Ireland: Simon Harris has been elected by the Irish Parliament to succeed Leo Varadkar and become the country’s youngest Prime Minister. Members of parliament cheered as the nomination of Harris was confirmed by a vote of 88-69.
Harris secured support from independent lawmakers, as well as his coalition partners Fianna Fail and the Green Party. Last month, days after Varadkar’s surprise exit from the party, Harris was elected unopposed as the new leader of the centre-right Fine Gael party. He is best known for steering Ireland’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Simon Harris said that, “I do accept this nomination to serve as Taoiseach. I commit to doing everything that I can to honour the trust that you have placed in me.” In his address, the newly-elected leader acknowledged the support of his government’s coalition partners, stating his intention to lead with unity, collaboration, and mutual respect.
The youngest Irish PM pledged to revitalise and ‘reset’ his party, steering it towards promoting core values such as business, farming, law enforcement, and order. These statements were made during a weekend conference of party members.
Harris’ election as Prime Minister marks his remarkable political journey. He joined Fine Gael’s youth branch when he was 16 years old and quickly climbed up the ranks. He became a county councillor at the young age of 22 and was elected to the parliament at 24 years old in 2011. At that time, he was the youngest member of the Irish parliament and earned the nickname ‘Baby of the Dail.’
Simon Harris was appointed health minister in 2016 aged just 29 and higher education minister in 2020. As Ireland’s new leader, Harris faces a challenging to-do list, including embarking on housing and homelessness concerns, and criticism of government policy on asylum seekers.
One of the first tasks for the newly elected leader is to choose a cabinet of ministers. He will soon be announcing a reshuffle of his Fine Gael team, which holds seven out of the 18 seats in the cabinet.
Varadkar was the youngest-ever Irish leader when he was first elected at the age of 38. He was also the first openly gay prime minister in Ireland and the country’s first biracial Taoiseach due to his Irish-Indian heritage. However, in March, Varadkar resigned from his post citing personal and political reasons.
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