Andrew Harris

Andrew Harris is the current Prime Minister of the Orion Commonwealth and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party. Harris was born into a liberal middle class family living in the outer colonies during the colonization drive of Emperor [pre-putin]. Amenities on the planet were scarce and so he was sent to a prestigious university on Earth for his studies. Here he first became politically active, meeting like-minded individuals opposed to Imperial policy. Harris graduated with a degree in Government Administration and joined the sprawling Imperial bureaucracy, believing he could do his part to change it from the inside. His associations with liberal agitators harmed his career and he was shuffled from post to post for several years until the breakout of the Fragmentation Wars. When the wars began he was employed managing the port system of New Velhall in the Hyperion System. With most of his superiors having fled the planet and chaos abounding, Harris and his few staff were forced not only to manage their posts, but also all of Hyperion. For several weeks, in the absence of stable government authority, he organized food, shelter, and transportation for the millions of refugees arriving in the system every day. This brought him to the attention of Joseph Eden when he arrived and established the Orion Commonwealth. Harris joined the emergency government and served in several roles during the frantic years of war. However, he increasingly disagreed with Eden and his conservative allies and left under government pressure soon after the Commonwealth made peace. Upon the creation of full civilian governance, Harris was successfully elected as an independent Member of Parliament. He was a founding member of the Liberal Democratic Party and was eventually elected leader, leading the party to victory for the first time in 2598.