Leo content to bide his time as leader in waiting

World of Politics by Harry McGee – harrymcgee@gmail.com

People with a fascination for politics nearly always want to know the same thing – and the question is mostly framed like this: “What’s yer man really like?”

Without a doubt, the one most people want to get the inside track on is Leo Varadkar.

From the moment he arrived on the political scene – and long before he came out as gay – Varadkar has excited comment. Perhaps it’s his Indian heritage. Perhaps it’s the name. Eamon de Valera had the same slightly ‘exotic’ quality.

Not yet 40, Varadkar is perhaps the most recognised politician of his generation, and the person who has already been singled out as a future leader of the party.

A poll in the Sunday Independent last Sunday identified him as the clear favourite to succeed Enda Kenny, whenever the Mayo politician decides to step down. His nearest rival, Simon Coveney is lagging 15 points behind.

Indeed, if you are looking for a counterpart, there are remarkable similarities between himself and Michael Portillo the darling of the Conservative Party during the 1980s and early 1990s, in terms of background, profile, and ideology.

But Portillo’s brashness at the time ultimately made him into a divisive figure and he paid a high price for it. He has, incidentally, mellowed since then, as has Varadkar. The young fogey with outspoken views has become more collegiate over the years.

Six years ago, in an interview with me, he said: “My instinct is to say it as I see it, being a little bit edgy and showing leadership on policy issues. I have always stuck my neck out on policy issues.”

But he has also the capacity to occasionally be more circumspect.

During the leadership campaign in 2010, he got some needle on social media. He promptly deleted his Twitter account. The reason? “It was just to stop myself sending tweets that I would later regret.”

His outspokenness has got him into hot water on more than one occasion. In a remarkable contribution in 2010 he employed a bizarre line of argument when criticising Taoiseach Brian Cowen in the Dail.

He compared him to Fine Gael leader Garret FitzGerald, who, he said, tripled the national debt and destroyed the county. He told Cowen that he should go and start “writing boring articles in The Irish Times”, a reference to FitzGerald’s column. The outburst caused consternation within Fine Gael, and was considered by some as an act of sacrilege.

Later in 2014, he publicly praised Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe and also criticised then Garda commissioner Martin Callinan for his “disgusting” comment. That intervention put a lot of pressure on then Minister for Justice Alan Shatter and may have been partly responsible for his political demise.

Of course, when the same sex marriage referendum was passed, Varadkar became possibly the most popular politician in the country and still commands huge support among younger voters.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.