Allen Summervale

Allen Summervale, the Duke of Cromarty and Prime Minister of Manticore, is a fictional character in the Honorverse series of military science fiction novels, written by David Weber.

Political History

The Duke of Cromarty was described as one of the most outstanding Prime Ministers in the history of Manticore. In the very first novel of the series, On Basilisk Station it was mentioned that he was already holding position during the reign of the previous monarch, King Roger III, and was one of his closest associates in preparation to the war with Haven. His actions in that time were also mentioned in the short story Queen's Gambit by Joan Lindskold.

Peculiarities of Manticoran politics (David Weber mentioned once that this feature was specifically planned by him to give some credibility to the aristocratic form of government), where greater legislative power was vested in the hands of the House of Lords, give the nobility a greater degree of influence than is the case in most modern monarchies. Thus, nobility on Manticore is very active in politics and is divided into several political parties along ideological and personal lines.

As head of one of the most prominent aristocratic families of the Star Kingdom, the Duke of Cromarty started his political career long before the period of the novels. At the time of Elizabeth III's ascension to The Throne in 1884 p.d. he had already governed Manticore for a significant period of time. As a head of the Centrist Party, he represented the views of the most open-minded and serious factions of Manticoran nobility, who viewed the war with Haven as imminent and worked closely with the King to prepare to it.

On the other hand, despite the long time that Cromarty held the office of Prime Minister, his government was constantly vote-strapped, making this a central plotline in several books of the series. A significant part of the Manticoran nobility, centered around the Conservative Association, didn't see the things in the same way than the Centrists did, and constantly used its position to bargain with the Government. For example, when Captain Lord Pavel Young, the son of influential Conservative politician Dimitri Young, was being court-martialed for cowardice in the battlefield in Field of Dishonor, the Conservatives used their support for the Government, crucial to the Prime Minister's goals at the moment, to save him from execution.

Another example of this power struggle can be seen in Ashes of Victory, when the Duke of Cromarty himself was assassinated by Masadan terrorists in the payroll of the Havenite Government. Many of the Cromarty Government's supporters in the Lords weren't loyal to his position, but to him personally, which resulted in that the slim majority he held there crumbled after his death. Moreover, the ship he was on, was carrying some other influential officials of the government and his supporters, so this event caused the change of Government, with Baron High Ridge becoming Prime Minister.

Family

He had a distant cousin, Denver Summervale, always described as a black sheep and shame to the family, who had been cashiered out of the Manticoran Marines. He was the paid duelist, assassin and mercenary, responsible for running a clandestine Havenite base in On Basilisk Station and the death of Honor Harrington's lover Captain Paul Tankersley in Field of Dishonor. Denver was later killed in a duel by Captain Harrington.