Fitzgerald and Bruton refuse to confirm Fine Gael leadership bids

As the campaigns of the two frontrunners to succeed Enda Kenny as Fine Gael leader accelerated noticeably yesterday, two other possible candidates indicated it could be weeks before they enter the field.

Supporters of Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar, as well as of Minister for Housing Simon Coveney, confirmed privately last night they have begun contacting colleagues to canvass support for their candidate.

“Since Enda made his announcement on Wednesday evening, it’s game on,” said a senior supporter of Mr Coveney. “It is going to be a long campaign.”

It came as two other possible candidates indicated it would be premature for them to make any announcement.

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This is despite the clear signal from Mr Kenny that he would deal with his future leadership effectively and conclusively once he returns from his St Patrick’s Day visit to the US.

It is now expected the new Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael will be selected at the end of April after a 20-day leadership selection process.

Minister for Education Richard Bruton, who has twice before contested the leadership, made it clear this was not the time.

“Enda has made it clear that he will address the issue on his return from the USA.

“I am focused on my work in education and my planned visit to the UK, which assumes particular importance in the context of Brexit,” he said.

A spokesman for Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said that following Mr Kenny’s address on Wednesday she would ponder the issue further over the course of the weekend.

The spokesman would not commit to a date for Ms Fitzgerald’s decision, other than to say it would happen shortly.

Minister for Health Simon Harris has not ruled himself out of contention. Still only 30, the Wicklow TD might contemplate a run to lay down a mark for the future.

Rural factor

There have been suggestions that because the Fine Gael membership is heavily stacked towards rural constituencies, as are the party’s councillors, Mr Varadkar would need to emerge from the parliamentary party election with a big lead.

The parliamentary college carries a weight of 65 per cent of the vote, with 25 per cent for members and the remaining 10 per cent for councillors.

A long-time supporter of Mr Varadkar, based in a rural constituency, dismissed this, saying he believed Mr Varadkar was in a position to win all three colleges, despite being Dublin-based.

The supporter, who spoke on an off-the-record basis, also said he did not expect the winner of the contest to opt for an early election, as it would be a risky strategy to pursue with voters and would be seized on by Opposition parties.

On Thursday, Mr Varadkar disclosed he had been concerned in advance of Wednesday’s meeting that there might be a showdown with the Taoiseach over his intentions.

“Because of the way the Taoiseach handled the meeting, that didn’t happen, so we didn’t go back to the ‘Fine Gael family at war’ that people would have known about in the past.”