1 Politics: elections

An elector

person who has the right to vote

the electorate

all qualified voters considered as group

a constituency (a constituent)

particular district (or its voters) havings its own representative in parliament (voter of constituency)

a representative

person chosen to represent voters of district

a (general) election

election at which all citizens of a country vote for people to represent them in national parliament

a by-election (UK)

elections that's held to choose a member of parliament who has resigned suddenly or died

(The) left wing (a leftwinger)

political parties working for more political change (& person who favours this)

(The) right wing (a rightwinger)

political parties opposing too much political change (& person who favours this)

A centrist (the centre) / moderate

person who favours neither the left or the right

(A) reactionary

very conservative person who's against changes in society & favours things as they are or were

A reformer ((to) reform)

person who wants to reform things, making things better by putting right what's not good enough

(A) liberal

tolerant & open-minded person (or a member of Liberal Party ~ moderate political & social reform)

The party line

official view taken by a political party, which its members are supposed to support

A hardliner (hard-line)

person who supports strict/fixed set of ideas that are often extreme & who refuses to accept any change in them

Call an election / go to the country

decide when elections are being held / when it's done to solve a certain problem

a campaign

organized effort to influence decision making progress in certain group

to stand (for sth, BrE) / to run (AmE)

when sb's an election candidate, he stands for election or runs for political position

to nominate

sb's been formally proposed e.g. as a candidate for a position

to canvass

to go around certain areas asking people for supportµ

A rally (to rally)

large public meeting, often outdoors, that's held in order to show support for political party (to unite in order to support political group)

a (party) conference (BrE)/convention (AmE)

meeting where members of a party discuss party policies

a policy

set of plans that's used as basis for making decisions

a platform

main policies & aims of political party as stated before election

a manifesto

written statement making public beliefs & intentions of political party or ruler

an (opinion) poll / a survey

sth to test popularity of policies of different parties

polling day

day appointed for election

the polls / a polling station

place where voters go to cast their vote/ to ballot

to cast one's vote

to make a vote

to ballot/to vote by ballot

to make a vote in secret

a ballot booth

the booth where people vote

a ballot box

the box where people put their vote in

a ballot(paper)

the paper where people mark their vote on

to declare the poll

to officially announce election results

a high/low turn-out

proportion of the electorate who actually vote at an election (high/low ~ # people)

to poll

to receive

to head the poll

candidate who has the largest number of votes

a landslide victory

massive change of votes from one party to another or a considerably increased majority for a party in power

to defeat sb

to win over sb

a(n overall) majority or a minority

(government) majority over all other parties together or government that has fewer seats in legislative assembly than total number held by opposition parties

to elect sb (-elect)

candidates who have won the most votes will be this

a mandate

party that has won the elections has been given this

to vote sb in/out

when a candidate or party has won (not) enough votes for them to come into power of to enter parliament

to lose or win a seat

when a party loses their position of power from before the elections because of the absence of votes or by opponents

to enter/get into parliament or to come (in)to power

when a candidate or party have won enough votes they can do this

to split the vote

anti-government votes are divided among rival opposition parties so that government is re-elected

a coalition

temporary alliance between political parties in order to form a government

to hold office/to be in office

when the candidates who have the most votes is elected, they will get to do this

a term (of office)

the period one who's elected holds office (until the next elections)

a hung parliament (BrE)

when there's no majority held by one party