Observations

Following the collapse of Communism in the Eastern Bloc, our podcast team looks at the changes in the former Yugoslavia, how it separated into its ethnic parts leading eventually to civil war in the 1990s. Matt Davis interviews Dr. Florian Bieber, the Professor of Southeast European History and Politics at the University of Graz, concerning the changes that were brought about and how they shook th...

Over the coming weeks, our new presenter, James Heaton, will be hosting a series of "after dark" podcast episodes concerning fictional, TV and other examples of elections that have shaped opinions and given insight to viewers about the way elections are run and how they fit into our culture. From Richard Hannay's speech to a 1910s audience in The Thirty-Nine Steps, to Dunny-on-the-Wold, a pocket b...

Matt Davis interviews Dr. Sebastián Hurtado Torres, from Universidad San Sebastián about the election in 1970 of Salvador Allende, to become the first Socialist leader of his country. His election saw international support and condemnation in equal measure with support for his election being divided along the lines of the Cold War. In this interview, Professor Torres explains the impacts in Chile,...

On 29th August 2025, Samoa votes in its first general election since 2021. In this episode of The Observations Podcast Matt Davis our Special Internation Election Editor interviews Dr. Iati Iati of the University of Victoria in Wellington (New Zealand). The election will see contest between traditional parties and newer parties that have emerged over the past few years. This is the second in our s...

Matt Davis will be interviewing Dr. Iati Iati about the forthcoming Samoan General Election. Dr. Iati, an expert in Samoan elections, will be speaking from Wellington New Zealand.

Possibly one of the most controversial by-elections in British political history occurred in 1981 when Bobby Sands, an imprisoned IRA terrorist, was elected to the Westminster Parliament despite being imprisoned at the time. This interview with Dr. Peter McLoughlin of Queen’s University Belfast, reader at “The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice”, tells the p...

In our new season of Elections that Shook the World, Matt Davis interviews international experts and participants in some of the elections that made history. From 1970s South America, 1980s Europe and referendums that threatened to change the course of nations, the Observations Podcast delves into famous elections around the world.

Our team interviews for Conservative MP Edward Timpson, winner of the 2008 Crewe and Nantwich By-Election. The seat became vacant on the death of Gwyneth Dunwoody who had been the local MP since 1974. Timpson’s victory in the by-election was the first Conservative gain in a parliamentary by-election since 1982 and the first from the Labour Party since 1978. At the time, Gordon Brown had replaced T...

Finland’s 2025 local elections have been praised as “extremely well-run” by international observers, with high marks for accessibility, professionalism, and voter experience at polling stations. But beneath the surface of this democratic success story lie quieter concerns—issues like family voting, unsealed ballot boxes, and confusing ballot designs—that could threaten voter trust if left unaddres...

In the coming weeks there will be new episodes on famous by-elections from around the UK. Listen in to find out more in our forthcoming series!

Matt Davis interviews Dr. John Ault, Director of Democracy Volunteers, about their recently released report on the 2025 English local elections, held on May 1st. The Democracy Volunteers team deployed observers across every area in England holding elections, with the exception of the Isles of Scilly. Once again they observed several challenges to the voting process and have made a number of recomm...

Alex Iszatt interviews Leah Brown on her White Paper on 'Restoring Public Trust and Accountability'. Leah is a Lawyer who has drawn up a new policy on how to improve the way that UK institutions can improve the way they engage with the public. Listening to the public, MPs, media and ensuring that institutions are responsive to what people need is a focus of Leah's paper.

Matt Davis interviews Russian election expert Ivan Shukshin. Ivan has extensive experience working with election observation initiatives, advocating for transparent and fair electoral processes in Russia. His work focuses on exposing electoral fraud and mobilising public engagement in defending voting rights. Despite the challenges of operating in a restrictive environment, Shukshin continues to b...

"Put your name up on Facebook with the name of your party—Reform UK—and suddenly you’re a jackbooty, brownshirt, swastika-wearing member of the Nazi party.” That's what one contributor said to our research team for this year's local elections. As part of Democracy Volunteers election observation for the 2025 English local elections the team surveyed candidates of all parties to find out their expe...

In this thought-provoking episode, Alex Iszatt explores the complex relationship between artificial intelligence and democracy. Joining us are two powerhouse guests with decades of experience in leadership, communications, and political science. Hilarie Owen, one of the world’s leading experts on leadership and CEO of The Leaders Institute, brings deep insight from her work with global corporation...

Professor Wouter Veenendaal is Professor by Special Appointment in Kingdom from Leiden University in The Netherlands. In today’s episode, Matt Davis interviews him on the upcoming 2025 general election in Suriname. 2025 sees an election in the South American country which was once a Dutch colony. How big is Suriname, what is the population, how do their elections work? All these questions are answ...

Peter Stanyon, chief executive to The Association of Electoral Administrators, is interviewed by Jason McKenna as to how elections are delivered by staff across the country. Peter’s years of experience delivering elections shines a light on the challenges, the stories and just what #dogsatpollingstations means to council staff and voters across the UK.

Lord Hayward is interviewed by Alex Iszatt concerning The 2023 Ballot Secrecy Act which gives greater powers to staff running polling stations to prevent overseeing another person’s vote. Following data collected by Democracy Volunteers, Lord Hayward’s bill received all party support, updating the 1872 Ballot Act, to make it an offence to influence another person’s vote in the polling station. Mem...

US Elections expert David Levine is interviewed by Edd Charlton on President Trump's Executive Order "Preserving And Protecting The Integrity of American Elections" and its impacts on US democracy. They also discuss Congress's SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) and how this effects the way American elections will work in the future. David Levine is a senior fellow at UMD’s Center for...

Johan Norberg is interviewed by Jason McKenna. Norberg is a Swedish author and historian of ideas. He is a senior fellow at the Cato institute. In this interview Norberg assesses the present state of democracy around the world and explains why he still has hope for western democracy. In 2003 Norberg won the Friedrich-August-von-Hayek-Stiftung prize along side Otmar Issing and former British Prime...

Alex Iszatt interviews Director of Democracy Volunteers, Dr. John Ault, on the electoral interference in Finland's municipal and county elections, by Russia, held on 13th April 2025.