Leo Varadkar has confirmed he won't contest the general election.

The former Fine Gael leader stood down as Taoiseach in April and was widely expected to retire from politics.

Varadkar has been a TD for Dublin West since 2007 and confirmed the news at a constituency meeting today.

He has become the 13th sitting Fine Gael TD to announce they will not be contesting the next general election.

Varadkar's seat

In his statement, he gave Senator Emer Currie his support to try and retain the seat he holds ahead of the nomination convention in mid-September.

The party's chances of returning the seat have been helped by the addition of a fifth seat in Dublin West for the upcoming general election

The constituency's other sitting TDs are Jack Chambers (FF), Paul Donnelly (SF) and Roderic O’Gorman (GP).

Main image: Leo Varadkar arrives in Brussels for a European Council meeting, 26-10-23. Image: European Union