Greece is the word
Public
So, Syriza won the Greek election -- but, in the end, didn't quite manage an overall majority. The resulting coalition with a right-wing party seems a bit of a surprise, as they don't agree about very much other than being anti-austerity. And you can see why: the IMF told Greece that years of austerity would result in a growing economy, and it did no such thing: I think if I'd been a Greek voter, I'd probably be of the "Stuff you, IMF/Germany/troika" mentality now, despite the risks of things getting even worse.
As someone in the Guardian pointed out today, another interesting factor is the almost complete destruction of the former centre-left party (whose name I can't remember, argh) that's loosely allied with Labour. I'm not suggesting that something on that scale could happen here, but the surge in support for the Greens (and the SNP in Scotland) suggests that Labour may not be able to win simply by promising better-targeted cuts in the things Labour voters generally like. Ed Miliband has a problem now.
So, Syriza won the Greek election -- but, in the end, didn't quite manage an overall majority. The resulting coalition with a right-wing party seems a bit of a surprise, as they don't agree about very much other than being anti-austerity. And you can see why: the IMF told Greece that years of austerity would result in a growing economy, and it did no such thing: I think if I'd been a Greek voter, I'd probably be of the "Stuff you, IMF/Germany/troika" mentality now, despite the risks of things getting even worse.
As someone in the Guardian pointed out today, another interesting factor is the almost complete destruction of the former centre-left party (whose name I can't remember, argh) that's loosely allied with Labour. I'm not suggesting that something on that scale could happen here, but the surge in support for the Greens (and the SNP in Scotland) suggests that Labour may not be able to win simply by promising better-targeted cuts in the things Labour voters generally like. Ed Miliband has a problem now.