'TikTok Taoiseach': Simon Harris to be confirmed as youngest Irish PM

DUBLIN, Ireland —  Simon Harris, who is set to become 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.

After Varadkar's shock resignation announcement on March 20, Harris jumped into the race to lead his centre-right party and become prime minister by default. He was selected to head Fine Gael shortly after in an uncontested coronation.

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.

Harris's selection Tuesday as taoiseach when the Dail -- the Irish parliament -- returns from recess crowns a meteoric ascent.

Born in 1986, he grew up in the small coastal town of Greystones near Dublin, the son of a taxi driver.

He dropped out of a college course in journalism and French in Dublin after one year to concentrate on an already promising political career.

Harris entered politics by campaigning for services for his autistic younger brother, and later founded a charity.

He joined Fine Gael's youth wing at the age of 16 and quickly rose through the party's ranks.

A county councillor aged 22, he was elected to parliament as a 24-year-old in 2011 -- at the time the youngest MP and titled "Baby of the Dail".

He was 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.

Harris served as health minister for more than four years, including during the Covid pandemic -- in which his communication skills were praised despite heavy criticism over nursing home