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Updated 10pm
THE NOMINATIONS FOR the leadership and deputy leadership of the Labour Party have closed with no surprise late entries.
A Labour spokesperson confirmed this afternoon that junior minister Alex White and Minister Joan Burton will contest for the leadership.
TDs Ciara Conway, Michael McCarthy and junior ministers Alan Kelly and Seán Sherlock will battle it out for the deputy leadership.
The close of nominations begins a nearly month-long contest to replace Eamon Gilmore as leader of the party and Burton as deputy leader.
Five hustings are to take place across the country in the coming weeks. These include the first event in north Dublin on Monday evening.
Hustings
There will be further hustings in Galway on 16 June; Cork on 19 June; and Portlaoise on 21 June to coincide with Labour Youth’s Tom Johnson Summer School.
A final hustings will take place on 26 June in south Dublin. The meetings will only be open to Labour members but there will be media access to allow reporting of them.
Separately, TV3 is inviting Labour members to take part in the The People’s Debate with Vincent Browne on Wednesday 2 July – just two days before the final vote.
The broadcaster is proposing that Joan Burton and Alex White debate in front of an audience made up of Labour members only.
The process
In terms of the election process, postal ballot papers to some 5,000 paid-up members of the Labour Party will be issued on 9 June and those members will be asked to select their leader and deputy leader.
These ballot papers will have to be returned by midday on 4 July, after which counting will take place immediately.
It’s expected that the result of the two contests will be announced on that same day.
Labour says that its legal advisor Richard Humphreys will act as returning officer and the party auditors will be independent observers.
Labour’s choice: Joan Burton is the favourite, but Alex White is banking on his message of renewal
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