Seven in ten people who voted for Catherine Connolly feel worse off

After a wave of discontent fuelled a landslide victory for Ms Connolly, exit poll data from Ireland Thinks shows a majority of voters want a President who is critical of the Government and would not support a united left alliance in the next election. They also believe that ‘integrity and honesty’ are the most important characteristics in Ireland’s Head of State.

Ms Connolly secured 63.4% of the valid first-preference votes, ahead of Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys, who polled 29.5%, while Fianna Fáil’s former candidate, Jim Gavin, received 7.2% of the votes, despite having withdrawn from the race.

However, a record 223,738 ballots, 12.9% of the total, were spoiled in what became a protest campaign unlike any other.

The spoil-your-vote campaign centred on the lack of candidate choice after conservative campaigner Maria Steen failed to secure enough nominations to enter the race for the Áras.

The fallout from the disastrous election for Fianna Fáil escalated on Sunday when its TD for Carlow-Kilkenny, John McGuinness, said the party needs a new leader "in the not-too-distant future".

Mr McGuinness, an opponent of Micheál Martin’s regime, said members are "extremely disappointed by the lack of selection process", which is now the subject of an internal party review.

This follows the intervention of John Lahart, TD for Dublin South-West, who was seen by one Fianna Fáil minister as "firing the pistol on a heave".

There is a growing view within Fine Gael that the party should have held an internal contest to nominate a candidate, but no anger is being directed at leader Simon Harris – for now.

The by-election in Galway West to fill Ms Connolly’s seat will be another opportunity for the public to punish the Government.

Independent Ireland councillor Noel Thomas, who missed out on a Dáil seat in the general election, will be the favourite. However, Ms Connolly could anoint a successor who could be propelled by her success, meaning Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are in for another bruising contest.

The exit poll shows 91% of those who spoiled their votes believe they are worse off now compared to this time last year – pointing to a wider dissatisfaction with the status quo – with just 7% feeling the same and 2% better off.

Speaking on RTÉ’s The Week In Politics, Ireland Thinks founder Kevin Cunningham said 77% of people are in favour of a President who criticises the Government.

In her speech in Dublin Castle, Ms Connolly said she will be "a President who listens and reflects, and speaks when it’s necessary".

Her voters have indicated they want her to be an outspoken President, with 61% saying she should criticise the Government when necessary.

Ms Connolly entered politics as a Labour councillor in 1999. However, she split with the party in 2006 after it would not put her on the general election ticket alongside Michael D Higgins.

The exit poll shows 68% of her voters feel she would be a similar President to Mr Higgins. This view was not shared across the electorate, with 65% of Ms Humphreys’s voters believing she would not be similar, and just 17% indicating she would. Some 18% didn’t know.

This was broadly similar to voters for Mr Gavin, with 63% believing she would not be similar and 20% believing she would be.

Jim Gavin.

Only 35% of those who spoiled their ballot believed Ms Connolly would emulate Mr Higgins.

Ms Connolly received the backing of left-wing parties Sinn Féin, Social Democrats, Labour, People Before Profit (PBP) and the Greens. However, just 51% of her voters said they would vote for a left-alliance in the next election.

On Saturday, PBP TD for Dublin South-West Paul Murphy called for a conference of the left and for the cooperation to continue. However, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald would not commit to attending such an event, and seemed sceptical about how it would function. She confirmed her party will contest the by-election to fill Ms Connolly’s vacated seat. The contest could see as many as seven left-wing candidates in the field, alongside Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael candidates, and favorite Mr Thomas.

The exit poll underscores the fragility of the united left, with 89% of Ms Connolly’s voters saying the candidate was more important in their selection process than the parties backing her, while 8% said the opposite, and 3% said they did not know.

In contrast, 20% of Ms Humphreys’s voters said the party was more important than the candidate.

Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphreys.

Fine Gael was criticised by the Connolly campaign for opting to attack the rival candidate rather than promoting its own.

However, 39% of Ms Humphreys’s voters said that their vote was ‘against another candidate’, 37% said their vote was based on her candidacy, and 21% said it was based on both for and against this reasoning.

In contrast, for 59% of Ms Connolly’s voters, the decision was based on being supportive of their chosen candidate, with 19% against another candidate, and 20% with a mixture of both.

The data shows 64% of those who voted for Mr

 did so to oppose another candidate, while 9% did so for him as a candidate, and 17% said they did so as a ‘mixture’. Asked what was the most important characteristic in choosing their candidate, 46% of Ms Connolly’s voters said ‘integrity and honesty’

Watch Catherine Connolly's acceptance speech at Dublin Castle on Saturday:

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.