A tale of two referenda: How the EU debate could poison the Scotland debate

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Kevin Lees

In a static world, it’s easy to believe that UK prime minister David Cameron’s call in January 2013 for a referendum on the United Kingdom’s continued membership in the European Union will never come to pass — it depends upon the reelection of a Conservative-led in the 2015 general election, Cameron’s continued Tory leadership and [...]

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What Iceland’s election tells us about post-crisis European politics

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Kevin Lees

Iceland was supposed to be different. In allowing its banks to fail, neo-Keynesian economists have argued, Iceland avoided the fate of Ireland, which nationalized its banks and now faces a future with a very large public debt.  By devaluing its currency, the krónur, Iceland avoided the fate of countries like Estonia and others in southern Europe [...]

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Scotland sets a referendum date: September 18, 2014

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Kevin Lees

Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond, has set September 18, 2014 as the date for the referendum on potential Scottish independence. Polls have been relatively consistent, with support for independence at around 30% to 35% and with support for continued union with England at around 50% to 55%. But the up-or-down vote will come in 18 [...]

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Who is Joseph Muscat?

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Kevin Lees

It’s the least populous — and newest — member of the eurozone, but tiny Malta, with around 420,000 people, is poised to become the latest European nation to vote for massive change, tossing out the long-governing center-right Nationalist Party (Partit Nazzjonalista) of prime minister Lawrence Gonzi.  Polls have closed in Malta, and opinion polls show that Joseph [...]

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Should David Cameron change course over the UK budget?

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Kevin Lees

The United Kingdom is closer to May 2015 than it is to May 2010, which is to say that it’s closer to the next general election than to the previous one. With the announcement of the 2013 budget coming later this month, likely to be very controversial if it features, as expected, ever more aggressive [...]

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British, French governments poised to pass gay marriage into law

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Kevin Lees

Amid a flurry of parliamentary action in the United Kingdom and France, two of the largest countries in Europe and, indeed, two of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, are set to legalize gay marriage in the coming months. The joint result gives an incredibly burst of global momentum for the [...]

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Clarke’s pro-Europe tone highlights referendum risk to UK Tories from the center

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Kevin Lees

Longtime senior Conservative Party grandee — and former chancellor of the exchequer — Kenneth Clarke (pictured above) in no uncertain terms yesterday said that a British exit from the European Union would be a disaster. That Clarke is pro-Europe is certainly not a surprise. As former prime minister John Major’s chancellor from 1993 until the fall [...]

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Cameron pledges 2017 EU referendum: ‘It is time for the British people to have their say’

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Kevin Lees

UK prime minister David Cameron, calling the democratic legitimacy of the European Union ‘wafer thin,’ has this morning pledged to renegotiate a new settlement with the European Union for the United Kingdom, and then a straight in-or-out referendum within the United Kingdom by 2017. Well, then.  Today’s address was probably the most important speech of [...]

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Despite by-election result, UKIP is still a bunch of ‘fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists’

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Kevin Lees

After placing second in a by-election in Rotherham last Thursday, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) has vaunted to the center of British politics, with newsmakers wondering whether UKIP will, after two decades, finally emerge as a real force in British politics. The by-election, which resulted after Denis MacShane, a Labour MP, resigned due to the ongoing [...]

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Lithuania’s president throws post-election coalition talks into disarray

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Kevin Lees

Lithuanian’s highly respected president, Dalia Grybauskaitė, has upended what everyone thought would be a broad leftist coalition following the second and final round of Lithuanian parliamentary elections on Sunday. Following a victory by the social democratic Lietuvos socialdemokratų partija (LSDP, Social Democratic Party of Lithuania), which won 38 seats after the first round on October 14 and October [...]

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VVD and Labour to form new ‘purple’ coalition for Dutch government

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Kevin Lees

With lightning speed (as far as coalition-building goes in the Netherlands), the two top finishers in the Sept. 12 Dutch election have formed a government that will seek €16 billion in budget cuts to bring the Dutch budget further into balance.  Standing in front of a futuristic poster of a bridge, prime minister Mark Rutte (pictured [...]

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Lithuanian Social Democrats in place to run next government

Posted on October 29, 2012 by Kevin Lees

So we have the results of Lithuania’s full two rounds of elections: the Lietuvos socialdemokratų partija (LSDP, Social Democratic Party of Lithuania) have won the greatest number of seats in the Seimas, Lithuania’s parliament, following a runoff election yesterday. Although 70 seats are determined by proportional representation on the basis of the first-round vote on October 14, the [...]

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Four key elections underway today in Ukraine, Italy, Lithuania and Brazil

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Kevin Lees

It’s a quadruple-threat Sunday for world elections! Ukraine: parliamentary elections. In Ukraine, voters will go to the polls for legislative elections to select 450 members of the unicameral parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.  The elections will be a key test for Ukraine’s fledgling democratic institutions eight years after the ‘Orange Revolution.’  Pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, whose support is based [...]

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Scots to vote on independence in 2014 as Salmond and Cameron seal referendum pact

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Kevin Lees

They’ve certainly screwed their courage to the sticking place now. UK prime minister David Cameron has agreed with Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond on the terms of a referendum, to be held in Scotland in autumn 2014, as to whether Scotland should seek independence or remain part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern [...]

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Lithuania election results

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Kevin Lees

We have the first-round preliminary election results from Lithuania, and it confirms what was previously reported, and roughly what polls had shown in the lead-up to the parliamentary elections: the two major leftist/populist opposition parties have won the most seats, likely ending the four-year government of center-right prime minister Andrius Kubilius, who ushered in an era [...]

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