Ireland will soon have its newest and youngest Prime Minister after the election of Leo Varadkar on Friday. The 38-year-old politician is the newly appointed leader of the Fine Gael, a liberal-conservative and Christian democratic party of the European state.
Who is Leo Varadkar?
Varadkar is the first openly gay prime minister of Ireland. He is the youngest and the only son of an Indian father and an Irish mother who first met while working as a doctor and nurse in England. Their family moved from Leicester to India and settled in Dublin.
He started his political career when he was 20 years old, but failed to win against his contenders.
In 2004, Varadkar earned the highest first-preference vote to finally serve Ireland. He used to work as the spokesperson for Enterprise, Trade, and Employment for two terms.
Varadkar's political credits include his appointment as the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport in 2011, his replacement of James Reilly as the Minister for Health in 2014, and his election as the Minister for Social Protection in 2016.
In one of his public speeches, the Irish politician admitted being gay, making him the first openly gay member of the Irish cabinet. Similarly, Varadkar is known for advocating same-sex marriage. "It's not something that defines me," the leader said. "I'm not a half-Indian politician, or a doctor politician, or a gay politician for that matter."
A Donald Trump in the making?
The upcoming weeks will be crucial for Varadkar as the newest prime minister of Ireland.
His ability to network with other leaders will be tested as he represents the Irish people. As expected, political analysts and critics from all over the world are keeping a close eye on Varadkar's capacity to collaborate with his counterparts.
The newest prime minister previously expressed his appreciation of Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron's leadership styles, most people likened the Irish leader to America's Donald Trump.
Not only that, Varadkar was even compared to Kevin Spacey's character in "House of Cards" where he plays the evil role of Frank Underwood.
Varadkar, just like Trump and Underwood, climbed his way up in a short period of time, and not everyone can do that given the tight competition in the world of politics. A critic, on the other hand, said the new prime minister is "nastier" than his predecessor.
Whether he will become a Trump or a Trudeau, Varadkar's leadership will be tested as he will try to fix the internal issues within Ireland's Fine Gael political party.
