one Conservative Politician, the Politician with the lowest number takes the Opposition Leader's player mat (1.4.1). Any other Conservative Politician starts the game as an Opposition Backbencher and takes a Backbencher player mat (1.4.3), the Opposition Backbencher Debate Card (6.2.1), and the Opposition Career Cards (6.2.2).

Place the Pact Card (3.1) in the designated slot on the game board, indicating that the Government and Opposition begin the game in a Pact.

2.3 Place Markers

Each player takes 3 Player Markers of the same color (1.6.1), placing one in the highlighted starting value on his or her Standing Tracker and one in the "1" space on the board's Favour Tracker. The PM's third Player Marker goes on the board's Score Track in the "0" space. Other players hold their third Player Marker for later use on the Score Track.

Place Liberal and Conservative Party Markers (1.6.2) in the starting values printed on the Sectors (1.5.1). Since the parties start the game with an equal number of Popularity points, no Party Marker is placed on the Election Projections table yet. Each party holds one Party Marker for later use on the Election Projections table (1.5.2).

Place 6 white Parliament Markers (1.6.3) in the starting values printed on the board's Government MP Tracker (see the gold circles). The Government starts with 330 MPs: 270 Moderates (M) and 60 Partisans (P). Place the remaining 3 white Parliament Markers in the "0" positions next to each bill slot.

Place the supply of Action Cubes (1.6.4) within easy reach of all players.

Place the Election Marker (1.6.5) on the Election space marked on the board.

2.4 Set Decks

Shuffle the Supporter deck and place it face down within easy reach of all players, leaving room for a discard pile. Shuffle the Event, Cross-Party Bill, Liberal Bill, and Uncertainty decks and place them face down within easy reach of the PM, leaving room for discard piles. Set aside the Conservative Bill deck for later use in the game.

Place the Father of the House Card near the board for later use in the game.

2.5 3-Player Adjustments

In 3-player games, the Liberal player makes these adjustments for better balance:

• Use the easier reverse sides of the Party Leader Player Mats (1.4.2).
• Hold the Opposition Leader Debate Card for later use (6.3).
• Draw 2 free Supporter Cards during setup.

3.0 Pact, Government & Opposition

3.1 Pact

Pact card text: Govt. and Opp. pool all their VP. Opp. may not attack bills. During setup, place this card in the space marked on the game board. The Opposition Leader may remove this card and end the Pact at the start of the Opposition player(s)' action turns. If the PM introduces a Party Bill, immediately remove this card. Once removed, turn this card over and return it to the Opp. Leader; begin tracking Opposition VP separately.

At the start of the game, the Pact Card is in its designated slot on the game board indicating that the Government and Opposition are in a Pact with each other.

During a Pact, the Opposition may not take any action to lower the Vote projections on the Government's bills and may not change Government MPs from Moderates to Partisans or vice versa without the PM's permission.

3.1.1 Pact VP

During a Pact, all VP scored by the Government or Opposition is pooled and shared by every player in the Pact. At the start of the game, only the PM's Player Marker is on the Score Track where it represents all players' VP.

If a bill fails or is withdrawn, the Pact does not take the VP bonus normally received by the Opposition (9.2, 9.3). The Pact may earn all other types of VP.

CLARIFICATIONS:

• In a Pact, the Government and Opposition VP scored during round setup (4.0) is pooled for 6 VP per round.
• Cross-Party Bill VP always goes to both the Government and Opposition (9.4), even when a Pact is not in effect. In a Pact, Cross-Party Bill VP is taken once, not doubled.

3.1.2 Ending the Pact

The Pact may end in one of two ways:

• The Opposition Leader may choose to end the Pact at the start of the Opposition action turn(s).
• The PM immediately ends the Pact by placing a Party Bill on the board.

CLARIFICATION: If the PM selects a Party Bill proposed by the Opposition, the Pact ends first, and immediately afterwards the Opposition gets its 1 VP Bill Selection Bonus (5.2).

When the Pact ends, the Opposition Leader removes the Pact Card from its slot and holds it for future use. The first time the Pact ends, place the Opposition Leader's Player Marker on top of the PM's marker on the Score Track. From this point forward, the Opposition and Government track their VP separately.

3.1.3 Restarting the Pact

The Pact may restart in one of two ways:

• Unilateral action: The Opposition Leader may restart the Pact immediately after Bill Selection if three Cross-Party Bills are on the board.
• Mutual agreement: At any time when no Party Bills are on the board, the Opposition Leader and PM may restart the Pact by agreement.

When the Pact restarts, return the Pact Card to its slot and resume VP pooling. Leave both Party Leader Player Markers in their respective places on the Score Track, but from this point forward always move them in unison as long as the Pact remains in effect.

3.1.4 Changing Government in a Pact

The Opposition can take over the Government during a Pact by the usual means (10.0, 11.0). A change in Government does not automatically end the Pact. If you are still using only the PM's Player Marker to track Pact VP, exchange this marker for the new PM's Player Marker.

THEMATIC NOTE: A Pact refers to a single-party Government that receives limited support from another party by agreement. British political parties have at times cooperated with each other in various Pacts, Coalitions, and National Governments. The Pact in Prime Minister is theoretical, as there were no actual Liberal-Conservative Pacts during the Victorian period.

"[A] union between the Conservative party and the Radical masses offers the only means by which we can preserve the Empire.... [U]nited they form the nation; and their division has only permitted a miserable minority, under the specious name of the People, to assail all rights of property and person. Since I first entered public life... I have worked for no other object and no other end than to aid the formation of a national party." —Benjamin Disraeli

3.2 Government

The Government includes the PM and any Government Backbencher who has not Resigned. Government player(s) pool all their VP. After the initial Pact ends and before a Resignation occurs, the PM's Player Marker represents VP for the Government player(s).

As a Government Backbencher, you may not take any action to lower the Vote projections on the Government's bills and may not change Government MPs from Moderates to Partisans or vice versa without the PM's permission, unless you first Resign (3.2.1).

If a Government Backbencher takes over the PM's role through a Challenge and you are still using only the PM's Player Marker to track Government VP, exchange this marker for the new PM's Player Marker.

3.2.1 Government Backbencher Resignation

As a Government Backbencher, you may Resign your official appointments using your Resignation Card during your action turn if you have less than 90 VP. This action undermines the PM's leadership. For Resignation mechanics, see 6.2.3.

Once you Resign:

• You cannot use Career Cards (6.2.2).
• The PM immediately loses 2 Standing points.
• You may now attack bills.
• You no longer earn Government VP or Pact VP.
• You can score VP only through your Bill Selection Bonus (5.2), Debate Card (6.2.1), or the 6 VP PM Replacement Bonus (1.4.1).

CLARIFICATION: A Government Backbencher who Resigns does not change parties or join the Opposition. You remain a Government Backbencher, but have no role or stake in the Government.

3.2.2 Rejoining Government

After Resigning, you may rejoin the Government by becoming PM through a Challenge (10.0) or at any time by rejoining as a Backbencher with the PM's permission.

• If you become the new PM, first take the 6 VP PM Replacement Bonus (1.4.1) for yourself before you begin pooling Government VP again.
• If you rejoin Government as a Backbencher, the PM gets 2 Standing points back.

When you return to Government, remove the Resignation Card from its slot and return it to the current Government Backbencher.

Resume pooling Government VP. Leave both Government Player Markers in their respective places on the Score Track, but from this point forward always move them in unison unless one of you Resigns again.

3.3 Opposition

The Opposition includes the Opposition Leader and any Opposition Backbencher. Opposition player(s) pool all their VP. After the initial Pact ends, the Opposition Leader's Player Marker represents VP for the Opposition player(s). Later in the game, the Opposition players may have separate Player Markers on the Score Track if one of them previously Resigned from Government.

If an Opposition Backbencher takes over the Opposition Leader's role through a Challenge and you are still using only the Leader's Player Marker to track Opposition VP, exchange this marker for the new Leader's Player Marker.

CLARIFICATION: When the Government goes into Opposition, any Resigned Government Backbencher automatically becomes part of the Opposition as an Opposition Backbencher and resumes VP pooling.

For more guidance, see the Guide to VP Pooling section of this rulebook.

4.0 Sequence of Play: Parliamentary Order

After completing setup (2.0), begin the first round with 1(b) below. All subsequent rounds follow this "Parliamentary Order." Once a round is complete, begin the next round.

(1) SET UP THE ROUND

a. Government and Opposition each score 2 VP. In a Pact, this is pooled for 6 VP (3.1.1). (Skip 1(a) in the first round.)

b. All players take Action Cubes and place them on the bottom row of their player mats. Your mat tells you how many to take, depending on your Standing. Changes to your Standing during a round will affect your Action Cube income in the next round.

(2) BILL SELECTION? (5.0)

Perform Bill Selection if no bills are on the board:

a. The Opposition Leader and any Backbencher(s) draw and propose bills.

b. The PM draws additional bills to reveal a total of 6 bills, then selects 3 to place on the board. Each time you select a bill proposed by another player, apply the 1 VP Bill Selection Bonus (5.2).

(3) PLAYER ACTION TURNS (6.0)

a. Government Backbencher (if any) performs Politician or Supporter Actions.

b. Opposition player(s) perform Politician or Supporter Actions (if more than one Opposition player, the Opposition Leader decides their player order).

c. PM draws and resolves an Event Card (8.0), then completes action turn with Politician or Supporter Actions.

(4) PM RESOLVES A BILL (9.0)

PM must choose one of the following:

• Pass a bill by agreement with the Opposition Leader
• Put a bill to a Vote
• Withdraw a bill

(5) HEAR CHALLENGES? (10.0)

Resolve any Challenges in the following order:

a. Government Backbencher may Challenge PM

b. Opposition Backbencher may Challenge Opposition Leader

c. Opposition Leader may Challenge PM

(6) HOLD ELECTION? (11.0)

If no bills are left on the board, PM must choose:

• Remove Election Marker (if available), or
• Hold an Election: draw an Uncertainty Card and calculate results

5.0 Bill Selection Phase

If no bills are on the board, draw bills and select three to place on the board.

5.1 Drawing and Proposing Bills

Players may draw from the Cross-Party Bills and/or the Government's Party Bills. You may draw bills one at a time, viewing each one before deciding which deck to draw from next. If a deck runs out, turn over the discard pile, shuffle it, and resume drawing.

The Backbenchers and Opposition Leader each draw two bills and propose one. Once Bill Selection begins, they may not consult the PM before they reveal their proposed bill. Players reveal their proposed bills to the PM simultaneously, and keep the other bill in their hand hidden.

The PM next draws and reveals three additional bills so that a total of six bills are revealed.

2- or 3-player games: If there is no Opposition Backbencher, the Opposition Leader draws four bills and proposes two. If there is no Government Backbencher, the PM draws four bills (so that a total of six bills are revealed).

5.2 Selecting Bills

The PM may now discuss the revealed bills with any player(s). Consider the effects of each bill and the number of Votes it's projected to receive. A bill's effects occur if and when the bill is passed (9.4).

The PM selects three of the six revealed bills. Each time you select a bill proposed by another player, that player immediately scores a 1 VP Bill Selection Bonus, subject to the usual VP pooling rules (3.0).

After selection is complete, the Backbencher(s) and Opposition Leader reveal their hidden bills. Discard all unselected bills face up in the discard pile(s) for the appropriate deck(s).

5.3 Initial Vote Projections

A bill's Vote projection is stated in one or two parts. The first part is always an icon referring to all Government MPs (A), Moderate Government MPs (M), or Partisan Government MPs (P) (11.5). Next to this, you may see a Vote adjustment ranging from -30 to +50. The projected Votes equal the number of MPs you have in the relevant category, plus or minus the possible Vote adjustment.

EXAMPLE: If the Government has 350 MPs including 300 Partisans and 50 Moderates, the initial Vote projections are 300 for the Official Secrets Act (P, no adjustment), 330 for the Chimney Sweepers Act (A, -20), and 70 for the Telegraph Act (M, +20). (In actual gameplay, you are not likely to see "P" and "M" bills on the board at the same time.)

Place the three selected bills face up on the game board in the designated bill slots.

Place Parliament Markers (1.6.3) to indicate each Vote projection adjustment. Players will be able to move these markers up or down during each round, and your MP numbers may also change during a round. A bill's chances for passage are often in flux.

The game includes an optional overlay for the bill slots (the Alternate Vote Tracker). This overlay allows players to manually track the total Vote projection for each bill. For instructions, see the Optional Rules section of this rulebook.

6.0 Action Phase

During your action turn, use your Politician or Supporters to perform actions in any order. To perform a Politician Action, spend one of the Action Cube(s) on your player mat. To perform a Supporter Action, play a Supporter Card. Play your Politician or Supporter Actions one at a time, applying the effects of each one before moving on to the next. At the end of your turn you may save up to four Supporters for future use, but you can't save Action Cubes.

See 4.0(3) for player order.

6.1 Politician Actions

You may play only the Politician Actions allowed by your Politician Card (1.3) and your current player mat (1.4). One of the action abilities listed on your Politician Card is rated at Level 2, meaning that you might be able to get an enhanced effect when you perform that action, depending on your player mat. When a Level 2 effect is available, you may always choose a Level 1 effect instead. You may perform the same action more than once.

6.1.1 Campaign

By Campaigning, you increase your party's Popularity in a Sector. If your Politician Card has the Campaign ability, it will list three Sectors you can choose from. In a Campaign action, move your party up one step in one of these three Sectors (or two steps in a Level 2 action). For each step you earn 1 to 3 Popularity points for your party, as determined by the Sector (1.5.1). Next, adjust the Election Projections (1.5.2) by the number of points you just earned for your party.

6.1.2 Debate

By Debating, you change the projection for one bill up or down by 10 Votes, using the Vote adjustment tracker next to each bill (or by 20 Votes in a Level 2 action). You may target any bill currently on the board, but the Opposition players cannot Debate a bill down in a Pact (3.1) and the Government Backbencher can never Debate a bill down without first Resigning (3.2).

6.1.3 Flatter

By Flattering, you gain Favour with Her Majesty, or possibly diminish someone else's Favour.

• In a Level 1 Flatter action, move your Player Marker up 1 point on the Favour Tracker.
• In a Level 2 Flatter action, move yourself or any other single player of your choice up or down the Favour Tracker by 2 points.

THEMATIC NOTE: "Everyone likes flattery, and when you come to Royalty you should lay it on with a trowel." —Benjamin Disraeli

6.1.4 Hobnob

By Hobnobbing, you attract influential Victorians who can help support you or your party.

• In a Level 1 Hobnob action, draw one Supporter Card.
• In a Level 2 action, draw two cards and immediately choose one to keep and one to discard.

For rules on Supporters, see 7.0.

6.1.5 Influence

By Influencing, you persuade Government MPs to change their political positions.

• In a Level 1 Influence action, the PM changes 10 Government MPs from Partisans to Moderates, or vice versa, moving the markers on the Government MP Tracker. (The Opposition Leader's player mat does not feature a Level 1 Influence action.)
• In a Level 2 action, the PM changes 20 Government MPs at a time. For the Opposition Leader, a Level 2 Influence action changes only 10 Government MPs, the same effect as the PM's Level 1 action.

In a Pact, the Opposition Leader cannot Influence without the PM's permission (3.1).

Keep in mind that the Government MP Tracker will be reset after each Election (11.5).

6.2 Backbencher Action Turns

Your Backbencher player mat features only two Level 1 Politician Actions: Debate (6.1.2) and Hobnob (6.1.4). Your player mat's Debate action is distinct from your Debate Card (6.2.1).

6.2.1 Backbencher Debate Cards

The Opposition Backbencher and Government Backbencher each have a unique, two-sided Debate Card. Use the "Pact" side during Pacts, and the other side when there is no Pact. By playing your Debate Card, you stake your own reputation on the success or failure of a particular bill.

• Play your Debate Card during your action turn by spending one Action Cube if your Standing is ≤2 or two Action Cubes if your Standing is ≥3 (i.e., all of your regular Action Cube income).
• When Debating a bill up, target any bill that currently has ≤350 projected Votes (or ≤340 in a Pact); when debating a bill down, target any bill with ≥290 projected Votes.
• Place the Debate Card under the target bill, then move the projected Votes up or down by 10 as stated on the card.
• Two Backbenchers may target the same bill.
• After the target bill is resolved, take back your Debate Card and receive a reward or penalty depending on the card and the outcome. The reward or penalty always involves a choice between Standing or Favour, and sometimes extra VP. The VP is subject to the usual VP pooling rules (3.0).
• Once the Debate Card returns to you, you may use it again.

CLARIFICATIONS:

• If you use the Pact side of the card and the Pact ends before the bill is resolved, apply the rewards or penalties on the Pact side of the card.
• If you become Opposition Leader when your Backbencher Debate Card is still on the board, immediately remove the card without effect.
• If bills are removed because a new PM takes office by Challenge (10.2), immediately remove without effect any Debate Cards remaining on the board.
• Keep your Debate Card if you Resign as Government Backbencher (3.2.1). As stated on the card, you may use it only to Debate up.

6.2.2 Backbencher Career Cards

Each Backbencher has four Career Cards, first received during setup. The reverse side states the activation requirements, and the front side unlocks a new action or bonus. There are different cards for Government and Opposition, with most Government cards having higher activation requirements.

Activation requirements refer to Standing, Favour and/or Politician abilities. You'll have one card that you can't activate because your Politician lacks the required ability. For this reason, your Backbencher player mat has slots for only three Career Cards. As soon as you meet its activation requirements, activate a Career Card by turning it face up (even if it is not your turn). Evaluate the requirements only at activation.

EXAMPLE: The "Chief Whip" Career Card requires the Influence ability and Standing ≥3 for two players to activate; once active, it grants a Level 1 Influence action that shifts 10 Government MPs.

Some Career Cards unlock standard Politician Actions (6.1), while other cards unlock unique Politician Actions or bonuses described on the card. To perform an action, spend one or two Action Cubes as stated on the card during your action turn. Take bonuses as described on the card.

If your party moves from Government to Opposition, or vice versa, exchange your Career Cards and reevaluate their activation requirements. Surrender your Career Cards when you are no longer a Backbencher. Resigning as a Government Backbencher (3.2.1) means you have given up your Career Cards—set them aside for now.

THEMATIC NOTE: As an MP's career advances and leads to official appointments, that MP is no longer a mere "Backbencher." In a thematic sense, your activated Career Cards supersede the "Backbencher" label on your player mat. But in Prime Minister's terminology, we continue to use the term "Backbencher" for anyone with a Backbencher player mat.

6.2.3 Government Backbencher Resignation

As a Government Backbencher, you may Resign your official appointments by using your Resignation Card during your action turn if you have less than 90 VP. This is a Politician Action that costs all of your Action Cubes (including any cube you take through the Deputy PM Career Card).

• Place your Resignation Card face up ("Government Backbencher Resigned") in its designated slot on the board.
• You and the PM begin tracking VP separately. If this is the first Resignation in your party, place your Player Marker on top of the PM's marker on the Score Track.

While Resigned ("Government Backbencher Resigned"), the Government Backbencher:

• Receives no Government or Pact VP.
• Cannot use Career Cards.
• May attack bills.

Remove this card from the board after the Resigned Backbencher: becomes PM and takes the 6 VP PM Replacement Bonus; OR goes into Opposition after a change in Government; OR rejoins Government by agreement with the PM (the PM gets 2 Standing points back).

• Set aside your Career Cards.
• Retain your Debate Card and Backbencher player mat.

For Resignation effects, see 3.2.1.

6.2.4 Backbencher Standing Bonus

As indicated on the Backbencher player mats, Backbenchers gain a Standing point at the end of their action turn. This is a special bonus for Backbenchers only, and it doesn't require an Action Cube.

6.3 Opposition Leader Action Turn

If a Pact is in effect, you may end the Pact by removing the Pact card from the board at the start of the Opposition players' action turns (3.1.2).

3-player games: When you are the only Opposition player, you may also use the Opposition Leader Debate Card. This is similar to a Backbencher Debate Card (6.2.1), but it grants only VP bonuses.

6.4 PM Action Turn

At the start of your action turn, draw and resolve an Event (8.0). Depending on the card, you may spend up to two Action Cube(s) on the Event. After resolving the Event, proceed with the rest of your action turn.

7.0 Supporters

THEMATIC NOTE: Supporters are influential historical figures, including members of the royal family (other than the Queen herself), peers of the realm, intellectuals, and celebrities. Supporter Actions don't have names like "Campaign" or "Flatter." The thematic nature of your Supporter's action is left to your imagination, but there's generally a connection between the effect and the historical figure represented on the card.

7.1 Drawing Supporters

All players can draw Supporter Cards through the Hobnob action, and the PM can also draw Supporters by passing certain bills. Players might also earn free Supporter Cards through the reverse side of the Opposition Leader player mat (1.4.2) and the Deputy Party Leader Career Card (6.2.2). If the Supporter deck runs out, turn over the discard pile, shuffle it, and resume drawing.

You don't have to reveal your Supporters until you play them, but you may choose to discuss them first with any player(s) of your choice.

7.2 Playing Supporters

Use Supporters to perform actions on your behalf during your action turn. Playing a Supporter doesn't require an Action Cube—simply reveal the card to all players. Each Supporter presents you with two options with different effects (some options involve a tradeoff, such as the example in 1.8); choose one of the options when you play the card.

Most Supporter effects resemble Politician Actions (6.1), but a Supporter may unlock an effect not otherwise available to you, including the possibility of a Standing point.

After you use a Supporter, place it face up in the Supporter discard pile.

7.3 Supporter Hold Limit

At the end of your action turn, you may hold up to four Supporters for future use. In the unlikely event that you don't want to use or save a particular Supporter, you may discard it during your action turn with no effect.

CLARIFICATION: Do not apply this hold limit at any other point in the game. (You may have an opportunity to draw and hold additional Supporters outside your action turn.)

7.4 Father of the House Card

When the PM has ≥90 VP, the current Opposition Backbencher takes and holds the Father of the House Card. Keep it as long as you're an Opposition Backbencher and as long as the current PM has ≥90 VP.

2- and 3-player games: when there is only one Opposition player, the Opposition Leader gets this card under the same conditions.

This card doubles the values printed on any Supporter Cards you already have at the start of your action turn, including any negative tradeoff effects. It does not apply to Supporters you draw and play in the same action turn.

THEMATIC NOTE: In the U.K., the longest-serving MP is called the "Father of the House."

