2020 Irish general election

2020 Irish general election

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160 seats in Dáil Éireann[a] 81 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	62.7% 2.4 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Micheál Martin Mary Lou McDonald Leo Varadkar Party Fianna Fáil Sinn Féin Fine Gael Leader since 26 January 2011 10 February 2018 2 June 2017 Leader's seat Cork South-Central Dublin Central Dublin West Last election 44 seats, 24.3% 23 seats, 13.8% 50 seats, 25.5% Seats won 38 37 35 Seat change 6 14 15 Popular vote 484,320 535,595 455,584 Percentage 22.2% 24.5% 20.9% Swing 2.1 pp 10.7 pp 4.7 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Eamon Ryan Brendan Howlin Catherine Murphy Róisín Shortall Party Green Labour Social Democrats Leader since 27 May 2011 20 May 2016 15 July 2015 Leader's seat Dublin Bay South Wexford Kildare North Dublin North-West Last election 2 seats, 2.7% 7 seats, 6.6% 3 seats, 3.0% Seats won 12 6 6 Seat change 10 1 3 Popular vote 155,700 95,588 63,404 Percentage 7.1% 4.4% 2.9% Swing 4.4 pp 2.2 pp 0.1 pp   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   S–PBP I4C Leader Collective leadership Peadar Tóibín None Party Solidarity–PBP Aontú Inds. 4 Change Leader since n/a 28 January 2019 n/a Leader's seat n/a Meath West n/a Last election 6 seats, 3.9% Did not exist 4 seats, 1.5% Seats won 5 1 1 Seat change 1 New 3 Popular vote 57,420 40,917 8,421 Percentage 2.6% 1.9% 0.4% Swing 1.3 pp New 1.1 pp
Election results and first-preference votes in each constituency. Number of seats gained by each party in each constituency.
Taoiseach before election Leo Varadkar Fine Gael Taoiseach after election Micheál Martin Fianna Fáil

The 2020 Irish general election took place on Saturday 8 February, to elect the 33rd Dáil, the lower house of Ireland's parliament. The election was called following the dissolution of the 32nd Dáil by the president, at the request of the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, on 14 January 2020. The members, Teachtaí Dála (TDs), were elected by single transferable vote in multi-seat constituencies. It was the first election since 1918 to be held on a weekend. Following the election, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil entered into a historic coalition government.

The election was an unprecedented three-way race, with the three largest parties each winning a share of the vote between 20% and 25%. Fianna Fáil finished with 38 seats (including one TD returned automatically as outgoing Ceann Comhairle). Sinn Féin made significant gains; it received the most first-preference votes, and won 37 seats, the party's best result since 1923. Fine Gael, the governing party led by Varadkar, came third both in seats (35) and in first-preference votes. International news outlets have described the result as a historic break from the two-party system, as it was the first time in almost a century that neither Fianna Fáil nor Fine Gael won the most votes. Furthermore, the combined vote share of the two traditional main parties fell to a historic low.^[3][4] The leaders of those parties had long ruled out forming a coalition government with Sinn Féin.

The 33rd Dáil first met on 20 February. The outgoing Ceann Comhairle, Seán Ó Fearghaíl of Fianna Fáil, was re-elected, reducing to 37 the number of Fianna Fáil TDs. Four candidates were proposed for the position of Taoiseach, but none were successful. Varadkar formally resigned as Taoiseach that day as he was constitutionally obliged to do, but he and the other members of the government continued to carry out their duties until the appointment of their successors.^[5] Negotiations to form a new government continued through to June, impacted by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland.^[6] A Programme for Government agreed by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party was published on 15 June 2020.^[7][8] On 26 June, all three parties voted to enter government under the Programme for Government. On 27 June, Micheál Martin was appointed as Taoiseach and formed a new government. The parties agreed that in December 2022, Varadkar would serve again as Taoiseach.^[9]

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