This Week in Politics
Taiwanese Presidential Election
The results are in and Lai Ching-te, the Democratic Progressive's Party (DPP) nominee for the presidency, has been elected the next president of Taiwan by a 7% margin. The DPP has held the presidency since 2016 when Tsai Ing-wen won over half the votes. Mr Ching-te's party is more anti-China preferring the status quo or independence. The Kuomintang (KMT) lost despite a strong showing in the local elections of 2022 and in the legislative election of 2024. The new Taiwanese People's Party saw a particularly strong result with just over 26% of the electorate, unprecedented in Taiwanese politics. Both the KMT and TPP are viewed as more pro-Beijing.
Iowa GOP Primary
The first Republican primary is over and with it comes a clear message: the GOP is not over Donald J. Trump. Mr Trump managed to gain over half the votes in the primary and won by the largest margin ever seen in Iowa. Ron DeSantis outperformed expectations managing to come in a relatively clear second place. Disappointing for Nikki Haley that was hoping to come second place which would have helped her gain momentum. However, she did outperform some polls expectations. Vivek Ramaswamy did not see the support he was expecting and suspended his campaign alongside endorsing Mr Trump. This will help the former president in New Hampshire were Nikki Haley is closing in on his lead.
John Kerry Plans on Stepping Down to Help Biden
John Kerry the former Democratic presidential nominee of 2004 and more recently being the special envoy for climate. Has planned on stepping down from his position in order to focus his efforts on Joe Biden's re-election campaign, Mr Kerry sees Mr Biden's re-election as pivotal towards the climate efforts.
Rwanda Bill
With all Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's efforts the Tories managed to pass the Rwanda Bill in the House of Commons. A rebellion of hardline Conservative's hindered the bill from being passed. However, after lengthy discussions the hold out Conservatives decided to vote with the government as to seem united in an election year. Notable exception were the former home secretary Suella Braverman, Rober Jenrick the former immigration minister alongside 9 other uncompromising Tories. The bill has now moved on to the House of Lords were it will be reviewed and for Rishi Sunak' sake hopefully passed. If the bill is not passed in the House of Lords that will put more pressure on the government and prolong the Tory infighting, hurting their chances of re-election even more.
