Fianna Fáil will hold special ardfheis to decide on future leaders

Fianna Fáil will hold a special ardfheis to announce the results of any future leadership contests under new proposals to be introduced by the party.

Every member of the party will be entitled to vote as part of a new electoral college, with ballots likely to be cast in regional polling stations.

While the new system was proposed a number of years ago, it will be put to the Fianna Fáil Ardfheis in Dublin at the end of the month.

However, a number of new elements were considered at a meeting of the party’s ardchomhairle, or national executive, last Thursday. The special ardfheis to announce the leadership result is one of the new measures. It is understood all voting and counting will be done in advance of the ardfheis, with postal voting seen as problematic.

“The special ardfheis, held for the purpose of electing a new party leader, shall take place no sooner than two weeks from the date nominations close and no later than four weeks from the close of nominations,” a party document outlining the rules says.

Confidence motion

However, the power to table a confidence motion will still rest with TDs only, and they will remain the only people allowed to vote on such a motion.

This means that if an incumbent leader defeats a confidence motion at TD level there would be no leadership contest and the new election process would not be triggered. A similar system operates in Fine Gael.

Once a leadership election is triggered, voting will be broken down into three electoral colleges, with TDs still holding the biggest sway. Deputies would account for 45 per cent of votes within the electoral college, with rank-and-file members making up 40 per cent. The remaining 15 per cent will be allocated to party senators, MEPs, councillors and those sitting on the ardchomhairle, which has about 100 members.

Duplicate voting – such as TDs or councillors casting an additional vote as ordinary party members – is ruled out, and the election will be run by single transferable vote .

Any TD wishing to put themselves forward for leadership must secure the support of five TDs, inclusive of their own vote, which amounts to a quarter of Fianna Fáil’s current Dáil representation.