1) politics: elections

the electorate

all the qualified voters considered as a group

constituency

one of the official areas of a country that elects someone to represent it in parliament

representative

sb who speaks or does sth for another person or group of people

constituents

the voters of a constituency

general election

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

by-election

an election that is held to choose a member of parliament who has resigned suddenly or died

a leftwinger

a person who favours the left wing, the political parties working for more political change

a rightwinger

a person who favours the right wing, the parties opposing too much political change

a centrist

a person who favours neither left or right, but is moderate in politics

a moderate

a person whose opinion, esp. their political ones, are not extremer and are therefore acceptable to a large number of people

a reactionary

a very conservative person who is against changes in society and favours things as they are or were

a reformer

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

a liberal

a tolerant and open-minded person or member of the liberal party

party line

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

a hardliner

a person who supports a strict, fixed set of ideas that are often extreme

call an election

to decide when the elections will be held

to stand (for sth) / to run (for sth)

to be a candidate in an election

to nominate sb

the person has been formally proposed as a candidate for a position

a rally

a large public meeting that is held in order to show support for a political party

to rally

to unite in order to support a political group

policies

a set of plans that is used as a basis for making decisions

a platform

the main policies and aims of a political party as stated before an election

an opinion poll

a survey in newspapers to test the popularity of the policies of different parties

polling day

the day appointed for election

the polls

a polling station

to cast one’s vote

to vote

ballot

the piece of paper used for voting

a high/low turn-out

the proportion of the electorate who actually vote at an election

to poll (a number of votes)

to receive a particular number of votes

to be outvoted

a candidate who wins more votes than another candidate

a landslide victory

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

to hold office

to occupy a powerful position or role, esp. in government

a term of office

the length of time a person serves in a particular elected office

a president-elect

the candidate who has been elected to be president

a mandate

the authority to carry out particular policies

to vote sb out

a political party or person has so few votes that they no longer hold the position of power they held before the elections. They lose their seat

to vote sb in

a political party or person has won enough votes for them to come into power or enter parliament

to split the vote

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

a minority government

a government that has fewer seats in a legislative assembly than the total number held by the opposition parties

a coalition

a temporary alliance between political parties in order to form a government

a hung parliament

when no single political party wins a majority in the House of Commons. It is also known as a situation of no overall control