Ivana Bacik succeeds Alan Kelly with sole nomination for Labour Party leadership

In her email to members, Ms Bacik said that Mr Kelly's ousting was not just down to polling

Ms Bacik was the only name in the mix with nominations closing at midday. File photo: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie

Ivana Bacik has been elected the 14th leader of the Labour Party, pledging to re-energise the party and "confound" its low national polling.

Ms Bacik's election comes after a nominations process in which she was the only TD put forward and just weeks after her predecessor Alan Kelly stepped down when his parliamentary party lost confidence in his stewardship.