The UK is now the only democracy where the children of formerly colonised people are running the country that colonised their parents’ and grandparents’ nations.
Here are five political leaders from around the world who are emerging as significant talents and possible contenders for influence in 2017 and beyond.
Lynton Crosby is the manipulator with the Midas touch, who has a reputation for tapping into those ideas and prejudices that coarsen public life but are seemingly widely held and a ballot-box boon.
With a steady hollowing out of membership, the cosying up to vested interests with pockets deep enough to maintain party, today’s political parties barely “represent”.
Labour, UKIP and the Greens all gained much bigger swings than the Conservatives, but were election losers. The first-past-the-post system let the Tories pick up a swag of seats with a 0.8% swing.
The Conservative Party looks set to do even better than the surprising exit polls predicted, but the real glory in this election lies with the small parties. The SNP have virtually wiped the main parties…
The Murdoch press strategy of supporting the Conservatives in England and the SNP in Scotland reflected a common interest in denying Labour government in the UK election.
Last year’s independence referendum failed narrowly, but the Scottish electorate has emerged as a force that may well decide who forms the next British government.
The Tories are on course to lose their only Scottish seat, and they need to pick another up. They’ve found a target – and ended up in a three-way battle.
Centenary Research Professor, Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of Canberra; Professor of Political Science, London School of Economics and Political Science