DUBLIN (Reuters) - Simon Harris on Thursday became the clear frontrunner to become Ireland's next prime minister after entering the contest to replace the outgoing Leo Varadkar.
Harris, if he steps into the void left by Varadkar's shock exit, will have no more than a year to save his party from defeat at a general election that could see the nationalist Sinn Fein party replace it as the lead party in government.
Varadkar announced his departure on Wednesday, citing personal and political reasons, prompting an internal contest within the governing Fine Gael party to replace him ahead of parliamentary elections due by early 2025.
Harris, currently Minister for Further and Higher Education and best known domestically for his time as health minister during the COVID-19 pandemic, is so far the only candidate in the running.
Harris, a graduate of the youth arm of Fine Gael and lifelong politician, has received support publicly from many in the parliamentary party.
Any rival candidate would still have until Monday to enter the race but others seen as possible contenders, including Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney, and Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe have ruled themselves out.
Harris, 37, would become the country's youngest prime minister if elected, surpassing Varadkar, who was 38 when he was first appointed in 2017.
He is one of Ireland's most visible government ministers, with 92,000 followers on TikTok and 1.8 million likes for videos that occasionally dip into bizarrely awkward territory. He left college before completing his undergraduate degree and had settled on a career in politics only a few years after he was old enough to vote.