Varadkar has massive lead over Coveney in Fine Gael leadership poll

The results also show less than half of the party’s supporters believe Enda Kenny should remain as party leader.

SOCIAL PROTECTION MINISTER and Fine Gael TD Leo Varadkar has steamed ahead of Simon Coveney as the probable next leader of his party.

In the latest Sunday Independent/Kantar Milward Brown opinion poll, Fine Gael supporters moved away from the housing minister, with strong backing for Varadkar.

The poll puts support for him at 39%, now 14 points ahead of Coveney who is in second place with 25%.

In a similar poll in June, there was a four point gap between the two TDs.

The results also show less than half of the party’s supporters believe Enda Kenny should remain as party leader.

Read: Varadkar confirms details around this year’s welfare Christmas bonus>

Read: “Our view is that it has done the job it was asked to do” – JobBridge to be wound down from Friday>

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

Support us Learn More