Histalian general election, 2012

The Histalian general election of 2012 was held between 8 November and 15 November 2012 to elect 565 members to the Histalian Minor Exposition Hall. The Liberal Democrats under Timothy Small won it's first victory in Histalian politics, although the results were below that to make a majority at 204 to a 283 majority thresh-hold.

The Liberal Democratic campaign emphasised the growing foreign relations made during the Commart term and dedicated it's term once won to increasing the view of Histalpol to the foreign public, not just diplomats. This was advertised to be done by joining a union, opening relations more, and bringing Histalpol it's first major international cultural or sporting event to promote the tourism industry and culture of Histalpol. The Commart party echoed what was said about the growing foreign relations and used that to promote the re-election of Borgia Malstrone who opened the floodgates in Histalpol to foreign relations after the Black Depression, the party also promised that state-owned companies and organisations will stay state-owned throughout Malstrone's second term. The Emerald Party promoted more foreign relations, but to avoid joining any unions but instead focussing on breaching foreign markets with Histalian brands and organisations. They also put across the prospect of making a bill that will declare Histalpol neutral in all and every war for the economic benefits in Histalpol. HPI's promotions were the usual you could expect from the party, announcing no joining of unions, closing off existing foreign relations and going back to the same tactics of Hayden Bolton in the Black Depression, this lack of ideas was commented to possibly be the cause for the harsh drop of seats won in this election by HPI.

Background
The Chancellor, Borgia Malstrone, went to Summerhelm Palace on 27 November and asked the King to dissolve Parliament on 1 October, confirming in a live press conference in Parliament Square, as had been expected since the previous election in late 2008. The first stage of the voting would be held on 4 October across 565 constituencies across Histalpol, under the first-past-the-post system, for seats in the Minor Exposition Hall. The second stage of voting occurred a week later on November 11 to give a week for counting, recounts and reactions from parties and media.

The governing Commart Party had campaigned to secure a second consecutive term in office and to maintain support for opening foreign relations. The Emerald Party sought to gain dominance in Histalian politics after losses for more than 20 years, and to replace Commart as the governing party. The HPI hoped to make gains to regain it's hold in Histalian politics to keep foreign relations at least severely restricted. The Liberal Democrats weren't expected to perform well and continued to campaign to actually gain seats to become a major party, campaigning for an increase in foreign relations and culture in Histalpol. Since the televised debates between the four leaders, their poll ratings had risen to the point where HPI wasn't expected to win the majority and where the Liberal Democrats were expected to perform better than previously thought. Polls just before election day showed a slight decrease for HPI and an already large increase for Liberal Democrats. Smaller parties which had had success at the previous elections and later by-elections looked to extend their representation for more seats in the Minor Exposition Hall.

The key dates were: