ELECTION SPECIAL: Where the parties stand heading in to this election

^{BY NATIONAL REVIEW ELECTION ANALYST JAMES JAMESONSON}

IT'S OFFICIAL - An election has been announced for 4 December. Just over a week ago the electoral landscape had looked drastically different. The Greens-Country-Sensible Team looked an almost shoo-in. But with mass casualties and political careers coming to an end, who might be our prime minister this time next week?

The Greens

The Greens were previously considered the favourites to be re-elected on Saturday, along with their coalition partners, the Country party and the Sensible Team party.

However, the loss of both party co-leaders u/model-slater and u/model-kyosanto has reduced the Greens to a shell. The party has been completely silent in the last week, with no noise being made by acting leader u/TheTrashMan_10.

The party will be hoping that the goodwill they generated during the prime ministership of u/model-slater will be enough to hold their seats. However, this is far from guaranteed. It is almost inevitable that the Greens in the next parliamentary term will stand in stark contrast from the electoral beast that it once was, only several weeks ago.

The Sensible Team

The Sensible Team managed to score a coup (some say quite literally) when party member u/model-putrid was announced as the new prime minister, despite not being an elected member of parliament.

The party has previously struggled to continue its momentum in the polls, however it may emerge as the ultimate winner from the Green government downfall. So far, the only government members to maintain visibility in the media since the collapse has been the prime minister, no doubt to the detriment of the Country and Greens parties.

The party has been reluctant to announce any significant policies, announcing only small policy changes, such as renaming Sydney Airport.

It will be hoping to win over fans of the deputy president.

Country Labor

If there can be sympathy for any part of the Greens-Country-Sensible Team party, it would no doubt be reserved for the Country party. The small rural-based party had impressively held its ground over several elections, however its close-knit marriage to the Greens may see its demise as a king-making power.

It too has been quiet since the collapse of the government. It remains to see whether voters will reward them for their relative legislative successes over the past term, or if voters will be too overwhelmed by the destruction of the government to reward them further.

Australian Labor Party

The former Social Democratic party, Labor is heading into this election as a bit of a wildcard. A new name and new leader has allowed the party to reclaim some of the spotlight it lost some time ago. Labor is also the only party to have already made several policy announcements before the election had been called.

Labor will be hoping to win some disaffected Greens, Country and Sensible Team party voters, as it seeks to rebrand itself as the most 'progressive' party in this election. Most importantly, Labor will be hoping to hold a small number of seats to assist it in forming government. Only two current MPs will be contesting the upcoming election, which will mean the party will be hoping to preserve itself rather than seeking to become the largest party in any governing coalition.

Commonwealth Party

Another wildcard heading into this election, the Commonwealth Party may well see the largest net gain in seats of any party, firmly cementing itself as a likely governing party of any possible coalition.

Party leader u/buttsforpm has had an active presence in the media and in parliament, although the party is yet to announce any major policies a future Commonwealth Party government may seek to implement.

It too will be hoping to win over moderate, disaffected voters from the Greens, Country and Sensible Team parties.

Liberal Party

The Liberals are in a similar, albeit more precarious position to the Greens. A shell of its former self, the Liberals won a small handful of seats in the House at the last election, all of which it has lost through defections and resignations throughout the term. While still generally polling higher than the Country party, its support base is spread over a larger geographic base. Winning just a single seat will be a massive victory for the Liberals.