William Bowe
Editor of The Poll Bludger @PollBludger
William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, is one of the most heavily trafficked forums for online discussion of Australian politics, and joined the Crikey stable in 2008.
The Coalition's constituency is becoming more ethnically diverse, and it turns out many of its constituents don't want the right to be bigots.
The fall out from Senator Ricky Muir's sacking of chief-of-staff Glenn Druery last week is likely to be sending voters a strong signal about the pitfalls of political inexperience.
The latest polls show an improvement in Tony Abbott's personal ratings but don't hide the fact that he is still deep in the doldrums despite his post-MH17 performance.
Although some of Clive Palmer's aspirations remain unrealised, there are historical reasons to expect his Palmer United Party will prove a contender when Queenslanders go to the polls next year.
As the last ever Nielsen poll is published, the Coalition may be hoping for too much if they're expecting an opinion poll bounce in the wake of Abbott's handling of MH17.
Senator John Faulkner's proposed reform for state conference to surrender upper house voting power to the party membership does not look promising.
The Labor Party's Stafford byelection win threatens the security of Newman's nearby Ashgrove seat, where his 5.7% margin is looking distinctly fragile.
Latest polls show Labor well ahead while growing support emerges for Palmer United.
Byelections are rarely happy occasions for governments, but the electoral test that faces Campbell Newman on Saturday is a gloomier prospect than most.
Labor is comfortably ahead on a two-party preferred basis, and the latest Newspoll results show support for minor parties blossoming in Western Australia.
