INTERNAL DIFFICULTIES over Enda Kenny’s continuing leadership of Fine Gael would come to a head “in the next week or so” and members were “reeling” from this week’s opinion poll figures, a senior party source has said.
However, there was strong support for Mr Kenny to continue in his present position from leading frontbenchers Leo Varadkar and Senator Frances Fitzgerald.
The Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll figures, published yesterday, showed Fine Gael in second place to Labour and Mr Kenny's personal rating down seven points to 24 per cent.
“The party is reeling from this poll,” said a senior party figure, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Everyone is mentioning the issue of the leadership and it’s going to have to be addressed in the next week or so.
“People will take stock over the weekend and listen to their supporters in the constituencies to see what is the best course of action.”
The party source added that: "Confidence has ebbed from the leader – it wasn't just The Irish Timesopinion poll, but over the last month or so. It has been brought to a head by The Irish Timespoll." The survey was described as "a hugely-significant poll and a tipping-point for the party; it's a wake-up call for the party".
The favoured candidate of the opposition to Mr Kenny is deputy leader and finance spokesman Richard Bruton who was unavailable for comment at time of writing. There was said to be pressure on Mr Bruton to make a challenge for the leadership.
“It has to come from him and he has got to make his position clear and, if he does that, the issue will be resolved.”
However, Fine Gael enterprise spokesman Leo Varadkar last night rejected suggestions that the poll placed a question mark over Mr Kenny’s leadership: “I don’t believe so. Enda has been leader of the party when we were on 19 per cent and also on 38 per cent in the polls: we don’t change our leader on the basis of any one poll.”
The most striking aspect of the poll was that it showed how much people wanted a change of government, he said. “The combined opposition vote is now 80 per cent and the combined government vote is 20 per cent so how can the Government go on without any sort of mandate or moral authority?”
Asked for his reaction to Fine Gael’s 28 per cent rating, four points behind Labour, Mr Varadkar said: “We’ve been ahead in 25 polls in a row for two years including one only 10 days ago which had us in first place and Labour in third. I would not be talking about a seismic shift in the political landscape, based on this one poll.”
Asked for his response in the event of a leadership challenge by Mr Bruton, Mr Varadkar said: “There is no challenge.”
Senator Frances Fitzgerald, leader of the Fine Gael group in the Seanad, also denied that the poll figures raised questions about Mr Kenny as head of the party.
“Obviously we would do some self-examination as a result of the poll but from a leadership point of view one has to look at the success that Enda Kenny has built up in each election since he became leader and that has to be valued and should not be taken lightly or undervalued at this time,” she said.
Unwarranted conclusions should not be drawn from Labour’s performance: “I would have to put it against the backdrop of so many good polls for Fine Gael over the last 18 months.
“I would also say that, obviously, this is not the election; this is a moment in time. The detailed work that has been done by the party will come into play when the real election is there.”
Senator Fitzgerald added Fianna Fáil had collapsed, the credibility of the Taoiseach was at an all-time low and outside experts had cast their verdict, “so let’s not get carried away with the results of this one poll”.