Ireland’s Leo Varadkar: the global fascination with youth goes on

Several things stand out about Leo Varadkar, the 38-year-old politician who will be Ireland’s next Prime Minister after he won the leadership contest of the country’s ruling Fine Gael Party on Friday.

A profile of Varadkar in Irish Times captured the emotion. “This is a political figure who only a few decades ago would have been discriminated or shamed out of running for such an authoritative role,” the Irish Times article said.

The son of a Mumbai-born doctor who had migrated to England in the 1960s, Varadkar will be Ireland’s first ethic minority Prime Minister (PM). In a country that reported over 90% of its population as being ‘all-White’ in 2016, the election of Varadkar sends out a strong, progressive message, especially in the backdrop of election of Donald Trump and the Brexit vote last year.

Varadkar is also Ireland’s first openly gay Prime Minister, after coming out of the closet during a radio interview in 2015. Months after his disclosure, Ireland legalised same sex marriage in a constitutional referendum, a path-breaking development in the socially conservative Catholic country.

Besides, Varadkar’s young age has become a global talking point, with many political analysts around the world seeing him as part of a global movement of young, progressive leaders.

Part of the global trio?

Even before he officially takes charge as PM, which is due to happen in a few weeks, comparisons are already being made to Canada’s liberal heartthrob Justin Trudeau and France’s recently elected President Emmanuel Macron.

“Mr Varadkar has an internationalist outlook – seeing himself in the same mould as French President Emmanuel Macron or Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – a youthful, dynamic, centrist leader,” an article on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) website said.

To his advantage, Varadkar is the youngest of the trio, a year younger than 39-year-old Macron. Only time will tell how Varadkar gets along with his Canadian and French counterparts, whose meeting at the G-7 summit in Italy sparked social media conversations around ‘Bromance’.

However, UK-based New Statesman cautions that Varadkar is a “conventional” politician who is sceptical about welfare. Irish Examiner dubbed him as “privileged, private-school educated, socially awkward nerd.”

However, at 38, Varadkar has also been called the product of his times.

Irish Times said, “Varadkar is hardly an average 38-year-old. But he is nonetheless a child of his time.”

Indian roots

Varadkar has been a political prodigy from his student days at the prestigious Trinity College in Dublin. Irish Times recounted that he fought his first election at the age of 21, and was elected as a member in the lower house of the Irish Parliament at 28.

An Indian-based relative, in an interview, said that the Varadkar family have had a long association with politics.

“We hail from a family of freedom fighters that spread its wings across Mumbai and Ireland in the 1960s,” Shubhada Varadkar, a Mumbai-based classical dancer, was quoted as saying.

“Ours is a large family. Whenever the Irish side of the family arrives here, we have a large gathering of 60-odd extended relatives in our Borivli house,” she added.