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The President
“The President doesn’t govern. The President guards.” The Head of State of the Socialist Republic of the Isle of Dingle, and the guarantor of its Constitution.
President Kenneth Miller
KM
Kenneth Mark “Kenny” Miller
President of the Socialist Republic of the Isle of Dingle
Kenny Miller was elected President in October 2025 and took the oath on the Monday after the result was declared. His ten-year term runs until the Monday after the presidential election of October 2035. He is the fifth person to hold the office.
He spent his working life in the trade union movement, first as a union officer with a rough and tumble career on the front line of industrial disputes, and finally as General Secretary of the Dingle Key Workers Union. When he stood for President, the union offered to fund his campaign. He turned the money down so that he could stand as a genuine independent, as Article 48 intends.
He has never hidden his politics, which sit firmly on the left. As President he has none, at least officially: he belongs to no party and has never sat in the House Purple. He greets almost everyone with “Alright our kids!”, from schoolchildren to ambassadors.
The President is married to Kateřina Millerová, the First Lady.
What the President does
Guards the Constitution
The President is Head of State and the guarantor of the Constitution (Article 47). The office has no share in running the country. That belongs to the Prime Minister and the Government, who answer to the House Purple.
Grants assent
A Bill passed by the House Purple becomes law only when the President signs it and it is published (Article 49). The Constitution says simply: “The President shall sign it.”
Appoints
The President appoints the Prime Minister the House has chosen and the Ministers the Prime Minister nominates (Article 50), and appoints judges on the recommendation of the Judicial Council (Article 68).
Ratifies treaties
Treaties approved by the House Purple are ratified by the President, in the same way and in the same words as assent (Article 50).
Receives ambassadors
Foreign ambassadors present their credentials to the President, who also accredits Dingle’s own representatives abroad.
Speaks freely
The President may address the House Purple or the country at any time, and does not need the Government’s permission to do it.
Confers honorary citizenship
Only the President may confer honorary citizenship under Article 25, and only for blood spilled in the Republic’s service or service of a kind that will not come round again. No Minister may ask for it, and no President ever has to give a reason for saying no.
The assent ceremony
When the President attends the House Purple to grant assent, the Speaker presents the Bill and the President performs the ceremony set down in Article 49:
- The President licks the back of a Great Seal stamp.
- The Seal is affixed to the signature page of the Bill.
- The President signs the Bill.
- The President bangs the ceremonial gavel on the desk.
- The President declares: “These are the rules now.”
By tradition, a few Members who feel strongly about the Bill volunteer to help, holding the pen, the gavel and the book of Great Seal stamps. Licking the stamp is strictly the President’s job.
Becoming President, and leaving
Elections
The President is elected by the whole country on the first Thursday in October, once every ten years. A candidate needs more than half the votes cast, so if nobody gets there, the top two go to a run-off a fortnight later. Any citizen aged 35 or over may stand, provided they hold no other job, belong to no party and have never been a Member of the House Purple.
One term only
Ten years is longer than two parliaments on purpose, so the President outlasts any Government and owes it nothing. Nobody gets a second term.
Leaving office
The office falls vacant in four ways and no others: death, incapacity, resignation, or conviction of a serious criminal offence (Article 51). There is no impeachment and no immunity.
Succession
If the office falls vacant, the Speaker of the House Purple becomes President at that moment, without election or confirmation, and serves out the rest of the term (Article 53). For this reason Article 57 asks the House to bear Article 53 in mind before it elects a Speaker.
Past holders
The first President was elected in the spring of 1987, weeks after the referendum, and in her first week conferred honorary citizenship on the Founding Da Stellan Paulsson. The first ordinary election followed in October 1995, and Presidents have been elected since in 2005, 2015 and 2025. President Miller’s predecessor was Garth Eggingson.
Page last reviewed: 29 October 2029