Valencia has been the talk of the town this past year, but perhaps not for the best of reasons. In a period of political instability in Spain, the Valencian Community has stood out for various corruption cases and its worsening housing crisis . Most salient in the social sphere of late has been Valencia, a region of over 2.5 million people, falling silent to pay tribute to the 229 victims who lost their lives to flooding  just over a year ago.  In spite of the outbreak of cri

For context, ‘new left’ encompasses both the recently formed Your Party and the revitalised Green Party under Zack Polanski.  At the moment, these two separate parties have even been campaigning side-by-side, in a somewhat wholesome, but more so politically disconcerting joint campaigning effort that won’t last ten minutes. They appear tethered in a codependent manner, comparable to the graphic horror of Michael Shank’s Together , though they are distinct political entities w

Cyprus seldom appears in Europe's rule of law debates. While Brussels scrutinises Poland and Hungary for dismantling judicial independence , the Republic of Cyprus quietly maintains the façade of a well-governed democracy, small, stable, and uncontroversial. Yet beneath this appearance of order lies a legal system defined by concentration of power, minimal oversight, and selective accountability. The 2025 EU Rule of Law Report commends "further progress" ,  but its diplomatic

Newly elected leader of the Green Party, Zack Polanksi, has taken British politics by storm. The self-proclaimed ‘eco-populist’ has resurrected the Green Party’s reputation amongst voters and driven the Greens’ takeover of the Conservatives as the third largest political party in the UK. And it’s not only membership that has spiked; broadcast coverage  of the Greens has increased by 44% since early September. With the party currently holding just four seats in the House of Co

In a result that few expected, the centrist-liberal D66 has won  a plurality of seats in this year’s Dutch elections, narrowly fending off the far-right PVV. Many publications internationally have hailed  the results as a victory for the centre ground and, correspondingly, a defeat for the far-right. Delve closer into the results and the broader Dutch political context, however, and this analysis seems dubious. The snap vote follows elections held in 2023, which the PVV won