United Front (Mobius)

The United Front (UF; Front uni, FU; Vereinigte Front, VF) is a right-wing political party in Mobius. Since inception the party has been primarily an anti-immigration party, advocating significant cuts to legal immigration. Its other major policies include a pro-Eastern foreign policy, and hard opposition to NATO, the European Union, the Schengen Area, and the eurozone. The United Front has strongly opposed the European Union since its creation. The party also supports economic interventionism, protectionism, and a zero tolerance approach to law and order.

The party was founded in 1994 by disgruntled right-wing members of the Mobian Justice Party. Philip Harvo founded the party and was its leader from inception until his resignation in 2015. While the party struggled as a marginal force for its first ten years, since 2004 it has become a major third party, though it has been the major force for Mobian nationalism since 2000. It has participated in every congressional election since 1996. Harvo's daughter Nora Peters was elected to succeed him as party leader in 2016.

While her father was nicknamed the "Son of the Devil of the Confederation" by mainstream media and sparked outrage for hate speech, including Holocaust denial and Islamophobia, Nora Peters pursued a policy of "de-demonisation" of the party by softening its image. She endeavoured to extract it from its far-right cultural roots, and to normalise it by giving it a culture of government, and censuring controversial members like her father, who was suspended, and then expelled from the party in 2017. Following her election as the leader of the party in 2016, the popularity of the UF grew. By 2020, the UF had established itself as a major political party in Mobius.

History
The ideological roots of the party can be traced to the right-wing faction of the Mobian Justice Party, lead by Gerhard Papen. This faction was a populist movement that supported not only the preservation of the quasi-authoritarian regime, but also a transition towards complete authoritarianism. This faction would eventually gain power in the 1992 election only to be overthrown by the Mobian Armed Forces in the Lavender Revolution, leading to right-wing members getting purged from the MJP during its transition towards Christian democracy.

Foundation (1994-1995)
A group of former right-wing MJP members lead by Philip Harvo have decided to form the Knothole Compact, a right-wing manifesto that supported, among many things, a hereditary monarchy, strong authoritarianism, enshrining Christianity as the state religion of Mobius, and making membership to the House of Peers be given by appointment of the monarch. Harvo was elected as the first leader of the party.

A party divided (1995-2000)
While the party was initially united in wanting to curtail democratization, the party would eventually be split into two camps. The Stalwart camp was the more mainstream camp that still supported limited democracy, all denominations of Christianity, and a pro-Eastern foreign policy. This camp was the more successful of the two in garnering support. The other camp was known as the Bartholomew camp. Unlike the Stalwarts, the Bartholomews were more extremist in their ideology, supporting a Catholic Mobius under an absolute monarchy, having a highly isolationist foreign policy, and deporting immigrants to their home countries. However, this camp didn't garner much support, but it would eventually split from the party to form the Mobian Alternative in 2002.

Electoral Breakthrough (2000-2004)
The 2000 election would see the United Front gain seats for the first time. However, it was considered to be nothing more than a minor fringe political party compared to the MJP, PDP, and MLD. Support for the small party continued to grow, mainly relying on disgruntled MJP and MLD voters, especially as the latter party became more in favour of joining the European Union. When the 2004 election came around, the United Front made a sizable gain as the MLD lost all of its support, bringing an end to the party as a major force.

Consolidation (2004-2012)
The party would continue to consolidate its power under Harvo, consistently being the nation's third party, but was slowly growing nonetheless. The next elections would prove that the party had a very high integrity, even after losing a portion of the membership to the Mobian Alternative in 2002. The party would also come to support a centralized Mobian nation, seeing federalism as a means of needlessly dividing the nation over "petty sub-cultures" and that it was a leftover of a time when there was no Mobian nation.

Decline (2012-2016)
In 2012, it was discovered that Philip Harvo was a suspected Holocaust denier, and an Islamophobe. The shock from such a discovery had lead to members leaving the party en masse, or threatening to kick Harvo out of the party leadership. The 2016 election would see the party lose a few seats to the two mainstream parties, resulting in Harvo announcing that he would resign as leader of the United Front, prompting the party to hold its first leadership election since 1994. After about a month, the party would elect Harvo's daughter Nora Peters as the party's second leader.

Revival of the UF (2016-2017)
The rise of Peters as party leader was able to cause the party's luck to turn in its favour. Unlike her father, Peters was more refined, despised Holocaust denial, and wasn't an Islamophobe. Her first action as party leader was to reform the party and purge those whose opinions were deemed too extreme for the party. This led to the party being purged of abnormal elements to make it more palatable to the average voter, including expelling her father from the party in 2017, and even scarpping some of the more right-wing policies. This move was considered to have saved the party from declining to obscurity, ensuring that it would remain a presence in Mobian politics for years to come.

Successes (2017-present)
With the party becoming more refined, and less controversial, members who have left the party over Harvo's views ended up rejoining the party, former party voters have began to support the party again, and even some more moderate voters have started to support the party, seeing it as a viable alternative to the MJP. While the post-purge party has yet to experience the results of these reforms and rise of support, it's been predicted by analysts that the party may gain seats in the 2020 election.

Principles and policies
The party's ideology has been broadly described by scholars as nationalist, far-right and populist. The party is said to be a "national populist" party, a party that combines the social values of the left and the political values of the right, and advocate a referendary democracy that would bypass traditional political divsions and institutions. Aiming at a unity of the political, the ehtnics and social interpretations of the "people", they claim to defend the "average Mobian" and "common sense", against the "betrayal of inevitably corrupt elites".

The UF has changed considerably ever since Nora Peters became party leader, now pursuing the principles of modernisation and pragmatism, adapting to the changing political climate. At the same time, it has moved somewhat closer towards the centre-right.

The rise of Peters has also lead the party towards a pro-feminist stance with the proportion of women in the party being 45% as of 2018.