31 March 2023
On 31 March, Jolly Council Representative for the Butter Butta Bentley Party Walker Von announced that the Faroe Unionist Front Party, led by Rep. Reed Von, had merged with the BBB. At first, reason behind this merger was unclear as party members, including ex-FUFP leader Von, gave little information to the press. Eventually, Reed Von broke the ice and told the Phillip Daily that the two parties were "close politically and [their] combined powers would make Phillip greater than it is." BBB Party Chairman Jaxson Renny has not yet released a statement to the public relating to the merger but has expressed his support of it.
This merger came as a shock to many as the FUFP and BBB have historically had quite different viewpoints. For example, earlier this week Chairman Von expressed his opposition towards the recent "Crimes Against the Church Bill", which was approved by President Jaxson Renny of the BBB. He has also openly opposed the idea of transitioning Phillip into a theocracy in the past, but has now joined a party which supports theocracy.
But, the merger does have some practicality behind it. BBB leaders chose not to endorse their only Presidential candidate for the 2nd General Election, Rep. Iyan Seeker, and instead put their support onto FUFP candidate Reed Von. Because of the mutual respect between BBB leaders and Von, a merger makes complete sense.
The FUFP-BBB merger is the second political merger in the past two weeks, meaning that at this time Phillip only has four parties for its citizens to register. Overall, this was not a huge merger, but one that will have large ramifications on the upcoming general election, and has severely weakened Rep. Seeker's chances of winning.