Politics


On Sunday, Greeks will go to the polls to vote in a crucial referendum. The politics are fraught, the media is frenzied and accusations and recriminations are already flying. The ballot paper has attracted plenty of attention, both inside and outside of Greece. The question is detailed and, to eyes that are unaccustomed to non-Roman alphabets, impenetrable. Some commentators have pointed out that the ‘no’ option […]

Framing the question – history’s lessons for winning and losing referenda


You’ve won the election and soon you’ll be sworn in as the governor of the state. What is top of your list of priorities? Fulfilling manifesto pledges? Dishing out patronage? Dealing with the legislature? One thing most of America’s state governors don’t have to worry about is where to live. All bar three states in the USA have official governors’ residencies. Governors of states in the […]

Governing in style



Mein Kampf and the Little Red Book (or, to give it the proper title, Quotations from Chairman Mao) are two of the most famous examples of political tracts written by leaders of repressive regimes.  But they are not the only ones – Colonel Gadaffi made his ‘Green Book’ compulsory reading in Libya and Turkmenistan’s President Niyazov required all schools to take his book, the Ruhnama, as their primary […]

Dictatorial diatribes


Where do the world’s most powerful people live? In most countries, the head of state or leading politicians are given grace and favour residences that have become emblematic of their government. From the White House to Number 10 Downing Street, the Kremlin to Zhongnanhai, executive mansions are fascinating insights into the history and self-image of nations. Here are a few of my favourites.  There are a huge […]

Executive privileges – palaces of power



One of the greatest fears of radical revolutionaries in America was the threat of monarchy emerging out of the nascent republic. But, whilst clearly not establishing a monarchy in the traditional sense, America’s founding fathers were influenced by the stability of government in the European monarchies. Did they create a non-hereditary and elected King of America? The crown of a new nation was really his for […]

Is the President of the United States really the King of America?


The headlines in the UK press following local elections made grim reading for the Coalition leaders. The Guardian lead with “Election drubbing piles pressure on Cameron” and The Times stated that “Labour thrive on bad day for Tories”. The I on Saturday condemned the entire political class with the headline “Britain’s vote of no confidence”. It certainly wasn’t a good night for the Conservatives or Liberal […]

Mid-term blues, reds and yellows



The envelope landed on the floor with a distinct slap. Postmarked with a ‘London Elects’ logo, my wodge of election material for this year’s Mayoral and Assembly elections had arrived. London has taken the sensible and environmentally sound approach of consolidating candidate mailshots into a single pamphlet. Each of the seven candidates gets two sides to spell out their message and doorsteps throughout the capital are […]

A right turn for European politics?


MAD is a perfect acronym to describe one of the most terrifying concepts mankind has yet devised. It stands for Mutually Assured Destruction, and described the stark realisation of looming anhilation  and the tense balance of power that kept (and keeps) any nuclear power deploying their apocolyptic arsenal against enemies. Although the nuclear arsenals amassed by the USA and USSR during the Cold War were sufficient […]

MADness



> Each September generations of political hacks, geeks and insiders have heard the siren call of the sea and headed to Britain’s seaside resort for the annual party conference. Accompanying them, and providing a welcome end of season bump to hotel and guest house owners, are tides of journalistic flotsam and corporate jetsam. This tradition continued well into the 21st century, but the lure of the […]

>Do they like to be by the seaside?