The Commonwealth of Ashesford is a small, socially progressive nation, renowned for its irreverence towards religion, complete absence of social welfare, and spontaneously combusting cars. The hard-nosed, hard-working, democratic population of 26 million Ashesfordians are either ruled by a sleek, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

The tiny, pro-business government juggles the competing demands of Industry, Law & Order, and Education. Citizens pay a flat income tax of 5.5%.

The powerhouse Ashesfordian economy, worth 2.01 trillion Pounds a year, is driven almost entirely by the private sector, which is broadly diversified and led by the Cheese Exports industry, with major contributions from Tourism, Beef-Based Agriculture, and Automobile Manufacturing. Average income is 77,322 Pounds, but there is a large disparity between incomes, with the richest 10% of citizens earning 364,930 per year while the poor average 9,713, a ratio of 37.6 to 1.

More sidewalk is dedicated to animals than people, there has been a series of riots between local cannibals and health food advocates, bemused citizens are encouraged to sing foreign-language hymns of religions they have never heard of, and eight-year-olds can be seen lighting up in public areas. Crime is a problem, with the police force struggling against a lack of funding and a high mortality rate. Ashesford's national animal is the fox.

Ashesford is ranked 82,520^th in the world and 13^th in Nywhere for Most Politically Free, scoring 70.93 on the Diebold Election Inking Scale.