Sanna Marin

Sanna Mirella Marin ([ˈsɑnːɑ ˈmirelːɑ ˈmɑriːn]; born 16 November 1985) is a Finnish politician who has served as Prime Minister of Finland since 10 December 2019. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), she has been a member of the Parliament of Finland since 2015 and briefly served as Minister of Transport and Communications from 6 June to 10 December 2019. Following Antti Rinne's resignation in the wake of the 2019 postal strike, Marin was selected as Prime Minister on 8 December 2019.

Taking office at age 34, she is the youngest person to hold the office in Finnish history, as well as currently the world's second-youngest state leader, after Giacomo Simoncini, who has been Captain Regent of San Marino since 2021.

Sanna Mirella Marin was born on 16 November 1985 in Helsinki. She also lived in Espoo and Pirkkala before moving to Tampere. Her parents split up 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 in 2004 at the age of 19. Marin joined the Social Democratic Youth in 2006 and was its first Vice President from 2010 to 2012. She worked in a bakery and as a cashier while studying, graduating with bachelor's and master's degrees in Administrative Science from the University of Tampere.

Social Democratic Party

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. She initially unsuccessfully ran for election to the City Council of Tampere, but was elected in the 2012 elections. She became chairperson of the City Council within months, serving from 2013 to 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.

Marin was elected second deputy chairperson of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 2014. 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. On 6 June 2019, she became the Minister of Transport and Communications.

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

In December 2019, Marin was nominated by the Social Democratic Party 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 female head of government in Finland, after Anneli Jäätteenmäki and Mari Kiviniemi.

Upon her confirmation by Parliament at the age of 34, she became Finland's youngest-ever prime minister, and was the youngest serving state leader until Sebastian Kurz regained the title in January 2020.

During the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Marin's cabinet invoked the 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.

On 25 May 2021, Finnish media reported that Marin and her family were paying about €300 per month for groceries with public funds as a part of the Prime Minister's tax-free housing benefits. The legality of the arrangement was questioned since the housing benefits do not explicitly include food provisions. Later, it was found to be €850 per month.

In December 2021, Marin was criticized for going clubbing after coming into close contact with a Covid-19 case. At first she defended her actions, but later apologized on Facebook.

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  Marin in 2019

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  Marin and Angela Merkel, February 2020 in Berlin

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  Marin, flanked by other representatives of her government, declaring a national state of emergency on 16 March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

In January 2018, Marin and her fiancé, Markus Räikkönen, had a daughter, Emma. In August 2020, Marin and Räikkönen married at the prime minister's official residence, Kesäranta. Their permanent residence is in the Kaleva district of Tampere, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, they have resided at Kesäranta.

Marin describes herself as coming from a "rainbow family", as she was raised by same-sex parents. She was the first person in her family to attend university.

Marin is a vegetarian. She has explained that, if it were up to her, she would move to the countryside.

In October 2020, Marin took part in a photo shoot for the Finnish magazine Trendi in which she wore a blazer with nothing underneath. It generated much public controversy, with critics accusing her of tastelessness and demeaning her office, and others defending her and accusing the critics of sexism.

Marin was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women announced on 23 November 2020. On 9 December 2020, she was selected by Forbes to rank 85th on the list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. In 2020 she became a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. Marin was selected for the cover of the prestigious Time magazine's “Time100 Next” theme issue, which showcases one hundred influential leaders fromaround the world.