Varadkar, Leo Eric, 1979–, Irish politician, b. Dublin, grad. Trinity College Dublin (2003). The son of an Irish nurse and an Indian doctor, he practiced as a junior doctor before qualifying as a general practitioner (2010). A member of Fine Gael, he was first elected to the Irish parliament in 2007. He served as minister of transport, tourism, and sport (2011–14), health (2014–16), and social protection (2016–17) before succeeding Enda Kenny as party leader and prime minister. He became Ireland's youngest prime minister, as well as the first to be openly gay and to have an ethnic minority background. After the 2020 elections, he became deputy prime minister in a coalition with Fianna Fáil and the Greens.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: British and Irish History: Biographies