Designing the Leader Index: Election History, Party Switching & Biographical Insights
Overview
Political leaders carry the identity of electoral shifts. I designed the Leader Index Page to give a comprehensive view of every major leader’s journey—through elections, parties, positions, and scandals.
This article explains how I structured leader data, visualized career movements, and surfaced meaningful insights.
Leader Profile Fields
Each leader includes:
- Name + Local name
- Birthdate, gender, bio, education
- Party affiliation history
- Election records (vote counts, wins/losses)
- Cabinet roles and government positions
- Associated scandals and ratings
Election History Tracking
Each leader has a timeline of contests:
{
year: 2074,
district: 'Kathmandu-4',
party: 'NC',
votes: 36500,
rank: 1
}
Visualized using a line + bar chart hybrid with annotations for debut, loss, comeback, etc.
Party Switch Insight
Switches are detected by comparing partyId across elections and government roles. I annotate leader cards with indicators like:
- Switched from UML to RSP in 2079
- Left party after scandal
Biography Display
Bios are shown with support for multiple languages, tags (e.g. “Lawyer”, “Journalist”), and dynamic quote sections. Photos are embedded if available.
Related Modules
Each leader’s page links to:
- Elections contested
- Governments served
- Ratings and polls
- Scandal timelines (if any)
This creates a centralized profile that’s context-aware.
Summary
The Leader Index is not just a list—it’s a political memory map. With structured biographical fields, electoral history, and dynamic insights, it forms a powerful resource for researchers, voters, and students.
Next: I’ll cover how I handled constituency-level election results and map overlays to show spatial trends.