TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said he would not consider himself to be a Tory but that he may have in the past. 

Speaking to Alastair Campbell on the The Rest Is Politics podcast, Varadkar was asked if he was a British politican would he be a Tory, to which he replied: “No. I might have been in the past.”

He was then asked whether he would be Labour, but Varadkar said that “as Taoiseach, I probably shouldn’t answer that”. 

Varadkar said that “all parties change over time and the Conservative Party is currently, it would appear to be going through a more nationalist phase, and that may change”. 

“I probably, as I said, wouldn’t consider myself to be a Tory, but that’s not to say that there weren’t conservative politicians who I actually think are deserving of respect and made some magnificent changes”. 

During the interview, Campbell suggested that Varadkar was “essentially, socially liberally and economically quite conservative”. 

Replying to that evaulation, the Taoiseach said: “Yes, if you need to label me. I think that binary approach to politics of left and right is too simplistic.

“So, socially liberal would be correct. And economically liberal or economincally conservative, depending on how you define those terms, would also be correct in the sense of I believe in balancing the books and I believe in the private and public sector working together.”

He also spoke about the topic of politics in his family home when he was growing up, and say his father would have been more left-wing than him “in terms of his sentiments”.

“But [he] wouldn’t like to pay higher taxes and would have a very low tolerance of people who don’t work and don’t make contribution. So, I think probably like a lot of people on the left, left in sentiment but in reality is that really what they think?” Varadkar said. 

Listen to the episode:

Apple https://t.co/eENalALhJm
Spotify https://t.co/zXQSUWVmSL
Other apps 👇 https://t.co/pSHXFPM3Kq

— The Rest Is Politics (@RestIsPolitics) May 22, 2023

Populism 

Speaking about populism in politics, Varadkar said that he thinks it is “largely an international phenomenon at the moment”.

“And it’s defined by some very simple things, simple solutions to complex problems, emotions being stronger than facts, you know, my emotions are more important than your facts, demonisation of opponents, and also these conspiracy ideas of elites plotting against the virtuous masses,” he said. 

“Whether it’s left populism or right populism, it’s there, it’s dangerous,” the Taoiseach added. 

He said that for people who are in opposition, he “can see the attraction” of populism. 

Varadkar admitted that when Fine Gael was in opposition they were populist at times. 

“I think for politicians who are in government, you do have to continually try to convince people that you’re on their side, and really want to solve their problems, because sometimes they doubt that, particularly when you’re struggling to solve their problems, and that can be a real challenge to demonstrate that you’re on their side and you care about their problems,” he said.