Simon Harris becomes Ireland’s youngest prime minister after Leo Varadkar’s exit

Ireland: Simon Harris became Ireland’s youngest ever prime minister on Tuesday, succeeding party colleague Leo Varadkar with less than a year to boost the coalition government’s bid to halt a first electoral victory by left-wing Sinn Fein.

The 37-year-old former health and higher education minister, best known for helping steer the country’s initial response to Covid-19, was elected unopposed as the new leader of Fine Gael last month, just days after Varadkar’s shock exit.

That all but assured he would become the 16th person to lead the country of 5.3 million, and he was confirmed in parliament after securing support from some independent lawmakers, as well as his Fianna Fail and Green Party coalition partners.

Harris will face the same deep-rooted problems, most notably a severe shortage of affordable housing and unease at record numbers of asylum seekers, that led to Fine Gael’s stagnation under Varadkar, and inherits a coalition agreement that leaves little room for major new policy initiatives.

He is due to announce a reshuffle of his Fine Gael team – which makes up seven of the 18 seats in cabinet – on Tuesday. It will not include the finance and foreign affairs portfolios, held by Fianna Fail’s Michael McGrath and Micheal Martin.