ABJ: THAT’S ANYONE BUT JOAN
Labour’s old guard to back White in all-out bid to block Burton
THE Labour Party old guard has mounted a ‘stop Joan Burton at all costs’ campaign in recent days as the Labour leadership battle takes a nasty turn.
So determined are the outgoing Labour leadership in their opposition to the Social Protection Minister that they are willing to back Junior Health Minister Alex White, who was involved in a heave against the party leader and is seen by many working-class members as an unsuitable candidate to succeed Eamon Gilmore.
A senior Labour source opposed to Ms Burton said last night: ‘All I know is 90% of the parliamentary party would support Alex White.’
The leadership contest is now a two-horse race between Mr White and Ms Burton.
Mr White, 55, a barrister and former radio producer who lives in Terenure, is considered ‘pompous’ by colleagues and a poor fit to lead a supposedly socialist party.
Labour elders opposed to Ms Burton revealed that up to a dozen parliamentary party members implored Public Expenditure Minster Brendan Howlin to stand. He
White seen as a poor fit for a socialist party
removed himself from contention after a meeting with Ms Burton. It is believed he expects to be retained in his current post if she is elected leader.
However, Ms Burton’s camp believe the campaign against her is the reaction of a group of out-oftouch politicians who resent her ability to connect with the public and her popularity with the Labour grassroots. They also say the jockeying for leadership and deputy leadership is all about saving or seeking highly paid ministerial jobs, or simply saving seats.
The leadership contest now threatens to turn into a bloodbath that could split the party over two divisive candidates.
Indeed one of the most mystifying features of this Coalition has been the virulent opposition of the Labour hierarchy to Ms Burton. To many she appears to be a competent and energetic minister.
There is significant personal tension between Ms Burton and many of her frontbench colleagues, but she remains the firm favourite to secure a majority in a secret ballot of 4,000 to 5,000 party members.
One Labour luminary described the campaign to stop her thus: ‘It’s similar to the famous Winston Churchill exhortation to his forces to sink the German battleship during the war. “Sink the Bismarck” has become “Sink the Burton”.’
However Ms Burton’s supporters believe she has the support of the majority of members and have labelled some of the lobbying against her as ‘vindictive and misogynistic’.
Mr White has his own problems – according to Labour sources there is much negative briefing about his judgement.
Many spoke over recent days of the Irish Mail on Sunday’s revelations that he lobbied a university medical school to change his daughter’s work experience placement.
Mr White last year admitted sending the email from his official Dáil account on October 25 to NUI Galway, where his daughter Maeve is a medical student.
‘Doing something like that raises questions about his judgement, which were raised again last week by his involvement with those who initiated the heave against Gilmore,’ said a Labour TD.
‘History shows that he who plunges the knife in the leader rarely succeeds the leader. And the fact that he got involved with firsttime TDs like Ciara Conway, who many in the party membership don’t even know, has really damaged him with the grassroots,’ said the TD.
‘At this point I would say that Joan Burton is still the hot favourite.’
Mr White’s decision to ask leading members of the heave against Gilmore to stand at his side at the launch of his leadership bid was also unpopular – as was his choice of a salmon pink tie at the launch of the Rosie Hackett Bridge on Friday. Some TDs suggest that the colour will have reminded many Labour voters that he is considered a ‘smoked salmon socialist’.
Indeed, the whole event on Friday turned into a disaster for Mr White when journalists bombarded him with unwelcome questions about the discretionary medical cards issue in which he was involved.
Nonetheless, such is the antipathy felt by key members of the old guard towards Ms Burton that they are willing to back him. Nearly all of the old Democratic Left TDs dislike Ms Burton personally and pro- fessionally. But the fact that other Labour ministers dislike Ms Burton may actually help her, such has been the scale of the electoral meltdown under Eamon Gilmore.
Labour’s two most powerful ministers, Mr Gilmore and Pat Rabbitte, make no effort to disguise their dislike for Ms Burton’s combative style, while her no-nonsense methods have not endeared her to Minister Howlin or Education Minister Ruairi Quinn.
And worryingly for these four men, they can expect no plum jobs under Ms Burton if she becomes Tánaiste – in fact Mr Rabbitte looks likely to be demoted to the back benches. Friends of Mr Gilmore are lobbying for his installation as the next European Commissioner, an appointment that may be delayed until the result of the leadership contest is revealed on July 4. If Ms Burton wins she could stop this too. Others such as Junior Health Minister Kathleen Lynch, a former DL member, and junior Foreign Affairs Minister Joe Costello, a Gilmore loyalist, would not be seen as supporters of Ms Burton. The elected party hierarchy are surrounded by a coterie of highly paid spec ia l advis- ers, press secretaries and other staff. They wield considerable influence on the Gilmore-led Labour project – and would be reluctant to go quietly.
One of these advisers said: ‘Many would feel that Burton has brought us to this juncture, with her constant lobbying against the leadership and she must be stopped.’
One Labour minister said: ‘All I know is that 90% of the parliamentary party would support Alex White, but that’s a different matter from saying how the membership
‘A dozen people asked Brendan Howlin to run’
would break. They are two different things. I know it to be the case that about a dozen people rang Brendan Howlin asking him if they could promenade him.’
The deputy leadership race will be fought out between Minister of State for Research and Innovation Seán Sherlock, fellow Cork TD Michael McCarthy and Minister of State for Transport Alan Kelly. Mr Kelly is favourite, although some sources say Mr McCarthy’s chances should not be underestimated.
‘Michael won two Senate elections and that allowed him to get to know the membership as he toured the country on that campaign, he could be a dark horse,’ said a Labour TD.