Browsed by
Category: International

Ukraine: how far will Putin go?

Ukraine: how far will Putin go?

Comments 0 Comment

Putin – Ukraine pic.twitter.com/WY52tRuycw — PolPics (@PolPics) March 7, 2014 The ripple effects of the Syria vote continue to be felt There are two sorts of country in the world: superpowers and everyone else.  Superpowers can – and often do – act as they see fit, constrained only by domestic factors or the opposition of other superpowers.  The rest exist only to the extent that the superpowers allow, a fact that this week’s events have brought into stark focus. The…

Read More Read More

Will “Angie’s” third term be with the reds or the yellows?

Will “Angie’s” third term be with the reds or the yellows?

Comments 0 Comment

It's General Election day in Germany Can Merkel win again? Exit polls out late afternoon pic.twitter.com/lPNcEj03Un — Mike Smithson (@MSmithsonPB) September 22, 2013 Unless the polls have been very wrong, Angela Merkel is heading for a third term as German Chancellor, a feat that only Adenauer and Kohl have managed since 1949 (and they both went on to win four elections). The great theme of stability in German politics will thus continue, with only four changes in governing party, and only eight…

Read More Read More

Why Ed Miliband can take some comfort from Tony Abbott’s victory in Australia

Why Ed Miliband can take some comfort from Tony Abbott’s victory in Australia

Comments 0 Comment

In July he was 14% behind as “preferred Prime Minister” One footnote from the last week’s Austrailian general election and the change of government is that the new prime minister trailed Kevin Rudd in the approval and “preferred Prime Minister” ratings. Only a few weeks ago the eventual winner was 14% behind in some of the polls while the man who was to lose, Kevin Rudd, became the only Australian party leader in two and a half years to have…

Read More Read More

TSE on Making Your Mind Up on who to back at Eurovision.

TSE on Making Your Mind Up on who to back at Eurovision.

Comments 0 Comment

Whilst the polls show Brits remain cynical about Eurovision and think it is all about politics, some of us enjoy Eurovision for that reason, for the music and the betting opportunities. With the elimination of the Former Yugoslavian states of Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia in the semi finals, and Bosnia and Herzegovina withdrawing from the contest, due to financial reasons, there’s a potential for less Balkan bloc voting this time around which could make the final result more open. There are many…

Read More Read More

Next weekend’s Italian Election by Andrea Parma

Next weekend’s Italian Election by Andrea Parma

Comments 0 Comment

Can Silvio prevent a left majority? Italy is set to hold parliamentary elections on February 24-25th. In 2008 Silvio Berlusconi comfortably won, leading the centre-left coalition of Walter Veltroni by around 9%. As is often the case on the Italian political scene, his government couldn’t finish its 5 year term and Mario Monti took over as a “technocrat” PM in late 2011. 47 lists or coalitions of lists are contesting this election but just five coalitions are likely to poll…

Read More Read More

Greece: The punters had Samaras’s victory right all along

Greece: The punters had Samaras’s victory right all along

Comments 0 Comment

The biggest betting night since the UK general election The tight victory by Antonis Samaras’s ND party ended what was almost certainly the biggest night of political betting since the UK general election in May 2010. Overall on Betfair’s various markets more than £1.6m was traded a large part of that in the final 24 hours. Interestingly, in view of the way the election was being reported, the ND was always favourite. The longest price on ND that you could…

Read More Read More