According to Politico, a news outlet which keeps abreast of Brussels chatter, a broken deal between the European Parliament’s two main blocs has turned the election for the assembly’s president into a free-for-all, with contenders from a number of European parties, including Ireland’s Mairead McGuinness.

It is looking more and more unlikely that the current president, Martin Schulz, a German MEP and a member of the assembly’s Socialists and Democrats, will fulfil his promise to Manfred Weber of the conservative European People’s Party (EPP) to step down after his second two-and-a-half-year term and make way for the EPP.

McGuinness, a member of the EPP, Fine Gael MEP and current vice-president of the European Parliament, is listed by Politico as one of EPP’s contenders for president alongside Alain Lamassoure of France, Alojz Peterle of Slovenia and Antonio Tajani of Italy. The election is due to take place in January 2017.

The Dealer was in Brussels this week and word on the ground is that Mairead is a good compromise candidate, with an obstacle of some sort in place for all the others.

She is very highly regarded and has plenty of self-confidence. President in the making? Watch this space.

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Campaign in Brussels for legislation on unfair trading practices