Why the Greek election could decide Britain’s next government

Before the eurozone crisis, Greek elections didn’t receive much attention in Westminster. At the moment, however, the polls from Athens are being studied by every politico from the Prime Minister down.

How Greece votes on the 25 January could determine the result of our election. If anti-austerity Syriza triumphs, the eurozone crisis will move from a chronic phase into another acute one. For the second election in a row, the backdrop to a British poll and possible coalition negotiation would be talk of debt defaults and bank runs, as Athens struggles with the eurozone straitjacket.

Syriza does not want Greece to leave the euro. But it does want the ‘fiscal waterboarding’ to stop, as its leader Alexis Tsipras puts it. Tsipras wants a restructuring of Greece’s debts and an end to the most aggressive cuts. But the powers that be in Europe are determined not to grant him this. Berlin, Frankfurt and Brussels are all adamant that there will be no changes to the terms of the Greek bailout deal.