Leo

The emergence of Leo Varadkar in Irishpolitics and his election to the post of Taoiseach is a remarkable tale fromany perspective. Journalists Philip Ryan and Niall O'Connor tell the insidestory of how the son of an Indian immigrant battled against adversity and withhis own sexuality to become the youngest and first openly gay Prime Minister ofthe Republic of Ireland.

This will be the definitive account ofhow an outspoken young politician has shaped Ireland's future by coming out asgay in full view of the public before going on to orchestrate a secret two-yearcampaign which saw him become leader of the country. Along the way, he put hispolitical career on the line to defend police whistleblowers and survived aninternal party purge after he backed the loser in a failed leadership heaveagainst former Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny.

In the book, family, friends andcolleagues have for the first time provided an exclusive behind-the-scenesaccount of Mr Varadkar's meteoric rise to power. Ryan and O'Connor, bothprominent political correspondents working for Ireland's biggest newspapergroup, Independent News and Media, have spent months analysing in detail MrVaradkar's personal and political background to comprehensively tell the storyof the most talked-about Irish politician in decades.

Philip Ryan is political correspondent for the Sunday independent, Irish Independent, Herald and independent.ie.Niall O'Connor is political correspondent for the Irish Independent.

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