8.0 Events

At the start of the PM's action turn, the PM draws a card from the Event deck and reveals it to all players. Events come in two basic types: predicaments for the PM to resolve with Action Cubes (32 cards) and By-Elections (8 cards).

ICONOGRAPHY: Draw an Event Card.

8.1 Action Cube Events

This type of Event presents the PM with two or three options. The first option is always to do nothing, which costs no Action Cube but presents one or more negative effects. The other options cost the PM one or two Action Cubes (as shown on the card), but present more favorable results. The PM chooses an option, spends any required Action Cube(s), and applies the effect(s), if any.

EXAMPLE: "Rail Disaster in Ireland" — Ignore (no cost); Ask for a Moment of Silence (costs 1 Action Cube); Adopt Orphaned Child (costs 1 Action Cube).

THEMATIC NOTE: Action Cube Events are generally based on actual problems and crises faced by Victorian Prime Ministers.

8.2 By-Elections

By-Elections are held to fill a vacant seat in Parliament between regular Elections; they're considered important tests of the PM's strength. In Prime Minister, By-Election results are tied to the current Election Projections for the PM's party. Round off your Election Projections to the nearest 10. If you're projected to lose MPs in the next Election (after rounding off to the nearest ten), you lose the By-Election. (For Election Projections, see 1.5.2.) If the Government loses the By-Election:

• The PM loses a Standing point or the Opposition Leader gains a Standing point, depending on the By-Election card; and
• The Opposition scores 1 VP.

Winning a By-Election has no effect.

CLARIFICATIONS:

• The question is not whether you're projected to win or lose the next Election, but whether you're projected to gain or lose MPs.
• Don't make any adjustment to the Government MP Tracker—the change in seats is too small for us to track.
• In a Pact, the 1 VP bonus goes to the Pact.

9.0 Bill Resolution Phase

The PM must resolve one bill immediately after the action phase, choosing a bill already on the board. You may do this in one of three ways: by agreement, Vote, or withdrawal.

9.1 Resolve Bill by Agreement

Ask the Opposition Leader to support a bill. If agreed, the bill passes automatically with the usual effects, except that the Opposition scores an extra 5 VP.

CLARIFICATIONS:

• You may attempt this option in a Pact, but the Opposition Leader is unlikely to accept since all Opposition VP goes to the Pact.
• A refusal has no effect. Proceed with Bill Resolution—all options remain open.

9.2 Resolve Bill by Vote

You may select this option for bills with ≥320 projected Votes.

• To count projected Votes, first check the appropriate column in your Government MP Tracker: All Govt. MPs, Moderate MPs, or Partisan MPs, depending on the bill's icon. Next, add or subtract the Vote adjustment next to the bill, which ranges from -80 to +100.
• Your bill needs ≥330 Votes to pass.
• If your bill is projected to receive 320 to 340 Votes, draw an Uncertainty Card and add or subtract the Uncertainty result, which can vary from -11 to +10 Votes (12.0).

CLARIFICATION: If you have ≥350 projected Votes, your bill can't fail, so there's no need to draw an Uncertainty Card.

Projected Votes	320	330	340
Odds of Success	1 in 6	1 in 2	5 in 6

If the bill fails: the Opposition scores 3 VP; the PM loses 2 Standing; the Opposition Leader gains 2 Standing (in a Pact, skip this VP bonus).

9.3 Resolve Bill by Withdrawal

You may withdraw any bill: the Opposition scores 2 VP; the PM loses 1 Standing; the Opposition Leader gains 1 Standing (in a Pact, skip this VP bonus).

9.4 Apply Effects of Passed Bills

When you pass a bill, apply the effects immediately.

• Apply the Popularity effects of Cross-Party Bills to your party.
• On Party Bills, rosette(s) designate which party receives the Popularity effect(s).
• Cross-Party Bills earn 2 or 3 VP for both the Government and Opposition (apply this VP once for a Pact—do not double it).
• Party Bills earn 2 to 7 VP for the Government only.
• Bills sometimes confer personal effects in the form of Standing, Favour, or Supporter Cards. These personal effects belong to you, the PM who passed the bill.

EXAMPLE: "Parliamentary Elections Act" (Cross-Party Bill, An Act to Prevent Corrupt Election Practices) — M icon, +10 Vote adjustment, 3 VP, plus +1 Favour for the PM.

EXAMPLE: "Married Women's Property Act" (Liberal Bill, An Act to Allow Married Women to Own Property) — P icon, +20 Vote adjustment, 5 VP, plus Popularity effects in the Ireland and Workers Sectors.

THEMATIC NOTE: All bills in the game are based on actual bills from the Victorian period. The original wording has mostly been retained, with some editing for length and clarity.

9.5 Wrap Up Bill Resolution

Return any failed or withdrawn bill to the appropriate discard pile. Remove any passed bill from the game. Leave any unresolved bill(s) on the board for the next round.

TIP: You may hold the bills you passed as PM as a record of your accomplishments (but you may not reuse them).

10.0 Challenge Phase

In a Challenge, one player claims the right to seize another player's leadership role. Challenges are not based on party Popularity, but on your personal attributes: your Standing within Parliament (1.4.1) and your Favour at court (1.5). Always keep your Standing and Favour visible to other players. The PM should always announce the Challenge Phase, but skip it if there are no eligible players or if the eligible player(s) decline.

You may Challenge a Party Leader if you have (i) more Standing or (ii) the same Standing and at least as much Favour. Because the Opposition Leader has a higher Standing range than Backbenchers and the PM has a higher Standing range than anyone, Party Leaders are immune to Challenges as long as they maintain high Standing.

10.1 Order of Challenges

Resolve any Challenges in the following order:

1. Government Backbencher may Challenge PM (including a Government Backbencher who Resigned (6.2.3)).
2. Opposition Backbencher may Challenge Opposition Leader.
3. Opposition Leader may Challenge PM.

10.2 Challenge Outcome

To confirm a successful Challenge, simply check the players' Standing and Favour levels. After the Challenge is confirmed:

• The two players exchange player mats.
• The winner gets the starting Standing level on his or her new player mat (see the highlighted space) or the Standing on his or her previous mat, whichever is greater.
• The loser always gets the starting Standing level on his or her new player mat.
• Keep your unplayed Supporters, Favour, and Player Markers.

If you're taking over the PM's role, follow these additional steps:

• Take the 6 VP PM Replacement Bonus (1.4.1), subject to the usual VP pooling rules (3.0).
• If you were a Government Backbencher who Resigned before Challenging, take the VP for yourself before VP pooling resumes (3.2.2).
• Remove any bills remaining on the board and put them in the appropriate discard pile(s).

If the Opposition Leader is taking over the PM's role, take the same steps above, plus:

• Backbenchers flip their Backbencher mats over, then exchange the Resignation Card and their respective Career and Debate Cards while keeping their Standing levels, Favour, and unplayed Supporters.
• Replace the Liberal Bills deck with the Conservative Bills deck, or vice versa, so that the new PM has access to the correct bill decks.
• Remove the Election Marker if it's still on the board (1.6.5).
• The former Opposition party is now the Government party, and an Election will be held immediately to determine the new Government's number of MPs.

THEMATIC NOTE: The possibility of Standing and Favour deciding party control of Government is loosely based on the Bedchamber Crisis of 1839.

TIP: When you take over the PM's role, you might find it easier to change seats than move the game components.

11.0 Election Phase

If any bills remain on the board, skip the Election Phase and immediately begin the next round.

If no bills are left on the board, the PM holds an Election, or may instead choose to skip the Election by removing the Election Marker (1.6.5), if it has not already been removed from the board. By removing the marker now, you end the current round.

End game restriction: As indicated on the Score Track, the PM may not remove the marker to postpone an Election when the PM has ≥85 VP.

The current Election Projections (1.5.2) determine Election results, with some adjustments.

11.1 Counting Seats

There are 658 seats in the House of Commons, and you need a majority of 330 seats to win an Election outright. To start an Election, the PM draws an Uncertainty Card (12.0) and applies its value to the number of seats the Government's party is projected to receive.

EXAMPLE: If the Election Projections say the Government's party will get 325 seats and the PM draws a +9 Uncertainty Card, the PM's party has won 334 seats.

The remaining number of seats belong to the Opposition. In the example just given, the Opposition would have 324 seats. If the parties are tied at 329 seats each, the Party Leader with the most Favour wins. If the Party Leaders are tied in both seats and Favour, the Opposition Leader becomes PM.

CLARIFICATIONS:

• Do not round off the number of MPs before determining the winner. Round off under 11.5 after determining the winner.
• Election Projections are always determined prior to the Election Phase. During the Election Phase, never move the Election Projections Marker.

11.2 Minority Government

Two exceptions allow a Party Leader to form a Minority Government, meaning that the Party Leader becomes (or remains) PM with less than 329 seats.

11.2.1 Minority Government By Challenge

If an Opposition Leader became PM by Challenge in the current round, the new PM always keeps the position regardless of the Election results. This is because the Challenge already determined the change in party control, and the Election only determines the new Government MPs.

11.2.2 Minority Government By Royal Interference

The Uncertainty Card may show the Royal Interference icon. This means Her Majesty wants her favorite Party Leader to be the PM, and she's willing to interfere to get her way.

You may accept Her Majesty's offer to form a Minority Government if:

• You have more Favour than the other Party Leader,
• Your party earned the minimum number of MPs indicated on the Royal Interference icon, AND
• You did not just lose a Challenge this round.

1 in 3 Uncertainty Cards have a Royal Interference icon, and the minimum MP requirements range from ≥311 to ≥323.

If Her Majesty's favorite declines Royal Interference, the other Party Leader will be PM.

11.3 Election VP

If the Government or Opposition gains seats in the Election, it scores 2 VP plus 1 VP for every 10 seats gained (rounding off to the nearest 10).

EXAMPLE: The Opposition Liberal Party had 310 seats before the Election and won the Election with 345 seats, which rounds off to 350. The Liberal Opposition scores 6 VP.

Election VP is independent of the winner/loser determination. EXAMPLE: The PM's Conservative Government wins the Election, but its number of MPs drops from 410 to 340. The Liberal Opposition scores 9 VP.

CLARIFICATION: Election VP is based on movement in the Government MP Tracker's "A" column; no one scores Election VP if you are not moving the marker here.

11.4 Government Changeover

If the Opposition prevails:

• The Opposition takes the PM Replacement Bonus (6 VP).
• The Party Leaders exchange player mats, with each receiving the new mat's starting Standing level (look for the highlighted space in the Standing Tracker). Keep your unplayed Supporters, Favour, and Player Markers when exchanging player mats.
• Backbenchers flip their Backbencher mats over, then exchange the Resignation Card and their respective Career and Debate Cards while keeping their Standing levels, Favour, and unplayed Supporters.
• Replace the Liberal Bills deck with the Conservative Bills deck, or vice versa, so that the new PM has access to the correct bill decks.
• The former Opposition party is now the Government party. Any references to "PM" or "Government" from this point forward refer to the new PM or new Government.

11.5 Reset Markers

The PM resets the Government MP Tracker after each Election:

• A = the total number of seats you just got in the Election, rounding off to the nearest 10
• P = your party's purple Partisan points
• M = A − P

EXAMPLE: Your Conservative party just won the Election with 382 seats. After rounding off, you now have 380 Government MPs. Your party has 170 purple Partisan points in the Conservatives Sector and 60 in the Farmers Sector, for a total of 230 Partisan points. You have 230 Partisan MPs and 150 Moderate MPs, for a total of 380 MPs.

If the Election Marker (1.6.5) is not on the board, replace it after holding the Election.

CLARIFICATIONS:

• There's no tracker for Opposition MPs, whose numbers have no effect on gameplay.
• In rare situations, your Partisan points might suggest a number of Partisan MPs that exceeds your total number of MPs. In this situation, your Partisan MPs are limited to your total number of MPs.

12.0 Uncertainty

As in real life, projections for Elections and Votes are only estimates. Use Uncertainty Cards to reveal actual results in Elections and Votes. Always shuffle the Uncertainty deck first before drawing and revealing one card.

For Votes, adjustments range from -11 to +10. For Elections, adjustments range from ±12 MPs. These values are not evenly distributed, with most of the values being close to zero so that more extreme results are less common.

Some Uncertainty Cards also display the Royal Interference icon (11.2.2).

ICONOGRAPHY: Draw an Uncertainty Card.

After applying the card you drew, return it to the deck (do not create a discard pile).

13.0 Victory

The first PM to reach 100 VP immediately wins the game. If you reach 100 VP when you're not the PM, leave the Player Marker at 100 VP and try to become the PM before someone else wins the game.

THEMATIC NOTE: "There can be no finality in politics." —Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury

Scenarios

Introduction

Prime Minister features seven scenarios based on the game's multiplayer rules. Each scenario presents a different thematic or historical situation, with modifications to setup, game rules, and/or victory conditions. Some of these scenarios are built for a specific number of players ranging from two to four, and some involve team play with joint victory conditions. The scenarios offer a mix of different playing times, including some that are much shorter than the standard version. All scenarios use the standard game's existing components and assume familiarity with the game rules.

See the Clockwork Rulebook for additional scenarios featuring the game's automated Clockwork Politicians.

• Scenario 1: A Nation in Crisis
• Scenario 2: Home Rule for Ireland
• Scenario 3: The Queen's Favour
• Scenario 4: Repealing the Corn Laws
• Scenario 5: The Second Reform Act
• Scenario 6: Fractured Parliament
• Scenario 7: The Liberal Unionist

Scenario 1: A Nation in Crisis (4-Player Tournament Game)

Introduction: This tournament scenario uses detailed adjustments to setup to create an exciting endgame showdown, where each player has victory closely in reach. There are no adjustments to rules or victory conditions, so you can focus on honing your strategy without learning any new mechanics. As captured by its modified Event deck, this scenario presents a "nation in crisis": the Prime Minister contends with famines, floods, cholera outbreaks, riots, and attempts on Her Majesty's life. As the game begins, the Earl of Derby's Conservative ministry has already introduced a series of repressive bills in a desperate attempt to restore order, but it's not clear if Derby can pass these controversial bills and survive the following Election. Earl Russell, leader of the Liberal Opposition, is eager to prove he can do better, but no one yet knows if he intends to follow a Partisan or Moderate strategy. Both Party Leaders have to contend with powerful and potentially disloyal Backbenchers, while the Backbenchers themselves are faced with their own dilemmas—should they emphasize personal ambition over loyalty, risking disaster for their party? Or should they play it safe by supporting their Party Leader, foregoing their own moment in the sun?

Length: Up to 8 rounds, about 60-90 minutes

Players: 4

Setup adjustments: Adjust the usual setup rules for a 4-player game as follows:

• Assign the Derby, Russell, Peel, and Melbourne Politician Cards randomly or by agreement. Set them up as follows:
  • Derby starts as PM with 74 VP, 10 Standing, 1 Favour
  • Russell starts as Opposition Leader with 62 VP, 7 Standing, 5 Favour
  • Peel starts as Government Backbencher with 71 VP, 8 Standing, 5 Favour
  • Melbourne starts as Opposition Backbencher with 80 VP, 3 Standing, 3 Favour
• In the Sectors, adjust the starting positions of the Party Markers as follows:
  • Conservative Party: Conservatives Sector at 14, Gentry Sector at 16, Workers Sector at 5
  • Liberal Party: Farmers Sector at 7, Gentry Sector at 7, Liberals Sector at 3, Middle Class Sector at 9, Scotland Sector at 9, Workers Sector at 7
• Place a Conservative Party Marker in the "1" position on the Election Projections table.
• Remove the Pact Card and Election Marker from the game.
• Derby's Government starts with 360 MPs: 40 Moderates and 320 Partisans.
• Take the following bills from the Conservatives Bills deck and place them face up in the bill slots on the game board: (1) Offences Against the Person Act; (2) Vagrancy Act; and (3) Irish Coercion Act.
• Create a modified Event deck consisting of the following 9 cards: Famine in Ireland; Cholera Outbreak in London; Rioting in the East End; Flooding in Midlands; Coal Miners Go on Strike; Attempt on Her Majesty's Life; and 3 By-Election Cards (2 "-1 Standing" cards and 1 "+1 Standing" card).
• Allow players to view these Event Cards before shuffling them and placing them face down.
• When the scenario begins, round setup and the Bill Selection Phase have already occurred. Begin the game with the Action Phase, then continue to follow Parliamentary Order as usual.

Victory conditions: The standard victory condition applies (first PM to reach 100 VP), but in the unlikely event that no one has won the game at the end of Round 8, award victory to the current PM.

Scenario 2: Home Rule for Ireland

Introduction: As Benjamin Disraeli's Conservative ministry falters, Opposition Leader W.E. Gladstone prepares to become the next Prime Minister. Once in office, Gladstone aims to liberate long-suffering Ireland through three key bills culminating in Home Rule. He must contend not only with Disraeli's counter maneuvers, but also with opposition from moderates in his own Liberal Party. If he succeeds, his ministry may not survive the backlash that's sure to follow. The difficulty levels in this scenario are intentionally lopsided: Gladstone's victory conditions are achievable but very challenging, while Disraeli has the easier task of maintaining the status quo. This scenario is a great choice for a novice taking Disraeli's position against a veteran Gladstone player, or for any Gladstone player who wants to test their mastery of the game.

Length: Up to 9 rounds, about 45-60 minutes

Players: 2

Setup adjustments: Adjust the usual setup rules for a 2-player game as follows:

• Assign the Disraeli and Gladstone Politician Cards randomly or by agreement.
• Disraeli starts as PM; Gladstone starts as Opposition Leader. Raise Disraeli's Standing to 12.
• Remove the Pact Card and Father of the House Card from the game.
• Do not track VP.
• In the Sectors, adjust the starting positions of the Liberal Party Markers as follows: Conservatives Sector at 2, Gentry Sector at 11, Ireland Sector at 7, Liberals Sector at 20.
• Place a Liberal Party Marker in the 26 position on the Election Projections table.
• Disraeli's Government starts with 370 MPs: 300 Moderates and 70 Partisans.
• Remove the Election Marker from the board (it remains available for placement later).
• Remove the following bills from the Liberal Bills deck and place them face up next to the board: (1) Irish Church Act; (2) Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act; and (3) Government of Ireland Act (collectively referred to as the Irish Agenda).

Rule adjustments: The Opposition Leader does not participate in Bill Selection. Instead, the PM randomly draws six bills from the Government's Party Bills and/or the Cross-Party Bills. In selecting bills to place on the board, Gladstone may choose any of the bills he randomly draws or any of the Irish Agenda bills. Disraeli may view but not select Irish Agenda bills.

Victory conditions:

• Gladstone wins if: he becomes PM by the end of Round 3; he passes the entire Irish Agenda before the second Election; AND he retains his position as PM after holding the second Election.
• Disraeli immediately wins if: he retains his position as PM through the end of Round 3; an Irish Agenda bill fails or is withdrawn; OR he retakes the PM's position.

THEMATIC NOTES: The real-life Gladstone made two attempts at Irish Home Rule, in 1886 and again in 1893. His first bill was defeated in the House of Commons; the second passed the Commons, but was defeated in the House of Lords.

"Ireland stands at your bar expectant, hopeful, almost suppliant. Her words are the words of truth and soberness. She asks a blessed oblivion of the past, and in that oblivion our interest is deeper than even hers.… Think, I beseech you, think well, think wisely, think, not for the moment, but for the years that are to come, before you reject this Bill." —W.E. Gladstone

Scenario 3: The Queen's Favour

Introduction: The Earl of Aberdeen and the Earl of Rosebery have gone far in politics thanks to Queen Victoria's subtle but powerful support, and neither of them can afford to cross her. Her Majesty is pleased that her two favorites have now become leaders of their respective parties, and wonders which of them will prove most obedient. She has some aspirations regarding a few bills, and of course she expects her favorites to handle Events to her satisfaction.

Length: About 1-2 hours

Players: 2

Setup adjustments: Adjust the usual setup rules for a 2-player game as follows:

• Assign the Aberdeen and Rosebery Politician Cards randomly or by agreement.
• Remove the Pact Card from the game.
• Set both players' markers at 0 VP.
• Rosebery's Government starts with 320 MPs: 280 Moderates and 40 Partisans.
• Remove the Windsor Castle Act from the Cross-Party Bills deck. Remove the Royal Titles Act and the Treason Act from the Conservative Bills deck. Place these bills face up next to the board (collectively referred to as the Queen's Bills).

Rule adjustments:

• In selecting bills to place on the board, the PM may choose among the 4 bills he randomly drew, the 2 bills proposed by the Opposition Leader, or any of the Queen's Bills that have not been passed already.
• In lieu of the usual effects displayed on the Queen's Bills, in this Scenario they grant 10 VP each for the PM who passes them. They have no other effects.
• Each time you spend an Action Cube on a Flatter action, you gain 3 VP in addition to the Favour effect. You may perform this Politician Action even when your Favour is already maxed out.

Victory conditions: The standard victory condition applies (first PM to reach 100 VP), but:

• If you select a Queen's Bill, you must succeed in passing it. If you withdraw the bill or it fails, you immediately lose the game.
• If you select an option with negative Favour point(s) when resolving an Event, you immediately lose the game.

Scenario 4: Repealing the Corn Laws

Introduction: For many years, the Corn Laws have protected the interests of Britain's farmers and gentry by imposing steep tariffs on imported grain. Owners of farmland grow wealthy from high food prices, while Britain's proletariat pays the price. Politicians see the growing desperation and agitation in the urban slums and fear that Britain is on the brink of a violent revolution. They recognize the urgent need for action—but who can defy the politically powerful farmers and feed the hungry masses?

Length: Up to 15 rounds, about 1 to 2 hours

Players: 2 or 4

Setup adjustments: Adjust the usual setup rules as follows:

• Assign the Palmerston and Peel Politician Cards randomly or by agreement. If playing with 4 players, also assign the Russell and Salisbury Politician Cards randomly or by agreement.
• Palmerston starts as PM, and Peel starts as Opposition Leader. If playing with 4 players, Russell and Salisbury start as Government Backbencher and Opposition Backbencher respectively, and each starts with 2 Standing and 3 Favour.
• Remove the Pact Card, Resignation Card, and Father of the House Card from the game.
• Do not track VP. Instead, take a spare Player Marker and place it in the "6" position on the Score Track. This indicates the number of bills the PM may draw during Bill Selection.
• Remove the Importation Act from the Liberal Bills deck and place it face up next to the board.

