Ireland’s Leo Varadkar moves a step closer to becoming prime minister
Leo Varadkar, a doctor and Ireland’s minister for social protection, Friday became the new leader of Ireland’s ruling Fine Gael party, bringing him one step closer to becoming the country’s next prime minister.
Mr. Varadkar, who would be the country’s first openly gay prime minister and the first of South Asian descent, was selected by party lawmakers and other politicians to replace outgoing Prime Minister Enda Kenny. He was the favored candidate over Simon Coveney, Ireland’s minister for housing, planning, community and localgovernment.
“I want to thank everyone who engaged in this extraordinary, open democratic process,” Mr. Varadkar said in his acceptance speech. “For me, it’s just the start of a more democratic and more engaged Fine Gael, and we will be stronger for it.”
Mr. Varadkar, 38, and Mr. Coveney, 44, were vying to replace Mr. Kenny, who announced in May that he would step down as head of the Fine Gael party and as the country’s leader once a successor was chosen. Mr. Kenny faced mounting pressure from within his party over the handling of a scandal in the Irish police force.
As party leader, Mr. Varadkar is expected to become the new prime minister — also knownas the “taoiseach” — when Parliament votes on the matterwithin a few days.
Mr. Varadkar, the son of an Irish mother and an Indian immigrant father, and Mr. Coveney, a member of a prominent political family, rose through the ranks in Fine Gael, a center-right Christian democratic party that leads a minority government with rival political partyFianna Fail.
Mr. Varadkar leans more conservative on social and economic issues, while Mr. Coveney tends to edge toward the left of his party, some analysts said.
Mr. Varadkar’s mediasavvy charisma, grass-roots campaign strategy and ability to appeal to both urban and rural voters placed him in the best position to become the country’s next leader, analysts said. He has promised to strengthen the economy through income tax reform and to pursue technological advancements to help people in rural areas.
“He is a terrific media performer and has a reputation as a straight talker,” said Graham Finlay, a political science professor at University College Dublin. “He has a commanding lead among parliamentary members and among counselor and electorate voters because he appeals to urban constituencies.”
In 2015, shortly before Ireland became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage in a popular vote, Mr. Varadkar came out as gay on Irish national radio.
“It’s not something that defines me. I’m not a half-Indian politician, or a doctor politician or a gay politician for that matter,” Mr. Varadkar said. “It’s just part of who I am. It doesn’t define me. It is part of my character, I suppose.”
Many observers see Mr. Varadkar’s rise in politics as a milestone that highlights changing attitudes in Ireland’s once-religiously conservative population.
Ireland decriminalized homosexuality in 1993 and overturned its ban on divorce two years later. The decline of the Catholic Church’s influence in Irish society over the past 20 years, following revelations that some priests were sexually abusing children, was a significant factor that has contributed to Mr. Varadkar’s rise in politics, said Henry Farrell, a political science professor at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.