Leo Varadkar is on course to succeed Enda Kenny as Ireland's prime minister.
The former social protection minister will be the Catholic country's first openly gay prime minister, its first of Indian descent and the youngest person ever to hold the office.
The ruling Fine Gael party elected Mr Varadkar, 38, as its leader this evening.
He received the publicly declared support of almost two-thirds of the parliamentary party, who account for 65 percent of the vote,
On his 36th birthday in January 2015 during an interview on Ireland's RTÉ Radio, Mr Varadkar spoke publicly for the first time about being gay.
He said: 'It’s not something that defines me. I'm not a half-Indian politician, or a doctor politician or a gay politician for that matter.
'It’s just part of who I am, it doesn't define me, it is part of my character.'
This made him the first openly gay cabinet member in Ireland.
Varadkar was a prominent advocate of the same-sex marriage referendum.
His partner, Matthew Barrett, is a doctor at Mater Misericordiae University Hospital.
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