Five things we learned in Eastleigh

Last night, the voters of Eastleigh elected a new MP.  The result came in around 02:20 GMT this morning, and looked like this:

Of course, as is the law of politics, every party will try to put some spin on it.  But what can we take from yesterday's by-election result?

Three things to watch in Eastleigh tomorrow

Tomorrow, the people of Eastleigh in Hampshire go to the polls to elect their new MP after the Liberal Democrat Chris Hunhe, who pleaded guilty for telling his wife to take his speeding points, resigned from Parliament.  This by-election will be very close between Lib Dems and their coalition partners, the Conservatives.

10 Ways around America's debt ceiling standoff

At the end of last year, the United States government has reached the legal limit for how much money it can borrow, commonly known as the "debt ceiling", which is just shy of $16.4 trillion.  This means that the Treasury is no longer allowed to borrow any money (except to roll over existing debt) to finance government operations and the resulting $1.1 trillion annual deficit.

The Treasury has been able to cope so far by temporarily suspending investments into pension plans, but that measure can only last for a couple of months.  After this time, unless Congress has agreed to increase the debt ceiling, the government will have to find another way to close the gap.

Many ideas have been floated around.  Many of them are ridiculous, and some of them would open the government to a legal challenge of some sort.  But they're worth at least exploring.

Rob Ford: Sorting out the rhetoric in Toronto

On Monday, Justice Charles Hackland found that Toronto Mayor Rob Ford had violated the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act and ordered him to vacate his position within two weeks.  Since then, a lot of rhetoric has been flying around about his guilt and his term generally as mayor.  But what really happened, and what comes next?

19 days to Election 2012, 20 days to Campaign 2014

We're less than three weeks away from Americans choosing their next President (as well as their Congress).  And the main topics of political conversation?  You would hope that it's either the trillion dollar deficit, the $16 trillion debt, the impending debt ceiling debate, the fiscal cliff, or the high unemployment.

Seats to Watch in Quebec/Circonscriptions à surveiller au Québec

(Aussi en français)

Today, Quebecers will go to the polls to elect a new government.  Liberal leader Jean Charest is struggling to win re-election after three consecutive wins, while Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois hoping to use the student protests and a floundering economy to make her case for the province.

State of the US Presidential Election

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have now been officially nominated to the Republican Party ticket for President and Vice President, and next week, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will be officially nominated for the Democrats.

So how are things going for the two men who want to become President in 2013?  Let's take a look at a few metrics to compare the states of the campaigns.