Simon Harris becomes Ireland’s youngest Taoiseach after Leo Varadkar exits

Simon Harris became Ireland’s youngest-ever prime minister on Tuesday, succeeding party colleague Leo Varadkar who pushed for a coalition government to stop left-wing Sinn Fein in less than a year. The party achieved its first electoral victory.

The 37-year-old former health and higher education minister is best known for helping guide the country’s initial response to Covid-19. Elected unopposed as new leader of Fine Gael last monthIt comes just days after Varadkar’s shock exit.

He will almost certainly become the 16th person to lead the country of 5.3 million people and was confirmed in parliament after gaining 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 about record numbers of asylum seekers, that brought Fine Gael to a standstill under Varadkar and inherits a The alliance agreement leaves little room for major new policy initiatives.

He will announce a reshuffle of the Fine Gael team, which holds seven of the 18 cabinet seats, on Tuesday. It excludes the finance and foreign affairs portfolio held by Fianna Fail’s Michael McGrath and Micheal Martin.

Harris, who dropped out of university at 20 to work as a political aide, was elected as an MP at 24 and appointed to the cabinet before turning 30, spoke at Fine Gael’s annual conference on Saturday to set out his views on law and order. Focus, helping small businesses get into business and reconnect with rural voters.

He also pledged to tackle the housing crisis “once and for all” – something his predecessor also promised – by proposing an extension of support for developers and first-home buyers while acknowledging that the supply growth needed will take years.

Data on Monday showed asking house prices in Ireland rose 6.5% year-on-year in the first quarter, the fastest rate of growth since 2022. Sunday’s poll showed housing remains voters’ top concern.

The same poll confirmed the recent fall in support for Sinn Féin from the highs of 12-18 months ago, although independent candidates rather than government parties were once again the main beneficiaries.

Sinn Féin’s support rate is 26%, Fine Gael’s 21%, and Fine Gael’s 16%. Other polls show support for the two main ruling parties more closely aligned.