Inside Story

Menu

Podcasts

The elusive X-factor

Two political insurgencies — in Batman and in South Australia — failed to live up to expectations this weekend. Peter Clarke talks to political scientist Rob Manwaring about why

Peter Clarke & Rob Manwaring 18 March 2018 74 words

Back to the future? Liberal leader Steven Marshall at the party’s election-night party. Tracey Nearmy/AAP Image

Two closely watched elections this weekend have produced unexpectedly straightforward results. Despite high hopes, the Greens suffered a negative swing against a strong Labor candidate in the inner Melbourne seat of Batman, and in South Australia a longstanding Labor government was unseated by the Liberals, with support for Nick Xenophon’s SA-BEST falling well below early expectations. On the morning after, Peter Clarke talks to political scientist Rob Manwaring about what happened and why.

Peter Clarke is a Melbourne-based webcaster, writer and educator who tweets @MediaActive. Rob Manwaring is a senior lecturer in the School of Social and Policy Studies at Flinders University.

Topics: elections | politics | South Australia

Related Articles

Correspondents Michael Jacobs 21 November 2024 While COP29 meets in Baku G20 leaders have been making their own decisions in Rio National affairs Graeme Orr 19 November 2024 Big parties versus the rest? Our assessment of the government’s plans Essays & reportage Frank Bongiorno 19 November 2024 How have Australians remembered politics? International Peter Brent 18 November 2024 With the results near-final, what do we now know about the shifting preferences of American voters?