MaleLord Michael Janvier, 9th Baron High Ridge, was a Manticoran peer of the realm and a prime minister for Queen Elizabeth III.
Physical characteristics[]
High Ridge was very tall and slender, with a long neck and long arms and legs. Lord Alexander privately reflected that if High Ridge had been sent to an HD film producer to be cast as an over-bred, cretinous aristocrat, he would have been sent back, along with a blistering memo about stereotypes and typecasting. (HH4)
Biography[]
In 1900 PD, Baron High Ridge was the leader of the Conservative Association. (HH1) He was known to be an isolationist, reactionary and power-hungry.
In 1905 PD, High Ridge demanded an official meeting with Prime Minister Allen Summervale, Duke of Cromarty without explanation. As Cromarty's government depended on the alignment of Conservative peers in House of Lords, Cromarty and his deputy Lord Alexander were forced to acquiesce. At the meeting, High Ridge revealed that he had not only been illegally informed of the impending court martial of Lord Pavel Young, but was prepared to join the Opposition and prevent the Government from gaining the votes necessary to declare war on Haven, if Cromarty did not act to quash the charges against Young, the son of the second-ranking member of the Association, Earl North Hollow.
When Young was subsequently tried and dishonorably discharged from the Navy, simultaneously becoming Earl North Hollow after his father died in shock, High Ridge changed his position when Young made the surprise move of backing the declaration. In revenge for her involvement in his court-martial, North Hollow had also executed a secret plot to murder, via the paid professional duelist Denver Summervale, Honor Harrington and her lover Paul Tankersley.
During this time, High Ridge became personally beholden to North Hollow after the Earl used his family's cache of political dirt, which in part implicated High Ridge in a highly illegal insider trading scheme that had caused an economic downturn some years before. This was one of many crimes and other malicious actions that High Ridge was involved in, as he believed himself above the law.
When Harrington eventually discovered North Hollow's culpability in Tankersley's death, she used her right to deliver an introductory speech to the House of Lords to get to Young and challenge him to a duel, where North Hollow was killed. (HH4)
High Ridge led a push to expel Harrington from the House of Lords over this action, and also demanded that she be stripped of her title and cashiered from the Navy as North Hollow had been. Cromarty was forced to acquiesce to High Ridge's former demand and, as a necessary compromise, to relieve Harrington of command of HMS Nike and push her to take up administration of her holdings on Grayson. However, the House of Commons refused to revoke the title and Harrington was placed on half-pay. (HH5)
High Ridge became prime minister after Cromarty was assassinated by Masadan extremists. He then made a truce with Haven even though the Royal Manticoran Navy was only weeks from totally defeating the People's Navy. In the following year, his government removed a number of decorated RMN officers, like Hamish Alexander and Alice Truman, from active duty because they were seen as political enemies. (HH9)
When word of the Republic of Haven's Operation Thunderbolt arrived, he attempted to form a coalition government of "national unity", but was refused by the Queen. After the fall of Grendelsbane, High Ridge resigned from the office of prime minister and was succeeded by William Alexander. (HH10)
His government was infamous for its lack of courage in the struggle with Haven, its dishonorable treatment of the Star Kingdom's allies (particularly Erewhon), and its bad naval deployment and shipbuilding policies. (SI1)
He was later charged with corruption, malfeasance, bribery, and half a dozen other crimes.[1] (SI2)
In 1922 PD he was convicted and sentenced to prison for bribery, vote-buying, perjury, extortion and obstruction of justice. (HH13) His prison term was set to 29 years, and the House of Lords stripped him of his seat.[2] (Companion)
Character[]
High Ridge was very aware of his high birth, and looked down on those he considered inferior. He was seen as a bigot by many, including his predecessor. (HH4)
References[]
- ↑ Other crimes might include illegal surveillance, extortion, failure to report a crime, and willful blindness.
- ↑ Janvier shares several similarities with Henry Addington, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1801-1804; during his Ministry, Great Britain signed the Peace of Amiens with Napoleonic France, the terms of which were regarded as humiliating to Great Britain and, with hindsight, only delayed hostilities rather than ending them conclusively. He also imposed several cutbacks on the naval budget which severely hampered its ability to defend Britain.
| Preceded by Allen Summervale |
Prime Minister of the Star Kingdom of Manticore 1915 – 1920 PD |
Succeeded by William Alexander |