Youngest Prime Minister to date
Ireland elects Simon Harris as new head of government
April 9, 2024, 3:21 p.m
After the surprising resignation of Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, his successor has been chosen: Simon Harris will become his country’s youngest prime minister – at 37 years old. He also uses platforms such as Instagram and Tiktok for his politics.
Simon Harris becomes the new head of government of Ireland. Parliament in Dublin elected the 37-year-old as the successor to Leo Varadkar, who unexpectedly resigned. Harris, who was previously higher education minister, was elected with 88 votes to 69.
He will now become his country’s youngest prime minister. He has yet to be officially appointed by the President of Ireland. The office of head of government is officially called “Taoiseach” in Irish. Harris – born in October 1986 – has already held several cabinet positions. He also uses platforms such as Instagram and Tiktok for his politics.
Two weeks ago he was the only candidate to take over the post of party leader of the liberal-conservative ruling party Fine Gael. The coalition partners – the also liberal-conservative Fianna Fáil party and the Greens – support his election as head of government.
The left-wing opposition party Sinn Fein, however, called for new elections. Harris will be the third prime minister within a legislative period, MP Pearse Doherty criticized. Ireland, with its 5.1 million inhabitants, must elect a new parliament by spring 2025 at the latest.
The previous head of government, Varadkar, surprisingly announced his resignation in mid-March. The 45-year-old referred to personal and political reasons. On Monday evening he officially submitted his resignation to the President of the EU member state Ireland.
His government had recently suffered defeats in two referendums: it wanted to modernize two places in the constitution on the concept of family and the role of women in the household, but did not get a majority. Varadkar was also accused of mistakes in social and housing policy.