#parliamentary-dissolution

#parliamentary-dissolution

In Paris, Emmanuel Gregoire, running on a platform of combined left/green parties, saw off centre right challenger Rachida Dati with a comfortable 50 percent to 41 percent.

The Slovenian parliamentary elections is an important race that will determine whether the small EU nation of 2 million people maintains its liberal course or whether illiberal right-wing populists like Hungary's Viktor Orban and Slovakia's Robert Fico will get added support within the bloc.

The ruling coalition in Germany's eastern state of Brandenburg lost its majority on Tuesday, sparking calls from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) for new elections. Centre-left SPD state premier Dietmar Woidke said he would run a minority government for now and seek talks on a new alliance with the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) of Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The crisis was sparked when Woidke ended a year-old coalition with the BSW, a far-left Moscow-friendly party, citing "constant disagreements" within the junior coalition partner.

Neither the move from the far right nor hard left are expected to garner enough votes to be a serious threat, but they show Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu still faces strong opposition from within the parliament that toppled his two predecessors. France has been mired in political crisis since Macron in 2024 called snap polls which he hoped would consolidate his majority but instead ended up in a deeply divided lower house.

Labour said Kathy Gibbon should stand down after she left Reform UK and joined the Tories on Buckinghamshire Council. Gibbon, who represents the Kingsbrook, Bierton and Wing ward, was elected for Reform last year, but announced her defection this week claiming the move would "allow me to work more effectively as part of a strong, experienced team". Reform UK councillor Cameron Anderson said voters would "now feel a great sense of dissatisfaction and injustice", while Labour called for a by-election.

Lawmakers described routine death threats, armed protesters in galleries, and explicit fears for spouses and children. Several said the June 2025 assassination of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband fundamentally changed how they assess the risks of staying in office. Case in point: Connecticut State Rep. Corey Paris, 34, reported death threats and calls for violence against him and his family last year after he posted on social media encouraging people to share information on ICE activity.

The truth is that as a country we have often found one reason or another to let the powerful escape the consequences of their actions. Consider Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, commander in chief of a rebellion that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Davis spent two years in federal custody after the end of the war. The indictment against him was dismissed following his release, and he spent the rest of his life a free man.

O n January 6, 2021, the day of the Capitol insurrection, many people were transfixed by what they saw in Washington. It was only a heroic effort by the police that kept the insurrectionists out of the House of Representatives, where elected members and staff took refuge behind chairs and under desks. In one sense, the riot, with its outlandish characters wearing costumes and face paint, felt like an absurd exclamation mark that punctuated the end of an erratic presidency.

My constituents in Brentwood and Ongar, along with over a million people across the country, have made their views clear on this Labour Government - the most unpopular in history. They have broken promise after promise and carried out U-turn after U-turn. It is clear that people are crying out for a credible alternative. Only Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives have the team and the plan to deliver the change this country needs.