Simon Harris confirms he will run for Irish PM as party rushes to back him

Within hours of nominations opening on Thursday to succeed Leo Varadkar, whose unexpected resignation as Fine Gael leader and taoiseach shocked the country, Harris had been endorsed by 24 of the party’s 54 TDs (MPs), senators and MEPs.

Since the party’s rules stipulate that in leadership elections the votes of TDs, senators and MEPs count for 65% of the total, any rival to emerge before the deadline would need almost 100% support from councillors and grassroots members to overtake him.

He laughed at suggestions he could be after a big EU job, saying he would remain as a TD in his Dublin constituency and campaign for his party’s local and European parliament election candidates but had not decided whether he would stand again.

In March, Varadkar’s government suffered damaging defeats in two referendums on references to family and women in the constitution, but he insisted that the disastrous results “didn’t really” influence his final decision.

Harris, who has held a number of ministerial portfolios including health and was widely praised for how he handled his brief during the Covid pandemic, was first elected to the Dáil, or parliament, in 2011, becoming the youngest TD at the time.

Whoever wins will have up to 12 months before the next general election to try to overturn a wide opinion poll deficit: both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are trailing the main opposition Sinn Féin party.