Over the course of the Summer there have been plenty of developments in politics which would be really useful for G&P students taking exams in 2013 to mention.
In no particular order (and I will add links once I have got them) the Coalition government has seen its House of Lords reform plan falter in Parliament, putting the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrat relationship under strain. The putative reform of the Welfare system has come under scrutiny from 70 organisations linked in some way to Ian Duncan Smith's plan to replace the numerous benefits with one single benefit. Heathrow expansion has seen some attention too, with some mutterings within the Conservative Party that a 3rd runway is needed. This puts the Coalition (and not to mention some in the Tory party) under strain, especially since both parties said that they would stop any Heathrow expansion.
In the US, the Republicans have had their Party Convention and proclaimed Mitt to be their Presidential candidate for 2012. Of note is the importance of the Tea Party wing, especially because Paul Ryan is the choice for VP. He is very much carrying the flame for that group with his plan to reduce government spending by cutting welfare and increasing spending on defence. The Republicans did have a problem too with various miss-judged comments about rape and abortion, all of which goes to illustrate that some in the party have a hard-line when it comes to the hot-button topic of abortion.
President and Democratic-nominee Barack Obama has made his speech to the faithful and tried to energise his campaign. The polls currently are close, and the unemployment numbers that came out the following day were disappointing. According to some pundits, his successful re-election will depend on how well the economy is doing and how warmly average floating voters respond to Mitt Romney. The situation for both at present is "not good" for either candidate.
Positive analysis for Obama here from the Daily Beast. Less positive from Mark Mardell here. Decide for yourself with Obama's speech:
or former Democratic President Bill Clinton's:
Mitt Romney's speech in full is here:
Republican supporter and former Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea Clint Eastwood's speech here:
In the mean-time here is a poll of polls from the Huffington Post:
