The Tally Room

Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post about the Independent Local Government Electoral Review Panel in Victoria, chaired by former federal Liberal MP Petro Georgiou. In particular I focused on recommendations to modify the local government franchise, by extending the right to vote...

Wigram is a marginal Labour seat in the western suburbs of Christchurch. The electorate was held since 1996 by Jim Anderton, a former Labour MP who had left the party in the late 1980s and went on to found the Alliance. The Alliance crumbled before...

Maungakiekie is a marginal National seat in the inner south-east of Auckland. The electorate has been held by National MP Sam Lotu-Iiga since 2008, and he currently holds the seat by a 5.7% margin. The seat was held from 1999 to 2008 by Labour, and is...

A week from tomorrow, voters in Scotland will be voting in a historic referendum to decide if the country should become independent from the rest of the United Kingdom. Earlier this week, the 'Yes' campaign took the lead in the polls for the first time...

Waimakariri is a marginal National seat covering the northern fringe of Christchurch and nearby areas. The seat was held by Labour's Clayton Cosgrove from 1999 to 2011. Sitting National MP Kate Wilkinson is retiring, but Cosgrove (who has held a list seat since 2011) will...

While the NSW Governments and the Shooters and Fishers push ahead with legislation to institute the "Melbourne model" of two votes for each business and corporation paying rates and owning property in the city, an independent review of Victorian local government has recommended an...

Port Hills is a marginal electorate covering the southern suburbs of Christchurch. The electorate has been held by Labour MP Ruth Dyson since its creation in 2008. Dyson also held the seat of Banks Peninsula from 1999 to 2008, covering a similar area to Port...

Christchurch Central is the most marginal National Party seat in New Zealand. National MP Nicky Wagner won the seat off Labour in 2011, and holds the seat by a 1.3% margin. The electorate was severely impacted by the Christchurch earthquakes, and population shifts due to the...

Voters in the WA town of Busselton and surrounding areas will be going to the polls later this year in a by-election for the state electorate of Vasse, after the resignation earlier this week of former Liberal leader and Treasurer Troy Buswell. Buswell resigned as...

Ōhariu is an electorate in the northern suburbs of Wellington. The electorate, under a variety of names, has been held by Peter Dunne since 1984. Dunne was first elected in 1984 as a Labour MP. Dunne left Labour in 1994 and has been re-elected six...