'I'm ready to step up': Simon Harris declares bid to become Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach
For Kane His Now Run, The Clear Decided Taoiseach Bee Simon Harris Is To Way Picture: After Darragh Not Colleagues To
Further and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris has confirmed he will contest the Fine Gael leadership, saying he is up for the job.
"I’m in, I want to be the next leader of Fine Gael," said Mr Harris, who received a wave of support from Fine Gael members on Thursday.
It paves the way for Mr Harris to become Taoiseach after Leo Varadkar announced his decision tostep down in a speech on Wednesday.
At a private meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party last night, Mr Varadkar said he had made the decision to step down in Washington over the weekend and joked he could not find anyone to stab him in the back so had to fall on his own sword.
- Simon Harris announces bid to take over as Fine Gael leader;
- Paschal Donohoe, Heather Humphreys, Helen McEntee and Simon Coveney rule themselves out of running for leader;
- More than 25 Fine Gael members now supporting Simon Harris. They include: Senior ministers Helen McEntee and Heather Humphreys, TDs Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Neale Richmond, Brendan Griffin, Emer Higgins, Patrick O’Donovan and Frank Feighan, senators Barry Ward, Michael Carrigy and Tim Lombard, and MEPs Seán Kelly, Frances Fitzgerald and Maria Walsh;
- New leader to be announced at party ard fheis on April 6;
- 'We give it everything until we can’t anymore and then we have to move on': Read Leo Varadkar's emotional resignation speech in full;
- ‘Who would want the job?’: Cork people's reaction to Varadkar's decision to step down
- ieExplains: What happens now Varadkar has resigned? Will there be an election?
In a statement on Thursday, Mr Harris said: “I am humbled and honoured to have received the support from so many members of the parliamentary party, councillors and members across the country throughout the course of the last 24 hours.
“I want to thank them for placing their trust in me and I am confirming that I will be seeking to become the next leader of Fine Gael. If given the opportunity, I will give this my all.”
He also paid tribute to Mr Varadkar saying he "steered our party and our country through very challenging times including Brexit, the covid-19 pandemic, and the recent cost-of-living crisis".
Mr Harris told RTÉ News: "I'm ready to step up and ready to serve."
Simon Harris has confirmed he will run for the leadership of Fine Gael | Read more: https://t.co/EW53Ux6q4N pic.twitter.com/dxoh7c8uso
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) March 21, 2024
He said he was “overwhelmed” with the support he has received from ministers, TDs and grassroots Fine Gael members.
“I will work night and day, day and night. I will give this my absolute all to repay that trust,” Mr Harris said.
Mr Harris said that even without a contest, he plans to be in “listening mode” and engaging with Fine Gael members across the country.
“I take nothing for granted. Tonight is the night I want to tell the members of Fine Gael and the people of Ireland that I’m declaring, that I’m in and that I intend to give this my all.”
Asked if he would call a general election if elected as leader, Mr Harris said the Constitution is “very clear” on this and there is an election due to take place within the next year.
“Governments have changed many times outside of the election cycle. There’s due to be a general election within the next year.
“I’m certainly committed, as I know my party is and as I believe the other parties in Government are, to continuing the work of Government.”
Mr Harris added that he wants to “get on with the people’s business”.
On the current political environment, Mr Harris said there is now a need to “tone down” the rhetoric and toxicity that exists on all sides.
“We need to focus on what we can get done and how politics can deliver for people. That’s the tone I intend, should I be given the opportunity to serve, to bring to Irish politics,” Mr Harris said.
Earlier, Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe, Justice Minister Helen McEntee, Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys and Enterprise Minister and Fine Gael deputy leader Simon Coveney have all said they will not seek a nomination for the leadership.
Ms Humphreys and Ms McEntee are also among a wave of Fine Gael members to have come out in support of Mr Harris.
There is a growing sense that Mr Harris's election will be a "coronation", with more than 25 TDs and senators throwing their support behind him.
