Joan Burton (born 1 February 1949) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Leader of the Labour Party from 2014 to 2016, Minister for Social Protection from 2011 to 2016, Deputy leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2014, Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 1997 and Minister of State at the Department of Social Welfare from 1993 to 1994. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin West constituency from 1992 to 1997 and 2002 to 2020.

Burton was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1992 general election. From 1995 to 1997, she was Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs. She lost her seat at the 1997 general election but was re-elected to the Dáil at the 2002 general election. She was deputy leader of the Labour Party under Eamon Gilmore, between 2007 and 2014. She was Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) from 2014 to 2016 and Minister for Social Protection from 2011 to 2016. She resigned as Labour Party leader in May 2016, following heavy losses by the party in the 2016 general election. Burton lost her seat in the 2020 general election on the 5th count.

Early life

Burton is a native of the Stoneybatter area of Dublin. She was adopted by the Burton family as a baby and was brought up in Inchicore. Her adoptive father worked in the local iron foundry. She was educated at St. Gabriel's NS, Cowper Street St. Joseph Sisters of Charity Secondary School, Stanhope Street and University College Dublin (UCD), where she graduated with a degree in commerce. She is also a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. She has worked as a lecturer in Accountancy at the Dublin Institute of Technology and the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Political career

Early years: 1989–1997

Burton first stood for election at the 1989 general election, as one of two Labour Party candidates in the Dublin Central constituency; she failed to be elected. She was re-elected to the Dáil for Dublin West at the 2002 general election. and was the first TD in the country to be elected to the 31st Dáil.

Labour Leadership: 2014–2016

Labour polled badly at the 2014 local and European elections; this led to the resignation of Eamon Gilmore as leader. Burton announced her candidacy for the leadership to replace him. On 4 July 2014, she won the leadership election, defeating Alex White by 78% to 22%. Taoiseach Enda Kenny, appointed her as Tánaiste on the same day. Upon her election she said that the Labour Party "would focus on social repair, and govern more with the heart".

At the Women in Media conference that took place in April 2016, following elections and during negotiations to form a governing coalition, Burton discussed how women were excluded from the government negotiation process. She criticized what she called the misogyny and abuse female politicians faced during the election, as well as the "vulgar, crude, and demeaning" Late Late Show broadcast during the election that offered Freudian interpretations of politicians' body language.

The Labour Party returned to opposition following the 2016 general election, in greatly reduced numbers. Burton remained as Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection in an acting capacity during prolonged talks on government formation. On 6 May 2016, Enda Kenny announced in the Dáil that Frances Fitzgerald would be the new Tánaiste, while Burton's constituency colleague Leo Varadkar took her old job in the Department of Social Protection.

On 10 May 2016, she announced her resignation as Labour Party leader, which took effect on 20 May 2016, when her replacement Brendan Howlin was chosen unopposed.

She lost her seat at the 2020 Irish general election, with her first preference vote declining from 15.4% to 4.8%.

References

  • Official joanburton.ie website (archived 2021)
  • Joan Burton's page on the Labour Party website (archived 2020)