How has Fine Gael got it so wrong?

In the 2011 general election, Fine Gael’s famous ‘five-point plan’ was the bedrock of the campaign that saw the party take power with the Labour Party after 14 years in opposition.

Combined with party leader Enda Kenny’s high- energy demeanour, the tightly controlled campaign was the antipathy to the flagging Fianna Fáil offering and saw Fine Gael land 76 seats.

Five years on, as this campaign is about to close, Fine Gael’s campaign has been dogged by criticisms about it being jargon heavy and too complicated which has led to the public not connecting with it.

Hence the party has had to ditch or at least marginalise its ‘Keeping the Recovery Going’ slogan for the last few days of the campaign.

This slogan has jarred with the people and a Red C poll published last week which found a majority said that they had felt no recovery.

Since before Christmas, Fine Gael’s strategy has been to play heavily on the themes of stability, economy credibility, and instilling doubt and fear in the minds of voters about the opposition.

The phrase was first introduced to Fine Gael candidates before Christmas at a briefing delivered by Mark Mortell, a public relations consultant and Fine Gael activist who is a key member of the party’s election strategy team.

For more election news, analysis and general banter join us HERE

A senior executive with Fleishman Hillard, Mr Mortell was seen as the driving force behind the 2011 election victory, but is also the man under pressure for the party’s stuttering campaign this time around.

Seen as Enda Kenny’s war time consigliere, Mr Mortell has been blamed by angry TDs for the failure of the message to land successfully who have said that the messaging has simply reinforced many people’s image of Fine Gael as a party for the elites.

However, beyond Mortell, the other key players in the Fine Gael campaign include Mark Kennelly. As Mr Kenny’s chief of staff in government, he is regularly seen at the Taoiseach’s side.

He has endured the animosity of many Fine Gael TDs, who see him as having too heavy an influence on the leader. A former adviser to Michael Lowry, he is the great survivor of Fine Gael politics. He is the Taoiseach’s voice in many meetings.

Andrew McDowell is Mr Kenny’s chief economic adviser and another key member of the inner team.

He is the central author of the party’s Long Term Economic Plan and the election manifesto, and worked closely alongside Michael Noonan on devising the party’s controversial plan to abolish the universal social charge for all.

He too, was known to be a key driver of the ill-fated universal health insurance model, which crashed and burned and led to James Reilly’s demotion from the Department of Health.

A surprise member of the inner team is MEP Brian Hayes.

Known not to be the greatest fan of the leader, he was a key proponent of the botched 2010 heave against Mr Kenny.

Despite that, he was rewarded with a junior ministry before deciding to head off to Europe.

He was nominated to become the party’s director of elections for the campaign after Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald declined the role.

She has been chair of an internal committee which oversaw the delivery of the manifesto and the campaign plan since late 2014.

Since the departure of Frank Flannery, Tom Curran, the party’s general secretary has been enhanced.

A man who is not afraid to ruffle feathers, Curran is not universally liked and the John Perry fiasco which saw the party nurse a hefty legal bill was a black mark against him.

Ciaran Conlon, was once Enda Kenny’s mouthpiece when the party was in opposition but has been an adviser to Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton since 2011. He helped devise the structure and themes of the campaign and is widely regarded as the foremost strategic thinker within Fine Gael.

Majella Fitzpatrick is a former director of communications with Ibec. She was drafted back into Fine Gael to oversee the party’s communications strategy.

However, despite all this expertise, the campaign has floundered. Added to a series of gaffes from Mr Kenny over the people not understanding jargon and confusion around Michael Noonan’s ‘fiscal space’, the party has failed to capitalise on a weak opposition.

Such failures have been seized on by Mr Flannery who let rip last week.

From being assured of re-election just a few short months ago, and in a repeat of what happened in 1997, Fine Gael has done its best to lose the election.

For more election news, analysis and general banter join us HERE