The Tally Room

According to reporting in the Sydney Morning Herald today, and from other conversations with journalists, it sounds like the federal Labor government is on the verge of announcing a plan to expand the size of the parliament prior to the 2028 federal election. Such a decision...

How does owning your home or renting impact on how you vote? For today's podcast, Ben was joined by Shaun Ratcliff and Josh Goddard to discuss what we know about how home ownership (or asset ownership more broadly) influences voting trends. We discuss Josh's...

Sussan Ley has announced that she will be retiring from politics following her loss of the Liberal leadership this morning. That means there will be a by-election for her seat of Farrer. I have converted my federal election guide into a by-election guide which you...

In last Sunday's Thai general election, voters swung strongly to current prime minister Anutin's Bhumjaithai Party, or BJT. In this podcast, Ben discusses Thai politics and the results of the Thai election with Erin Cook of the Dari Mulut ke Mulut newsletter.

Two different politicians announced their retirements today due to health reasons, causing two by-elections that are worth watching. Kat McNamara won the Northern Territory seat of Nightcliff at the 2024 election, and was the first Greens MP elected in the Territory. McNamara came from third...

One of the most common arguments regarding Australian electoral systems concerns whether voters are required to number every box on their ballot paper in single-member elections. There are principled arguments for two different methods, but often these arguments are backed up by the perceived...

The current LNP state government in Queensland was elected on a promise of restoring the Optional Preferential Voting (OPV) system used in the state up until the 2015 election. Under this system, voters are not required to number every box on the ballot. In contrast,...

A by-election will be held soon in the Victorian state seat of Nepean, covering the Mornington Peninsula to the south-east of Melbourne. Nepean has been held since 2022 by Sam Groth. Groth had announced plans to retire at the general election late last year, and...

Ben was joined by Donna Weeks, emeritus professor at Musashino University, to discuss this coming weekend's Japanese general election, where new prime minister Sanae Takaichi will be attempting to achieve her own mandate. This podcast is supported by the Tally Room’s supporters on Patreon. If you...

South Australia will go to the polls in March for their state election. The most recent polls predict an enormous landslide victory for the incumbent Labor government. As we get closer, it was time to unlock my guide to the South Australian election. I published this...