Rule adjustments:

• In 4-player games, each party plays as a team for a joint victory. The Government Backbencher may not Resign.
• During Bill Selection, the PM: draws the number of bills currently indicated on the Score Track from the Cross-Party Bills and/or the Government's Party Bills (the other players do not draw or propose bills); and selects bills to place on the board by choosing among the bills randomly drawn or the Importation Act. (When the marker on the Score Track is in the "2" position, the PM must place the two bills randomly drawn and the Importation Act.)
• After completing each Bill Selection Phase, the PM moves the marker on the Score Track down one step to indicate the number of bills that will be drawn during the next Bill Selection.
• If the marker on the Score Track reaches the "2" position, the PM immediately draws 2 Supporter Cards keeping them face down, and places them underneath the Importation Act.
• If you pass a Party Bill (other than the Importation Act), apply the effects stated on the card other than VP, then immediately draw additional Supporter Cards according to the card's VP value as follows: 2-3 VP: draw 3 Supporters and immediately choose 2 to keep and 1 to discard; 4-5 VP: draw 4 Supporters and immediately choose 3 to keep and 1 to discard; 6-7 VP: draw 6 Supporters and immediately choose 4 to keep and 2 to discard.

CLARIFICATION: As usual, the PM receives any Supporter cards earned through bills.

• If a Conservative PM selects the Importation Act: treat it as an M+40 bill; if it passes, reverse the popularity effects marked on the card: the Conservatives lose 3 steps in the Farmers Sector and gain 1 step in the Workers Sector; the Liberals gain 2 steps in the Farmers Sector.
• If the Importation Act passes, the PM: reveals any Supporter cards that were placed under the Importation Act and may play them now; and then immediately holds an Election (skipping the Challenge Phase).

Victory conditions:

• The PM (or both Government players in a 4-player game) immediately wins by: passing the Importation Act; AND winning the subsequent Election (including through Royal Interference).
• The Opposition Leader (or both Opposition players in a 4-player game) immediately wins if: the Importation Act fails or is withdrawn; the Importation Act is on the board and the PM loses a Challenge; OR the PM loses the Election after passing the Importation Act (including through Royal Interference).

THEMATIC NOTE: "Whatever country squires may think, it is not safe to guarantee the continuance of the present Corn Laws." —Sir Robert Peel

Scenario 5: The Second Reform Act

Introduction: In 1832, Britain took a major step in transitioning from an oligarchy to a modern democracy with the first Reform Act, also known as the Representation of the People Act. The first Reform Act expanded the electorate to about one in five adult males, but further progress stalled in the following decades. Now in the 1860s, the vast majority of working-class men remain disenfranchised and have run out of patience. Mass protests in London are becoming more ominous by the day. In Parliament, the nation's political leaders jostle with one another to craft a solution, knowing that any major expansion of the electorate will change their political futures. Can the Conservative Party rally its moderates to pass a second Reform Act and secure new support among the working class? Or will the Liberal Party save the day and tighten its bond with the common man? Whichever party manages to pass the second Reform Act will use it as a rallying cry in the next Election. Meanwhile, inaction risks violence in the streets.

Length: About 2 to 3 hours

Players: 2 to 4

Setup adjustments: Adjust the usual setup rules as follows:

• Assign the Salisbury and Gladstone Politician Cards randomly or by agreement.
• If playing with 3 players, also assign the Rosebery card randomly or by agreement, and apply the 3-player adjustments (2.5) to the Conservative player; or
• If playing with 4 players, also assign the Rosebery and Disraeli cards randomly or by agreement.
• Salisbury starts as PM and Gladstone starts as Opposition Leader. If used, Disraeli and Rosebery start as Government Backbencher and Opposition Backbencher, respectively.
• Remove the Representation of the People Act from the Liberal Bills deck and place it face up near the board (referred to as the Act).
• Remove the Rioting in the East End card from the Event deck and place it face up near the board (referred to as the Riots).

Rule adjustments:

• Follow the usual Bill Selection rules, except that any PM may select the Act during any Bill Selection Phase, if it has not been passed already.
• If selected by a Conservative PM, treat it as an "M" bill.
• If the Act has not been introduced and the Riots are not already in the Event deck, prepare the Riots after Bill Selection: draw five cards from the Event deck without viewing them; shuffle the five cards together with the Riots card; and place these six cards face down on top of the Event deck.
• If the PM draws the Riots when the Act is on the board, return the Riots card to its place next to the game board (without effect) and draw another Event in its place.
• If the PM draws the Riots when the Act is not on the board, adjust the effects as follows: the negative effects printed on the Riots card are doubled; the positive effect printed on the card is cancelled: spending two Action Cubes only avoids the negative effects.
• After resolving the Riots, return the Riots card to its place next to the game board so that it's available for possible re-insertion after the next Bill Selection Phase.
• When the Act is on the board, the Opposition loses one Popularity step in the Workers Sector each round that it takes any action(s) to lower the Act's Vote projection.

CLARIFICATION: There is no special effect if a Resigned Government Backbencher attacks the Act.

• If the Act fails or is withdrawn, return it face up next to the board where it remains available for selection again.
• If the Act passes, adjust its effects as follows: if passed by a Conservative PM, reverse the effects stated on the card: the Liberals gain a Popularity step in the Gentry Sector; the Conservatives lose a Popularity step in the Conservatives Sector and score 6 VP. In addition to the effects stated on the card, the Government party gains one Popularity step in the Workers Sector, while the Opposition party loses one step in the Workers Sector. Except for Partisan points, all numerical values in the Workers Sector are immediately doubled and remain doubled for the remainder of the game.

EXAMPLE: If your party is now in the "11" position printed on the board for the Workers Sector and the opposing party is now in the "7" position, the relative difference in Popularity points immediately doubles from 4 to 8. On the Election Projections, take an extra 4 Popularity points for your party.

EXAMPLE: In the next round, your party's Popularity in the Workers Sector drops from "11" to "7." Your party has just lost 8 Popularity points.

• If you are the leader of the party that passed the Act: you may spend one Action Cube per round to perform a Workers Popularity action. If you are performing this action as the Opposition Leader, you may save one of your Action Cubes at the end of your action turn, then use it to perform this action after the PM's action turn is complete and immediately before Bill Resolution.
• Remove the Riots card from the game (if it is already in the Event deck, reveal cards as needed to find it, then reshuffle).

THEMATIC NOTE: After championing the Second Reform Act in 1867, Disraeli hoped that newly-enfranchised workers would be grateful enough to vote for the Conservative Party. Instead, more votes went to the Liberals in the next election, and the expansion of the electorate eventually led to the emergence of the Labour Party.

Scenario 6: Fractured Parliament

Introduction: New political parties have appeared on the scene, drawing seats away from the dominant Conservative and Liberal Parties and making it difficult for any Prime Minister to form a majority Government.

Length: About 2 to 3 hours

Players: 2 to 4

Setup adjustments: Adjust the usual setup rules as follows:

• Remove the Pact Card from the game.
• Place the Opposition Leader's Player Marker in the "5" position on the Score Track (the PM's Player Marker starts at 0 VP as usual).
• The Government starts with 290 MPs: 240 Moderates and 50 Partisans.

Rule adjustments:

• There are always 80 MPs who belong to neither the Liberal nor Conservative Parties.
• After determining the winner in an Election, deduct 40 MPs from the winner's results: 10 Partisan MPs and 30 Moderate MPs.
• The Opposition also has 40 fewer MPs than they would normally receive.

EXAMPLE: After rounding off, the Liberal Government has 290 MPs on the Government MP Tracker, the Conservative Opposition also has 290 MPs, and 80 MPs belong to neither party, for a rounded-off total of 660 MPs. After the next Election, the Conservatives win 350 MPs according to the Election Projections Table and Uncertainty Card, after rounding off. Deducting 40 MPs, the Conservatives now form a new Government with 310 MPs and take 4 VP for gaining 20 seats.

• When the Royal Interference icon appears on an Uncertainty Card in Elections, evaluate the card's minimum MP requirement before deducting 40 MPs.
• In By-Elections, deduct 40 MPs from the Government's Election Projections when comparing the Projections to the current number of MPs.

Scenario 7: The Liberal Unionist

Introduction: Spencer Compton Cavendish, the 8th Duke of Devonshire, is one of the most influential peers in late Victorian Britain. He has steadily climbed the political ladder as a Liberal politician, but now finds himself clashing with his Party Leader W.E. Gladstone over Irish Home Rule. After his brother's assassination by Irish Nationalists in 1882, Devonshire has firmly planted himself on the side of the Unionists. As Gladstone prepares to introduce his Government of Ireland Act, Devonshire contemplates leaving the Liberal Party to form a new Liberal Unionist Party, which would allow him to hold the balance of power in Parliament and perhaps enable a Conservative Government under the Marquess of Salisbury. With the Conservatives in power, Devonshire might be able to tighten Westminster's grip on Ireland through the Irish Coercion Act; but Salisbury has his own plan to calm the situation with his Party Processions Act. Each Politician in this 3-way contest has his own agenda and path to victory, with party alignments open to change.

Length: About 2 to 3 hours

Players: 3 (for a solitaire version, see Scenario C5 in the Clockwork Rulebook)

Setup adjustments: Adjust the usual setup rules for a 3-player game as follows:

• Remove the Duke of Devonshire card from the Supporter deck and use it as a Politician Card.
• Assign the Gladstone, Salisbury and Devonshire Politician Cards randomly or by agreement.
• Do not apply the 3-Player Adjustments (2.5). Always use the front sides of the Party Leader player mats.
• Use the Pact Card to indicate Devonshire's current alignment and use the Deputy Party Leader Career Card for game balance as follows: When Devonshire is a Liberal Backbencher, Gladstone holds the Pact Card and Salisbury gets the activated Deputy Party Leader Career Card. When Devonshire is an independent Liberal Unionist Backbencher, he holds the Pact Card and no one uses the Deputy Party Leader Career Card. When Devonshire is a Conservative Backbencher, Salisbury holds the Pact Card and Gladstone gets the activated Deputy Party Leader Career Card.
• Gladstone: Start as PM. Place the Pact Card face up next to your player mat, indicating that Devonshire starts the game as your Government Backbencher. Remove the Government of Ireland Act from the Liberal Bills deck and place it face up next to your player mat.
• Salisbury: Start as Opposition Leader with 7 Standing points. Set one of your Player Markers at 5 VP. Remove the Party Processions Act from the Conservative Bills deck and place it face up next to your player mat. Take the Deputy Party Leader Career Card and place it face up (activated) next to your player mat.
• Devonshire: Take a Backbencher player mat and start as a Government Backbencher in the Liberal Party. Never track your Standing or Favour. Place one of your Player Markers on top of Gladstone's on the Score Track (at 0 VP). Remove the Irish Coercion Act from the Conservative Bills deck and place it face up next to your player mat. Take both Chief Whip Career Cards: activate the Government Chief Whip Card, and hold the Opposition Chief Whip Card for possible use later. Take the Opposition Leader Debate Card and hold it for possible use later.
• Remove the other Career Cards, Father of the House Card, Backbencher Debate Cards, and Resignation Card from the game.

Rule adjustments for Gladstone:

• As PM you may select the Government of Ireland Act during Bill Selection: only you may score the 7 VP on this bill. If you select but fail to pass this bill, return it face up next to your player mat where it remains available for selection again.

Rule adjustments for Salisbury:

• As PM you may select the Party Processions Act during Bill Selection: only you may score the 6 VP on this bill. If you select but fail to pass this bill, return it face up next to your player mat where it remains available for selection again.
• If Devonshire places the Irish Coercion Act on the board when you are PM, you may withdraw it with the following effects based on the Act's current projected Votes: ≥350 projected Votes: -2 Standing for you, +2 Standing and 2 VP for Gladstone; 320 to 340 projected Votes: standard penalty (-1 Standing for you, +1 Standing and 2 VP for Gladstone); ≤310 projected Votes: no Standing effects, 2 VP for Gladstone.

CLARIFICATION: You are free to lower the Vote projections on the Irish Coercion Act to facilitate its withdrawal.

Rule adjustments for Devonshire:

• You may never Challenge Gladstone or Salisbury. Keep your Backbencher player mat throughout the game.
• Your Action Cube income is always 2 cubes.
• You may perform the Debate and Hobnob actions on your Backbencher player mat.
• Once per turn, you may spend an Action Cube to perform the Campaign action on your Devonshire card (Conservatives or Ireland Sector). (You may not perform the Standing action on the Devonshire card.)
• Devonshire as Liberal Backbencher: Always take your action turn after Gladstone. (CLARIFICATION: When Gladstone is PM, the Bill Resolution Phase immediately follows your action turn.) When Gladstone is PM, you may not use your player mat's Debate action against Government bills, but you are free to use Supporter Debate actions as you wish, and you may use Influence actions to change Government MPs from Moderates to Partisans or vice versa without the PM's permission. Pool all VP with Gladstone. Exception: only Gladstone scores the Government of Ireland Act's 7 VP. Supporter Cards: treat all Favour or Standing effects as having a pointing finger (apply to either Party Leader). In place of the standard Resignation action, you may leave the Liberal Party (see below). Once you leave the Liberal Party, you may not rejoin it.

STRATEGY TIP: Never leave the Liberal Party at the beginning of the game. To have a viable chance of winning the game, you first need to accrue VP as a Liberal Backbencher.

• Devonshire as Independent Liberal Unionist: If you have <90 VP, you may leave the Liberal Party and form the Liberal Unionist Party at the start of your action turn: spend two Action Cubes; take the Pact Card from Gladstone; Gladstone loses 2 Standing; score a 6 VP bonus, up to a maximum of 90 VP; set aside your Chief Whip Career Cards; you may now use either side of the Opposition Leader Debate Card; take the Deputy Party Leader Career Card from Salisbury and set it aside. Take your action turn last, after the Prime Minister's action turn is complete. During Bill Selection, you now draw 4 bills and propose 2, while the Opposition Leader draws 2 bills and proposes 1. When playing Supporters or using Devonshire's Campaign action: treat all Favour, Standing, or Popularity effects as having a pointing finger (apply to any Party or Party Leader). If playing a Supporter for a Debate or Influence effect, disregard any negative tradeoff. You score VP only from: Cross-Party Bills, your Debate Card, and your Bill Selection Bonus.

STRATEGY TIP: Because of its limited potential for VP, your path to victory as an Independent Liberal Unionist is a narrow one. If you intend to win the game this way, try to get as close as possible to 90 VP before leaving the Liberal Party.

• Devonshire as Conservative Backbencher: After becoming a Liberal Unionist, you may join the Government or Opposition on the Conservative side at the start of your action turn: spend one Action Cube; give the Pact Card to Salisbury; Salisbury gains 1 Standing; reset your VP to your current VP or 5 VP more than Salisbury, whichever is less (after resetting your VP, deduct 6 VP from your score if Salisbury has already passed the Party Processions Act); set aside your Opposition Leader Debate Card; you may now use the appropriate Chief Whip Career Card again; give the activated Deputy Party Leader Career Card to Gladstone. Always take your action turn after Salisbury. When Salisbury is PM, you may not use your player mat's Debate action against Government bills, but you are free to use Supporter Debate actions as you wish, and you may use Influence actions to change Government MPs from Moderates to Partisans or vice versa without the PM's permission. Pool all VP with Salisbury. Exception: only you score the Irish Coercion Act's 5 VP. Exception: only Salisbury scores the Party Processions Act's 6 VP. Supporter Cards: treat all Favour or Standing effects as having a pointing finger (apply to either Party Leader). When you are in a Conservative Government, you may spend two Action Cubes during your action turn to remove from the board any bill other than the Party Processions Act and replace it with the Irish Coercion Act: set the initial Vote projection adjustment at +100. If the Irish Coercion Act fails or is withdrawn, return it face up next to your player mat where it remains available for selection again.

CLARIFICATION: This is the only way to introduce the Irish Coercion Act. You may not propose it during Bill Selection.

• You may not leave the Conservatives after joining.

STRATEGY TIP: Unless you already have more VP than Salisbury when you join his Government or Opposition, your chances for victory are very slim.

Victory conditions:

• Devonshire: reach 100 VP as an Independent Liberal Unionist or as a Liberal or Conservative Backbencher in Government.
• Gladstone and Salisbury: reach 100 VP as PM.
• If Devonshire and the current PM meet their victory conditions simultaneously, Devonshire wins the tie.

THEMATIC NOTE: In this scenario, the Party Processions Act is used to represent compromise. In real life, it was passed by Earl Russell's Whig government in 1850, predating the political careers of Salisbury and Devonshire.

Guide to VP Pooling

In this section, we'll take a closer look at one of Prime Minister's more unusual features, VP pooling. This feature structures the players' shifting alliances and distributes VP accordingly. It's governed by rule 3.0, with some reminders scattered throughout the rulebook. It's not particularly difficult to grasp, but its unfamiliarity can confuse new players.

Under the standard setup rules, the players start the game in an all-player Pact consisting of a Liberal Government and a Conservative Opposition (2.2, 3.1). In Prime Minister, a "Pact" is a binding agreement by the Opposition to refrain from attacking the Government's bills (3.1). All players in the Pact pool their VP, which in effect means that the Opposition gets additional VP in exchange for holding their fire.

The first VP scored in a standard multiplayer game is usually the 1 VP Bill Selection Bonus (5.2), so we'll use that as our first example of VP pooling. Let's imagine that during the Bill Selection Phase (5.0) the Government Backbencher proposes a Cross-Party Bill and the PM selects that bill and places it on the board. For this successful bill proposal, the Government Backbencher scores a 1 VP Bill Selection Bonus. Now here's the catch—that 1 VP will be shared by everyone. That's because in a Pact, any VP scored by any player in the Pact is always shared by all players in the Pact. This is a straightforward rule, but it may take a while to sink in. Don't look for exceptions, because there aren't any.

If you get confused and think that the Government Backbencher alone should take the 1 VP, you'll reconsider when you see only the PM's Player Marker on the Score Track, where it represents everyone's VP (3.1.1). You won't place other Player Markers on the Score Track until the players' relationships splinter. The game is designed this way to help players follow the VP pooling rules correctly, especially at the outset of the game. Don't place any other Player Markers on the Score Track until the rules explicitly tell you to do so.

So the PM will now move the Player Marker on the Score Track from 0 to 1. The Government Backbencher earned the 1 VP, but everyone shares it. Think of it as a reward for teamwork.

Now let's imagine that the PM next selects a Party Bill proposed by the Opposition Backbencher. By placing a Party Bill on the board, the PM immediately dissolves the Pact (3.1.2) and the Government and Opposition begin tracking their VP separately. The Opposition Leader places his or her Player Marker on top of the PM's on the Score Track (currently in the "1" position), then takes the 1 VP Bill Selection Bonus for the Opposition players, moving his or her marker to the "2" position (3.1.2). VP Pooling hasn't disappeared, but it's splintered—the Government players are now in one pool, while the Opposition players are now in their own pool. Also, notice that the order of bill selection can make a small difference—if the PM selected the Party Bill first and then selected the Government Backbencher's Cross-Party Bill, the Government wouldn't share the latter's 1 VP Bill Selection Bonus with the Opposition, and both Party Leaders would end up with their Player Markers in the "1" position. In other words, first the Opposition Backbencher's accepted bill proposal would have earned a 1 VP Bill Selection Bonus for the Opposition players, then the Government Backbencher's accepted bill proposal would have earned 1 VP for the Government players, while the Pact would have received no VP prior to its quick dissolution.

Dissolving or restarting a Pact is one way to alter VP pooling; the other way is for the Government Backbencher to Resign (3.2.1). In Prime Minister, "Resigning" means the Government Backbencher rebukes the PM by renouncing all official appointments (as represented by the Backbencher's Career Cards (6.2.2)). The Prime Minister loses two Standing points as a result, and the Resigned Backbencher is now permitted to attack the Government's bills. Once the Government Backbencher Resigns, the only player left in Government is the PM. Resigning is an action available only to the Government Backbencher. No one can Resign from the Opposition, so the Opposition players are always locked together in the same VP pool (3.3) as long as they remain in Opposition.

The game board has slots for the Pact Card (3.1) and Resignation Card (6.2.3); their placement on the board tells you the current status of VP pooling. In a 3- or 4-player game, there are four possible VP pooling arrangements:

VP Pooling Arrangement	Cards on the Board
All-player Pact	Pact Card
Government player(s) / Opposition player(s)	None
Opposition player(s) / PM in Govt. / Resigned Govt. BB	Resignation Card
PM & Opposition player(s) in Pact / Resigned Govt. BB	Pact Card & Resignation Card

You will rarely see the last arrangement (Pact and Resignation both in effect), since Resigning when a Pact is in place is almost always a serious blunder. The Pact and Resignation combination is most likely to happen when a Government Backbencher first Resigns without a Pact in place, and the PM responds by inviting the Opposition to restart the Pact (3.1.3), leaving the Resigned Backbencher out in the cold.

You might also find it helpful to consider all the ways that different pooling arrangements can earn VP. (The VP amounts shown below are for each instance VP is applied; there's no total cap on any type of VP.) This table is a good illustration of why Government Backbenchers have to be careful about Resigning—if your gambit to quickly unseat the PM fails, you're going to miss out on a lot of VP!

Type of VP	Amount	Available to
Round Setup for Government (4.0(1))	4 VP	Pact, Government
Round Setup for Opposition (4.0(1))	2 VP	Pact, Opposition
Bill Selection Bonus (5.2)	1 VP	Pact, Government, Opposition, Resigned Govt. BB
Debate Cards (6.2.1, 6.3)	2 to 3 VP	Pact, Government, Opposition, Resigned Govt. BB
By-Election Event Cards (8.2)	1 VP	Pact, Opposition
Resolve Bill by Agreement Bonus (9.1)	5 VP	Pact, Opposition
Bill Failure (9.2)	3 VP	Opposition
Bill Withdrawal (9.3)	2 VP	Opposition
Cross-Party Bill VP (9.4)	2 to 3 VP	Pact, Government, Opposition
Party Bill VP (9.4)	2 to 7 VP	Government
Election (11.3)	≥3 VP	Pact, Government, Opposition
PM Replacement Bonus (1.4.1)	6 VP	Government, Resigned Govt. BB

When a Pact is in effect, Government and Opposition round setup VP is combined for 6 VP (4.0(1)).

Example of Play

Introduction

This Example of Play illustrates a 4-player game under the standard game rules. It demonstrates how rules are applied (with parenthetical references to rule numbers), explains some of the game's thematic background, and provides insight on strategy.

