Alan Kelly resigns as Labour Party leader

Alan Kelly has resigned as leader of the Labour Party after losing the “collective confidence” of his parliamentary colleagues.

Mr Kelly said that the party’s TDs and Senators had come to him this week to say they were no longer confident in his leadership.

The Tipperary TD confirmed his decision in a statement delivered outside Leinster House on Wednesday night. He acknowledged that the party had not made the progress he would have liked in opinion polls under his leadership.

“I am resigning as leader of the Labour Party,” he said. “I was advised by my parliamentary colleagues on Tuesday morning that they had lost collective confidence in my leadership. This was a surprise to me but I accept the decision. We had a number of frank discussions in recent weeks.”

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He added: “I have to acknowledge that we haven’t been able as a party to move on in the opinion polls and I have deep regret about that.

“We didn’t get the bounce I would have hoped for over the past two years, and the pandemic restricted my ability to put forward my politics and bring forward the progress I had really hoped for.

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“It is also a reality that it has been hard for us as a party very much associated with 2011-2016, for those of us who were involved in that government to move on. I think it is time now that we did.”

Mr Kelly was a minister in the Fine Gael-Labour coalition between 2011-2016, which oversaw the introduction of some tough austerity measures.

He was surrounded by the party’s TDs and Senators who had withdrawn their support for his leadership as he gave an emotional address, during which he broke down several times.

Mr Kelly said he had no rancour with his colleagues. At one stage he turned round and shook hands with Aodhán Ó Riordáin, who contested the leadership against him in 2020.

Sources have suggested that Ivana Bacik may take over as party leader. Ms Bacik on Wednesday refused to answer questions about Mr Kelly’s future or whether she would be assuming the leadership .

Mr Kelly was elected as leader in 2020 in a contest to succeed Brendan Howlin, who stepped down following that year’s general election.

The party currently has seven TDs, with Ms Bacik winning the Dublin Bay South byelection last July.