The son of immigrant doctor, Dr Leo Varadkar, 38 will be Ireland's youngest elected prime minister from the governing Fine Gael party, with a large support from the party's MPs. He is expected to be elected Ireland's prime minister on June 13, when the Parliament ends the summer break.
Dr Varadkar, the first openly gay minister in Irish history, and the son of an immigrant Indian doctor was regarded as a popular candidate from the start. He beat his only rival, Simon Coveney, the housing minister from a wealthy family of the southern city of Cork. Dr Varadkar's contrasting Dublin based urban, middle-class, educated and liberal upbringing was being considered ideal for leading the Fine Gael party to succeed in the next general election.
Coveney won 65 per cent of member's votes, but Varadkar had a clean sweep with the support of 55 per cent councillors and 51 of the 73 members of the parliamentary party.
He was the social welfare minister in Enda Kenny's centre-right 15-years-old government and managed to secure early support of some of Fine Gael's grandees and senior ministers in Kenny's government. He said Fine Gael, under his leadership will hold true to all the values led by the party's previous leaders, highlighting social liberalisation, a positive relationship between Northern Ireland and Britain and a commitment to Europe.
This people's choice in Ireland goes on to show the remarkable speed of change in Ireland which got rid of the 132-year-old law criminalising homosexual acts between men in 1993; repealed by Reynold's Fianna Fail in a Catholic-majority country. But despite this, most people in Ireland are not bothered about the sexuality of their leaders anymore.
Dr Varadkar said his election showed that “prejudice has no hold in this republic.” He joked about his background, as the third child of a doctor from India and a nurse from Co Waterford. During the leadership contest he said: “that's where I get the year-round tan and the funny surname.”
He hadn't spoken about his sexuality till 2015, but in an interview broadcast on RTE, he went public about his sexuality, but said he did not want the disclosure to define him: “I'm not a half-Indian politician, or a doctor politician or a gay politician. It's just part of who I am.”
Dr Vadarkar studied medicine at the Trinity College, Dublin, and joined Fine Gael's youth wing when he was 23. He got elected to his local council and won the Dublin seat in the 2007 general election, with three senior ministerial roles in six years.
Dr Vardarker is known for being a straight talker, and although shy he is said to have an independent mind. He used the social media extensively during his election campaigns for promoting his personality and that of his party's ideals. His leadership campaign slogan was that Fine Gael would represent “those who get up early in the morning,” which was a direct contrast to Coveney's argument for a “just society.”
His paternal roots are from the state of Maharashtra and the Marathi community in London are extremely proud and happy about his election. Infact, in India more than 50 of his relatives had gathered in Borivli, north Mumbai to watch the election results, handing out sweets to friends and neighbours when the victory was confirmed.
Dr Varadkar's 93-year-old uncle told the Hindustan Times, “I am extremely proud of Leo. My nephew is doing so well and has made the family name famous across the world.” His daughter Subhada Varadkar said the family was “delighted and proud” of her cousin, who came from a long line of Indian “freedom fighters, leaders and social reforms in India.”
While many Indians globally pin their hopes on Ireland's half-Indian prime minister, he will have some tough shoes to fit it upon election. He will have to try fixing Northern Ireland's political situation, the Republic's health and policing systems and the huge crisis of homelessness – while Brexit will also pose a huge challenge for the Irish foreign policy.
