Ireland poised to get 37-year-old Simon Harris as premier after openly gay and Indian-origin PM resigns

London: Ireland is poised to get its youngest-ever premier next month after Simon Harris secured the leadership of the Fine Gael party on Sunday, replacing Leo Varadkar who announced his surprise resignation last week. The 37-year-old Harris, who has been the coalition government's further and higher education minister, was the only candidate to put his name forward to succeed Varadkar, who had been Ireland's previous youngest prime minister, or what Ireland calls its taoiseach. In his victory speech in the central Ireland town of Athlone, Harris said this was a “moment for Fine Gael to reconnect” with the people and pledged to fight against populist forces in Irish politics. He was the country's youngest-ever leader when first elected at age 38, as well as Ireland's first openly gay prime minister.