Setup

Although Politicians may be distributed by mutual agreement (2.1), in this example each player randomly draws a Politician. The first player draws the Earl of Rosebery (Liberal), the second draws Sir Robert Peel (Conservative), and the third draws the Earl of Derby (Conservative). The fourth player initially draws Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative), but since a 4-player game requires two Conservatives and two Liberals (2.1), the fourth player discards Disraeli and redraws, this time taking the Earl Russell (Liberal). These Politician assignments will never change during gameplay, so Disraeli and the unused remainder of the Politician deck may be returned to the game box.

Under the standard multiplayer rules, the Liberals always form the first Government (2.2). To see who starts as PM, the Liberal players check to see who has the lowest number printed in the upper left-hand corner of their Politician Cards (1.3, 2.2). Russell's number is 2 and Rosebery's is 3, so Russell starts as PM. Likewise, the Conservative players check their numbers to see who starts as Opposition Leader: Derby has a 7 and Peel has a 10, so Derby starts as Opposition Leader. Rosebery and Peel start as Government Backbencher and Opposition Backbencher, respectively. The starting numbers on the Politician cards are assigned for reasons of game balance. Most significantly, Politicians with the Campaign 2 ability (Peel and Palmerston) can never start as a Party Leader in a 4-player game, which helps to keep their Campaign 2 ability in check. If you want the best game balance, don't ignore the rule on Politician starting numbers.

Ideally, players should sit around a square or round table, with Russell as PM having the best view of the board. Players in the same party will sometimes want to whisper or privately show each other their Supporter Cards, so they should be seated adjacently.

Each player takes a set of three Player Markers: Russell, Derby, Rosebery, and Peel each take one color.

Each player uses one of their markers to track their Standing on their player mat. The players' starting Standing levels are highlighted on their mats: 11 for the PM, 5 for the Opposition Leader, and zero for the Backbenchers (1.4, 2.3). In standard games, all Politicians start at Favour level 1, so each player places their second marker in the "1" position on the game board's Favour Tracker. Players will use their third marker to track their VP scores.

The Backbenchers each have a Backbencher Debate Card (6.2.1) and four Career Cards (6.2.2). When the Backbenchers examine their Career Cards, they'll notice that they have one card they can never activate because they're missing the required ability (1.3). Rosebery lacks the Influence ability, so he'll have to set aside his Chief Whip Career Card. He places his Privy Counsellor, Campaign Chairman, and Deputy PM Career Cards in the three slots marked on his Backbencher player mat (1.4.3). For now, he turns these cards face down, so that only their activation requirements are showing. He hasn't earned any of these appointments yet, but he can look forward to getting them as his Standing and Favour rise. Meanwhile, Peel sees that he'll never make it as a Privy Counsellor because he doesn't know how to Flatter Her Majesty, but unlike Rosebery he does have the Influence ability, so he can look forward to becoming a Chief Whip. He places his Chief Whip, Campaign Chairman, and Deputy Party Leader Career Cards face down (unactivated) in the slots on his Backbencher mat.

THEMATIC NOTE: Although the term "Backbencher" sounds lowly, no player in Prime Minister is ever a nobody. All ten playable Politicians have the rare potential to become Prime Minister. Even if they start the game as Backbenchers, their Standing in Parliament will quickly rise (see 6.2.4) and their Career Cards will soon unlock powerful appointments.

As Government Backbencher, Rosebery holds the Resignation Card (3.2.1). The game begins with the Pact Card on the board (3.1). Place the PM's third Player Marker on the Score Track in the zero position. Don't place any other Player Markers on the Score Track yet. At the start of the game, the PM's Player Marker represents everyone's VP score (3.1.1).

There are 658 Members of Parliament (MPs) in Prime Minister's House of Commons (11.1), but we round off to the nearest ten on the Government MP Tracker (11.5). At the start of the game, the Government has 330 MPs: 270 "Moderate" MPs and 60 "Partisan" MPs (2.3). 330 is exactly the number needed for a majority Government, and exactly the number needed to pass a bill. Throughout this Example of Play, we'll show you the current values on the Government MP Tracker.

THEMATIC NOTE: During the Victorian period, the House of Commons sometimes had 658 seats, but the number varied. Today's House of Commons has 650 MPs.

Finally, no marker should be placed on the Election Projections table yet—when the game begins, the two parties have an equal number of Popularity points in the Sectors. We'll place a Party Marker on the Election Projections table when one party gains a lead in Popularity points (1.5.2).

Round 1

Players: PM Russell, Govt. BB Rosebery, Opp. Leader Derby, Opp. BB Peel.

Once game setup (2.0) is complete, players start the first round. The sequence of play in every round is governed by "Parliamentary Order" (4.0), which is summarized on a player aid. The first step is to set up the round (4.0(1)). We skip step 1(a) (VP distribution) in the first round. Following step 1(b), the players take Action Cubes (1.6.4) and place them on the bottom row of their player mats (1.4). Your Action Cube income varies depending on your current Standing and your player mat (1.4). Your player mat tracks your Standing and tells you how many cubes to take. In this first round, the Backbenchers take one cube each, the Opposition Leader takes two, and the PM takes three.

Now we're ready to start the Bill Selection Phase (5.0), when players draw from either the Cross-Party Bills or the Liberal Bills (5.1). (Conservative Bills are not currently available, because the Conservatives are not in Government.) Before drawing begins, players are free to discuss strategy with each other. With only 60 Partisan Government MPs, Russell has no chance of passing Partisan ("P") Liberal Bills (5.3), but he does have a good chance of passing Moderate ("M") Cross-Party Bills (5.3), which are particularly good for earning Popularity points. Of course, he can also pass "A" bills that appeal to all Government MPs (5.3), but these tend to be less valuable than M or P bills. Russell asks Rosebery to aim for Moderate bills, while Derby suggests to Peel that they try to float some Partisan Liberal Bills just to make things more difficult for the PM.

Rosebery now randomly draws two Cross-Party Bills: the Elementary Education Act, an M Bill with no Initial Vote Adjustment (M+0); and the Licensing Act, an A+10 bill. Derby draws two Liberal Bills: the Ballot Act and the Universities Tests Act, both of which are A-30 bills. Peel draws two P Liberal Bills, neither of which has any chance of passing.

Rosebery, Derby, and Peel each simultaneously reveal the one bill they want to propose to the PM, keeping their other bill hidden (5.1). Following his Party Leader's advice about M bills, Rosebery proposes the Elementary Education Act. Derby proposes the Universities Tests Act, while Peel proposes the Representation of the People Act. Russell is pleased with his Backbencher's cooperation, but senses some aggression from the Conservatives. Of course, the Conservatives don't really want Russell to pass these Liberal Bills—they're just trying to stir up trouble. If Russell were to accept a Party Bill, the Pact would automatically dissolve (3.1.2). Peel's suggestion that the PM should attempt the Representation of the People Act is nothing more than a taunt, intended to embarrass the PM; he knows that Russell can't possibly pass it.

Bills revealed: Elementary Education Act (Cross-Party, An Act to Improve the Education of Children) — M, no adjustment, 3 VP, +1 Favour for the PM, Level 2 Supporter bonus. Universities Tests Act (Liberal Bill, An Act to End Religious Discrimination in Universities) — A, -30, 4 VP. Representation of the People Act (Liberal Bill, An Act to Expand the Electorate) — P, no adjustment, 6 VP.

After the Backbenchers and Opposition Leader have proposed their bills, it's Russell's turn to draw. As PM, he gets to draw three bills (5.1) and he chooses to draw all three from the Cross-Party Bills deck. Russell's decision to draw Cross-Party Bills is a good choice for several reasons:

• Party Leaders should usually try to position themselves to take advantage of their Level 2 ability. Russell wants to use his Influence 2 ability to pass some valuable M bills, which are found only in the Cross-Party Bills deck.
• If Russell draws from the Liberal Bills deck, he risks drawing P bills such as The Representation of the People Act that he currently has no way of passing.
• Cross-Party bills are generally useful for earning Popularity points, whereas Party Bills are useful for earning VP but tend to lose Popularity points. At this point in the game with the Election Projections evenly tied, Russell needs to earn some Popularity points, which he's more likely to get through Cross-Party Bills.

Russell draws and reveals the Public Health Act (M+40), the Interpretation Act (A-30), and the Copyright Act (A+30).

Bills revealed: Public Health Act (An Act to Advance Public Health in Britain) — M, +40, 3 VP, free Supporter Card for the PM. Interpretation Act (An Act for Shortening the Language Used in Acts of Parliament) — A, -30, 2 VP. Copyright Act (An Act to Extend Copyright Protection) — A, +30, 2 VP, +1 Favour for the PM.

Six bills are now revealed and the PM must select three of them to place on the board (5.2). As PM, Russell can make his selections on his own, but Prime Minister is not just about individual strategizing and number-crunching. It's also about managing interpersonal relationships, and a savvy PM should consider the value of dialogue. Russell doesn't think the Conservatives are in a cooperative mood, but he does want to build a good relationship with Rosebery. One way of doing that is to consult Rosebery and try to make decisions jointly.

Russell and Rosebery quickly agree that the Representation of the People Act is the worst choice—if introduced, it would start with only 60 projected Votes (60 Partisan MPs + 0), making it impossible to pass. Russell moves it to the Liberal Bills discard pile. Russell suggests that the best choice is the Public Health Act. The Government currently has 270 Moderate MPs, so with its M+40 Initial Vote Adjustment, the Act would start with 310 projected Votes (5.3). That's a bit low, but with his Influence 2 ability (6.1.5), Russell can quickly shift all his Partisan MPs to Moderates with just three Action Cubes, enough to bump up the Vote projection to 370. More importantly, the Public Health Act would raise the Government one step in the Middle Class Sector and earn a free Supporter Card for the PM. Rosebery concurs, and Russell places the Public Health Act on the board, moving its Vote adjustment to +40.

The Elementary Education Act is more ambitious and more valuable. Initially, its Vote projection would be only 270 (270 Moderate MPs +0). But if passed, it would raise the Government two steps in the Middle Class Sector and earn a free Level 2 Supporter bonus for the PM (draw two Supporter Cards, keep one). This is a good example of how a bill's difficulty level generally correlates to its value. But like most things in Prime Minister, a bill's difficulty and value are situational: the difficulty of a Moderate bill depends on the number of Moderate MPs you already have, and the value depends on your objectives. If the Liberal Party were already maxed out in the Middle Class Sector, these two Moderate bills would be a lot less valuable.

As it happens, the Middle Class Sector is a good fit for the PM at this point in the game: Russell can earn a lot of Popularity points here, he wants to pursue a Moderate strategy, and he knows the Middle Class Sector will return Moderate MPs after the next Election (1.5.1). Russell is already planning to use Influence actions on the Public Health Act, and those Influence actions will simultaneously boost any other M bills on the board. Russell and Rosebery agree it would be efficient to have two M bills on the board at the same time, so Russell also selects the Elementary Education Act. Since Rosebery was responsible for proposing this bill, he's earned a 1 VP Bill Selection Bonus (5.2), which is the first VP score in this game. Remember that the Pact is currently in force (3.1) and Russell's Player Marker is the only one on the Score Track, where it represents everyone's VP. Under Prime Minister's VP pooling rules, Rosebery's 1 VP bonus is shared by everyone. To show this, Russell moves his Player Marker from 0 to 1. (If you're confused at this point, consult the Guide to VP Pooling in this rulebook.)

For his third choice, Russell can pick one of the three "A" bills: the Universities Tests Act from the Liberal Bills deck or the Copyright Act or Interpretation Act from the Cross-Party Bills deck. "A" bills appeal to "All" Government MPs (both Moderates and Partisans), and they can be found in any bills deck (5.3). The Government has a total of 330 MPs, so the Copyright Act with its A+30 initial Vote projection would start with 360 projected Votes. The Universities Tests Act and the Interpretation Act both start at A-30, which currently means 300 projected Votes. Because he already has two ambitious bills on the board, Russell would like to balance them with the easy-to-pass Copyright Act.

Rosebery isn't too enthusiastic about the PM's idea. Like most Government Backbenchers, his perspective on bills is different from the PM's. Russell knows that his personal Standing will take a hit if a bill fails, but Rosebery isn't so concerned about the PM's Standing—he's more interested in what the bills can do for the Liberal Party. He points out that the Copyright Act doesn't do anything for the party. Although it earns 2 VP, that VP goes to both parties, even if the Pact ends (9.4). Cross-Party Bill VP functions like a clock—it brings the game closer to its endpoint, but it doesn't help one party get ahead of another. Rosebery is more interested in the Universities Tests Act, which would earn 4 VP for the Liberals alone.

Russell acknowledges Rosebery's concern and promises to pass some Liberal Party bills later, but for now he's going with the Copyright Act. He places it on the board and moves its Vote adjustment to +30. The Bill Selection Phase is now complete, and the unselected bills are placed face up in the appropriate discard piles.

Now it's time for the Action Phase (6.0), when players spend their Action Cubes and play Supporters. As mentioned in the rulebook's "tip" for 1.4, we recommend that you move your Action Cubes from the bottom row of your player mat as you spend your cubes, in order to keep a clear record of gameplay and to show other players what you're doing. You can place the cubes to indicate the actions performed—for example, if you play a "Campaign" Politician action (6.1.1), you can move an Action Cube to the "Campaign" area of your player mat. If you spend cube(s) on an Event (8.1), you can place the cube(s) on top of the Event Card. When it's time to start a new round, you'll collect these spent cubes and reset them on the bottom rows of your player mats during round setup (4.0(1)).

According to Parliamentary Order (4.0(3)), the Government Backbencher (Rosebery) takes his action turn first. To activate his Career Cards, Rosebery needs more Standing and Favour. His Debate Card (6.2.1) is a good way to speed up the process. By playing a Debate Card, you stake your personal reputation on the success or failure of a particular bill. It's a way to get yourself noticed, for better or worse. Playing a Debate Card costs 1 or 2 Action Cubes depending on your Standing; for Backbenchers, this translates to spending all your regular Action Cube income. So Rosebery spends his one Action Cube to play his Debate Card. His reasons aren't entirely selfish: aside from potentially earning a personal Standing or Favour bonus, his Debate Card will increase the Vote projection on the target bill by +10. Now he has to decide which bill to target. He gets the reward on the Debate Card only if the target bill passes. If the bill fails or is withdrawn, he'll suffer a penalty, so he has to be cautious. All Debate Cards are two-sided, with one side for use in a Pact and the other side for use when there is no Pact, so Rosebery is using the Pact side.

Rosebery would like to play it safe by backing the Copyright Act, but the Debate Card isn't that easy. As indicated on the card, he can use it only on riskier bills with a current Vote projection of ≤340. He decides to target the Public Health Act, slipping his Debate Card under the bill and raising its Vote adjustment from +40 to +50. It's now projected to get 320 Votes (270 Moderate MPs +50 = 320). At the end of his action turn, Rosebery takes the Backbencher Standing Bonus (6.2.4), raising his Standing to 1. Now he can activate his Privy Counsellor Career Card, which requires only the Flatter ability and ≥1 Standing. He turns that Career Card face up.

Now the Opposition players take their action turns. Not surprisingly, Derby's first decision is to end the Pact. For the Opposition Leader, deciding when to end the Pact is the key strategic decision in the early part of the game. Ending the Pact allows you to attack the Government's bills (3.1), but in the short run it also means giving up some VP as you exit the Pact's VP pool. It's often a tough call, but in this particular game the choice is pretty obvious. Here's why:

• As previously explained, Party Leaders should usually try to position themselves to take advantage of their Level 2 ability. Derby can't use his Debate 2 ability against the Government unless he first dissolves the Pact.
• Opposition Leaders are free to Campaign during a Pact, but Derby doesn't have the Campaign ability.
• The first two reasons mean that Derby as Opposition Leader generally tends to disfavor Pacts. (If Peel were Opposition Leader, he would probably be content to stay in the Pact and use his Campaign 2 ability.)
• If Russell had introduced only safe, low-value bills, Derby might have stayed his hand. But Russell has given Derby some tempting targets with the Elementary Education Act and Public Health Act. Both bills are vulnerable and valuable. There's no way Derby will let Russell pass them without a fight.
• For Derby, Rosebery's vulnerable Debate Card provides the icing on the cake.

In terms of timing, an Opposition Leader who wants to end a Pact has to make the decision at the start of the Opposition players' action turns (3.1.2). Ending the Pact costs no Action Cubes. Derby simply removes the Pact Card from the board and places his spare Player Marker on top of the PM's marker on the Score Track (currently in the "1" position) (3.1.2). From now on, the Government and Opposition players will track their VP separately—the PM's Player Marker now represents the Government's VP, and Derby's represents the Opposition's VP. Once the Pact Card is removed from the board, the current Opposition Leader holds it for possible future use, in case the Pact ever restarts.

Now it's time for the Opposition players to take their action turns. (Because it costs no Action Cube, ending the Pact is not actually part of anyone's action turn.) As Opposition Leader, Derby gets to decide which Opposition player goes first (4.0(3)) and he gives the nod to Peel.

Like Rosebery, Peel wants to use his Debate Card. Since the Pact is now over, Peel will use the non-Pact side of his Debate Card, which means Debating a bill down. Peel gets his reward if the bill fails or is withdrawn, and suffers a penalty if the bill passes.

Peel would like to target the weakest bill on the board, which is currently the Elementary Education Act at 270 projected Votes. But again, the Debate Card isn't that easy. As stated on the card, Peel has to choose a bill with ≥290 projected Votes. He targets the Public Health Act, sliding his Debate Card under the bill and lowering its Vote adjustment from +50 back down to +40. Peel and Rosebery now have their Debate Cards under the same bill, locking themselves into a personal combat in which only one Backbencher will emerge victorious. They will both look to their Party Leaders to back them up. Peel takes his Backbencher Standing Bonus (6.2.4) and ends his action turn with 1 Standing.

Derby will of course spend his two Action Cubes on Debate actions (6.1.2). The Public Health Act beckons—with two Debate Cards under it, it's already the center of attention. With his Debate 2 ability, Derby can spend one Action Cube to lower a bill's Vote projection by 20. Using both cubes, he knocks the Public Health Act's Vote adjustment down from +40 to zero, leaving it at M+0 (270 projected Votes). Derby must have made some pretty devastating remarks about the PM's public health scheme. Peel congratulates his Party Leader, while the Government's mood sours.

The PM's job is a tough one. Aside from his responsibility for the Government's legislative agenda, he has to contend with unpredictable crises throughout the Empire, as revealed by the Event Cards. So Russell draws and reveals one Event Card at the start of his action turn (8.0), hoping it won't be anything too serious. It seems the Prince of Wales has gotten himself entangled in another scandal, no doubt involving gambling or adultery. The Middle Class expects the PM to preserve public morality, and Her Majesty is beside herself. With some effort, Russell can engineer a cover-up and scold the Prince's critics, but that would cost two of his three Action Cubes.

Event Card: "Prince of Wales Caught in Scandal" — Ignore (M, -1 Favour); Advise Her Majesty (costs 1 cube, M); Shift Blame (costs 1 cube, -1 Favour).

Russell decides he can't deal with this scandal and support his legislative agenda at the same time, so he must choose between them. He decides to focus on bills and ignore the Prince of Wales' problems. As a result, Russell's Favour drops from 1 to zero and the Liberal Party loses a step in the Middle Class Sector. Russell tracks the former change by moving his Player Marker on the Favour Tracker. He tracks the latter change by moving the Liberal Party Marker down from "3" to "1" in the Middle Class Sector (a loss of 2 Popularity points) (1.5.1), then takes the spare Conservative Party Marker and places it in the "2" position on the Election Projections table, indicating that the Conservatives now have a lead of 2 Popularity points (1.5.2). If an Election were held now, the Conservatives would be projected to win narrowly with 333 seats, while the Liberals would be projected to get the remaining 325 seats.

To support his Moderate bills, Russell now spends all three of his Action Cubes on Influence actions (6.1.5). With his Level 2 Influence ability, Russell can change the political stance of 20 Government MPs with each Action Cube he spends. Remember that he started the game with 60 Partisan MPs and 270 Moderate MPs, so with three cubes he's now going to Influence all 60 Partisan MPs to become Moderate, leaving him with 330 Moderate MPs and zero Partisans. Note that Influence actions can work in either direction—he could choose to increase the number of Partisan MPs, but that would be counterproductive right now since he has Moderate bills on the board.

Using the Government MP Tracker, Russell adjusts the number of Partisan MPs to zero and the number of Moderate MPs to 330.

He does not change any of the Vote adjustments next to any bill as he would do in a Debate action, but by changing the number of Moderate Government MPs he has simultaneously boosted the Vote projections on both the Public Health Act and Elementary Education Act from 270 to 330—a total gain of 120 projected Votes for the Government's legislative agenda. If three Moderate bills had been on the board, Russell could have earned 180 projected Votes. This illustrates how powerful Influence actions can be when you get yourself in the right position. Note that the Vote projection for the Copyright Act has not changed. This is an "A" bill that appeals to all Government MPs, so it's not affected by any shift between Moderate and Partisan MPs.

Bill state: Public Health Act — M+40, 330 projected Votes. Elementary Education Act — M+0, 330 projected Votes. Copyright Act — A+30, 360 projected Votes.

Aside from the short-term benefit of boosting the two Moderate bills on the board, there's also a potential longer-term benefit. We won't reset the number of Moderate and Partisan MPs until the next Election (11.5), so assuming that Russell postpones the first Election (11.0), the Government can try to draw and introduce some additional Moderate bills during the next Bill Selection Phase, with 330 Moderate MPs already lined up in support.

The Action Phase is now complete and it's time for the Bill Resolution Phase (9.0). Russell faces another tough choice. With 330 projected Votes, the Public Health Act has only a 50/50 chance of passing now (9.2), but that may be the best chance it will get. Russell has already exhausted his capacity for Influence actions—there are no more Partisan MPs that he can shift. Derby, on the other hand, can continue using his Debate 2 ability. Assuming that all players will use all their cubes on Debate actions in the next round, Russell quickly calculates that the Opposition can lower Vote projections by 50 Votes, while the Government can only raise them by 40—a net loss of 10. Rosebery and Russell anticipate that the Public Health Act will again be the primary target in the next round, because of the Debate Cards under it. If the Government wants to pass the Public Health Act, it's probably now or never.

