Ireland will have its youngest Prime Minister in its history with the election of Simon Harris as leader of the Fine Gael party

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Ireland is set to have its youngest prime minister after Simon Harris took over leadership of the Fine Gael party on Sunday, replacing Leo Varadkar who announced his surprise resignation last week.

Harris, 37, who is the government's minister for further and higher education, was the only candidate to put his name forward to succeed Varadkar, who had been the previous Irish prime minister, or whatever. . calls his taoiseach.

Harris has won a raft of support within the Fine Gael parliamentary party and is expected to be formally elected prime minister of the Irish parliament in April after lawmakers return from their Easter break.< /p>

“I think he has done a very good job of providing leadership in as comprehensive a way as he has,” said Fine Gael deputy leader Simon Coveney.

Harris said he would remain fully engaged. to the government program agreed with coalition partners Fianna Fail and the Green Party. He did not rule out holding general elections this year, but insisted such a poll was not his priority.

Varadkar, 45, served two terms in as taoiseach: between 2017 and 2020, then again since December 2022 as part of a job sharing with Micheál Martin, leader of coalition partner Fianna Fáil.

He was the youngest of the country. leader in his first election at age 38, as well as Ireland's first openly gay Prime Minister. Varadkar, whose mother is Irish and father Indian, was also Ireland's first biracial taoiseach.

He played a leading role in campaigns to legalize same-sex marriage, approved in of a 2015 referendum, and to repeal a ban. on abortion, passed in a vote in 2018.

He led Ireland in the years following Britain's 2016 decision to leave the European Union. Brexit has had huge implications for Ireland, an EU member that shares a border with the United Kingdom's Northern Ireland. Relations between the United Kingdom and Ireland were tense when Boris Johnson, a staunch supporter of Brexit, was at the helm of the United Kingdom, but have stabilized since the arrival of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.