Leo Varadkar announces stepping down as Ireland prime minister citing ‘personal and political’ reasons

Ireland's prime minister Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he would be stepping down from the position and also relinquishing his role as the leader of the governing Fine Gael party. According to Varadkar, the reason for his resignation is both “personal and political”.

"I am resigning as president and leader of Fine Gael effective today and will resign as the Taoiseach (prime minister) as soon as my successor is able to take up that office…I’m proud that we have made the country a more equal and more modern place,” Varadkar told the media, reported AFP.

According to Varadkar, he currently has no firm plans for the future but he would remain in the Irish Parliament as a backbench lawmaker.

Also read: Dublin rioters brought shame on Ireland: Irish PM Leo Varadkar

About Leo Varadkar

1. Varadkar, 45, became the prime minister of Ireland from 2017 to 2020. He was the country’s youngest-ever leader when he was first elected as the ‘Taoiseach’ or Ireland's leader at the age of 38.
2. He was again elected as the PM in December 2022 as part of a job-sharing deal made by the country’s centrist coalition government. He replaced Micheál Martin as lawmakers voted to approve his nomination during a special session of the Dail, the lower house of Ireland’s Parliament.
3. Varadkar is also the first openly gay prime minister. He came out publicly in 2015 before Ireland's referendum legalising same-sex marriage.
4. Varadkar was born in Dublin to an Irish mother and an Indian immigrant father, which also made him Ireland’s first biracial leader.
5. The Irish PM has a medical degree from Trinity College Dublin. After his graduation, Varadkar went into general practice but stayed involved in politics. In 2007, he secured election for Fine Gael in Dublin West.

(With inputs from AFP, Reuters)