In Prime Minister, the key measure of the PM's Standing in Parliament is his ability to pass legislation. Every time he withdraws a bill, he loses a Standing point and the Opposition Leader gains a Standing point (9.3); a failed attempt to pass a bill by a Vote is even worse—when a bill fails, the PM loses two Standing points, and the Opposition Leader gains two Standing points (9.2). As soon as the Opposition Leader has more Standing than the PM, he can unseat the PM through a Challenge (10.0)—so Russell is feeling the pressure right now. If he wants to play it safe, he can pass the Copyright Act (at 360 projected Votes, it can't fail), and postpone action on the two Moderate bills—which probably means that the Public Health Act will be sacrificed. Russell consults Rosebery, who urges Russell to attempt passing the Public Health Act now.

Wishing to preserve intraparty unity, Russell agrees to put the Public Health Act to a Vote and draws an Uncertainty Card (12.0) to determine the results. The bill needs a majority (330 Votes) to pass. Uncertainty Cards can add as many as 10 Votes to the projection, or subtract up to 11 Votes, so the end result could be anywhere from 319 Votes to 340 Votes for this bill. The values on Uncertainty Cards aren't evenly distributed, with most of the adjustments being close to zero so that extreme swings are uncommon. But with only 330 projected Votes, Russell can't afford to draw anything with a negative value—and exactly half the Uncertainty Cards have a negative Vote adjustment.

Unfortunately for the Government, Russell draws a card with a Vote adjustment of -1 (Uncertainty Cards are used for both Elections and bill Votes; following the icons used on the game board, Vote adjustments appear in a black hexagon and Election adjustments appear in a gray box (12.0); we ignore the Royal Interference icon, which is used only in Elections (11.2.2)). The Vote adjustment here is -1, so the bill fails, with 329 MPs voting for it and 331 voting against. Using the Standing trackers on their player mats (1.4), Russell lowers his Standing from 11 to 9 and Derby raises his Standing from 5 to 7. The Opposition earns 3 VP for defeating the bill (9.2), and the bill itself is moved to the discard pile for Cross-Party Bills (9.5).

Both Backbenchers' Debate Cards are revealed under the bill, and we'll resolve them now. Rosebery used the "Pact" side of his Debate Card because the Pact was still in effect when he placed it, so that's the side we'll use in resolving it (6.2.1). Rosebery can choose between -1 Favour or -1 Standing, and he chooses the latter, moving his Standing back to zero. Note that Rosebery doesn't deactivate his Privy Counsellor Career Card, because we evaluate Career Card activation requirements only at activation (6.2.2). This is why you no longer see a Career Card's activation requirements once you turn it face up. For his Debate Card reward, Peel can choose +1 Standing, +1 Favour, or 2 VP (the VP would be shared by both Opposition players). Because he lacks the Flatter ability and has scarce opportunities to earn Favour, Peel chooses +1 Favour.

The Bill Resolution Phase is now complete, and we move on to the Challenge Phase (10.0). The PM should always announce each Challenge Phase, giving the players a chance to check their relative Standing and Favour levels. No players can exercise a Challenge at this point, but we'll take a closer look at Challenges later.

Next we briefly consider the Election Phase, which is the last phase in each round. The Election Phase is played only when there are no bills remaining on the board (11.0). We have two bills remaining on the board, so we skip the Election Phase this round. The first round is now over, with the Conservatives in a celebratory mood.

Round 2

Players: PM Russell, Govt. BB Rosebery, Opp. Leader Derby, Opp. BB Peel.

The second round begins with step 1(a) in Parliamentary Order: distribution of Government and Opposition VP. Step 1(a) is always skipped in the first round of a game, so this is its first application. The Government players get 4 VP at the start of each round, and the Opposition gets 2 VP. (If the Pact were still in effect, all players in the Pact would get a combined 6 VP.) On the Score Track, Russell moves his Player Marker (representing Government VP) from 1 to 5, and Derby moves his marker (representing Opposition VP) from 4 to 6. Now the Opposition can see the downside of leaving the Pact: every round they remain in power, the Government players will gain 2 VP relative to the Opposition.

Next, the players finish setting up the round by taking their Action Cube income, which has not changed from the previous round. We skip the Bill Selection Phase because there are bills remaining on the board (5.0), and we move directly to the Action Phase, starting again with the Government Backbencher.

Intimidated by Derby's Debate 2 ability, Rosebery does not dare deploy his Debate Card again. Instead, he spends his one Action Cube on a Hobnob action (6.1.4), drawing a Supporter Card (7.0). He draws Mary Shelley. Rosebery doesn't have to show his Supporter Cards to anyone until he plays them (7.1), but he chooses to show Shelley to Russell for discussion.

Supporter Card: "Mary Shelley" (Author) — lower any party one step in the Liberals Sector; OR raise your own party two steps in the Liberals Sector, offset by a loss of one step in the Middle Class Sector.

What's going on here? Mary Shelley is influential among Liberal voters, but the Victorian Middle Class is shocked by her scandalous personal life. If Rosebery picks the second option, he can sharply boost his own party among Liberal voters, but at the same time he would alienate the Middle Class. As it happens, the Liberal Party is already at the lowest possible level in the Middle Class Sector, due to Russell's inaction on the Prince of Wales' scandal in the previous round. This means that if Rosebery plays Shelley now for the second option, the Liberal Party will gain two steps in the Liberals Sector and suffer no effective penalty in the Middle Class. In Prime Minister, reaching the minimum or maximum value on a tracker never blocks an action, but it can negate an effect (1.8). This is why it can be advantageous to reach the minimum value in a Sector.

Russell, however, sees a disadvantage in playing Shelley's second option. Russell is trying to pursue a Moderate strategy in the early stages of the game, which means lining up Moderate Government MPs to pass Moderate bills. By advancing in the Liberals Sector, the Liberal Party will accrue Partisan points (1.5.1), which translates to more Partisan MPs after the next Election (11.5). To put this in more realistic terms, Shelley will stir up support among Partisan Liberals who will elect Partisan Liberal MPs who won't support Russell's Moderate agenda. Couldn't Russell switch to a Partisan agenda? Perhaps, but that's likely to generate popular backlash that Russell can't afford now. In any case, the more likely outcome is that Shelley's intervention will only lead to an awkward split between Moderate and Partisan MPs, leaving Russell with an unmanageable group of MPs who can't agree on either Moderate or Partisan bills. In this situation, Russell would only be able to pass less valuable "A" bills, if he's lucky enough to draw them. Thus, Mary Shelley presents the Government with a common conundrum—an opportunity to expand popular support by creating a "big tent" mix of Moderate and Partisan Liberals, at the cost of losing any coherent agenda for the party.

What about the first option on Shelley's card? Deploying her against the Conservative Party will have no effect, because the Conservative Party currently has no support in the Liberals Sector. (Again, another example of why it can be advantageous to be at the minimum value in a Sector.) But there is another way to use the first option. The pointing finger means you can apply the effect to any party, including your own (1.8). If the Government were really determined to shed Partisan points, Rosebery could turn Shelley against his own party, lowering the Liberal Party one step in the Liberals Sector. But Russell and Rosebery agree they can't afford any loss in Popularity points right now. They decide that Rosebery will hold Shelley for now, and see how the game develops. Rosebery ends his action turn, using his Backbencher Standing Bonus (6.2.4) to raise his Standing back to 1.

The Opposition players continue their attack on the Government's bills. Derby tells Peel to go first and Peel redeploys his Debate Card, this time targeting the Elementary Education Act and lowering its Vote projection to M-10 (320 projected Votes). He uses his Backbencher Standing Bonus to raise his Standing to 2. Derby plays two Level 2 Debate actions against the same bill, lowering it to M-50 (280 projected Votes).

As Russell starts his action turn, he faces a grim situation. His ministry is already on the brink of collapse. If he withdraws a bill, he and Derby will be tied at 8 Standing. With Favour as the tiebreaker, Derby will be able to Challenge Russell for the PM's seat (10.0). Luckily, Russell draws a By-Election Event Card (8.2). The Government loses a By-Election if it's currently projected to lose MPs in the next Election. Right now, the Government has 330 Government MPs and it's projected to get 325 MPs in the next Election. The Government MP Tracker is rounded off to the nearest ten (11.5), so when evaluating a By-Election we also round off the Election Projections to make a fair comparison (8.2). After rounding off the Election Projections to 330, we conclude that the Government isn't currently projected to lose any MPs, so it wins the By-Election. By-Elections are considered a test of the PM's strength: losing a By-Election results in -1 Standing for the PM or +1 Standing for the Opposition Leader (depending on the By-Election card). There's no effect for winning a By-Election. Also, we never change the Government MP Tracker in response to a By-Election: a change of one seat in Parliament is too small for us to track. Still, this is a good outcome for Russell, because he doesn't have to spend any Action Cubes on this Event.

Russell anticipates passing the Copyright Act this round, and withdrawing the now-hopeless Elementary Education Act next round. With that withdrawal in mind, he needs to find a Standing point somewhere to save his premiership, or alternatively two Favour points. His best chance of getting Standing or Favour points is through the Supporter deck, so he uses all three of his Action Cubes on Hobnob actions (6.1.4). He draws William Booth (Flatter or Workers option), Charles Dickens (Liberals or Middle Class option), and Cardinal Newman (Ireland or Middle Class option). He didn't draw a Standing or Favour point, but an alternative strategy is opening up: perhaps the Government can try a "poison pill" approach, allowing Derby to Challenge the PM but boosting the Liberal Party's Election Projections. If Derby wants to exercise a Challenge, his new Conservative Government might get stuck with a minority of MPs (11.2.1).

Russell could play his Supporters now, but he'd rather ambush the Opposition with them in the next round, perhaps catching them off balance just before an Election. Moving on to the Bill Resolution Phase (9.0), Russell announces that he's putting the Copyright Act to a Vote. Remember that Uncertainty Cards can lower a Vote projection by no more than 11 Votes, so at 360 projected Votes, the Copyright Act can't fail and there's no need to draw an Uncertainty Card (9.2). The bill passes automatically. As we explained earlier, the Copyright Act is relatively easy to pass, but it's not valuable in political terms. Its only effect is 2 VP. Like all Cross-Party bills, its VP goes to both the Government and Opposition (9.4). If the Pact were still in effect, the Pact would receive the 2 VP (it would not be doubled).

Since the Copyright Act has passed, it's removed from the game. Russell can return it to the game box or hold it as a record of his accomplishments (9.5), but in any case it can't be selected again.

Let's pause here for a moment to consider another aspect of the bill decks—in many games, a deck of bills will be exhausted and reshuffled at some point. After the reshuffle, the proportion of "A" bills in each deck may be different. For example, if the players pass only "A" Cross-Party Bills in the first half of the game, the proportion of M bills in that deck will be significantly higher after the reshuffle. This can be a problem for PMs late in the game, when Moderate MPs tend to be scarce. This is one of several game features that can ramp up the adrenaline at the finish line.

Russell now announces the Challenge Phase (10.0), but again no one can Challenge. We skip the Election Phase since one bill is still remaining on the board (11.0), and the second round is now over.

Round 3

Players: PM Russell, Govt. BB Rosebery, Opp. Leader Derby, Opp. BB Peel.

During setup for Round 3, the Government pulls slightly ahead in VP. We skip Bill Selection because there's still a bill on the board, and we move on to Rosebery's action turn.

Rosebery Hobnobs (6.1.4) and draws the Duke of Wellington, which he shows to Russell. Russell isn't amused to see the Standing point.

Supporter Card: "Duke of Wellington" (Former Prime Minister) — an Influence action (shift 10 MPs); OR +1 Standing for yourself.

Because there's no pointing finger here, Rosebery can apply the Standing point only to himself (1.8). The other option on this card is an Influence action, which would not have any useful effect right now since all Government MPs are already Moderate. Rosebery plays the card for its Standing point, raising his Standing to 2. With his Backbencher Standing Bonus (6.2.4), Rosebery will have 3 Standing going into the next round, which will be enough to raise his Action Cube income from one to two (1.4.3). With a nod from Russell, Rosebery also plays Mary Shelley now. The Government is now going all out for Popularity points wherever it can get them. If the Liberals are going to be in Opposition soon, their Partisan/Moderate split won't matter. The key objective now is to force a Minority Government on Derby (11.2.1). In the Liberals Sector, Rosebery moves the Liberal Party Marker from 6 to 11, earning 5 Popularity points. Because the Liberal Party is still at the lowest level in the Middle Class Sector, it suffers no penalty there. Next, Rosebery removes the Conservative Party Marker from the "2" position on the Election Projections table, and replaces it with a Liberal Party Marker in the "3" position (1.5.2). The Liberal Party is now projected to win a slim majority.

Derby again tells Peel to take the first Opposition action turn. An Opposition Leader will occasionally choose to take the first Opposition turn (perhaps to set an example), but like most Opposition Leaders, Derby wants to give himself a chance to react to any disloyal moves by his Backbencher. So he prefers to watch Peel's move, and then take his own turn. Peel Hobnobs and draws the Duke of Devonshire, who is one of the most sought-after Supporters. Devonshire is the only Supporter who can lower another player's Standing. He also offers another tempting option: move up two steps in the Conservatives Sector, offset by a loss of one step in the Ireland Sector.

Supporter Card: "Duke of Devonshire" (Influential Peer) — move up two steps in the Conservatives Sector, offset by a loss of one step in the Ireland Sector; OR -1 Standing for any player.

(For the thematic background of the Devonshire card, check out Scenario 7.) Derby urges Peel to play Devonshire's Standing action against the PM. Derby is worried that the PM is holding a Supporter with +1 Standing, and he wants to cancel out that possible effect and ensure a successful Challenge this round. Also, Derby doesn't want the Partisan Conservative MPs that Devonshire's Sector action will attract—he wants to leave open the possibility of passing Moderate bills as the game's next PM. Peel agrees and plays Devonshire to lower the PM's Standing to 8. Russell's ministry is now all but finished. Peel takes his Backbencher Standing Bonus, raising his Standing to 3. Like Rosebery, he can now look forward to receiving two Action Cubes in the next round. Also, now that he has 2 Favour and 3 Standing, Peel activates his Opposition Chief Whip Career Card.

As he takes his action turn, Derby is still focused on ensuring a successful Challenge. He doesn't know what Supporter Cards the PM is holding. Derby is afraid the PM has some Supporters with ±10 Vote options, which raises the possibility that the PM will pass the Elementary Education Act after all. To guard against this, Derby spends one Action Cube to Debate against that bill again. He lowers its Vote projection to M-70 (260 projected Votes). There's a limit to how low or high a Vote adjustment can go: as marked on the game board, the lowest level is -80. If Derby spent his second cube Debating, he would only lower the bill's Vote projection to 250, notwithstanding his Debate 2 ability. But Derby sees no need to attack the bill any further, so he spends his second cube Hobnobbing and draws John Bright.

Supporter Card: "John Bright" (Influential MP) — ±20 Vote adjustment on any bill, offset by a loss of one step in the Farmers Sector; OR +1 Standing.

John Bright was an MP famous for championing the repeal of the Corn Laws, for which he earned the everlasting scorn of British farmers. His ±20 Vote/Farmers option means that Bright can raise or lower the Vote projection on any bill for you by 20, but by associating with Bright you will upset the Farmers Sector. By now you may have noticed a certain pattern: whenever a Supporter offers you the equivalent of a Level 2 Politician Action, he or she also saddles you with a negative tradeoff.

Bright's ±20 Vote/Farmers option is clearly a bad idea—Derby wouldn't get the full benefit of the -20 Votes and he doesn't need it anyway, so there's no good reason to play that option and lose a step in the Farmers Sector. The alternative option, a Standing point, presents a close call. Derby could play it now to guard against the slight possibility that the PM will be able to fend off a Challenge by finding two Standing points during his action turn. But if Derby plays Bright now and it turns out the extra Standing point wasn't necessary, it will be wasted—when Derby becomes PM, his Standing will automatically reset to the starting value on the PM's player mat (10.2), which is 11. Derby decides to hold Bright and play him later after he becomes PM, at which point he can boost his Standing to 12.

Russell starts his action turn by drawing the Americans Seize British Ship Event Card, which was inspired by the Trent affair of 1861. For two Action Cubes, Russell can rally the nation by preparing for war and boost his own Standing by one point. If he then spends his third cube Hobnobbing and gets lucky with +1 Standing from a Supporter, he could withdraw the Elementary Education Act and still avoid a Challenge. But the chances of getting +1 Standing from a Supporter are too slim. Better to ignore the Event, suffer the -1 Standing penalty (which no longer makes any difference), and focus on Campaigning.

Event Card: "Americans Seize British Ship" — Ignore (-1 Standing); Write Angry Letter (costs 1 cube); Prepare for War (costs 2 cubes, +1 Standing).

So Russell ignores the Event and lowers his Standing to 7. At <9 Standing, the PM's Action Cube income drops to two, but all players take their Action Cubes during step 1 of Parliamentary Order (4.0), which has already occurred this round. So Russell retains his three cubes for now. At this point, Russell has a clear objective: he wants to earn Popularity points so he can lower the Opposition's Election Projections. He could hunt for Popularity points in the Supporter deck, but that's a hit-or-miss approach. Some Supporters can earn Popularity points, and some can't. Russell can achieve his objective more reliably by using his own Campaign ability (6.1.1). As indicated on his Politician Card, Russell can Campaign in three specific Sectors: Gentry, Liberals, or Middle Class. The number of Popularity points he can earn depends on the Sectors he chooses. Russell can get the most points in the Liberals Sector, so he Campaigns three times in the Liberals Sector, moving the Liberal Party Marker in that Sector three steps from 11 to 20, maxing out that Sector and earning 9 Popularity points. Next, he plays his Supporters: Booth for the Workers option (earning 2 Popularity points), Newman for the Ireland option (another 2 points), and finally Dickens. Dickens' Liberals option is no longer effective, since the Liberal Party is already maxed out in the Liberals Sector, so Russell chooses the Middle Class action, lowering the Conservative Party one step in the Middle Class Sector (a loss of 2 Popularity points). Any Popularity point loss for the Conservatives is a relative point gain for the Liberals (1.5.2), so Dickens adds another 2 points to the Liberal Party's lead.

The Liberal Party is now projected to get 364 MPs in the next Election, while the Conservative Party is projected to get only 294.

Russell can now smile as he withdraws the Elementary Education Act. His Standing drops to 6 and Derby's Standing rises to 8. Derby can exercise a Challenge, but Russell has set a trap for him. If Derby Challenges, he'll have to hold an immediate Election (10.2, 11.0) that will leave his new Conservative Government with a weak minority in Parliament. Russell has successfully pulled off his "poison pill" strategy. The Conservatives' buoyant mood deflates as they face the new reality. But before we close out the Bill Resolution Phase, we need to add 2 VP to the Opposition's score for the bill withdrawal (9.3) and resolve Peel's Debate Card, which is now revealed under the Elementary Education Act. Again, he can choose +1 Standing, +1 Favour, or 2 VP. He chooses Favour again, raising his Favour to 3.

Russell announces the Challenge Phase (10.0) and all eyes turn to Derby. (Although Rosebery as Government Backbencher has turn order priority in Challenging the PM (10.1), he still doesn't have enough Standing to do so.) Derby faces a critical decision. When a player has the right to exercise a Challenge, he or she may always decline (10.0) and sometimes declining is the most prudent move. Derby is wary of leading a Minority Government, as this means he will have fewer MPs to support his bills. Complicating the situation is the fact that Election Projections are only projections—an Uncertainty Card will determine the exact outcome. In Elections, the Uncertainty Card can alter results by up to ±12 MPs (12.0), so Derby could get anywhere from 282 to 306 MPs. Two factors sway Derby in favor of Challenging now:

• With his Debate 2 ability, Derby can quickly boost any bills he puts on the board. The Vote adjustment for bills can go as high as +100, so if he sticks with easier bills and plays enough Debate actions, Derby thinks he can handle the job.
• If Derby delays the Challenge, there's a risk that Rosebery (currently at 3 Standing) will have enough Standing in the next round to Challenge the PM before Derby gets his second chance. That would allow the Liberal Party to engineer a friendly intraparty takeover, capturing the 6 VP PM Replacement Bonus (1.4.1) and resetting their new PM's Standing to 11 (10.2).

So Derby opts for the Challenge. No Uncertainty Card is involved here—we just confirm that Derby has more Standing than Russell. Now we see our first change in party control of Government, which involves several steps. First we'll walk through the steps in rule 10.2:

• Russell and Derby exchange player mats, meaning that Russell takes the Opposition Leader mat and Derby takes the PM mat. Russell also takes the Pact Card, previously held by Derby.
• As stated in the rulebook's "tip" for 10.2, the Party Leaders will probably find it easier to change seats than move all the components around. Remember that the current PM should have the best view of the game board and needs to have the Event deck and Uncertainty deck within easy reach.
• Derby had 8 Standing as Opposition Leader, but he gets to start his premiership with 11 Standing, which is the starting level highlighted on the PM's mat.
• Russell had 6 Standing as PM, but as Opposition Leader he now drops to 5 Standing, which is the starting level highlighted on the Opposition Leader's mat.
• Derby and Russell keep their respective Favour, Supporters, and Player Markers, which means they each need to transfer their Player Marker from the Standing Tracker on their previous mat to their new mat. Remember that Derby still has the unplayed John Bright Supporter Card, which he takes with him. And of course, the players always keep their Politician Cards.
• As indicated on the PM's mat, Derby takes the 6 VP Replacement Bonus (1.4.1). This is of course pooled with Peel—remember that Derby's marker on the Score Track represents VP for both him and Peel.
• The Backbencher Player Mats are two-sided, so Rosebery and Peel don't need to exchange them—they just flip their mats over from the Government side to the Opposition side, or vice versa, being careful to keep their Standing level unchanged. But they do need to exchange the Resignation Card and their respective Career and Debate Cards. The Resignation Card goes to Peel, who will be the new Government Backbencher. Peel also takes the Government Career Cards, and Rosebery takes the Opposition Career Cards. Government and Opposition Career Cards have different activation requirements (with most Government cards having higher requirements), so in a Government changeover, the Backbenchers need to reevaluate the activation requirements. Rosebery can immediately activate his new Privy Counsellor Career Card. Although Peel's new Chief Whip Career Card has a higher Favour requirement than his previous one, he already meets the higher requirement and can activate it now.
• Move the Liberal Bills deck and its discard pile back to the game box or off to the side (being careful to preserve the separate discard pile), and move the Conservative Bills deck within easy reach of the players.
• Remove the Election Marker from the board.

