Ireland set to have first openly gay Prime Minister

The son of an Indian immigrant who came out as gay will be the next Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister), after he was voted leader of the country’s main governing party.

Leo Varadkar’s victory in the Fine Gael leadership contest on Friday evening marks another major step for LGBT+ equality in the once staunchly Catholic country, after 2015’s gay marriage referendum.

As well as becoming Ireland’s first gay Taoiseach, Varadkar, 38, will also become the country’s youngest leader, and the first from an ethnic minority background.

He beat his rival, housing minister Simon Coveney, with 60% of the votes, and will take over from former Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny in the coming weeks.

At 38 years old, he will also be Ireland’s youngest ever Taoiseach.

Following the announcement on Friday evening, Varadkar said he was “honoured” to accept the “enormous challenge” ahead of him with humility.

“If my election shows anything it’s that prejudice has no hold in this Republic,” he said. “When my father travelled 5,000 miles to build a new home in Ireland, I doubt he dreamed his son would grow up to be its leader.”

He said Coveney had gained his and his party’s admiration for his “spirited and principled” campaign and said he looked forward to working with him to bring Fine Gael and the country forward.

“Let that be our mission, to build a Republic of opportunity,” he said.

The leadership was decided in an electoral college system that gave 65% of the vote to the Fine Gael parliamentary party - made up of 73 TDs (members of the Irish assembly), senators and MEPs.

Fine Gael’s 21,000 rank-and-file members had 25% of the vote, and 235 local representatives had 10%.

Varadkar has come to personify the liberalisation of a country which was once regarded as one of Europe's most socially conservative nations - homosexuality was illegal until 1993.

However, he has come under criticism for his comments on progressive issues and workers' rights.