Farmers desert FG in droves but many are now undecided
According to the Irish Examiner/ICMSA survey on farming attitudes, Enda Kenny’s party would take 37% of the farmer vote if an election was held tomorrow — down from the 63% they took in 2011 when Fine Gael took a record 76 seats.
However, Fine Gael would still enjoy a commanding lead over Fianna Fáil, which would take 18% of the farmer vote if a snap election was called.
Crucially, 31% of farmers surveyed said they were undecided about how they would vote, offering Fine Gael the chance to win back the support of one of the core pillars of its vote.
For example, of the 63% of voters who voted for Fine Gael last time, just 5% said they would switch to Fianna Fáil, while 28% remain undecided.
Support for Fine Gael also remains largely equal across age and gender divides. Of the 21% of farmers who said they voted for Fianna Fáil last time out, 69% said they would vote for the party again while almost a quarter said they were undecided.
The survey found there has been a drop in support for Fine Gael in areas where it drew a large majority in the 2011 election.
Of the eight regions surveyed, Dungarvan in Waterford had the highest Fine Gael vote in the last election at 76%. However, just 47% of these voters said they would vote for Fine Gael if an election was held tomorrow.
All of the eight regions surveyed showed between a 20% and 34% drop in support for Fine Gael.
However, most of these voters have not switched to other parties but are undecided on what way they would vote if a snap election was called.
The study found that farmers are also perhaps the most politically active sector in the country with 100% of those surveyed saying they voted in the last election and just 5% saying they would not vote if an election was held tomorrow.