The Government changeover is now complete, and we move on to the Election Phase (11.0). The Election Phase is played when there are no bills remaining on the board, which is the current situation. If the Election Marker were on the board, Derby as the new PM could choose to remove it to delay the Election (11.0). But the steps in 10.2 include the removal of any bills remaining on the board as well as the Election Marker, which effectively forces an immediate Election whenever a Challenge causes a change in party control of Government. In this situation, the purpose of the Election is not to re-determine who controls the Government—that has already been decided by the Challenge. The only purpose is to determine the number of MPs for the new Government, including the mix of Partisans and Moderates. Regardless of the Election results, Derby will remain PM, even if that means leading a Minority Government (11.2.1).

THEMATIC NOTE: The requirement for an immediate Election in this situation has nothing to do with historical accuracy. In the Victorian era, party control of Government frequently changed without any Election taking place, due to the shifting preferences of Parliament and (to a lesser extent) the Queen. This is best illustrated by the Bedchamber Crisis of 1839, when Melbourne (a Whig) resigned as PM because he could no longer control Parliament, and Peel (a Conservative) was invited to form a new minority government. Peel's plans quickly fell apart when he had a disagreement with the Queen, who plainly preferred Melbourne—and thus Melbourne found himself back in the PM's seat. All of this shuffling took place without an election. In Prime Minister, we hold an immediate Election in this situation for only reasons of game mechanics.

Because Derby is now the PM, he will be the one who conducts the Election. He starts by drawing an Uncertainty Card (11.1, 12.0). His party was projected to receive 294 MPs, and Derby now draws a -9 Uncertainty Card, which means the new Conservative Government will have 285 MPs.

The remaining number of seats go to the Opposition. The Liberal Opposition was projected to receive 364 MPs, and since the Government lost 9 seats from the Uncertainty Card, the Opposition actually received 373 MPs. Note that the value on the Uncertainty Card always applies to the PM's party, because the PM is the person who draws the card (1.8, 11.1). Any loss for the PM is the Opposition's gain. Also note that 285 + 373 = 658, which is the total number of seats in Prime Minister's House of Commons (11.1).

Next, we distribute Election VP (11.3). Any time a party gains seats in Parliament, it earns 2 VP plus 1 VP per ten seats gained. Election VP is independent of the winner/loser determination, so it's possible for the Opposition to earn Election VP without taking control of Government—that's what happens now. Compare the values currently on the Government MP Tracker (which still show the number of MPs controlled by the previous Liberal Government) with the Election results. The Liberals previously had 330 MPs, and now they have 373 MPs: a gain of 43 seats, which we round off to the nearest ten, or 40 seats. That translates to 6 VP (2 + 4).

We can skip the Government Changeover steps in 11.4 since we are not changing party control of Government again, and move on to 11.5 (reset markers). First, the PM resets the Government MP Tracker to show the Election results. The Government won 285 MPs, but we always round off to the nearest ten on the Government MP Tracker, so this translates to 290 MPs in the All MPs ("A") column. The number of post-Election Partisan MPs is determined by the Government's purple Partisan points in the Sectors. The Conservative Party is in the "6" position in the Conservatives Sector, which generates 60 Partisan MPs. All other MPs are Moderates, which means 230 Moderate MPs. Derby adjusts the Moderate ("M") and Partisan ("P") columns on the Government MP Tracker accordingly. Check to make sure the number of Partisan and Moderate MPs equals All Government MPs: 60 + 230 = 290, so we're good. Finally, we return the Election Marker to its marked space on the board. The Election Phase and Round 3 are now complete.

Round 4

Players: PM Derby, Govt. BB Peel, Opp. Leader Russell, Opp. BB Rosebery.

Round 4 begins with the new Conservative Government in power. Now that we've already walked through most steps of gameplay in detail, we'll start skipping over some minor points. Now that they're in Government, the Conservative players get 4 VP, while the Liberals have to settle for 2 VP (4.0(1)). With their Standing now at 3, both Backbenchers receive two Action Cubes this round.

Since no bills are on the board, we play a Bill Selection Phase (5.0). Russell signals to Rosebery to draw from the Cross-Party Bills deck—the reason for this cooperative gesture will become apparent soon. Derby selects three Moderate bills: the Tramways Act (M+30) (drawn by him), the Lunacy Act (M+50) (proposed by Peel), and the Food and Drugs Act (M+50) (proposed by Russell).

Bills: Tramways Act (An Act to Facilitate the Construction of Tramways) — M, +30, 3 VP, Middle Class/Workers effect. Lunacy Act (An Act to Improve Asylums) — M, +50, 3 VP, free Level 2 Supporter bonus for the PM. Food and Drugs Act (An Act to Provide for the Sale of Food and Drugs in a Pure State) — M, +50, 3 VP, Gentry/Middle Class effect.

The Government gets a 1 VP Selection Bonus, and the Opposition also gets a 1 VP Selection Bonus. The initial Vote projections on the bills are 260, 280, and 280, respectively. Derby's decision to place three M bills on the board at the same time is ambitious, but also efficient: any Influence action will boost all three bills at once.

Because three Cross-Party Bills are on the board, Russell may unilaterally restart the Pact immediately after the Bill Selection Phase (3.1.3). He exercises this option by placing the Pact Card back in its slot on the game board. Although he will now be pooling all VP with the Government, this pooling is prospective only, not retroactive, so we need to keep both Party Leader Player Markers on the Score Track (3.1.3). These two markers will always move in unison as long as the Pact remains in effect, but the Conservative players will retain their 3-point lead.

Deciding to leave or rejoin a Pact is one of the single most important decisions players can make in the game, so let's take a moment to consider Russell's reasoning. For the duration of the Conservative Government, Russell's plan is to leave the Government's bills alone and focus on Campaigning and Hobnobbing to maintain or extend the Liberal Party's lead in the Election Projections. He anticipates the Conservatives will struggle to pass bills under a Minority Government and will be forced to spend most of their Action Cubes on Debating and Influencing, so he thinks he can stay ahead of them in the race for Popularity points, perhaps win some By-Elections (8.2), and maybe get some Standing points through Supporters. In the meantime, he can use the Pact to keep from falling behind in VP. If everything goes according to plan, the Liberal Party will rack up a lot of Pact VP over the next six rounds, win the second Election with a large majority in Parliament, and cruise to victory.

Did Russell make the right choice? Unlike Derby's no-brainer decision to leave the Pact in Round 1, this move is a debatable one. Let's also consider the drawbacks:

• Russell has only 5 Standing. Unless he can find more Standing quickly, he will soon be vulnerable to a Challenge by Rosebery. Opposition Leaders get most of their Standing through bill withdrawals and failures, but by restarting the Pact, Russell just made it a lot easier for Derby to pass his bills.
• With his enhanced Influence 2 ability, Russell as Opposition Leader can spend one Action Cube to shift 10 Government MPs from Moderates to Partisans or vice versa (6.1.5). (Opposition Leaders with Influence 1 ability can't perform the Influence action.) With three vulnerable Moderate bills on the board, now would have been a perfect time for Russell to stir up some Partisan sentiments on the Government side. But with a Pact in place, Russell can't Influence without the PM's permission (3.1, 6.1.5), so he has foreclosed that line of attack.

To sum up, it's fair to say that by restarting the Pact, Russell has traded away some opportunity to earn personal Standing in favor of earning Popularity points for his party. We'll see how that plays out.

As the new Government Backbencher, Peel takes the first action turn. Peel's new Government Chief Whip Career Card unlocks an Influence action, which is particularly useful now that three Moderate bills are on the board. Peel starts the Action Phase by spending both his Action Cubes on this Influence action, raising the number of Moderate Government MPs by 20 and thereby raising the Vote Projections on all three Moderate bills by 20.

With his Backbencher Standing Bonus, he closes out his action turn by raising his Standing to 4.

Russell decides to take the first Opposition action turn and puts his plan into effect by Campaigning twice (6.1.1). With the Liberals Sector already maxed out, Russell can choose between the Gentry and Middle Class Sectors. In the short term, it doesn't matter which of these two Sectors he chooses—his two Campaign actions will earn the same number of Popularity points either way. But there are some strategic differences between Sectors that aren't immediately obvious.

The Conservative Party earns Partisan points (1.5.1) in the Gentry Sector, which indicates that the Gentry gravitate towards the Conservative Party. It's relatively difficult for the Liberal Party to hold this Sector because Liberal Bills tend to upset the Gentry. If the Liberal Party invests in the Gentry Sector now, it might see its support in that Sector rapidly collapse if and when Liberal Bills are passed. By contrast, the Middle Class Sector doesn't have any Partisan points, which indicates it doesn't generally favor one party over another. For the Liberal Party, the Middle Class Sector tends to be easier to hold than the Gentry. On the other hand, at this point in the game the Liberal Party is already at the minimum level in the Middle Class Sector, and as we've already seen it can be advantageous to leave one or two Sectors at the minimum so that you don't have to worry about upsetting them at all. Russell pauses a moment to consider the competing considerations, and then decides to Campaign twice in the Gentry Sector, earning 4 Popularity points.

With the Pact in effect, Rosebery sees an easy opportunity to use his Debate Card again (6.2.1). Although Rosebery is now in the Opposition, the Pact side of his Debate Card is functionally identical to the Pact side of the Government Backbencher's Debate Card. That's because in a Pact, the Opposition can only Debate a bill up, not down (3.1, 6.1.2). So Rosebery spends both of his Action Cubes to place his Debate Card under the Food and Drugs Act and raises its Vote adjustment from +50 to +60. He'll get his reward if the bill passes. He uses his Backbencher Standing Bonus to raise his Standing to 4 (6.2.4).

Derby draws the Queen's Birthday Event and opts to spend one Action Cube to "Send his Regards," raising his Favour to 2. Using his Debate 2 ability, he Debates twice on the Food and Drugs Act, raising its Vote projection to M+100 (350 projected Votes). He could play his John Bright Supporter Card now to raise his Standing to 12, but that won't get him any immediate benefit. What he really wants is 13 Standing which would give him four Action Cubes (1.4.1), but it would be better to hold Bright and wait until he can jump directly from 11 to 13 without giving his opponents a chance to react. So he ends his action turn and passes the Food and Drugs Act by Vote (9.2), without any need for an Uncertainty Card. Like all Moderate bills, the Food and Drugs Act earns 3 VP for both the Government and Opposition. The Government earns a step in both the Gentry and Middle Class Sectors for 4 Popularity points.

For his Debate Card reward, Rosebery raises his Standing to 5.

Derby announces the Challenge Phase. At this point, Rosebery is tied with Russell in Standing and has more Favour, so he could Challenge Russell now for the Opposition Leader role (10.0). This change would affect not only Rosebery and Russell individually, but also the Liberal Party, which is their mutual concern. Rosebery and Russell discuss the matter, and Rosebery decides for the time being not to Challenge Russell. Here's why:

• If Russell loses his position as Opposition Leader, he'll become an Opposition Backbencher and reset his Standing to zero (10.2), which means he'll have only one Action Cube over the next several rounds (1.4.3). That's a loss of one action per round for the Liberal Party.
• Rosebery is in a comfortable position now as an Opposition Backbencher. His Standing rises every round thanks to the Backbencher Standing Bonus (6.2.4), and he can easily accelerate that with the Pact side of his Debate Card. He's on track to activate his Deputy Party Leader Career Card as soon as he reaches 4 Favour and 8 Standing, and that will grant him a free Supporter Card every round. By waiting, Rosebery can accumulate more Standing, more Favour, and perhaps a hand of useful Supporters—and he can take all of those advantages with him when he decides to Challenge.
• Russell isn't expected to raise his Standing much over the next several rounds, so it's not likely Rosebery would lose his chance to Challenge. The Opposition Leader earns additional Standing mainly through bill failures and withdrawals, but with the Pact in place, the Opposition can't attack the Government's bills.
• Finally, if Rosebery were to act against the interests of the Liberal Party by Challenging now, he would likely sour his relationship with Russell for the rest of the game. There may be a point in the game when it makes sense for Rosebery and Russell to play against each other, but now is not the time.

Round 5

Players: PM Derby, Govt. BB Peel, Opp. Leader Russell, Opp. BB Rosebery.

With the Pact now in effect, the Government and Opposition combine and pool the VP they earn at the start of every round (4.0(1)). That means 6 VP for everyone in the Pact, so VP scores will start to accelerate.

In his action turn, Peel Influences twice again using his Chief Whip Career Card, then raises his Standing to 5 (6.2.4) and activates his Campaign Chairman Career Card.

Rosebery plays a Level 1 Flatter action using his Privy Counsellor Card, raising his Favour to 2, which allows him to activate his Campaign Chairman card. Although the Government and Opposition versions of this card have different activation requirements, they function the same way once they're activated.

Career Card: "Campaign Chairman" — Level 1 Action: Campaign in one of your Sectors; OR Level 1 Action: Campaign in any Sector.

They allow you to spend one Action Cube to Campaign once in one of the Sectors displayed on your Politician Card, or to spend two cubes to Campaign once in any other Sector. Rosebery's Politician Card displays the Gentry, Liberal, and Scotland Sectors. Remember that Russell can also Campaign in the Gentry and Liberal Sectors, so Rosebery leaves those two Sectors alone for now and spends his second cube Campaigning in Scotland, earning 1 Popularity point.

He closes out his action turn by raising his Standing to 6 (6.2.4).

Russell Hobnobs, drawing the Prince of Wales. Remember that the pointing finger means Russell can apply the Favour point to whomever he wants (1.8).

Supporter Card: "Prince of Wales" — an Influence action (shift 10 MPs); OR ±1 Favour for any player.

Russell wants to help Rosebery activate his Deputy Party Leader Career Card as soon as possible and reward Rosebery for not Challenging, so he generously applies the Favour point to Rosebery, raising Rosebery's Favour to 3. Russell spends his second cube Campaigning in the Gentry Sector, earning two points and threatening the PM with a possible By-Election loss (8.2).

Derby is relieved to draw the Schism in the Church of Scotland Event, which he can afford to ignore. Although the penalty lowers Scotland Popularity, his party is only at the second lowest step in this Sector, so the Conservative Party loses just one Popularity point. Derby Influences twice (6.1.5) so that all 290 Government MPs are now Moderates.

Next, he Debates the Lunacy Act up to M+70, ends his action turn, and passes the Lunacy Act.

The Lunacy Act doesn't generate any immediate Popularity gains for the Government, but it has not gone unnoticed. Britain's opinion makers are impressed by the PM's enlightened approach to mental illness and are eager to make his acquaintance. Thus the Lunacy Act displays a Level 2 Supporter Card bonus, meaning that you draw two Supporters and immediately choose one to keep and one to discard (the equivalent of a Level 2 Hobnob action (6.1.4)). Like all personal rewards from bills, this bonus belongs to the PM (9.4). So Derby now draws two Supporters: the authors W.M. Thackeray (Liberals or Farmers option) and Oscar Wilde (Ireland or Gentry option). He chooses to keep Thackeray and discard Wilde. Because his action turn is already over, Derby will have to wait until the next round before he can play Thackeray (7.2).

Round 6

Players: PM Derby, Govt. BB Peel, Opp. Leader Russell, Opp. BB Rosebery.

As Government Backbencher, Peel again takes the first action turn. Derby urges him to use his newly activated Campaign Chairman Career Card, pointing out that the Liberals still have an alarming lead in Popularity points. Since Derby himself doesn't have the Campaign ability, he urgently needs Peel's help on this front. But Peel suggests playing his Debate Card instead. This isn't particularly helpful to the Conservative Party, but Peel wants the personal Standing or Favour bonus on the Debate Card. So Peel spends both his cubes to place his Debate Card under the Tramways Act, boosting its Vote adjustment to M+40, then raises his Standing to 6 (6.2.4). The Opposition Leader notices tensions rising between Derby and Peel.

Rosebery repeats his actions from the previous round: he spends one cube on a Flatter action, raising his Favour to 4; and he Campaigns in Scotland, earning 2 Popularity points. He raises his Standing to 7 (6.2.4).

Russell Hobnobs and draws the Queen's goddaughter Sarah Forbes Bonetta (+1 Favour or -2 Favour), who he holds for now. He ends his action turn by Campaigning in the Gentry Sector for 2 points.

Derby draws the German Army Overruns Weak Neighbour Event and sees an opportunity.

Event Card: "German Army Overruns Neighbour" — Ignore (-1 Favour); Denounce the Queen's German Relatives (costs 1 cube, -1 Favour); Broker Peace Deal (costs 2 cubes, +1 Standing).

For two Action Cubes, the PM can "broker a peace deal" and grab a Standing point. Derby chooses this option, then gets another Standing point by finally playing that John Bright Supporter Card he was saving. He now has 13 Standing, enough to earn four Action Cubes starting in the next round (1.4.1). He spends his remaining cube Debating the Tramways Act, raising its projection to M+60, good enough for a safe Vote (9.2). This is the last bill on the board, so Derby must resolve it now. Both the Government and Opposition earn another 3 VP. Tramways are popular among those who can't afford their own carriage, so by passing this bill, the Government's Popularity rises one step in both the Middle Class and Workers Sectors for a total of 4 Popularity points. For his Debate Card reward, Peel shamelessly takes a Favour point, raising his Favour to 4.

With a lead of 22 Popularity points, the Liberals are projected to win the next Election with 375 MPs, while the Conservatives are projected to earn only 283 seats. This means the Conservatives have lost ground over the last three rounds. Russell's plans seem to be working. Naturally, Derby postpones the Election by removing the Election Marker (11.0). With all 290 Government MPs lined up on the Moderate side, Derby hopes he can pass some valuable M bills over the next three rounds to cut into the Liberals' Popularity lead. Derby would also like to sever the Pact to cut down on the Opposition's VP income, but as PM he can do so only by introducing a Conservative Party Bill (3.1.2)—and at the moment, that doesn't fit his plans. So he'll have to suffer the Pact.

Round 7

Players: PM Derby, Govt. BB Peel, Opp. Leader Russell, Opp. BB Rosebery.

Derby now gets four Action Cubes, which is the maximum cube income any player can get. In the Bill Selection Phase (5.0), the Liberals try to stick the Government with some low-value Cross-Party "A" bills, but Derby ignores them and selects the Ground Game Act (M+20) and Poor Law (Scotland) Act (M+10) that he drew, plus the Crofter's Holdings (Scotland) Act (M+10) proposed by Peel.

Bills: Ground Game Act (An Act to Allow Farmers to Kill Rabbits and Hares) — M, +20, 3 VP, Farmers/Workers effect. Poor Law (Scotland) Act (An Act to Improve the Poor Laws of Scotland) — M, +10, 3 VP, Scotland/Workers effect. Crofter's Holdings (Scotland) Act (An Act to Protect Land Rights of Highland Crofters) — M, +10, 3 VP, Farmers/Scotland effect.

Peel's Bill Selection Bonus (5.2) is of course shared by the Pact. With an all-Moderate lineup of Government MPs, the bill Vote projections start at 310, 300, and 300 respectively.

To Derby's chagrin, Peel uses his Debate Card again, this time on the Ground Game Act, raising it to M+30 (320 projected Votes). With his Backbencher Standing Bonus (6.2.4), Peel ends his turn with 7 Standing. Peel has his eye on his most senior Career Card, the Deputy PM Card. Once he activates the card with 5 Favour and 8 Standing, he may start transferring one Action Cube from the PM's player mat to his own mat at the start of every round. This may be good for Peel, but it also tends to destabilize the Government.

Rosebery now Campaigns twice in Scotland, maxing out the Sector and earning 4 Popularity points. He raises his Standing to 8 (6.2.4), which is the maximum Standing range for Backbenchers (1.4.3). He can now activate his most senior Career Card, the Deputy Party Leader Card. Beginning in the next round, he'll start receiving a free Supporter Card at the start of every round.

Career Card: "Deputy Party Leader" — Bonus at the start of each round: draw a free Supporter Card.

Unlike the Deputy PM Card on the Government side, the Opposition's most senior Career Card doesn't weaken any Party Leader—it just strengthens the Opposition Backbencher. This is one of several asymmetric game features that tend to destabilize the Government over time, while strengthening the Opposition.

Russell Hobnobs, draws the Irish Nationalist Daniel O'Connell, and plays the option to raise the Liberal Party two steps in the Ireland Sector, offset by a loss in the Conservatives Sector. Since the Liberal Party is already at the minimum level in the Conservatives Sector, the tradeoff is negated (1.8). This play gains 4 Popularity points, and Russell earns another 2 points Campaigning (6.1.1) in the Gentry Sector. Reflecting the U.K.'s winner-take-all electoral system, the Election Projections increase exponentially as one party extends its point lead (1.5.2). The Liberal Party is now projected to get 416 MPs in the next Election, compared to 242 for the Conservatives.

Rather than ambush Derby with a sudden movement in Popularity points just before the Election, Russell has been trying to maintain a steady point lead in the hopes that Derby will draw and lose a By-Election Event Card (8.2). With eight By-Election Cards in the Event deck, there's an average 20% chance of drawing a By-Election Card every round, so players always need to keep this possibility in mind.

This time, Russell gets his payoff: Derby draws a By-Election Card and loses a Standing point, dropping down to 12 Standing. Although this doesn't expose Derby to a Challenge, it's enough to deprive him of his fourth Action Cube in the next round. The Opposition always gets 1 VP for winning a By-Election (8.2), but of course this is shared by the Pact.

Derby wants to delay Peel's pursuit of Standing and Favour, so he's not in any hurry to resolve Peel's Debate Card. Instead, he Debates the Poor Law (Scotland) Act three times, bumping its Vote projection up to M+70. He spends his fourth cube Hobnobbing and draws Lord Alfred Tennyson (Gentry option or +1 Favour). Derby plays Tennyson now for the Gentry option earning 2 Popularity points, as well as the Thackeray card he was holding for the Liberals option against the Liberal Party, earning another 3 points. He closes out the round by passing the Poor Law Act, earning 3 VP for the Pact and for the Government a step in both Scotland (2 points) and the Workers Sectors (4 points).

With his Supporters and the Poor Law Act, Derby made a lot of progress, but he's still on track to lose the upcoming Election by a significant margin.

Round 8

Players: PM Derby, Govt. BB Peel, Opp. Leader Russell, Opp. BB Rosebery.

During round setup, Derby loses his fourth Action Cube, while on the Opposition side Rosebery's Deputy Party Leader Card kicks in: Rosebery now gets to draw a free Supporter Card at the start of each round. This time he draws the Duke of York (Gentry option or +1 Favour). As always, he can play his Supporters only during his action turn, so he holds the Duke of York for now while Peel as Government Backbencher takes the first turn.

