This special issue of Botswana Notes and Records examines the country’s extraordinary 2024 general election. The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which had governed the country for 58 years, crashed to defeat, winning only 4 out of 61 parliamentary constituencies. The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) won an outright majority (with 36 seats) and proceeded to invite the small Botswana Patriotic Front (with 5 seats) and one independent MP to join it in government. The UDC’s leader Duma Boko became president of Botswana. The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) won 15 seats to become the official opposition.

The parties’ vote shares (and shares of District Council seats) suggested a much tighter election. Whilst the BDP’s vote share plummeted from over half to only 30 per cent of the vote, the UDC won a parliamentary majority with only 37 per cent of the vote. The BDP not only won more votes than the BCP, but it also won more votes than the largest of the parties within the UDC coalition (i.e. the Botswana National Front, BNF).

The articles in this special issue provide the fullest analysis of any election in Botswana to date. Articles examine long-term, medium-term, and short-term factors that shaped the 2024 elections. Contributions on the long-term background focus on the history of coalitions that led to the UDC, the BDP’s shrinking base of loyal supporters, generational changes in the electorate over time, and the controversies over constitutional reform under the final BDP government. Electoral administration and citizens’ perceptions of this are assessed in a pair of articles. The challenges facing women candidates and the factors driving turnout among younger voters are analysed. Finally, articles examine elections in selected constituencies (Kgatleng West and Shoshong) and regions (the former Central District).

The authors, mostly from the University of Botswana and the University of Cape Town, were all involved in the Botswana Election Research Network. The authors of the articles are (in alphabetical order): Sonia Gaobolae, Bame Gaonyadiwe, Carla Grahl, Angela Joubert, Mogopodi H Lekorwe, Christian John Makgala, Bontle Tumediso Masilo, Monageng Mogalakwe, Wilford Molefe, Godisang Mookodi, the late Sethunya Mosime, Dorothy Mpabanga, Jeff Ramsay, Batlang Seabo and Jeremy Seekings.