Cormac Gilchrist

Cormac Gilchrist AOC TS
Official portrait, 2022
Prime Minister of Hapatmitas
In office 14 January 2019 – 13 April 2023
President	Ewan Thorcaill
Preceded by	Roy McFhaolain
Succeeded by	Pàdraig Gilleain
Leader of the National People's Party
In office 14 January 2019 – 13 April 2023
Preceded by	Roy McFhaolain
Succeeded by	Pàdraig Gilleain
Minister of State for Defence
In office 1 November 2015 – 14 January 2019
Preceded by	TBD
Succeeded by	TBD
Chair of the Defence and National Security Committee
In office 8 November 2011 – 1 November 2015
Preceded by	TBD
Succeeded by	TBD
Member of the National Assembly for Donideann Station and South Chaisteil Chaisteil (2007–2011)
In office 1 November 2007 – 30 September 2023
Preceded by	TBD
Succeeded by	TBD
Personal details
Born	Cormac Donaidh Gilchrist (1970-06-28) 28 June 1970 Donideann, Hapatmitas
Political party	National People's Party
Education	Donideann National University (MPA, BA)
Military service
Allegiance	Hapatmitas
Branch/service	Hapatmitasian Army
Years of service	1997–2004
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Commands	Adjutant Corps Intelligence Corps 4th Army Reserve Brigade

Cormac Donaidh Gilchrist AOC TS (born 28 June 1974) is a Hapatmitasian retired politician who served as the prime minister of Hapatmitas and leader of the National People's Party (PNS) from 2019 to 2023. He served as a member of the National Assembly for Donideann Station and South Chaisteil from 2007 to 2023. Under Roy McFhaolain's second government, Gilchrist served as the Minister of State for Defence. He was also the chair of the Defence and National Security Committee in the National Assembly from 2011 to 2015.

The son of a four-star admiral, Gilchrist was born in Donideann and educated at Donideann National University. Before entering politics, he served in the Hapatmitasian Army reserves as part of the Adjutant Corps and Intelligence Corps. Gilchrist also served in the 4th Army Reserve Brigade for a brief period. Gilchrist is one of the thirty-two officers in the Intelligence Corps responsible for the introduction of the Eosgmo intelligence system into the Hapatmitasian Army. He ended his service in the Army in 2004.

In the 2007 parliamentary election, Gilchrist was elected as a member of the National Assembly for Chaisteil. The constituency was later revised to Donideann Station and South Chasteil after the 2011 parliamentary election, which utilised the recommendations of the 2010 Hapatmitasian boundary review. During his time as rank and file, Gilchrist criticised the government and opposition platform for veteran policies and advocated for reform on veteran pension and healthcare programs. He was selected as the chair of the Defence and National Security Committee after the 2011 election. Gilchrist's chairmanship of the committee was marked by notable circumstances, where then-prime minister McFhaolain was reviewed by the committee in hearings for his recommendations to the Defence Council to revoke military presence on borders. After the 2015 parliamentary election, Gilchrist was appointed as the defence minister in McFhaolain's second government.

After McFhaolain announced his intention to resign as leader of the PNS in late 2018, Gilchrist was among the popular candidates to succeed him. Gilchrist successfully stood in the leadership election and became leader on 14 January 2019. On the same day, he was also appointed as prime minister by President Ewan Thorcaill to finish the remainder of the parliamentary term. Gilchrist led the party into the 2019 parliamentary election, in which the PNS–Christian Democrats (DC) coalition broke down. It resulted in a single-party minority PNS government, with DC serving as confidence and supply to the party instead. During his premiership, Gilchrist became distinguished for successfully running a government under minority rule through multipartisanship. He generally pursued centrist policies and emphasised balancing budgets after the substantial growth of budget deficits. Gilchrist also passed the Government Accountability Act 2020 in Parliament and merged many ministerial departments. He historically established new provisions regarding senators serving in the government, allowing more senators to become eligible to qualify for certain ministerial salaries.

In November 2022, the Ethics and Accountability Committee began investigating Gilchrist into recommendations he made to President Thorcaill for Supreme Court justices in that month and 2020. He was condemned by many private members of his own party in the National Assembly for supposedly allowing civil servants in his office to take bribes in return for justice nominations. Despite an inconsequential report released by the committee, Gilchrist announced his intention on 3 February 2023 to resign as leader of the PNS and prime minister. He remained in the posts until Pàdraig Gilleain succeeded him after the leadership election. In July of the same year, Gilchrist announced he would not be seeking re-election for the National Assembly and would retire from politics. In March 2024, he became the senior vice president for technology at Gosling Barclay and was later promoted in December 2024 to chief technical officer.