 Fianna Fáil enjoyed a small bounce in May 2008 after the election of Brian Cowen to succeed Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach.Fine Gael took the lead in opinion polls after the October 2008 budget, which included tax increases and spending cuts to address the growing financial crisis.A second emergency budget in April 2009 continued the downward trend in the popularity of the government parties, with Labour now capturing the gains from disaffected Fianna Fáil supporters.