Who is Simon Harris, Ireland’s new prime minister dubbed the ‘TikTok Taoiseach’
- Simon Harris, 37, installed as Ireland’s new prime minister, the country’s youngest leader
- Harris takes over from Leo Varadkar, who announced his surprise resignation last month
Simon Harris, who became Ireland’s youngest ever prime minister Tuesday, will be hoping his social media skills and fresh face can save his Fine Gael party’s flagging fortunes as elections loom.
The 37-year-old, who the media has already dubbed the “TikTok Taoiseach” – the name for the Irish prime minister, pronounced “Tee-shock” – beats the previous record holder, his predecessor Leo Varadkar, who was 38 when he took the top job in 2017.
Harris told party members at the time 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”.
At a weekend conference, he followed up by pledging to re-energise and “reset” his party and steer it back towards “core values” like promoting business, farming, and law and order.