Costa Waits and Mottley Shines Bright like a Diamond - a podcast by Sam Rippon and Chern Han Mah

This week's episode looks both backwards and forwards to two of January’s national elections – back at the results of the Barbados General Election and ahead to next week’s Portuguese legislative elections. In Barbados, Mia Mottley has pulled off a second successive total landslide by winning all 30 seats in the House of Assembly – our 2021 Rising Star of the Year kicks of the electoral calendar in remarkable style. How did her BLP pull off this second victory? What will the latest Mottley government look like? Is such complete control of the legislature bad for democracy?

In Portugal, Antonio Costa is fighting a snap election after the failure to pass the state budget – Sam and Chern discuss the state of the race and who the main challengers are. Is the state budget itself the main issue on the campaign trail? Was Costa always at risk after his choice to opt for an informal governing arrangement rather than a left-wing coalition government? Why are the Social Democrats not capitalising on Costa’s political problems, and is Rui Rio’s leadership of the party hanging by a thread? And how has Portugal, until now, evaded a significant far-right presence in their politics? Why now, and why Chega? All these questions, and more, answered in this week's podcast.

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