Chancellor of Saltstead

The Chancellor of Saltstead (Saltsteadish: Cancelier Såutsteids) is the and  of Saltstead and the  of the Saltsteadish Defence Forces.

The current Chancellor is Gabrièla Rudden of the Social Democratic Labour Party, heading the centre-left Rudden government.

Appointment mechanism
The process for appointing the Chancellor is governed under Article 7.2 of the Federal Constitution, which transferred initiative in the government formation process from the monarch to elected politicians. Under Article 7.2, the speaker of the Vouksthig proposes a candidate for the chancellorship, which (by convention) is done after consultation with the leaders of parties represented in the Vouksthig. The nominated candidate is usually the leader of the largest party in the Vouksthig, though there is no legal requirement for this.

Once proposed, the candidate must present the agenda of their proposed government to the Vouksthig, which the assembly traditionally debates over the course of two days. After the debate, the Vouksthig then votes on the candidate and their programme, with a simple majority of votes cast (i.e. more "yes" than "no" votes) sufficient for the candidate to be approved. If the Vouksthig rejects the proposed candidates of the speaker four times, the Vouksthig is automatically dissolved and a held; to date, no election has been held by virtue of this procedure.

After a candidate has been confirmed, the speaker informs the monarch that the appointment process has been successfully completed. The monarch then receives the candidate at the Swartstone Palace to formally appoint the candidate as Chancellor; unlike most parliamentary systems, the monarch does not have the power to decline an appointment.

Resignation and dismissal
The resignation of the Federal Government is governed under Article 7.4 of the Federal Constitution, which requires the Government to resign at the constituent sitting of a newly-elected Vouksthig, upon losing the confidence of the Vouksthig or upon the resignation or death of the Chancellor. The Federal Government (including the sitting Chancellor) continues to carry out its functions in a caretaker capacity until the Chancellor appointment process has been completed and new federal ministers have been appointed. If the Chancellor has died, the Vice-Chancellor becomes acting Chancellor until a successor is confirmed and appointed.

The Vouksthig may only dismiss a Chancellor at its own initiative through a. Such a motion must be proposed by at least ten percent of the members of the Vouksthig (i.e. at least 53 of the 525 members) include the name of a replacement candidate for the chancellorship and must be approved by a majority of all sitting members of the Vouksthig (i.e. at least 263 members). If the motion is approved, the candidate included in the motion is automatically deemed to have the confidence of the Vouksthig and is appointed Chancellor by the monarch as if they had been confirmed in the normal manner.