Ireland’s prime minister says he is stepping down

LONDON — Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who made history as his country’s first gay and first biracial leader, announced Wednesday that he is stepping down for reasons that he said were both personal and political.

Varadkar announced Wednesday that he is quitting immediately as head of the center-right Fine Gael party, part of Ireland’s coalition government. He’ll be replaced as prime minister in April after a party leadership contest.

“My reasons for stepping down now are personal and political, but mainly political,” Varadkar said, without elaborating.

He said he plans to remain in Parliament as a backbench lawmaker and has “definite” future plans.

Varadkar, 45, has had two stints as taoiseach, or prime minister — between 2017 and 2020, and again since December 2022 as part of a jobshare with Micheal Martin, head of coalition partner Fianna Fail.

He was the country’s youngest-ever leader when first elected, as well as Ireland’s first out prime minister. Varadkar, whose mother is Irish and father is Indian, was also Ireland’s first biracial taoiseach.

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

“I’m proud that we have made the country a more equal and more modern place,” Varadkar said in a resignation statement in Dublin.

Varadkar was first elected to Parliament in 2007, and once said he’d quit politics by the age of 50.

He led Ireland during the years after Britain’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union. Brexit had huge implications for Ireland, an EU member that shares a border with the U.K.’s Northern Ireland.

Earlier this month, voters rejected the government’s position in referendums on two constitutional amendments. Changes backed by Varadkar that would have broadened the definition of family and removed language about a woman’s role in the home were resoundingly defeated.

The result sparked criticism that the pro-change campaign had been lackluster and confusing.

Even so, Varadkar’s resignation was not widely expected.