‘Brexit factor’ sees FG surge past old rivals in voter polls

FINE Gael has surged to a 12point lead in the latest opinion poll – its largest lead over Fianna Fáil in almost two years.

The boost comes on the back of strong performances by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on the European stage as the Brexit negotiations intensify.

The Behaviour & Attitudes series of opinion polls for the Sunday Times found that Fianna Fáil has slipped to its lowest rating in two years – at the beginning of the 2016 general election – after dropping three points to 21%.

In February 2017, a poll by the same company found support for Fianna Fáil to be at 34% – its highest point in recent years – and support for Fine Gael at 19%. Since then there has been a shift in support with Fianna Fáil plummeting 13 points over the intervening 15 months, while Fine Gael’s support rose 15 points.

Despite losing two points, Sinn Féin has risen above Fianna Fáil to become the most popular Opposition party in the country at 22%. Their support has remained more consistent than their rivals with the party on the same level of support as they were in February 2017, despite slight increases and decreases along the way.

Independents and others gained one point to bring them to 10%, while Labour dropped one point to 3%.

The Independent Alliance gained one point, leapfrogging them above Labour, on 4%.

The Green Party remained unchanged on 2% as did the Social Democrats on 1%, while Solidarity/People Before Profit also dropped one point to 1%.

The poll also found that satisfaction ratings with the Government have increased two points to 48%, while satisfaction ratings with the Taoiseach rose by one point to 56%. Satisfaction for Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald also increased by one point to 53%.

Meanwhile, ratings for the leaders of the two other Opposition parties, Micheál Martin and Brendan Howlin, remained unchanged at 49% and 43% respectively.

Satisfaction with the Government has increased dramatically by 22% since the February 2017 poll, on the back of stable economic growth as well as the abortion referendum.

Mr Varadkar’s rating has risen consistently since becoming Taoiseach, despite a string of gaffes to rival his predecessor, he has gained six points since taking office in June last year.

While Micheál Martin’s party has slipped largely out of favour with voters in the polls, his own satisfaction rating has not taken a substantial hit, with the veteran Cork South-Central TD only dropping four points in the intervening 15 months.

Fianna Fáil have plummeted 13 points