Varadkar stood in the leadership election to replace him although more party members voted for his opponent, Simon Coveney, he won by a significant margin among Fine Gael members of the Oireachtas, and was elected leader on 2 June. In May 2017, Taoiseach Enda Kenny announced that he would resign as Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader. During the campaign for the 2015 same-sex marriage referendum, Varadkar came out as gay, becoming the first serving Irish minister to do so. He was elected to Dáil Éireann for the first time in 2007. In 2004, he joined Fine Gael and became a member of Fingal County Council and later served as Deputy Mayor of Fingal. He spent several years as a non-consultant hospital doctor, eventually qualifying as a general practitioner in 2010. Varadkar was born in Dublin and studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin. He previously served under Taoiseach Enda Kenny as Minister for Social Protection from 2016 to 2017, Minister for Health from 2014 to 2016 and Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport from 2011 to 2014. He has been Leader of Fine Gael since June 2017, and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin West constituency since 2007. Leo Eric Varadkar ( / v ə ˈ r æ d k ər/ və- RAD-kər born 18 January 1979) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who is serving as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment since June 2020, having previously served as Taoiseach and Minister for Defence from 2017 to 2020.
