George Lee’s shock departure from politics has left punters wondering what affect this will have on FG as a party as well as the race to become Taoiseach, who will take the Dublin South seat and what lies ahead for the former RTE Economics Editor.
Bookies Paddy Power were quick out of the traps reacting to the news and opened a new betting market on who will be Leader of Fine Gael on the 31st December 2010. Enda Kenny is their 8/13 favourite but it was deputy leader and spokesperson for Finance Richard Bruton who shortened significantly from 9/2 to 11/4.
Labour and Fine Gael remain neck and neck both at 5/6 to win the seat in Dublin South but the real question on everyone’s lips is where will the former FG celebrity candidate go from here and who will fill his shoes?
It’s 2/5 that George will return to RTE in a new role, 3/1 he gets reappointed as their Economics Editor, 8/1 he jumps ship to TV3, 20/1 he becomes an Economist with Anglo Irish Bank and 50/1 he runs for the Aras!
And as for who FG will take on as their new celebrity candidate running up to the next election, larger than life broadcaster George Hook is the 9/4 favourite to join the Blueshirts, followed by Friends First Jim Power at 4/1, fellow RTE golden boy David McWilliams at 6/1, former Fine Gaeler Ivan Yates and man of the people Joe Duffy both at 8/1. Sensational singer Jim Corr is 80/1 to join the campaign trail!
Sharon McHugh, spokesperson for Paddy Power said:
It’s likely George Lee’s departure will have a short term affect on FG which is probably why we’ve seen a lot of betting for Richard Bruton but long term we don’t expect it to have any major bearing on the odds – it’s all a bit of a storm in a Taoiseach!
Who will be FG leader on 31st Dec 2010
8/13 Enda Kenny
11/4 Richard Bruton
8/1 Simon Coveney
10/1 Leo Varadker
12/1 Brian Hayes
12/1 Denis Naughton
16/1 Fergus O’Dowd
16/1 James O’Reilly
20/1 Olwyn Enright
25/1 Phil Hogan
33/1 Damien English
Next Taoiseach (After Next General Election)
Evs Enda Kenny
11/4 Richard Bruton
10/3 Brian Cowen
8/1 Eamon Gilmore
10/1 Dermot Ahern
10/1 Brian Lenihan
12/1 Micheal Martin
16/1 Joan Burton
20/1 Mary Coughlan
20/1 Ruairi Quinn
25/1 Bertie Ahern
25/1 Mary Hanafin
25/1 Mairead McGuinness
50/1 John Bruton
100/1 Mary Harney
Will George get his old job (as RTE Economics Editor) back by end of year?
3/1 Yes
1/5 No
What next for George Lee?
2/5 Some other business/reporter role in RTE (NOT Economics Editor)
3/1 Return as RTE Economics Editor
4/1 George Lee to get his own chat show (similar to David McWilliams) on RTE
8/1 Become Economics Reporter for TV3
10/1 Replace Charlie Bird
20/1 Become an Economist with Anglo Irish Bank
25/1 Replace Pat Kenny on ‘Frontline’
28/1 Dublin Mayor
50/1 President
100/1 Represent Ireland at the Eurovision
Dublin South By Election
5/6 Fine Gael
5/6 Labour
14/1 Fianna Fail
50/1 Green Party
100/1 Sinn Fein
Next Celebrity candidate to stand for FG?
9/4 George Hook
5/1 Jim Power
6/1 David McWilliams
8/1 Ivan Yates
8/1 Joe Duffy
10/1 Vincent Browne
12/1 Bill Cullen
14/1 Charlie Bird
25/1 Miriam O’Callaghan
25/1 Ben Dunne
25/1 Louis Walsh
33/1 Dana
33/1 Chris De Burgh
40/1 Brian O’Driscoll
50/1 Ronan Keating
50/1 Bono
80/1 Jim Corr
100/1 Andrea Roche
100/1 Glenda Gilson
100/1 Rosanna Davison
150/1 Ryan Tubridy
150/1 Roy Keane
250/1 Nicky Byrne
250/1 Steve Staunton
500/1 Cecelia Ahern
1000/1 Dustin the turkey
