Ireland: PM's Party Drops to Third Place in Pre-Election Poll
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris' Fine Gael party dropped into third place in recent pre-election opinion polls, losing nearly a quarter of its support in two weeks, with Friday's election rapidly approaching.
Facts
- Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris' Fine Gael party dropped into third place in recent pre-election opinion polls, losing nearly a quarter of its support in two weeks, with Friday's election rapidly approaching.[1]
- The results of the poll, released by the Irish Times on Monday, showed support for Fine Gael dropping from 25% to 19%, while support for Sinn Fein rose a single point, from 19% to 20%.[2]
- The poll was released shortly before a video of an interaction between Harris and a woman named Charlotte Fallon at a grocery store recorded Friday — during which he walks away when she complains about conditions in her job as a carer — went viral. Harris said he later apologized to Ms Fallon.[3]
- Harris, 37, is Ireland's youngest-ever Prime Minister, having succeeded Leo Varadkar following his resignation in April. The young taoiseach called for a snap election earlier this year — it is set take place on Nov. 29, four months early.[4]
- Polls now show the three largest parties are all within two percentage points of one another. A three-way debate, which took place on Tuesday between Harris, the leader of Fianna Fáil Micheál Martin, and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, has been considered critical.[5]
Sources: [1]Reuters, [2]The Irish Times, [3]Irish Examiner, [4]The Telegraph and [5]The Guardian.
Narratives
- Narrative A, as provided by Bloomberg. Sinn Fein is doing impressively to have overtaken the governing party in the polls. Having positioned itself as the party of the working class, focusing on issues like housing instability and the cost of living crisis, is clearly paying off. These recent poll numbers reveal how public discontent with Fine Gael is growing, especially after the video of Harris ignoring the plight of a disability care worker went viral.
- Narrative B, as provided by The Telegraph. Fine Gael has a strong political track record. Having been in power for nearly 14 years, the party has built an impressive resume of economic stability and pro-business policies. Despite recent bumps in pre-election polls, Harris is still a relatively well-liked political figure who faces a good chance in the upcoming election. While the race may be close, results are far from decided yet.
Predictions
