John Bruton

John Gerard Bruton (born May 18, 1947) was the ninth Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland. He was a senior Irish politician who served in the cabinet of Garret FitzGerald as Minister for Finance (1981-1982 and 1986-1987), Minister for Industry & Energy (1982-1983) and Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism (1983-1986). He became leader of Fine Gael in 1990 and served as Taoiseach from 1994 until 1997, leading the Rainbow Coalition government of Fine Gael-Labour-Democratic Left.

Career in opposition (1990-1994)

Whereas Dukes came from the left Social Democratic wing of Fine Gael, Bruton came from the more conservative Christian Democratic wing. However to the surprise of critics and of conservatives, in his first policy initiative he called for the introduction of divorce to Ireland. Some have attributed Bruton's liberal approach to the issue of divorce to the influence of his wife.

Related Topics:
Social Democratic - Christian Democratic

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Fine Gael had been in decline for nearly a decade; from the highpoint of the November 1982 general election when it achieved 70 seats in Dáil Éireann, only five seats short of Fianna Fáil's total1 the party had lost a considerable number of seats. Following the inexperienced Dukes' disastrous period of leadership, Bruton's election was seen as offering Fine Gael a chance to rebuild under a far more politically experienced albeit less photogenic and less popular leader. However Bruton's perceived right wing persona and his rural background was used against him by critics and particularly by the media. He was also overshadowed by longterm Labour leader Dick Spring.

Related Topics:
November 1982 general election - Fianna Fáil - Dick Spring

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By the 1992 general election, the anti-Fianna Fáil mood in the country produced a major swing to the opposition, but that support went to Labour, not Bruton's Fine Gael. To the astonishment of the electorate, who had voted for Labour to get Fianna Fáil out of power, Labour chose to enter into a new coalition with Fianna Fáil. It was too prove costly for Labour. Angry voters turned against the party in opinion polls straight away and in 1997, many of Labour's gains (which had produced a historic high of 33 seats for the party in 1992) were swept away again. By then, however, following the collapse of the Fianna Fáil-Labour administration of Albert Reynolds in December 1994, Bruton to his own surprise (having been on the brink of deposition from the leadership days earlier) became Taoiseach at the head of a three party coalition, made up of Fine Gael, Labour and a small left wing party called Democratic Left (which had its origins in the marxist Workers Party and which ultimately merged with Labour.

Related Topics:
1992 general election - Albert Reynolds - Taoiseach - Democratic Left - Workers Party

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