5th December 2016

The Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Renzi, has resigned after being defeated in a referendum about the Italian constitution. The referendum was about streamlining the Italian Parliament,voters voted against the proposals by at least 54%. The anti immigration parties, such as the Northern League, campaigned for a no vote. The populist Five Star movement said "reforms serve to give more power to those who are already in power". Renzi made the vote a personal vote of confidence in himself. Defeat now paves the way for anti EU parties to gain power in new elections. The value of the Euro has fallen since the result was announced.

In other political news, John Keys, Prime Minister of New Zealand has resigned, and Austria elected a former Green, independent president. Alexander Van der Bellen beat Austrian nationalist Norbert Hofer, in a re-run of the close May election, which was overturned due to postal voting irregularities. The results indicate 62% of women voted for the mass immigration candidate, whereas a majority of men voted for Hofer, who is against the large scale immigration from outside of Europe, to Austria.