International elections

[David]

[roar]

More countries to follow suit.

[David]

And in the merry-go-round that is Israeli politics, Netanyahu is PM yet again:

https://www.9news.com.au/world/israel-e ... b97428749b

Starting to think the US were on to a good thing with presidential term limits...

[David]

He'll face stiff competition, but there's a new candidate for world's worst democratically elected political leader over in Argentina:

https://jacobin.com/2023/11/argentina-e ... ion-crisis

Some of Milei’s more outlandish proposals create a sense of disbelief and even denial: his call to allow the unregulated sale of human organs, to create a market for the buying and selling of minors, to privatize all the country’s streets, etc. Naturally, no one thinks these measures can be implemented. Even his bread-and-butter proposals, like the abandonment of the Argentine peso in favor of the US dollar, are hardly feasible.

But the extravagant proposals paper over another package of measures that are very real. These more closely resemble the policies of ultraliberal finance minister Paulo Guedes in Bolsonaro’s government: fiscal austerity led by the privatization or closure of public companies, the dismissal of state workers, and a large-scale attack on public education and health, among others. Moreover, the extreme right will clearly want to go on the offensive against gender equality and LGTBQ rights (by criminalizing abortion, eliminating sex education, implementing a trans quota, etc.) in a manner similar to Bolsonaro in power.

Such a shock policy will require an authoritarian hardening of state structures: the judicial persecution of social leaders, an endorsement of police violence, unregulated access to and carrying of weapons, the revitalization of the reviled armed forces, an attempt to weaken the influence of trade unions in the workplace and, above all, the fight to undermine the strength of Argentina’s social movements in poorer neighborhoods. In short, if these measures were to be successfully implemented, it would mean a strategic defeat for the working class.

[Jezza]

Argentina's inflation figures go some way to explaining Milei's rise.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/132 ... argentina/

[stui magpie]

Looks like Macron is fvcked and France has gone far right to Le Pen.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-01/ ... /104044788

I have zero understanding of how French politics works, I gather it's complicated, but this can't be a good thing. Dumbarse Macron bought it on himself apparently.

Meanwhile it seems the UK is just fvcked in general and winning an election to take power and be PM is actually 2nd prize. First prize is staying in opposition where you don't have to do anything but throw blame.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-02/ ... /104042836

[David]

[stui magpie]

How does that work with the EU (or something) vote that seemed to have precipitated this clustercluck?

[Jezza]

The UK election is being held today. Labour are expected to win in a landslide.

Will be interesting to see how big the Labour majority is, how many seats the Conservatives win and whether the Reform Party make any inroads?

[Magpietothemax]

Situation in France is extraordinary.
The RN (Neo-fascist) polled the highest percentage of any other political formation in the first round of the snap election (last Sunday), and is in the strongest position to take power (after the second round this Sunday)
The National Popular Front (left),and Macron's party (centre right) are together cutting deals to remove their own candidates where necessary from different seats in order to maximise an anti LePen vote. Sort of a "left-right coalition" based on stopping Le Pen, without any understanding of how such an anti Le Pen coalition could actually govern the country.
Macron has already declared that if he deems it "necessary", he will invoke Article 16 of the French Constitution, and seize dictatorial powers if the second round does not produce a government to his liking.
Sound familiar?
If you thought of the US, you wouldn't be far off the mark.

[Pies4shaw]

The UK election is being held today. Labour are expected to win in a landslide.

Will be interesting to see how big the Labour majority is, how many seats the Conservatives win and whether the Reform Party make any inroads?

The jloint BBC/ITV/Sky News IPSOS exit poll predicts (326 is a majority):

Labour: 410

Conservative: 131

Liberal Democrats: 61

Reform UK: 13

Scottish National Party: 10

Plaid Cymru: 4

Green: 2

Others: 19

In terms of change, that would mean Labour +209, Tories -241, Lib-Dems +53, "Reform" +13, Greens +1.

It'll be a few more hours before the result is known but it does look as if the Tories haver just suffered their worst-ever electoral defeat.

On balance, though, it's not as bad as it might appear for the Tories - at least they don't need to borrow the WA Libs' tandem bicycle as their parliamentary party vehicle (just yet).

[Jezza]

Update.

SEATS WON:
[*] Labour = 72
[*] Conservative = 6
[*] Lib Dems = 4
[*] Reform = 1
[*] Green = 0
[*] Plaid Cymru = 0
[*] Scottish National = 0
[*] Other = 0

Need 326 to form majority government.

PRIMARY VOTE:
[*] Labour = 42.1% (72)
[*] Conservative = 19.6% (6)
[*] Reform = 17.8% (1)
[*] Lib Dems = 8.0% (4)
[*] Green = 6.7% (0)
[*] Plaid Cymru = 0.9% (0)
[*] Scottish National = 0.8% (0)
[*] Other = 4.1% (0)

[Pies4shaw]

Farage has just taken Clacton from the Tories.

[Pies4shaw]

With some real results in, BBC is now predicting Labour 405, Conservative 154, Lib-Dems 56, SNP 6, PC 4, Reform Party 4, Greens 2, Others 19.

[Jezza]

Jeremy Corbyn (running as an independent) has retained the seat of Islington North.