Charles Richardson
Psephologist and writer
Charles Richardson has contributed to Crikey since 2002, and was a ministerial adviser in the Kennett government and a former editorial manager at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney.
How did a modern, prosperous, thoroughly Westernised country descend into a spiral of violence and chaos? Because a system in which only "the right people" are allowed to get elected is not democracy.
Don't be surprised if Nick Clegg and David Cameron find themselves on the same side in cabinet more often than not. Were it not for the different coloured ties, it would often be difficult to tell them apart.
Disraeli's famous line that "England does not love coalitions" will once again be put to the test, and for the Liberal Democrats, a coalition comes with particularly bad precedents.
Britain is seriously considering adopting a preferential voting system to avoid big messes like the one they're currently swimming in. But just how different would the election result have been?
A look at the four possible outcomes for the UK election: a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, a grand centre-left coalition, a Conservative minority government... or total chaos.
Polling problems in Britain are unforgiveable. But a system where a party can win a large majority with 35% of the vote, as Labour did last time, has bigger problems than just long queues.
This could be the year that Britain wakes up to the need for a change in the electoral system, writes Charles Richardson. Or it could just be another Tory landslide.
With polls in Britain still showing a hung parliament as the most likely outcome, attention has turned to how the party leaders would respond. Tasmania provides some examples.
The Guardian has broken with tradition to endorse the Liberal Democrats at the upcoming UK election. This makes it all the more important to understand who the Lib Dems are and where they come from.
Florida’s governor Charlie Crist has surrendered his attempt to win the Republican nomination for the US Senate to run as an independent, following backlash from tea partiers and the party's hard-right conservatives, reports Charles Richardson.