Peel Hobnobs twice, hoping for a Favour point but instead drawing the conservative philosopher Thomas Carlyle (Conservatives/Liberals option or 10↔10 Influence) and the explorer David Livingstone (Scotland option or Workers option). He plays Carlyle for the Conservatives/Liberals option, gaining 5 Popularity points in the Conservatives Sector and losing nothing in the Liberal Sector, where the Conservative Party is already at the minimum. He plays Livingstone for the Scotland option for 2 points. With his Backbencher Standing Bonus (6.2.4), Peel now maxes out at 8 Standing. But he still can't activate his Deputy PM Card without another Favour point.

Rosebery uses his Campaign Chairman Card in the Liberal Sector, repairing the damage Thackeray did and earning back 3 Popularity points. He also Hobnobs (6.1.4) and draws the Duke of Argyll, but neither of Argyll's options (Scotland option or ±10 Votes) is of any use at the moment (the Liberal Party is already maxed out in Scotland). He plays his free Duke of York Supporter Card now for the Gentry option, earning 2 Popularity points. Since Rosebery's Standing was already maxed out in the previous round, his Backbencher Standing Bonus (6.2.4) is no longer effective. It may soon be time for him to Challenge Russell for the Opposition Leader's seat.

Russell Hobnobs and draws Princess Helena, who has a ±1 Favour option. In a devious move, Russell plays the Princess to raise Peel's Favour to 5 points, enough to qualify Peel for the Deputy PM position. Although it's not Peel's action turn, Career Cards are always turned over as soon as their activation requirements are met (6.2.2), so Peel activates his Deputy PM Career Card now. Once the card is turned up, there's no way for Derby to deactivate it. Peel can now steal an Action Cube from Derby at the start of every round. At first glance, it may seem Russell is being altruistic here, but it's really a shrewd move for Russell: he's encouraging intraparty conflict on the Conservative side and laying the groundwork for a possible cross-party entente with Peel. In Prime Minister's endgame, the focal point often shifts towards intraparty conflict, and individual players may coordinate across the aisle.

Russell spends his second cube Campaigning in the Gentry Sector, maxing it out for another 3 points.

Derby draws the Your Wife Is Divorcing You Event. In keeping with Victorian morality, this is usually one of the worst Event Cards a PM can draw, but under the current circumstances Derby is better off ignoring it.

Event Card: "Your Wife Is Divorcing You" — Ignore (-1 Standing, -1 Favour); Blame Her (costs 1 cube, Middle Class effect); Reconcile (costs 2 cubes).

He can afford to lose the Standing and Favour, while he can't afford to divert his attention from the Election Projections. His Standing drops to 11 and his Favour to 1, but Her Majesty still prefers Derby to Russell, who remains stuck at zero. The Queen has never forgiven Russell for abandoning her in Round 1.

Derby spends his first cube Hobnobbing and draws the suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst (Liberals/Conservatives option or Liberals option). He plays her Liberals option against the Liberal Party for 3 Popularity points. With Peel's Deputy PM Card already activated, Derby might as well resolve Peel's Debate Card. So he Debates twice on the Ground Game Act, raising it to M+70 (360 projected Votes). He passes it, earning 3 VP for the Pact and for the Government a Farmers effect (4 points) and Workers effect (another 2 points). The Conservative Party is now maxed out in the Workers Sector. For his Debate Card reward, Peel raises his Favour to 6.

Round 9

Players: PM Derby, Govt. BB Peel, Opp. Leader Russell, Opp. BB Rosebery.

This is the last round before the next Election, which can no longer be postponed (11.0). The Backbenchers and Opposition Leader each take two Action Cubes and the PM takes three.

Rosebery draws John Brown as his free Supporter Card. Brown is one of the more unusual characters in the Supporter deck, as reflected by his odd +2 Favour / -1 Standing option. The Queen cherished him, while others spread malicious gossip about their unusually close relationship.

Supporter Card: "John Brown" (Her Majesty's Companion) — a Standing action; OR +2 Favour / -1 Standing.

At the start of his action turn, Peel can use his activated Deputy PM Career Card for the first time. As stated on the card, Peel "may" use it to take one of the PM's Action Cubes. Derby urges him to refrain so that Derby can spend all his cubes Debating, but Peel is thinking about taking over Derby's position as Party Leader and he'd like to build up a useful hand of Supporters to help him in that effort. An extra cube means an extra Hobnob action, so he chooses to take one of Derby's cubes, giving himself a total of three cubes and leaving Derby with only two. Peel now Hobnobs three times, drawing Florence Nightingale (Middle Class option or Workers option), the philosopher John Stuart Mill (±20 Votes/Conservatives option or another option), and the Earl of Malmesbury (Conservatives option or Liberals option). Mill's options will be useful to Peel if and when Peel becomes Party Leader, so he holds Mill for now. He plays Nightingale for the Middle Class option (2 points) and Malmesbury for the Conservatives option (another 3 points).

At the start of the Opposition action turns, Russell withdraws from the Pact by removing the Pact Card from the board (3.1.2). He anticipates that the Liberal Party will be in power shortly, so he's no longer interested in sharing VP. By ending the Pact now, he ensures that the Conservatives can't share the Liberals' prospective 6 VP PM Replacement Bonus (1.4.1) or the prospective Liberal Government's 4 VP at the beginning of the next round (4.0(1)).

Russell tells Rosebery to take the first Opposition action turn. Rosebery is already holding two Supporters: Argyll and Brown. He now Hobnobs twice and draws another two Supporters: the Earl of Iddesleigh (±10 Votes or Conservatives option) and the MP Lord George Bentinck (±10 Votes or Farmers option). Like Peel, Rosebery is also planning to climb the ladder, and sooner rather than later. He wants to become Opposition Leader this round, win the Election, and slide into power as the next PM. In his current action turn, he'll have to balance two objectives: (1) ensure that his party will actually win the Election and (2) prepare himself for his prospective premiership.

Rosebery balances his objectives by using Argyll and Bentinck to buttress the Liberal Party's chances, and using Iddesleigh and Brown for personal objectives. Argyll's Scotland option is still useless, but now that the Pact is over Rosebery is free to play Argyll's ±10 Votes option against the Government. He lowers the Crofter's Holdings (Scotland) Act to M+0 (290 projected Votes). He plays Bentinck for the Farmers option, earning two Popularity points.

Rosebery saves Iddesleigh for later use, knowing that Iddesleigh's ±10 Votes option will be useful to a future PM. Finally, Rosebery has to decide what to do with his John Brown Supporter Card. Brown's +2 Favour / -1 Standing option is rarely invoked, but can be useful in certain situations, including Rosebery's. Rosebery currently has 4 Favour, and he'd like to match Peel who has 6 Favour. Rosebery's Standing is already maxed out, and if he loses a Standing point now he can quickly earn it back through his Backbencher Standing Bonus (6.2.4). He plays Brown to raise his Favour two steps. His Standing briefly drops to 7, before rising back to 8.

Russell anticipates Rosebery's Challenge, but has no realistic chance of stopping it. As Opposition Leader, Russell never managed to increase his Standing—he still has only 5 Standing points. He now has to plan a new path to victory within a Rosebery ministry. If Rosebery's prospective Government is weak, Russell as Government Backbencher can Resign (3.2.1), weaken Rosebery further, and then unseat him through another intraparty Challenge, perhaps in Round 12 or 13. So in the upcoming Election, Russell now prefers a narrow win for the Liberal Party so that Rosebery as PM won't control too many MPs. Russell also wants to draw some Supporters that would be useful to him as a Government Backbencher. So he refrains from Campaigning and Hobnobs twice, drawing C.P. Scott (±10 Votes or another option) and the Duke of Westminster (+1 Standing or Conservatives option). He decides to hold both these cards, along with the Bonetta card he drew earlier, and ends his action turn now. Rosebery is alarmed that Russell didn't do anything more to support the party. By focusing too much on personal concerns this round, both Rosebery and Russell may have invited a disaster for the Liberal Party.

Derby sees that his chances have just improved. Since the Opposition Leader didn't attack the valuable Crofter's Holdings bill, Derby might still be able to pass it, boosting his party's Popularity at the last minute. He draws the Stalemate in War Against Russia Event (inspired by the Crimean War) and ignores it. The penalty is -1 Standing, so Derby drops to 10 Standing, which doesn't pose any immediate problem. Using his Debate 2 ability, he spends his two Action Cubes to Debate Crofter's Holdings up to M+40 (330 projected Votes). He ends his action turn, puts the bill to a Vote, and draws a "0" Uncertainty Card. The bill has passed and the political situation has dramatically shifted once again. Crofter's Holdings earns 3 VP for both the Government and Opposition (9.4); more significantly, the Government earns two steps in both the Farmers and Scotland Sectors. This is good for 8 Popularity points, with both parties now maxed out in Scotland.

The Liberal Party is now projected to get 333 MPs in the Election, and the Conservative Party 325. Derby could easily win the Election with the right Uncertainty Card, and his chances of winning might be better than you think. Remember that Derby still has more Favour than Russell, and Favour makes a big difference when the Election Projections are very close. The Queen doesn't dare interfere when a Politician wins a clear mandate from the electorate, but her wishes can prove decisive when the political situation is unclear. So Derby could win by drawing an Uncertainty Card with an adjustment of at least +4 or any Uncertainty Card with a Royal Interference icon (11.2.2). 4 out of 18 Uncertainty Cards meet the first condition, and an additional 6 Uncertainty Cards meet the second condition, giving Derby a 56% chance of winning. But that's about to change.

As expected, Rosebery finally opts to Challenge Russell for the Opposition Leader's position (10.0). He wants the job whether the Liberals win the Election or not. This intraparty Challenge is simpler than the Derby-Russell Challenge we saw in Round 3. Rosebery and Russell exchange their player mats (or switch seats), while keeping their unplayed Supporters, Favour, and Player Markers (10.2). Russell's Standing drops to zero, which is the starting level on Backbencher mats (1.4.3).

As the winner of the Challenge, Rosebery gets to keep his current Standing or the starting Standing level on his new mat, whichever is higher (10.2). Remember that the starting levels on each mat are highlighted. The Opposition Leader's starting level is 5, but Rosebery currently has 8 Standing, so he gets to set his Player Marker at 8 Standing on his new Opposition Leader player mat. Finally, Rosebery removes Russell's Player Marker on the Score Track and puts his own spare Player Marker in its place, where it represents the VP score for both Opposition players (3.3). There is no immediate change to the Opposition's VP score—we're just using a different Player Marker to track the score now, because we have a different Opposition Leader.

Now we come to the Election phase. Because Derby already removed the Election Marker at the end of round 6, he can't postpone the Election again (11.0). Rosebery's decision to Challenge has altered the Election prospects, to the detriment of the Conservatives. In resolving Royal Interference, we compare the Favour levels of the two Party Leaders (11.2.2)—the Backbenchers' Favour doesn't matter here. Rosebery has more Favour than Derby, so Derby is no longer the Queen's favorite Party Leader and can no longer claim Royal Interference. Moreover, a +4 Uncertainty Card would leave the parties tied at 329 seats each, and since we use Favour as a tiebreaker (11.1), Derby can no longer win with a +4 Uncertainty Card. Only 3 out of 18 Uncertainty Cards have an adjustment higher than +4, so by losing his position as the Queen's favorite, Derby's chances of winning the Election have just dropped from 56% to 17%. Again, it's important to remember that Favour only makes a difference when the Election Projections are close—the closer the Projections, the more dramatic the effect will be.

Derby draws an Uncertainty Card with no Election adjustment, meaning that as projected, the Liberals have won the Election outright with 333 MPs, while the Conservatives won only 325. The card displays the Royal Interference icon with a minimum requirement of ≥318 MPs (11.2.2), but Rosebery doesn't need it. If Derby were still the Queen's favorite Party Leader, he could have claimed Royal Interference and won. The Royal Interference icon always includes a minimum MP requirement: you have to have at least as many MPs as stated on the card in order to claim Royal Interference (in this example, ≥318). This number ranges from ≥311 to ≥323. This is why Royal Interference has no effect when the Election results are more lopsided.

Now that we've determined the Election results, let's walk through the next steps:

• Election VP (11.3): The Conservatives went from 290 MPs to 325, so after rounding off they score 6 VP for gaining 40 seats (2 VP + 1 VP for each 10 seats gained).
• The Opposition takes the 6 VP PM Replacement Bonus (11.4, 1.4.1).
• Rosebery and Derby exchange player mats. Derby also takes the Pact Card, previously held by Rosebery.
• Rosebery had 8 Standing as Opposition Leader, but he gets to start his premiership with 11 Standing, which is the starting level highlighted on the PM's mat.
• Derby drops to 5 Standing, which is the starting level highlighted on the Opposition Leader's mat.
• The Backbenchers flip their player mats over and exchange the Resignation Card and their respective Career and Debate Cards. The Backbenchers reevaluate the activation requirements on their Career Cards. Right now, Russell can't activate any of his Career Cards, while all of Peel's Career Cards are activated, including his new Deputy Party Leader Card.
• Move the Conservative Bills deck back to the game box or off to the side, and move the Liberal Bills deck and its existing discard pile within easy reach of the players.
• Reset the Government MP Tracker (11.5): the new Liberal Government has 330 MPs after rounding off. It has 50 Partisan points in the Ireland Sector, 170 Partisan points in the Liberals Sector, and 20 in the Workers Sector, for a total of 240 Partisan points. This means the Government has 240 Partisan MPs, while the other 90 are Moderates.
• Replace the Election Marker.

Round 10

Players: PM Rosebery, Govt. BB Russell, Opp. Leader Derby, Opp. BB Peel.

During round setup, the new Liberal Government earns 4 VP, while the Conservative Opposition gets 2 VP. Russell as Government Backbencher gets 1 Action Cube, Peel as Opposition Backbencher and Derby as Opposition Leader get 2 cubes each, and Rosebery as the new PM gets 3 cubes. With his new Deputy Party Leader Career Card, Peel also gets a free Supporter: the Princess of Wales.

Supporter Card: "Princess of Wales" — a Middle Class Popularity action; OR ±1 Favour.

THEMATIC NOTE: You might wonder why the Princess of Wales would Campaign for anyone in the Middle Class Sector. Although Supporter Actions often resemble Politician Actions, they don't actually have names such as "Flatter" or "Campaign." You see only icons showing an effect. The thematic nature of Supporter Actions is left to your imagination. Perhaps the Princess was seen speaking with you at a public event, and Middle Class readers were impressed by the writeup in the Court Circular column of their morning newspaper.

Although Rosebery's new Government boasts more MPs than the previous Minority Government led by Derby, Rosebery may have more difficulty getting his legislative agenda passed: there's a significant split in Rosebery's party between Partisans and Moderates, and he'll find it difficult to bridge the gap because he lacks the Influence ability (6.1.5). Russell might be able to get the party in line once he becomes Chief Whip, but that may take a while, and it's doubtful he wants to help Rosebery anyway. So Rosebery has no realistic prospect of passing Partisan or Moderate bills—he'll have to stick with less valuable "A" bills, if he's lucky enough to get them. Meanwhile, on the Opposition side it's clear that Peel (8 Standing) is going to Challenge Derby (5 Standing) for the Opposition Leader's seat at the end of this round, so both Peel and Derby are strategizing with this changeover in mind.

In the Bill Selection Phase (5.0), the Backbenchers and Opposition Leader all draw from the Cross-Party Bills, although they're looking for different things. With the game approaching the finish line, we see more signs of intraparty rivalry and cross-party cooperation between various players. Over the next several rounds, Peel (as the prospective Opposition Leader) and Russell (as Government Backbencher) will be in the best position to Challenge Rosebery for the top job. During this Bill Selection Phase, Peel and Russell's immediate goal is to propose impossible Moderate bills to undermine the PM. But Derby (as the prospective Opposition Backbencher) wants to give the PM a reasonable "A" bill, to forestall a victory by Peel or Russell.

Russell finds a Moderate bill he can propose and Derby finds an "A" bill, while Peel draws two "A" bills and is forced to propose one of them. Seeing two Cross-Party "A" bills he can fall back on, Rosebery draws three Liberal Bills: one Liberal Partisan bill and two Liberal "A" bills. He selects his own Penal Servitude Act (A-30), Peel's British North America Act (A+0), and Derby's Cruelty to Animals Act (A+10). The Opposition gets the Bill Selection VP Bonus twice for 2 VP (5.2). The bills start with projected Votes of 300, 330, and 340, respectively.

Bills: Penal Servitude Act (An Act to Substitute Other Punishment in Lieu of Transportation) — A, -30, 4 VP, Farmers/Middle Class effect. British North America Act (An Act for the Union of Canada and Government Thereof) — A, +0, 2 VP, +1 Favour for the PM. Cruelty to Animals Act (An Act to Prevent Cruelty to Animals) — A, +10, 2 VP, Farmers effect, Level 2 Supporter bonus for the PM.

Russell as Government Backbencher now takes the first action turn. He wants to rebuild his Standing fast. He plays his Duke of Westminster Supporter Card for +1 Standing, then deploys his Debate Card on the Cruelty to Animals Act, raising it to A+20 (350 projected Votes). With his Backbencher Standing Bonus (6.2.4), he ends his action turn with 2 Standing.

Derby tells Peel to take the first Opposition action turn. Peel avoids using his Debate Card, since it probably won't be resolved this round and he'll have to withdraw it without effect (6.2.1) when he becomes Opposition Leader in the Challenge Phase. Instead he uses his Opposition Chief Whip Card, which allows him to spend two Action Cubes on a single -30 Debate action against any one bill. Peel targets the British North America Act, lowering it to A-30 (300 projected Votes).

Career Card: "Chief Whip" (Her Loyal Majesty's Opposition) — Action: Coordinate Debate, -30, costing two Action Cubes.

Derby is now thinking ahead to his role as Opposition Backbencher. In the end game, he'll get a potentially powerful bonus: once the PM reaches 90 VP, the Opposition Backbencher takes the Father of the House Card (7.4). This card doubles the value of any Supporters already held by the Opposition Backbencher at the start of his action turn. To make the most of this opportunity, Derby needs to build up a strong Supporter hand in advance. So Derby Hobnobs twice (6.1.4), drawing and holding Prince Albert (±1 Favour or +1 Standing) and the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel (Conservatives option or Farmers option).

At the start of his action turn, Rosebery draws the Unrest Among Tenant Farmers Event, which is convenient for him.

Event Card: "Unrest Among Tenant Farmers" — Ignore (Farmers effect); Meet with Protesters (costs a cube).

His party is currently at the second lowest step in the Farmers Sector and he already anticipates bottoming out in the Farmers Sector when he passes the Cruelty to Animals Act, which includes a Farmers effect. So in the long run, this Event won't make any difference. Rosebery ignores it and the Liberal Party loses 2 Popularity points, but now the Cruelty to Animals Act can't do any further damage. Now that the parties are tied in Popularity points, Rosebery removes the Liberal Party Marker from the Election Projections table, leaving no Party Marker here—this indicates a tie.

With the Cruelty to Animals Act already at 350 projected Votes, Rosebery isn't under any immediate pressure, so he takes a break from Parliament to Hobnob (6.1.4) three times. He draws Charles Darwin (Liberals/Middle Class option or another option), the Archbishop of Canterbury William Howley (Gentry option or Conservatives option), and Liberal MP Sir Dadabhai Naoroji (±10 Votes or Liberals option). He decides to hold them for now, and proceeds to Bill Resolution (9.0).

Rosebery puts the Cruelty to Animals Act to a Vote, and it passes without drawing an Uncertainty Card (9.2). This bill gives the PM a Level 2 Supporter bonus (draw two Supporters, keep one). There's one card remaining in the Supporter deck, so Rosebery first draws that card, which turns out to be Earl Grey (±10 Votes or +1 Standing). Next, Rosebery turns the Supporters discard pile over, reshuffles it, and draws a second card: the Irish Nationalist Daniel O'Connell (Ireland/Conservatives option or Ireland option). He keeps Grey and discards O'Connell.

Next, we resolve Russell's Debate Card, revealed under the Cruelty to Animals Act. Not surprisingly, Russell takes another Standing point, raising his Standing to 3 so that he'll get two Action Cubes next round.

As we close out the Bill Resolution Phase, note that Rosebery now has five Supporters in his hand, including Iddesleigh who he drew in a previous round. The hold limit for Supporters is four, but this limit is applied only at the end of a player's action turn (7.3). Since Rosebery drew his fifth Supporter after his action turn had already ended, he can keep all five cards for now, but he'll have to play or discard at least one of them in the next round.

In the Challenge Phase (10.0), Peel as expected Challenges Derby and becomes the new Opposition Leader with 8 Standing. Derby becomes an Opposition Backbencher with zero Standing (10.2). Because he lacks the Campaign ability, Derby sets aside his new Campaign Chairman Career Card, but unlike Peel he can attach the Privy Counsellor Career Card to his player mat (unactivated for now). Finally, we remove Derby's Player Marker from the Score Track and put Peel's Player Marker in its place to represent Opposition VP.

Round 11

Players: PM Rosebery, Govt. BB Russell, Opp. Leader Peel, Opp. BB Derby.

As the round begins, a new endgame restriction comes into effect: now that the PM has ≥85 VP, he can no longer delay an Election by removing the Election Marker (a reminder is printed on the Score Track). This means we'll have another Election in the next round, unless the game ends before then.

Russell takes 2 Action Cubes this round, while Derby is reduced to 1 cube, Peel gets 2, and Rosebery gets 3 again. Since the Deputy Party Leader Card is now deactivated (6.2.2), no one gets a free Supporter.

Russell opens the Action Phase by Resigning his Government appointments (3.2.1, 6.2.3). The timing of this move is forced on Russell: as marked on the Score Track, Russell can't Resign once he has ≥90 VP, and he'll reach that threshold before his next action turn. If he wants to Resign, it's now or never. Never is sometimes the better option. A Resigned Backbencher has very little opportunity to earn VP (see Guide to VP Pooling in this rulebook), so if you care about your VP score or about your party, you shouldn't Resign without good reason. There are only two rational reasons for a Resignation:

• You think you can quickly take over the PM's job through a Challenge (10.0), preferably in the same round so that you don't fall behind in VP.
• You want the Government to collapse, perhaps to deny the PM an imminent victory or because you'd rather be Opposition Leader than Government Backbencher. Note that if the current Opposition already has about ≥80 VP, you'll have almost no chance of defeating the new Government before the game ends.

Although Russell has only 3 Standing now, he senses vulnerability in the Government's bills. He thinks Rosebery's Standing might rapidly collapse and create an opening for a Challenge in round 12 or 13. Also, Russell knows that if he and Peel both want to Challenge Rosebery at the same time, Russell as Government Backbencher gets turn order priority (10.1).

