Ballot to Talk About

This week's episode looks both back at results from two elections in Eastern Europe last week – presidential and parliamentary elections in Serbia and the legislative elections in Hungary. In Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic has easily won re-election as Serbian President, alongside his SNS party winning a plurality of seats in Parliament. What is the key to Vucic’s significant popularity? What has been t...

This week's episode looks both back at results from two elections in Europe last week – a regional election in the German state of Saarland and national parliamentary elections in Malta. In Saarland, the SPD won their first outright majority in a state election since Hamburg in 2011 and continues the success of Olaf Scholz after last year’s federal election. How did the SPD pull of such a victory?...

This week's episode looks back at the results from last weekend’s state election in South Australia where Premier Steven Marshall became the first incumbent Australian leader to be defeated at the ballot box since the beginning of the pandemic. Sam and Chern break down the results and discuss the potential reasons why Peter Malinauskas and his Labor Party was able to pull off such a strong victory...

This week's episode takes a look at this year's Indian State elections across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur. Narendra Modi’s BJP has had yet another excellent set of elections in India, winning 4 of the 5 states in question as attention begins to turn towards the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. How did Yogi Adityanath become the first incumbent government in Uttar Pradesh to win...

This week's episode looks back at the results of last weekend’s South Korean presidential election where Yoon Suk-yeol triumphed over Lee Jae-myung. Following the very tight results, Sam and Chern dissect what could have made the difference in the closing days and give Yoon the narrow upper hand. Did Ahn Cheol-soo’s late withdrawal give Yoon the advantage, or was it surprising how few of Ahn’s vot...

This week's episode looks ahead to the upcoming state election in South Australia where Premier Steven Marshall is looking to win a second term for his Liberal Party. Sam and Chern discuss the state of the campaign and which electorates could decide this race and should be closely watched as election day approaches. Why is Steven Marshall struggling to replicate the Covid electoral bounce that ben...

This week's episode looks ahead to the upcoming South Korean presidential election where voters will go to the polls to elect Moon Jae-in’s successor. It looks to be a very tight race between Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party and Yoon Suk-yeol of the People Power Party – two candidates of very different ideologies and very different economic and political intentions. What will be Moon Jae-in’s...

This week's episode looks at results from last weekend’s election in the Spanish autonomous community of Castile and Leon. The incumbent governing Peoples Party had been polling strongly throughout Winter, but failed to replicate those results, falling to their lowest ever vote share. Did Alfonso Fernández Mañueco make a mistake in calling the early election? Why did the Peoples Party fall so shor...

This week's episode looks at the results from the first round of the Costa Rican presidential election and at the outcomes of the four by-elections held this weekend in the Australian state of New South Wales. In Costa Rica, the second round will be a battle of the exes as Jose Maria Figueres (former President) and Rodrigo Chaves (former Finance Minister) will face each other for the presidency in...

This week's episode looks back at the results of the Portuguese legislative election and discusses the recently concluded turbulent contest to succeed Sergio Matterella as Italian President. After initially pledging to stand down and after seven inconclusive ballots of delegates, Mattarella agreed to return as President for a second term after Mario Draghi reached out. Why did he end up being the...

This week's episode looks both backwards and forwards to two of January’s national elections – back at the results of the Barbados General Election and ahead to next week’s Portuguese legislative elections. In Barbados, Mia Mottley has pulled off a second successive total landslide by winning all 30 seats in the House of Assembly – our 2021 Rising Star of the Year kicks of the electoral calendar i...

This week’s episode looks ahead to the year 2022 in politics and elections, discussing the polls to look out for and the themes we might be talking about as the year rolls on. It also features a recap of the Dutch government talks that finally concluded in the last few weeks – Mark Rutte has returned as Prime Minister leading the same coalition, but why did it take so long? Without a majority in t...

This week’s episode looks back at the results from Chile’s presidential election and assesses one of the bigger issues of 2021 in climate change. Gabriel Boric has pulled off a big left-wing victory against Jose Antonio Kast in the second round of the Chilean presidential election, but does the divided Congress mean that he will face a tricky road in passing his desired legislative programme? Why...

