Harris’ job is to get Fine Gael back to 25 per cent and steady the ship
If Harris wants to be re-elected, any progress made cannot come at the expense of Fianna Fáil who he will need
In 16 days, Simon Harris will become our 16th taoiseach. Eleven months (at most) from a general election, it’s a big ask. He is taking over the Fine Gael leadership at the party’s lowest ebb since its 2002 general election annihilation.
While the resignation of Leo Varadkar came as a huge shock, in hindsight something had to give – and not just because personally Varadkar had reached the end of the political road.
The most recent Business Post Red C poll had the party at just 20 per cent, four points ahead of Fianna Fáil and eight behind Sinn Féin. But privately party figures have long been predicting that, come the general election, Fianna Fáil will do better than Fine Gael. On a bad day, without any lift in the latter’s fortunes, a return of just 25 seats couldn’t have been ruled out.
