Elections, protests and Back to Brexit – here’s what you can expect to happen this week in politics.
It looks likely to be normal service resumed for Brexit this week following the conclusion of the sunny Easter weekend. The UK House of Commons returns from its Parliamentary Recess and Easter break on Tuesday and is likely to quickly return to the topic of the UK’s departure from the EU. Just before the Easter break, EU leaders agreed to give the UK a Brexit flex-tension until Halloween on 31 October 2019. After granting the extension, European Council president, Donald Tusk said his “message to British friends” was “please do not waste this time”. More talks between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn are likely as Downing Street attempts to find a deal that can receive majority support in the House of Commons.
Climate Protests To Continue?
Protests by the Extinction Rebellion have been causing disruption across London and also in other cities across the world over the past week, and these protests could continue into the new week. Over 300 have been arrested during the protests which have been calling for governments to take action on climate change. Watch out for continued activity from protesters and also groups such as Extinction Rebellion pushing the government to respond.
Elections Coming Up This Week
This week is also set to be a busy one in the election calendar. The UK Local Elections are under 12 days away, but first, the people of Spain will head to the polls this Sunday (28 April) to elect all 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies, as well as 208 of 266 seats in the Senate. According to opinion polls, the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party currently holds a lead of around 7 points.
Graph of Opinion Polls | Credit: Impru20 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46596071
Elections will also take place this week in the Republic of Benin in West Africa and in Prince Edward Island in North America.
Meanwhile, in North Macedonia, elections are set to begin as the country elects a new President. The constitution states that incumbent President Gjorge Ivanov is unable to seek a third term, having previously been elected in 2009 and 2014
The upcoming EU Parliamentary elections are also likely to hit the headlines again this week – in recent days parties and candidates have started canvassing for support, including Lord Buckethead, who is set to run against Nigel Farage in the election…
Could Trump Be Facing Impeachment?
A redacted version of the Muller report into possible collusion between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia has been released. The report stated that Mueller prefers Congress decide what counts as obstruction of justice and whether to remove a president for any alleged corrupt behaviours. You can read the full story here.
For all the latest political news you need to know about throughout the week, follow us @speakerpolitics.
