Born on 18 January 1979, in the Rotunda Hospital, Parnell Square, Dublin. Varadkar is the third child and only son of Ashok and Miriam (née Howell) Varadkar. His father was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, and moved to the United Kingdom in the 1960s, to work as a Doctor. His mother, born in Dungarvan, County Waterford, met her Future husband while working as a nurse in Slough. They married in the UK, early in 1971, then lived together in Leicester, where the eldest of their three children, Sophie, was born. The family moved to India, before settling in Dublin in 1973, where their second child, Sonia, was born.
Varadkar was twenty years old and a second-year medical student when he unsuccessfully contested the 1999 local elections, in the Mulhuddart area. Varadkar was co-opted to Fingal County Council in 2003, for the Castleknock area, as a replacement for Sheila Terry. At the 2004 local elections, he received the highest first-preference vote in the country with 4,894 votes and was elected on the first count.
He was selected for the Washington Ireland Program, which prepares ambitious young people for Future leadership roles. He graduated from the school of Medicine in 2003 and spent several years working as a junior Doctor in St James's Hospital and Connolly Hospital, before qualifying as a general practitioner in 2010.
Varadkar was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 2007 general election. Upon being elected, he was appointed to the Front Bench, by then Leader of the Opposition Enda Kenny, who appointed him Spokesperson for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, remaining in this position until a 2010 reshuffle, when he became Spokesperson on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. At the 2011 general election, Varadkar was re-elected to Dáil Éireann, with 8,359 first preference votes (a 19.7% share of the poll in a 4-seat constituency).
Varadkar was born in Dublin and studied Medicine at Trinity College, Dublin. He spent several years as a non-consultant hospital Doctor before qualifying as a general practitioner in 2010. In 2004, he was co-opted onto Fingal County Council and served as deputy mayor, before his election to Dáil Éireann in 2007. He was promoted to the Front Bench by then Leader of the Opposition Enda Kenny, as Spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, remaining in this position until a 2010 reshuffle, when he became Spokesperson on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
Shortly after the Fitzgerald crisis, an impasse was reached in the Brexit talks, as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party Arlene Foster objected to a deal agreed to by Varadkar. British Prime Minister Theresa May and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker. This prevented an agreement from being reached as the deadline slowly approached. Varadkar stated he was 'surprised' and 'disappointed' the UK couldn't reach a deal. However, later in the week a deal was finalised with all parties agreeing to it. Varadkar stated he had received guarantees from the UK there would be no hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. He later said he and his cabinet had 'achieved all we set out to achieve' during the talks before quoting former British PM Winston Churchill by saying 'This is not the end, this is the end of the beginning". An Irish Times poll taken during these days showed Varadkar with a 53% approval rating, the highest for any Taoiseach since 2011, and showed Fine Gael with an eleven-point lead over Fianna Fáil. Government satisfaction was also at 41%, the highest in almost 10 years. Irish Times columnist Pat Leahy claimed Varadkar had ended 2017 'on a high' and IrishCentral called it the Taoiseach's 'finest hour'. In January 2018, his approval reached 60%, a ten-year high for any Taoiseach.
In the cabinet reshuffle of July 2014, Varadkar replaced James Reilly, as Minister for Health.
During an interview on RTÉ Radio on 18 January 2015 (his 36th birthday), Varadkar spoke publicly for the first time about being gay:
On 6 May 2016, after government formation talks had concluded, Enda Kenny appointed Varadkar as Minister for Social Protection. During his time in the Ministry, he launched a campaign against welfare fraud.
Like Kenny, Varadkar relied upon the support of Independents and the abstention of Fianna Fáil TDs, to support his premiership. On 14 June 2017, he was appointed Taoiseach, in a 57–50 vote with 47 abstentions. He became Ireland's first openly gay Taoiseach, as well as the youngest. He is not, however, the youngest head of government in the Irish Republic; both Éamon de Valera and Michael Collins were younger on becoming the head of government. He is also the first head of government who is of half-Indian descent. It was also the first time that one Fine Gael Taoiseach was succeeded by another.
In January 2018, he announced that the referendum on Ireland's restrictive abortion laws would take place in May. If passed, it would allow women unrestricted access to abortion up until 12 weeks, with exceptions if the mother's life is in danger. Varadkar said he would campaign for liberalising the laws, saying his mind was changed after reviewing a case during his tenure as Minister for Health.
