Ballot to Talk About Sam Rippon and Chern Han Mah

Sam and Chern break down results from three Spanish autonomous communities that have been to the polls in the first half of 2024: Galicia, Basque and Catalonia. As regionalist parties demonstrate their strength, how will these results affect the federal Sanchez government? Why has Catalonia not elected a pro-independence parliament for the first time in over 40 years? Why did the Socialists perform significantly better in Catalonia than Galicia just 3 months prior? What do these elections tell us about the state of Spanish politics? All these questions and more answered in this week’s episode.


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Sam and Chern look back at results from the recent General Elections in Panama and in North Macedonia. In Panama, José Raúl Mulino has won the presidency but has fallen well short of a majority for his Realizing Goals party in the National Assembly. Why did the opposition do so well, and was it more of a vote against the incumbents? In North Macedonia, will the VMRO and Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova victory stall the EU accession negotiations? Why did the opposition perform so well here too? All these questions and more answered in this week’s episode.


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Sam and Chern dissect the results from the 2024 set of UK local elections in the final electoral test before the expected General Election later this year. The Conservatives suffered almost 500 Council seat losses, and only managed to win one of the mayoralties up for grabs (Tees Valley), so can the party turn it around in the run up to the General Election? As Labour celebrate big wins and a close contest in the West Midlands, can anything stop a Labour majority? And can the Greens and Liberal Democrats convert local successes into seats at Westminster? All these questions and more answered in this week’s episode.


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Sam and Chern look ahead to the mammoth General Election that is already underway in India to elect the 18th Lok Sabha. Narendra Modi looks poised to win a third term as Prime Minister and a third successive majority for his BJP, but what is the key to his enduring electoral appeal? Why has Congress been unable to make any significant inroads into the BJP’s dominance? In which states will this election be won and lost? And is Modi’s 400-seat objective achievable? All these questions and more answered in this week’s episode.


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Sam and Chern look back at results from the recent General Election in Croatia and look ahead to the upcoming electoral contest in South Africa. In Croatia, Andrej Plenković’s HDZ have topped the polls again, but will need to find some allies to remain in Government. Why have the HDZ been so dominant in Croatian politics, and why have they fallen back this time? Why was the SDP and Zoran Milanovic unable to oust the HDZ? And what issues dominated the campaign? In South Africa, why do the ANC look likely to fall short of an overall majority for the first time since the end of Apartheid? What impact will Jacob Zuma have on this contest? And why have the Democratic Alliance so far been unable to capitalise on ANC setbacks? All these questions and more answered in this week’s episode.


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Sam and Chern look back at results from the recent state election in Tasmania, Australia, and the parliamentary election in South Korea. In Tasmania, Jeremy Rockliff’s Liberals won a historic fourth term, but what will be the consequences of losing their overall majority? Did the change in National Assembly make-up make a big difference? Should Labor be disappointed, and was Rebecca White a personal drag on the campaign? In South Korea, will a repeat Democratic Party landslide be a big problem for President Yoon Suk Yeol? How did the Opposition pull off such a big result again? And why were Green Onions such a big campaign feature? All these questions and more answered in this week’s episode.


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