Simon Harris set to become Ireland's next prime minister

Simon Harris is set to become Ireland's next prime minister after the governing Fine Gael party appointed him as its leader, following an uncontested election.

The 37-year-old said it was the "absolute honour of my life" to be appointed party leader on Sunday, and his rise to the country's top job is expected to be confirmed when the Irish parliament returns from recess early next month.

He will take over from Leo Varadkar, who announced his resignation on Wednesday in a move pundits described as a "political earthquake" in the EU member.

"My reasons for stepping down now are personal and political, but mainly political," Leo Varadkar said, without elaborating.

Within hours, Harris had secured endorsements for a leadership bid from a majority of Fine Gael party colleagues, prompting his potential rivals to rule themselves out.

With nominations closing at 1300 GMT Sunday and no challengers emerging, party official Willie Geraght declared Harris as winner hours later at a convention in Athlone, west of Dublin.

Upon his coronation, Harris told the centre-right party's members that he would repay their faith with "hard work, with blood, sweat and tears, day in and day out with responsibility, with humility and with civility."

He also said that he would pursue a "more planned and sustainable" immigration policy, following increased tension over the issue, and that he would "fight against the dangers of populism".

On the international front, he called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and condemned Russia's "horrific illegal invasion of Ukraine".

Who is Simon Harris?

Born in 1986, he grew up in a small town near Dublin where he got a first taste for politics when campaigning for disability services for his autistic brother.

He entered the youth branch of Fine Gael at the age of 16, was elected to parliament as a 24-year-old in 2011 and appointed health minister in 2016 aged just 29.

"In many ways, my career has been a bit odd... life came at me a lot faster than I expected it to," he told Hot Press magazine in a 2022 interview.

"He has huge energy and huge ambition," a Fine Gael party colleague told the Irish Times newspaper this week.

Harris will become Ireland's youngest ever "taoiseach" (pronounced "tee-shock" - a Gaelic word for "chieftain" or "leader"), beating Varadkar, who was 38 when he took the role in 2017.

The new taoiseach will face a formidable to-do list, including tackling housing and homelessness crises amid intensifying criticism of government policy on asylum seekers.