Simon Harris has been confirmed as the new leader of Fine Gael – paving the way for him to become Ireland’s youngest premier.
The announcement was made in Athlone by the chairman of the party’s executive council, Willie Geraghty, after nominations closed and no other candidates put their names forward for the leadership.
Mr Harris, 37, currently the further and higher education minister, will be formally elected as taoiseach in the Dail in April following the Easter recess.
It follows the shock announcement by Leo Varadkar that he would be stepping down as Fine Gael leader and would resign as taoiseach as soon as his successor was selected.
Father-of-two Mr Harris has been described by his party colleagues as ‘energetic’, ‘a great communicator’ and as having a ‘vision for Ireland that is about equality of opportunity’.
Simon Harris, pictured today, has been confirmed as the new leader of Fine Gael, paving the way for him to become Ireland’s youngest premier
Ireland’s Minister for Further and Higher Education, Simon Harris (centre) gives the thumbs up ahead of a leadership announcement at the Sheraton Hotel in Athlone, Ireland today
Outgoing Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, pictured at the European Council Meeting on Friday, surprised many within the political establishment by announcing his resignation on Wednesday
Mr Harris became Irish prime minister in waiting today, pledging to help small business, focus on law and order and tackle migration after his unopposed election to succeed Mr Varadkar as leader of the governing Fine Gael party.
He will be voted in as Ireland’s youngest ever prime minister when parliament next sits on April 9 thanks to support from coalition partners.
Mr Harris will have no more than a year to save the coalition from defeat at parliamentary elections.
Polls for the last three years have put Sinn Fein, a left-wing party that backs unification with British-run Northern Ireland, as the favourite to head the next government.
‘This is a moment for Fine Gael to reset,’ Mr Harris told hundreds of members at a packed party event in the midlands town of Athlone today.
‘Under my leadership, Fine Gael stands for supporting businesses, especially small businesses … Fine Gael stands for supporting the family farm … Fine Gael stands for law and order, on the side of An Garda Siochána (police), where our streets are safe and crime is never allowed go unchecked.’
Mr Harris announced his candidature on Thursday night following a series of endorsements from within the Fine Gael parliamentary party and after a number of senior colleagues said they did not intend to stand for the leadership.
He has previously said he remains fully committed to the programme for government agreed with coalition partners Fianna Fail and the Green Party.
Mr Harris has stopped short of ruling out a general election this year but insisted such a poll was not his priority.
Outgoing Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach Mr Varadkar surprised many within the political establishment by announcing his resignation on Wednesday.
He said he was resigning for ‘personal and political reasons’ and was ‘not the best person for the job anymore’.
Mr Harris will take Mr Varadkar’s old title as the youngest-ever Irish premier.
Paying tribute in a statement, Mr Harris said last week: ‘Leo has steered our party and our country through very challenging times including Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the recent cost-of-living crisis.’
He said: ‘If given the opportunity, I will give this my all.’
The Further and Higher Education Minister announced his candidature on Thursday night having after garnered a plethora of parliamentarians, MEPs and councillors to back him as the party’s next leader
Simon Harris is seen with his wife Caiomhe Wade and daughter Saorise
Mr Harris is expected to be formally elected as Taoiseach in the Dail in April following the Easter recess, and would become the country’s youngest premier at the age of 37
Mr Harris is seen speaking to media in Dublin, Ireland in April 2018
Mr Harris is seen alongside former US President Bill Clinton
A media-savvy and personable politician who is well-versed on social media sites and has already been dubbed the ‘TikTok Taoiseach’, Mr Harris has been at the helm of three departments over an eight-year period.
Elected to the Wicklow County Council aged just 23, he was called a ‘young pup’ by one dismissive councillor – but is now set to lead his country.
Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTE on Friday, Mr Harris said: ‘I want to join you to let you know this evening I am in, I want to be the next leader of Fine Gael. I am ready to step up and I am ready to serve.’
He added: ‘I have been really overwhelmed and extremely grateful for support from Cabinet colleagues, ministers of state, TDs, MEPs, councillors and grassroots members right across Ireland.
‘I want to thank everybody for their support and their trust. It means so much to me and I will work night and day. I will give this my absolute all to repay that trust.’
He added that he wants to bring ‘energy and an enthusiasm’ to the leadership of the party.
‘I want to bring my practical life experience.
‘I want to work with colleagues, I want to listen, I want to really reconnect with our party right across the country. I want to get back to core principles,’ he said.
With his youth and slick communication skills his opponents jibe that he is ‘Leo 2.0’, a continuation of a ‘metropolitan’ style of politics that is out of touch with the wider electorate.
With 1.4 million ‘likes’ on TikTok, and hundreds of thousands of followers on both X and Instagram, he posts content almost daily to his audience.
Some of his videos and remarks have been seen as trying too hard to appeal to the younger generation.
During one stormy parliamentary committee meeting, Mr Harris told the group: ‘Chillax – I think everyone needs to take a step back here’.
‘All the young people know what ‘chillax’ is,’ he said in parliament the next day.
FILE: Former Minister for Health Simon Harris and other Fine Gael members taking part in the annual LGBTI+ Dublin Pride Parade Pride celebrations, Dublin, Ireland, 2018
Future leader of Fine Gael Simon Harris TD, walks out of Leinster House on Thursday evening to speak to media
Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar arrives for the second day of an EU Summit in the Europa building, the EU Council headquarter on March 22, 2024 in Brussels, Belgium, two days after announcing his resignation
As a young boy growing up in the seaside town of Greystones in Co Wicklow, Mr Harris is said to have repeatedly stated he wanted to be taoiseach.
After cutting his political teeth as an assistant to former justice minister Frances Fitzgerald when she was a senator, and then working as a councillor, he was elected to the Irish parliament as its youngest TD in 2011.
His maiden speech in the Dail was to nominate Enda Kenny as taoiseach.
He served as a junior minister in the Department of Finance from 2014 before being propelled to the role of minister for health in the Fine Gael-led minority government that was formed in 2016.
Known as one of the most difficult Irish ministries, Mr Harris faced issues such as the ownership of the National Maternity Hospital, the spiralling cost of the National Children’s Hospital and a controversy around Ireland’s cervical cancer screening programme.
Ireland’s Minister for Higher Education, Simon Harris, poses after being announced as the new leader of Fine Gael at the party’s leadership election convention, in Athlone, Ireland today
Simon Harris poses for a picture after being announced as the new leader of Fine Gael at the party’s leadership election convention, in Athlone, Ireland today
Simon Harris embraces his mother Mary accompanied by his father Bert, his brother Andrew and his sister Gemma, after being announced as the new leader of Fine Gael at the party’s leadership election convention, in Athlone, Ireland today
Simon Harris embraces Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys on the stage as he speaks after being announced as the new leader of Fine Gael at the party’s leadership election convention, in Athlone, Ireland today
After the Irish public voted to liberalise its abortion laws in a 2018 referendum, Mr Harris received praise – and even adoration – by campaigners who viewed him a strong voice for the Yes campaign.
Later in the three-party coalition government, he became minister at the newly-formed Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.
Mr Harris is married to Caoimhe Wade, a cardiac nurse, and the pair share two children – daughter Saoirse, 5, and son Cillian, 2.
Despite his high-flying political career, he has on several occasions declared that being being a dad is ‘the most important job I have, and ever will have’.