This week’s episode takes a look at the state of the main UK political parties as 2021 comes to an end, and discusses the results of two recent parliamentary by-elections. The Liberal Democrats have pulled off a big by-election victory in North Shropshire and Boris Johnson is facing numerous scandals surrounding him and his party’s conduct. Amidst this environment, is Boris Johnson going to face a...

This week’s episode looks to wrap up some of the big stories from across Europe in the last few weeks, including Sweden’s first female Prime Minister, Katrin Jakobsdottir’s return to the Icelandic premiership and Olaf Scholz’s new German government. Magdalena Andersson is back as Swedish Prime Minister for the second time in two weeks, leading a minority government – will this government be stable...

This week's episode looks at the major parties and players who took part in the first round of the Chilean presidential election last week and their legislative elections. Gabriel Boric and Jose Antonio Kast will be going head to head in December in the presidential run-off, as the two traditional left and right blocs, including the party of incumbent President Sebastian Pinera, fall behind and fa...

This week's episode looks back at the results of two elections held last weekend – Argentina’s legislative midterms and Bulgaria’s third General Election this year. In Argentina, the ruling Frente de Todos coalition had a disappointing night, losing quorum in the Senate and seeing a reduction in their plurality in the Chamber. How will Alberto Fernandez and Christina de Kirchner react to these res...

This week's episode looks ahead to this weekend’s Argentinian midterm elections, previewing the dynamics of the race and the main two coalitions seeking to control of the National Congress. Alberto Fernandez’s Frente de Todos coalition is potentially facing a difficult polling day whilst Christina Fernandez de Kirchner remains critical in the wings – this week’s discussion dissects this relationsh...

This week’s episode assesses recent election results in both Japan and the US, looking back at Japan’s General Election and the off-year elections in Virginia and New Jersey. Fumio Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party has retained a majority in the Diet in a bad night for the Opposition. Has Kishida solidified his place within the LDP? Can the Japanese opposition win under different party banners? I...

This week’s episode looks at Justin Trudeau’s new Cabinet in Canada following their September election and looks ahead to next week’s gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey. The new Liberal minority Government in Canada now has a full Cabinet, including numerous big changes and promotions for figures likely to be in the conversation as a future leader when Trudeau steps down? Was this...

This week’s episode looks back on the recently-concluded Norwegian coalition negotiations and looks ahead to the upcoming Japanese general election. After September’s Storting election, Norway finally has a new government with Jonas Gahr Støre being sworn in as the Prime Minister leading a minority Labour-Centre coalition. Halting hopes for a new Red-Green coalition, why did the Socialist Left wit...

This week’s episode looks at two leaders who seem to be on their way out, reviewing the surprise loss of Andrej Babis in last weekend’s Czech election and discussing the resignation of Sebastian Kurz as Austrian Chancellor. After the Green Party threatened to abandon the People’s Party if Kurz didn’t resign, Alexander Schallenberg was installed as Chancellor and this phase of Kurz’s career seems t...

As Gladys Berejiklian leaves office and Andrej Babis fights to defend his, this week’s episode looks at a turbulent week in New South Wales politics and looks ahead to the upcoming Czech Chamber of Deputies elections. After three resignations, New South Wales is looking at three imminent by-elections and, after losing a popular state Premier, the Liberal/National Coalition will be going into the f...

This week's episode looks back at the results of two elections held last weekend in Europe – Iceland’s parliamentary elections and the highly-anticipated federal election in Germany. In Iceland, the incumbent government increased their majority, but the party of Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir slipped backwards. Will she remain Prime Minister? Why did the Progressive Party manage to advance so...

This week's episode takes a look at the results of last week’s Canadian Federal Election, where Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party has retained its minority Government status and the composition of Parliament barely changed. It dives into the various regions and provinces, analysing where the Liberals faltered in their pursuit of a majority and where the Conservatives failed in their quest to make sig...