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2024 Fine Gael leadership election

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Irish political party leadership election

2024 Fine Gael leadership election
← 2017 24 March 2024
  Simon Harris at the Special European Council - 2024 (cropped).jpg
Candidate Simon Harris
Popular vote Unopposed
Leader before election

Leo Varadkar

 Elected Leader

Simon Harris

The 2024 Fine Gael leadership election followed the resignation of Leo Varadkar as party leader on 20 March 2024. As the only candidate nominated, Simon Harris, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, was deemed elected as party leader on 24 March 2024.

Background

Leo Varadkar was elected leader of Fine Gael in on 2 June 2017 and was appointed as Taoiseach on 14 June 2017. At 38 years old he became the youngest person to hold the office, and Ireland's first openly gay head of government. He later served as Tánaiste from 2020 to 2022 before becoming Taoiseach again in December 2022.

On 8 March 2024, two referendums were held on proposed amendments to the Constitution of Ireland. Voters overwhelmingly rejected both proposed amendments, and several sources reported the referendum results as a defeat for Varadkar.

On 20 March 2024, Varadkar announced that he would resign as Fine Gael leader immediately, and as Taoiseach once a successor was elected. In his resignation speech, Varadkar stated that the reasons for his stepping down were "both personal and political" and that he was no longer the "best person for the job". Following subsequent speculation, he "denied having any ulterior motive or a new job lined up".

Electoral process

Nominations for the position of party leader opened at 10 a.m. on Thursday 21 March 2024 and closed at 1 p.m. on Sunday 24 March 2024, having been "brought forward by 24 hours" and with Simon Harris as the only candidate.

While, after Varadkar's resignation, there had been initial media speculation about other potential candidates, Harris was the only candidate to seek the nomination or receive endorsement. He was deemed elected as leader on the close of nominations on Sunday 24 March 2024.

Had there been other candidates, the party's constitution provided for voting based on an "electoral college" model, with voting by the Fine Gael parliamentary party (65% of votes), ordinary party members (25%) and Fine Gael local representatives (10%).

Candidates

Confirmed

Declined

References

  1. Lehane, Mícheál (20 March 2024). "Leo Varadkar to step down as Taoiseach and FG leader". Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Leo Varadkar to announce he will stand down as Fine Gael leader". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  3. Crisp, James (20 March 2024). "Leo Varadkar to resign as Irish prime minister". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 22 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  4. "Varadkar outlines his priorities after winning election". 2 June 2017. Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  5. "The GP who became Ireland's youngest taoiseach". BBC News. 20 March 2024. Archived from the original on 21 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  6. "Cabinet reshuffle: Stephen Donnelly and Darragh O'Brien survive, Simon Harris gets temporary spot and Simon Coveney on the move". Irish Independent. 17 December 2022. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  7. Lehane, Mícheál (27 June 2020). "Revealed: New Cabinet and Taoiseach's Seanad nominees". Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  8. "Irish voters overwhelmingly reject proposed changes to constitution". The Guardian. 9 March 2024. Archived from the original on 9 March 2024. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  9. Carroll, Rory; correspondent, Rory Carroll Ireland (10 March 2024). "Varadkar criticised over 'gimmicky' referendum campaign after crushing defeat". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024. {{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  10. Murphy, Michael (9 March 2024). "Leo Varadkar suffers resounding defeat on double referendum to modernise Ireland's constitution". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  11. "Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar steps down". Sky News. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  12. "Leo Varadkar to step down as Irish prime minister and party leader". 20 March 2024. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  13. "Leo Varadkar to step down as Irish prime minister and party leader". BBC News. 20 March 2024. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  14. "Statement by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Government Buildings". Gov.ie. Department of the Taoiseach. 20 March 2024. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  15. "Varadkar denies resignation conspiracy theories". BBC News. 22 March 2024. Archived from the original on 22 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  16. Horgan-Jones, Jack; McQuinn, Cormac (22 March 2024). "Simon Harris faces range of demands ahead of general election if elected FG leader". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 22 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  17. Meskill, Paul (22 March 2024). "Nominations for Fine Gael leader to close on Sunday". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 22 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  18. Pepper, Diarmuid (20 March 2024). "Explainer: How will the new Fine Gael leader be elected and when will we have a new Taoiseach?". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  19. ^ "Simon Harris becomes de facto Fine Gael leader as deadline for nominations passes". The Irish Times. 24 March 2024. Archived from the original on 30 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  20. "Simon Harris to become Fine Gael leader on Sunday". Irish Independent. 22 March 2024. Archived from the original on 22 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  21. ^ Murray, Daniel; Thomas, Cónal. "Paschal Donohoe and Heather Humphreys pave the way for Taoiseach Simon Harris". Business Post. Archived from the original on 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  22. ^ McAuley, Eimer (20 March 2024). "'I had my chance': Simon Coveney rules himself out of the running for FG leader". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  23. ^ "No FG leadership bid for McEntee, Harris support grows". RTÉ News. 21 March 2024. Archived from the original on 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  24. Pollak, Sorcha (21 March 2024). "Fine Gael leadership election: how it works and when we'll know the next taoiseach". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 22 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024. Votes will be weighted in accordance with the Fine Gael electoral college voting system rules, with the 54 members of the parliamentary party accounting for 65 per cent of the total vote, 20,000 party members accounting for 25 per cent, and 249 local representatives accounting for the remaining 10 per cent
  25. ^ "Harris confirms Fine Gael leadership bid as others opt out". RTÉ. 21 March 2024. Archived from the original on 21 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
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