‘Accidental politician’ poised to be Ireland’s new PM
Simon Harris, a self-described “accidental politician” with a large social media following, is poised to be the next prime minister of Ireland, usurping his predecessor as the country’s youngest Taoiseach.
Mr Harris, 37, will be a year younger than Leo Varadkar, who announced his shock resignation for “personal and political” reasons on Wednesday, when he became leader of the country in 2017.
Currently the minister for further and higher education, Mr Harris is the only candidate to replace Mr Varadkar as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael, which is part of Ireland’s three-party coalition government.
The window for nominations closes at 1pm on Sunday but with several big beasts either ruling themselves out or backing Mr Harris, it appears increasingly certain the race will become a coronation.
Reports said Mr Harris was being advised by Fine Gael heavyweight “Big Phil” Hogan, who was forced to resign as EU commissioner for breaking Covid-19 regulations by attending a golf-club dinner in 2020. Mr Hogan, now a lobbyist in Brussels, is believed to harbour a grudge against Mr Varadkar after his sacking over the “golfgate” scandal.
If he is confirmed in post in early April, Mr Harris has a maximum 12 months to rescue Fine Gael from defeat in general elections that must be called by March next year.
Sinn Fein is predicted to triumph in that vote and has had a healthy lead in the polls since overtaking Fine Gael in 2020.
Mr Harris, a father of two, has already ruled out a coalition with the Left-wing Republican party, which wants a united Ireland.
In 2018, Mr Harris said it was too early to hold a border poll on Irish reunification, saying: “Brexit is not a time to further divide the people of Northern Ireland.”
Best known for his stint as health minister during the pandemic, Mr Harris fell into politics at the age of just 15 through campaigning for better services for people with autism, including his brother.
“In many ways, I’m an accidental politician. I ended up in politics when my brother was born with autism and as a moody teenager I started campaigning in Wicklow and saying there has to be a better way of providing educational supports for people with autism,” Mr Harris said.
After dropping out of university, he pursued a career in politics and quickly became a rising star in the centre-Right Fine Gael party. He was elected as MP for Wicklow in 2011, as the “Baby of the Dáil” the youngest politician in the Irish parliament.
Party allies see him as an effective communicator that can broaden Fine Gael’s appeal. His canny use of social media has seen him dubbed the “TikTok Taoiseach” and he has 92,000 followers on the platform.
In 2020, he used social media to apologise after he falsely said there had been 18 coronaviruses before Covid-19, telling viewers online he can be “an awful old idiot at times”. The 19 refers to the year the virus was noticed, not the number of mutations.
Occasional awkwardness
His reputation for occasional awkwardness was cemented after he spelled TikTok incorrectly as “TicTok” in his first-ever video on a platform where he racked up 1.8 million “likes”.
Crowds chanted his name, much to Mr Varadkar’s annoyance, after Ireland overturned its ban on abortion in a referendum in 2018.
He had played an important role in the campaign, despite having previously been a pro-life politician who had vowed to oppose the ending of the ban in 2011.
His about-turn came after the death of a woman who was refused an abortion, which could have saved her life. He said he was “delighted” to have changed his mind.
As health minister, he survived a vote of no confidence brought against him by Sinn Fein over spiralling costs at a hospital. He also faced criticism for his handling of a smear-test scandal.
Mr Harris has long harboured leadership ambitions and used his last few years in relative obscurity as education minister to build up his network of allies.
