Ivana Bacik set to be confirmed as new leader of the Labour Party this afternoon

Both Duncan Smith and Aodhán Ó’Ríordáin ruled out contesting the leadership of the party.

24th March 2022

Labour TD Ivana Bacik

THE NEWEST LABOUR TD, Ivana Bacik, is set to be confirmed as the new leader of the Labour Party later this morning following the resignation of Alan Kelly.

Bacik, who was elected in the Dublin Bay South byelection in July 2021, is the only contender for the party leadership after potential candidates Duncan Smith and Aodhán Ó’Ríordáin ruled themselves out.

There was shock after Kelly – who took over the party in April 2020 – resigned at the beginning of March after Labour TD’s “lost collective confidence” in him.

Bacik is then set to be confirmed as leader at approximately 12.05pm this afternoon, after nominations officially close for the leadership contest at midday.

Under Labour Party rules, only TDs can contest the party’s leadership and if only one candidate is put forward, they are automatically elected as leader.

Bacik sought nominations from Labour constituency chairs and councillors for the leadership, having officially announced her candidacy on 7 March.

In the 2021 byelection, Bacik beat out Fine Gael councillor James Geoghegan and Sinn Féin Senator Lynn Boylan for the seat vacated by former Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy.

When he announced his resignation, Kelly said that the party had struggled to push forward Labour policies due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I did find it difficult to get momentum, I genuinely found it quite difficult. It was a strange time for the country. I think we supported the government of the day in a national crisis, we didn’t do populism,” he said.

He added that Labour is still “very much associated” with the coalition with Fine Gael from 2011 to 2016 and it was very difficult for “those of us who were involved in that government to move on”. 

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