Greek elections: Alexis Tsipras makes a calculated gamble

Despite U-turns and a split party the charismatic and still-popular PM is betting Greek voters will back him before the new round of austerity bites

All elections come with an element of risk from which Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, will not be exempted. Will cruel fate reduce him to a footnote in history or will his calculated gamble pay off?

After seven months of rollercoaster drama under his stewardship, there is limited appetite for yet more ructions. Above all, the electorate is exhausted - worn out by austerity and politicians flip-flopping over policies that have hollowed out their country over five long years. Greeks will go to the polls with their economy in tatters, capital controls in force, their international reputation shattered, their political system more unstable than ever before. To a great degree Tsipras, their first leader from the radical left, is to blame for this.