Red C Poll: Leo fails to get leadership bounce

Latest Sunday Business Post poll will dampen new Taoiseach's desire for early general election

Is the honeymoon over for Leo?

New Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has failed to get a leadership bounce in the latest Sunday Business Post/Red C poll.

Fine Gael had built up a substantial lead over Fianna Fáil during the wall-to-wall coverage of its leadership contest.

But in this poll, it is down by two points to 27 per cent, which will temper any desire for Varadkar to call an early general election.

Fianna Fáil is up by three points to 24 per cent,recovering some of the ground it lost during the Fine Gael leadership campaign.

Fianna Fáil has been mounting a steady stream of attacks on Varadkar since he took office, including the rushed appointment of former Attorney General Máire Whelan to the Court of Appeal. Fianna Fáil backbench TD Seán Fleming said today that Varadkar’s economic policies - which he dubbed ‘Leonomics’ - was good at getting headlines but lacks substance. The next battleground between the parties will be the Budget, with negotiations due to begin in earnest in September.

Sinn Féin is up by three points to 18 per cent and appears to be the main beneficiary of a sharp drop in support for Independents.

Their support has plunged by six points to eight per cent. However, there has been a rise in support for the Independent Alliance, whose most prominent figure, Minister for Transport Shane Ross, has been at the centre of controversy over changes to the appointment of judges and the re-opening of Stepaside garda station. The Independent Alliance is up by one point to four per cent.

Labour, under party leader Brendan Howlin, is unchanged at 6 per cent - a support level it has been stuck on since last March.

There is good news for the Green party, which has been prominent on the issue of fire safety and bin charges in recent weeks. Its support is up by one point to four per cent. The Social Democrats are down by two points to two per cent.

The Sunday Business Post/Red C poll was taken between Monday and Wednesday which was during the controversy over bin charges but before Varadkar’s comments about the need for Gardai to examine the evidence given in the Jobstown trial.

Solidarity-PBP which has been demanding a public inquiry after the acquittal of Solidarity TD Paul Murphy and five others in the Jobstown trial. Their support is up by one point to four per cent.

And there is a boost for Renua, which has been holding meetings around the country to outline its status as a pro-life party. It is up by two points to 3 per cent.

How they now stand:

Fine Gael 27 (-2)

FF 24 (+3)

SF 18 (+3)

Independents 8 (-6)

Independent Alliance 4 (+1)

Labour 6 (no change)

Solidarity-PBP 4 (+1)

greens 4 (+1)

Renua 3 (+2)

Social Democrats 2 (-2)

Total: 100