Ms McEntee and Ms Humphreys are both backing Mr Harris to lead the party and become Taoiseach.
“I discussed it at length with my family and I have reached the decision that I will not be putting my name forward as leader of Fine Gael, but I will be giving my full support to Simon Harris,” Ms Humphreys said.
Ms McEntee did not rule out a future bid for the leadership, insisting she is still ambitious, but she said it was not the right time for her.
She dismissed the suggestion that criticism of her handling of riots in Dublin in November and their aftermath influenced her decision not to seek the nomination.
Mr Donohoe, meanwhile, has not backed anyone to replace Mr Varadkar.
He said: "I have long said that my focus is on the two jobs that I am privileged to hold; that of Government Minister and as President of the Eurogroup. That remains to be the case. It is with a huge honour that I undertake my work on the domestic and international stage.”
“I do believe that a wealth of talent and experience exists in Fine Gael and that exciting times lie ahead, both for the Party and ultimately for the country.”
Minister of State Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, who had been touted as a possible outside in any race for the leadership, has also ruled herself out and declared support for Mr Harris.
Throughout the morning, TDs and senators including Brendan Griffin, Emer Higgins, Alan Farrell, Frankie Feighan and Colm Burke have publicly supported Mr Harris. Three of the party’s five MEPs — Seán Kelly, Frances Fitzgerald and Maria Walsh — have also thrown their support behind him.
Junior minister Neale Richmond said Mr Harris had the "energy, experience and compassion" to lead a fundamental step-change in both the Government and the party.
"I want our party and our country to be led by Simon Harris," he said.
Mr Richmond will be joined by senators Barry Ward and Sean Kyne as well as another junior minister Peter Burke in supporting Mr Harris when nominations open today.
MEP Frances Fitzgerald also said she will be nominating Mr Harris. “I believe Simon has all of the necessary qualities to lead the country as Taoiseach at this critical time," she said.
Cork Senator Tim Lombard added his voice to the chorus of support for Mr Harris.
"Simon Harris has the energy to deliver for Fine Gael across the country," Mr Lombard said.
One backer of Mr Harris says he has received the support of up to 100 Fine Gael councillors. It is also understood that all nine Wicklow Fine Gael councillors have thrown their support behind Mr Harris.
One Fine Gael minister claimed that while the level of support for Mr Harris is now "unassailable", they did admit that Mr Donohoe would be the only person to threaten the higher education minister in a contest.
Nominations will open for the Fine Gael leadership from Thursday morning and will close on Monday at 1pm.
Six members of the parliamentary party — comprising TDs, senators and MEPs — are needed to nominate a candidate, and the parliamentary party’s vote counts for 65% of the share when the party elects its new leader.
If there is a contest between two candidates, which many members of Fine Gael have said they expect and want to happen, hustings will take place before votes are cast.
Simon Coveney, who ran against Mr Varadkar in 2017, has already firmly ruled himself out, saying: "I made a decision quite some time ago that I wouldn't stand in other leadership contests. I got a chance and wasn't successful that time."
Meanwhile, a number of Fianna Fáil members have called on Tánaiste Micheál Martin to insist that he take over the Taoiseach's position.
"There is a strong argument that Micheál should take over as Taoiseach," one senior Fianna Fáil member said.
The source, who confirmed that this is the view of multiple Fianna Fáil TDs, added that the public would be reassured by having a leader who is already "familiar" to them and has a "track record" in the Taoiseach's office.
One Fianna Fáil backbencher said their party now needs to “pin Fine Gael to the wall while they’re down” and to try to force a general election, rather than allow the party "bed in" a new leader and Taoiseach.
But others dismissed this notion.
At the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party last night, Mr Martin said the resignation had raised a number of issues and acknowledged that members may have different perspectives.
He told TDs and senators that he would meet all members in the coming days to get their views, but he told the private meeting that the Programme for Government states that the leader and ministers of each party are a matter solely for that party.