Sanna Marin

Sanna Mirella Marin ( born 16 November 1985) is a Finnish former politician who served as prime minister of Finland from 2019 to 2023 and as the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) from 2020 to 2023.

Sanna Mirella Marin was born on 16 November 1985 in Helsinki.

She also lived in Espoo and Pirkkala before moving to Tampere.

Her parents separated when she was very young; the family faced financial problems and Marin's father, Lauri Marin, struggled with alcoholism.

After her biological parents separated, Marin was brought up by her mother and her mother's female partner.

Marin graduated from the Pirkkala High School (Pirkkalan Yhteislukio) in 2004 at the age of 19.

She joined the Social Democratic Youth in 2006, later serving as its vice president from 2010 to 2012.

She served as a member of the City Council of Tampere and was later elected member of Parliament.

Marin joined the Social Democratic Youth in 2006 and served as its first director from 2010 to 2012.

She then worked in a bakery and as a cashier, among other jobs, while studying (2007–2017), graduating with a Bachelor's degree (2012) and then a Master's degree (2017) in Administrative Science from the University of Tampere.

Marin's political career was described by the BBC as "beginning at the age of 20", in the years following her high school graduation and beginning her affiliation with the Social Democratic Youth.

In 2008, she unsuccessfully ran for election to the City Council of Tampere, but stood again and was elected in the 2012 elections.

She became chairwoman of the City Council within months, serving from 2013 to 2017.

Marin was elected second deputy chairman of the SDP in 2014.

She was a Member of Parliament from 2015 to 2023.

She was re-elected as member of parliament in April 2023 but resigned from her position in the Finnish parliament to become a strategic adviser on political leaders' reform programmes in the Tony Blair Institute in September 2023.

In 2015, she was elected to the Finnish Parliament as an MP from the electoral district of Pirkanmaa.

Four years later, she was re-elected.

Marin was born in Helsinki but as a child moved with her mother to Tampere where she later graduated from the University of Tampere in 2017.

In 2017, she was re-elected to the City Council.

She first gained prominence after video clips of her chairing contentious meetings were shared on YouTube.

Following Antti Rinne's resignation in the wake of the postal strike controversy, Marin was selected as prime minister on 8 December 2019.

Taking office at the age of 34, she was the youngest person to hold the office in Finnish history.

As prime minister, Marin led the response to the COVID-19 pandemic by invoking a state of emergency.

She condemned the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine.

Together with president Sauli Niinistö, she announced that Finland would apply for NATO membership in May 2022; Finland successfully joined NATO in April 2023.

On 6 June 2019, she became Minister of Transport and Communications.

In December 2019, Marin was nominated by the SDP to succeed Antti Rinne as the Prime Minister of Finland, but Rinne formally remained party leader until June 2020.

In a narrow vote, Marin prevailed over Antti Lindtman.

A majority of the ministers in her five-party cabinet are women, numbering 12 out of 19 at the time of the cabinet's formation.

She is the third and longest-serving female head of government in Finland, after Anneli Jäätteenmäki and Mari Kiviniemi.

Throughout her time in office, she also faced criticism, particularly due to an October 2020 photoshoot and leaked private party videos.

In the 2023 parliamentary election, her party lost its status as the largest party, coming in as third in vote and seat share, and she was succeeded as prime minister by Petteri Orpo of the National Coalition Party.

She was the leader of the SDP until September 2023, when she retired from Finnish politics.

On 23 August 2020, Marin was elected chair of the SDP, succeeding Antti Rinne.

Upon her confirmation by the Finnish parliament at the age of 34, she became Finland's youngest-ever Prime Minister, making her the then youngest serving head of government until Sebastian Kurz regained that description in January 2020.

During the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Marin Cabinet invoked a state of emergency in Finland to alleviate the epidemic.

When Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven could not attend a European Council meeting in October 2020 because of his mother's funeral, Marin stepped in to represent Sweden.

In return, Marin asked Löfven to represent Finland at a Council meeting later that month.

Marin's SDP came third in the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election.