Let's walk through the Resignation mechanics (6.2.3):

• This action costs all your Action Cubes, so Russell spends both his cubes.
• Russell places his Resignation Card face up ("Govt. BB Resigned") in its designated slot on the game board.
• He places his spare Player Marker in the "86" position on the Score Track, on top of the PM's marker. He and Rosebery now start tracking their VP separately.
• Russell sets aside all his Career Cards. (By Resigning, you renounce all official appointments.) He retains his Debate Card and Backbencher player mat.

By Resigning, Russell publicly rebukes his own Party Leader, which causes Rosebery's Standing to drop 2 points, from 11 to 9 (3.2.1). Rosebery's wound is serious, but not immediately fatal. Because he retains his player mat, Russell still gets his Backbencher Standing Bonus (6.2.4) and so he ends his action turn with 4 Standing.

As the new Opposition Backbencher, Derby spends his single cube Hobnobbing and draws and holds the Duke of Devonshire (Conservatives/Ireland option or -1 Standing). Devonshire's Standing action will be devastating once Derby gets the Father of the House Card (7.4). Derby ends his action turn by raising his Standing to 1 and activating his Privy Counsellor Career Card (6.2.2).

Peel Debates twice against the Penal Servitude Act, lowering it to A-50 (280 projected Votes). Next he plays John Stuart Mill's ±20 Votes/Conservatives option to lower the British North America Act by -20 Votes to A-50 (280 projected Votes). Peel's association with Mill offends the Conservatives Sector, where the Conservative Party loses 1 step and 3 Popularity points. Finally, Peel plays the Princess of Wales to lower Rosebery's Favour from 6 to 5, leaving Peel as the Queen's new favorite.

Rosebery is left in a tight spot, with his two remaining bills both at 280 projected Votes. Rosebery has 9 Standing, and Peel has 8. By withdrawing a bill (9.3), Rosebery will invite an immediate Challenge by Peel. He could fix that problem by playing Earl Grey for a Standing point and using his own Flatter 2 ability (6.1.3) to leapfrog over Peel on the Favour Tracker. That would allow him to withdraw a bill, tie Peel with 9 Standing, and use the Queen to fend off a Challenge (10.0). But those moves would only postpone an inevitable defeat. With 9 Standing, Peel would get 3 Action Cubes in the next round (1.4.1) and crush the Government. To keep his path to victory clear, Rosebery has to pass a bill this round.

Rosebery draws the Coal Mine Disaster Event and has to ignore it. As a result, the Liberal Party loses two steps in the Workers Sector and 4 Popularity points.

Rosebery aims for the British North America Act, because he wants its Supporter Card bonus. He spends all three of his cubes Debating it up to A-20 (310 projected Votes), then calls on his Supporters. He plays Iddesleigh's ±10 Votes option, then Naoroji's ±10 Votes option. The bill is now at A+0 (330 projected Votes), which means a 50/50 chance of failure (9.2). Rosebery now faces a tough decision: use Earl Grey's ±10 Votes to bump it up to A+10, or save Grey's +1 Standing option for the next round. He decides to play Grey now, raising the Vote projection to 340, which means a 5 in 6 chance of success (9.2). He puts the bill to a Vote, draws a +10 Uncertainty Card, and breathes a sigh of relief. His ministry has survived another round.

He wants to win the game going into the next round. He draws a -6 Uncertainty Card, a disappointing but not fatal result. The Government has won 334 seats, which rounds off to 330. With no change to the total number of MPs on the Government MP Tracker, no one earns Election VP (11.3). But there is a small increase in the number of Partisan MPs. The Liberal Party now has 200 Partisan points in the Liberals Sector and 50 Partisan points in the Ireland Sector, which translates to 250 Partisan MPs (11.5).

Round 13

Players: PM Rosebery, Govt. BB Russell, Opp. Leader Peel, Opp. BB Derby.

We're now in a close endgame, with Russell, Derby, and Rosebery still holding unplayed Supporters. Russell, Derby, and Peel get 2 Action Cubes each. Now that his Standing has dropped to 8, Rosebery also gets only 2 cubes (1.4.1).

During the game's final Bill Selection Phase (5.0), both Backbenchers and the Opposition Leader try to stick Rosebery with impossible Moderate bills, but their effort fails. Rosebery selects the Police (Scotland) Act (A+0) and Parliamentary Papers Act (A-30) drawn by himself, plus the Vaccination Act (A-10) reluctantly proposed by Russell. Russell alone gets the 1 VP Bill Selection Bonus, which is one of the few ways a Resigned Backbencher can earn VP (3.2.1).

Russell takes the first action turn by Hobnobbing twice, drawing the Duke of Westminster (+1 Standing or Conservatives option) and William Booth (Flatter option or Workers option). He plays Westminster for +1 Standing, then plays the C.P. Scott card he was holding for its ±10 Votes option against the Police (Scotland) Act, lowering it to A-10 (320 projected Votes). He ends his turn by raising his Standing to 7 (6.2.4).

The other players are anxiously waiting to see Derby's hidden Supporter Card. If Derby had drawn a different Supporter in the previous round, he might still have a chance of winning this round, but his Mary Shelley card doesn't confer any personal benefit. Using the Father of the House Card's doubling effect, he plays Shelley's Liberals option to lower the Liberal Party two steps in the Liberals Sector for 6 Popularity points. Next, he Hobnobs twice, drawing the Duke of Wellington (+1 Standing or an Influence action) and the Duke of York (Gentry option or +1 Favour). He holds them for the next round hoping to double their Standing and Favour values, although it's not clear there will be a next round. With his Backbencher Standing Bonus, he raises his Standing to 5.

Peel has shifted his focus back to Challenging, which is the only way he can still win. He must try to force a bill failure or withdrawal. He spends his two cubes Debating against the Police (Scotland) Act and Vaccination Act, lowering each to A-20 (310 projected Votes).

Rosebery has 8 Standing, and Peel has 7. A bill withdrawal (9.3) would flip their Standing and lead to an immediate Challenge. If only Rosebery had saved Earl Grey's +1 Standing, instead of spending it for 10 Votes in the last round. Now Rosebery must once again pass a bill to survive. He draws the Derby Day Event, but must ignore it and loses a step in the Gentry Sector. Fortunately, he can now use Princess Helena's Gentry option to quickly repair the damage, avoiding any change to the Election Projections. He spends his two cubes to Debate up the Vaccination Act, raising it to 330 projected Votes and giving it a 50/50 chance of passing (9.2).

In the Bill Resolution Phase, Rosebery's luck runs out. He draws a -1 Uncertainty Card, so the bill fails on a Vote of 331-329. Rosebery's Standing drops to 6, Peel's rises to 9, and the Opposition earns 3 VP.

Rosebery's ministry is finished and the vultures come circling. Both Russell and Peel are eligible to Challenge Rosebery, but as Government Backbencher, Russell has turn order priority (10.1).

Russell of course exercises the Challenge. As a Resigned Backbencher, he earns the PM Replacement Bonus for himself alone, before the Government players resume VP pooling (3.2.2). Russell settles into his old seat as PM and resets his Standing to 11 on the PM's player mat (10.2). In theory, it's possible for two Challenges to occur in the same round (10.1), but with 9 Standing, Peel can't Challenge Russell now.

Feeling triumphant, Russell anticipates a short ride to victory. The first order of business is to remove all remaining bills from the board, as required whenever a new PM takes over (10.2). Now the Election Phase must be played (11.0). Russell tries to remove the Election Marker to delay the Election, but then remembers the Election can't be delayed once the PM has ≥85 VP.

Russell checks the Election Projections, and sees that his party is narrowly projected to win with 333 seats. It's not over yet. Russell nervously draws an Uncertainty Card, and sees a zero MP adjustment accompanied by the dreaded Royal Interference icon (11.2.2), with a minimum requirement of ≥318 MPs. Peel has 3 Favour, while Russell is still stuck at zero Favour. Russell had opportunities to mend his relationship with the Queen, but never did so. With 325 MPs, Peel has met the ≥318 MP requirement displayed on the card.

At Windsor Castle, the Queen's Private Secretary informs Her Majesty of the latest Parliamentary developments. The Queen decides Earl Russell is too unreliable for such an important position and sends for Sir Robert Peel to invite him to form a new Government in her name.

As Peel walks through the door of Number 10 Downing Street and takes the 6 VP PM Replacement Bonus (1.4.1), he reaches 100 VP and immediately wins the game (13.0).

Optional Rules

Alternate Vote Tracker

Introduction: Under the game's standard rules, players calculate a bill's Vote projection by viewing the number of MPs in the relevant category (All MPs, Moderates or Partisans), and then mentally adding or subtracting the bill's Vote adjustment (5.3). The Alternate Vote Tracker allows you to manually track the total Vote projection for each bill, relieving players of any mental math calculations. It may also help novice players see how total Vote projections are calculated and avoid misunderstandings. However, the Alternate Vote Tracker requires more movement of markers, so it may result in slower gameplay.

Components:

• 3 Alternate Bill Markers (15mm x 8mm white rectangle; 15mm x 8mm gray cylinder; 17.5mm x 15mm x 8mm black hexagon).
• 1 overlay for game board. The upper portion of the overlay has a Vote tracker ranging from "<150" to ">500." This tracker includes reminders about the odds on close Votes: 1 in 6 for bills at 320 projected Votes, 1 in 2 at 330, and 5 in 6 at 340. The lower portion of the overlay has bill slots, and to the right of each bill slot is a space for an Alternate Bill Marker.

Setup adjustments:

• Remove the 3 Parliament Markers (1.6.3) that would be placed next to the bill slots and return them to the game box.
• Place the overlay on the game board, covering the standard bill slots.
• Place the Alternate Bill Markers in their designated spaces next to the bill slots, matching each geometric shape.

Instructions for use:

• When you place a bill in a slot during Bill Selection, move its Alternate Bill Marker to the Vote tracker to show its Initial Vote Projection (5.3). EXAMPLE: If your Government has 270 Moderate MPs and you are placing an M+10 bill, place its Alternate Bill Marker in the 280 space on the Vote tracker.
• After completing Bill Selection, you should have all 3 Alternate Bill Markers on the Vote tracker. The distinct design of each marker allows you to see which Vote Projection belongs to each bill.
• Each time you perform a Debate Action (6.1.2), move the Alternate Bill Marker for the target bill. EXAMPLE: You perform a +10 Debate Action on a bill at 280 projected Votes. Move its marker from the 280 space to the 290 space.
• Each time you perform an Influence Action, first adjust the Government MP Tracker as you normally would (6.1.5). Next, adjust the Alternate Bill Marker(s) for any "M" and "P" bills on the board to show how their Vote projections have changed. EXAMPLE: You have a P bill on the board at 180 projected Votes, an M bill at 250 projected Votes, and an "A" bill at 400 projected Votes. You perform an Influence action to change 10 Government MPs from Partisans to Moderates. Move the marker for the P bill from 180 to 170 and the marker for the M bill from 250 to 260. Do not move the "A" bill's marker—it is not affected by the change in Government MPs.
• The spaces at either extreme of the Alternate Vote Tracker work differently: the <150 space and the >500 space. If at any time a bill drops below 150 projected Votes, place its marker in the <150 space and do not move the marker again until the bill is resolved. Once a bill enters the <150 space, we assume it can never be passed by Vote and so we stop tracking its exact Vote projection. Likewise, once a bill enters the >500 space, we assume it can never fail and we stop tracking its exact projection. CLARIFICATION: The PM may still withdraw any bill on the board, including one at >500 projected Votes (9.3); the PM and Opposition Leader may still pass any bill by agreement, including one at <150 projected Votes (9.1).
• After a bill is resolved (9.0), remove its Alternate Bill Marker from the tracker and return it to the designated space to the right of the bill slot.

Prime Minister's Question Time

Introduction: This optional rule enhances the game's realism and lets players take a more active role in Events. It works best with experienced players who can discern the relative difficulty of an Event Card. If any players in your group are new to Prime Minister, allow them to review the Event deck before the game begins. This optional rule is designed for the standard version of the game, but it's also suitable for Scenario 6 (Fractured Parliament).

Requirement: 4 players

Rule adjustments:

• If there are no bills on the board during round setup, the Backbenchers and Opposition Leader each randomly draw two Event Cards.
• If you draw a By-Election Card, immediately reveal it and draw a replacement.
• Once drawing is complete, shuffle any drawn By-Election Cards back into the Event deck.

STRATEGY TIP: Under this optional rule, the PM's odds of drawing a By-Election Card rise from 20% to 24%.

• No one may view another player's Event Cards before they are played.
• At the start of the PM's action turn, the PM announces "Prime Minister's Question Time."
• Any player holding an Event Card may signal that they wish to ask the PM a question. EXAMPLE: The Opposition Leader and both Backbenchers raise their hands and call out "Prime Minister!"

STRATEGY TIP: First decide whether you wish to help or hinder the PM, then weigh the relative difficulty of your Event card, consider timing, and remember the potential effects of By-Election cards in the main Event deck.

• If more than one player wants to ask a question, the PM chooses one of them to call on. If only one player wants to ask a question, the PM must call on that player.
• Next, the questioner reveals his or her Event Card in the form of a question. EXAMPLE: "Prime Minister, what is your Government doing about this terrible Famine in Ireland?"
• If no player has a question, the PM instead draws and reveals an Event Card from the Event deck.
• Once the Event card has been revealed (either by a questioner or through the standard draw action), the PM resolves and discards it under the usual Event rules.
• If all bills have been cleared from the board at the end of a round, the players immediately reveal and discard any Event Cards remaining in their hands.
• If the Event deck runs out, turn over the discard pile, shuffle it, and resume drawing.

Credits

Game Design: Paul Hellyer

Development: Ken Kuhn

Art Design & Cover Art: Domhnall Hegarty

Art Director: Justin Martinez

Production Coordinator: Kai Jensen

Executive Producers: Tony Curtis, Rodger MacGowan, Andy Lewis, Gene Billingsley, and Mark Simonitch

Playtesters: Albert Alegre Jove, Akar Bharadvaj, Adam Blinkinsop, Joe Boyle, Scott Campbell, Hywel Carver, Peter Evans, Michael Harvath, Justin Joines, Gary Jones, Daniel L. Kappers, Joshua Kelso, Christopher Leary, Marcel Meerkerk, Chris Owens, Todd Quinn, Johannes Strobel, Torkell Tagseth, Daniel U. Thibault, Matthias van Dalen, Richard Ware, Michael Williams, Duncan Young

Proofreaders: David Bauer, Joe Dewhurst, Michael Neubauer, Brent Pollock, and David Spangler

Acknowledgments: Thanks to Daniel U. Thibault for scripting work on the TTS prototype. Special thanks to Volko Ruhnke for introducing me to GMT Games.

Index

• 2-player adjustments — 2.1, 5.1, 7.4
• 3-player adjustments — 1.4.2, 2.1, 2.5, 5.1, 6.3, 7.4
• Abilities — 1.3, 6.1
• Action Cubes — 1.6.4
• Actions — 6.1
• Alternate Vote Tracker — see the Optional Rules section of this rulebook
• Backbenchers — 1.4.3, 6.2
  • Backbencher Standing Bonus — 6.2.4
• Bill Resolution — 9.0
• Bill Selection — 5.0
  • Bill Selection Bonus — 5.2
• Bills — 1.5, 1.7, 5.0, 9.0
• By-Elections — 8.2
• Campaign — 6.1.1
• Campaign Chairman (see Career Cards)
• Career Cards — 6.2.2
• Challenges — 10.0
• Chief Whip (see Career Cards)
• Debate — 6.1.2
• Debate Cards — 6.2.1, 6.3
• Deputy Party Leader (see Career Cards)
• Deputy PM (see Career Cards)
• Elections — 11.0
• Election Marker — 1.5, 1.6.5, 11.5
• Election Projections — 1.5, 1.5.2, 11.1
• Election VP — 11.3
• Events — 8.0
• Father of the House — 7.4
• Favour — 1.5, 10.0, 11.1, 11.2.2
• Flatter — 6.1.3
• Government — 2.2, 3.2
• Government Changeover — 10.2, 11.4
• Government MP Tracker — 1.5, 2.3, 11.5
• Hobnob — 6.1.4
• Influence — 6.1.5
• Initial Vote projections — 5.3
• Minority Government — 11.2
• Moderate MPs — 1.5, 5.3, 6.1.5, 11.5
• Opposition — 2.2, 3.3
• Opposition Leader — 1.4.1, 1.4.2, 2.2, 6.3
• Pact — 3.1
• Parliament Markers — 1.6.3
• Parliamentary Order — 4.0
• Partisan points — 1.5.1, 11.5
• Partisan MPs — 1.5, 5.3, 6.1.5, 11.5
• Party Leader (see Prime Minister and Opposition Leader)
• Party Markers — 1.6.2
• Player Markers — 1.6.1
• Player mats — 1.4
• PM Replacement Bonus — 1.4.1, 3.2.2, 10.2, 11.4
• Politician Actions — 6.1
• Politician Cards — 1.3
• Popularity — 1.5.1, 1.5.2, 11.1
• Prime Minister — 1.4.1, 1.4.2, 2.2, 6.4
• Privy Counsellor (see Career Cards)
• Resignation — 3.2.1, 6.2.3
• Rosettes — 1.3, 1.8
• Rounds — 4.0
• Royal Interference — 11.2.2, 12.0
• Sectors — 1.5.1
• Sequence of play — 4.0
• Setup (game) — 2.0

The British North America Act is a Cross-Party Bill, so its 2 VP are shared by the Government and Opposition. But Russell is no longer in Government, so he gets nothing. For his Supporter Card bonus, Rosebery draws Princess Helena (±1 Favour or Gentry option).

Round 12

Players: PM Rosebery, Govt. BB Russell, Opp. Leader Peel, Opp. BB Derby.

During round setup, only Rosebery gets the Government's 4 VP, while the Opposition players get 2 VP and Russell gets nothing. Russell gets 2 Action Cubes, Derby gets 1, Peel gets 2, and Rosebery gets 3. Now that the PM has crossed the 90 VP threshold, Derby gets the Father of the House Card (7.4) (a reminder is printed on the Score Track). With one bill remaining on the board, another Election is imminent.

Russell still has a narrow route to victory, but he'll have to tread carefully. If Rosebery passes the Penal Servitude Act and wins the Election, Rosebery will win the game by the start of the next round. But if Rosebery is forced to withdraw the Penal Servitude Act this round, Opposition Leader Peel might win the game by Challenging Rosebery. Russell needs more time to raise his own Standing. He has to find a way for Rosebery to withdraw the bill, but survive for another round. Russell Hobnobs twice, drawing the Prince of Wales (±1 Favour or an Influence action) and David Livingstone (Scotland option or Workers option). He plays the Sarah Forbes Bonetta card he was holding (using her -2 Favour option) and the Prince of Wales to drop Peel's Favour from 6 to 3, helping to protect Rosebery from a Challenge by Peel. Next, Russell plays Livingstone to raise the Liberal Party a step in the Workers Sector for 2 points, trying to avoid a Conservative victory in the Election. He ends his turn by raising his Standing to 5 (6.2.4).

Although Opposition Backbenchers can't Resign from the Opposition, they do have their own methods of treachery, as Derby is about to demonstrate. Derby wants to keep Peel from winning the game this round, and leave himself a chance of Challenging Peel in the next round. Using his Father of the House Card to double his Supporters' effects, Derby plays Prince Albert for +2 Standing (raising his own Standing to 3), then plays the Duke of Devonshire for -2 Standing against Peel (lowering Peel's Standing to 6). To keep Peel from winning the Election, he plays Brunel's Conservatives option against his own Conservative Party, doubling it to -5 Popularity points. Finally, he uses his single Action Cube to Hobnob. The Father of the House Card doesn't apply to Supporters drawn in the same round, only to Supporters you hold at the start of your action turn (7.4), so Derby is hoping to draw someone he can double in the next round—preferably, another Supporter with a +1 Standing option. Unfortunately for him, he draws Mary Shelley (Liberals option or Liberals/Middle Class option). He ends his turn by raising his Standing to 4 (6.2.4).

Furious at Derby's betrayal, Peel sees that his chances of Challenging Rosebery this round are ruined. But Peel won't give up without a fight. He shifts his focus to the Election and uses his enhanced Campaign skill for the first time. With his Campaign 2 ability, Peel can use one Action Cube to move up two steps in any Sector marked on his Politician Card (6.1.1). He spends both his cubes on the Gentry Sector, moving up four steps from 7 to 16, maxing out the Sector, and earning 9 Popularity points, dramatically swinging the Election Projections back towards the Conservative Party.

Rosebery draws the Crop Failure Event and ignores its Farmers penalty without effect, since the Liberal Party is already at the minimum in the Farmers Sector. That leaves Rosebery free to spend his three cubes elsewhere. Like Peel, Rosebery also shifts his focus to the Election, knowing that he can now safely withdraw the Penal Servitude Act. He can't gain anything by Campaigning in the Gentry or Scotland Sectors because he's already maxed out there. He could Campaign once more in the Liberals Sector, but he wants to save the last step in that Sector for Darwin. So Rosebery Hobnobs three times, drawing Oscar Wilde (Ireland option or Gentry option), the Earl of Malmesbury (Conservatives option or Liberals option), and Lord Alfred Tennyson (Gentry option or +1 Favour).

Rosebery now has six Supporters in his hand. He plays Darwin's Liberals/Middle Class option now, moving up one step in the Liberal Sector (which is as far as he can go) and not suffering any penalty in the Middle Class Sector (where he is already at the minimum). He earns 3 Popularity points. He plays Howley's Gentry option against the Conservatives for another 3 points; Malmesbury's Conservatives option in the Conservatives Sector for 2 points; and Wilde's Ireland option to max out in the Ireland Sector for 3 points. He has no immediate use for Princess Helena or Tennyson, since he's already maxed out in the Gentry Sector.

In the Bill Resolution Phase (9.0), Rosebery withdraws the Penal Servitude Act and moves it to the Liberal Bills discard pile. His Standing drops to 8, while Peel's Standing rises to 7 and the Opposition gets 2 VP (9.3). There are no Challenges (10.0), so we come to the Election Phase (11.0). The Liberal Party is projected to win with 340 seats, and Rosebery has the lead in Favour. Rosebery can lose only with a -12 Uncertainty Card, and there is only one of those in the deck. But if he does better than expected and increases the Government's majority to 350, he'll score 4 VP from the Election and