At 34, Finland’s Sanna Marin Becomes World’s Youngest-Serving PM

Marin has had a meteoric rise ever since she became the head of her hometown Tampere’s city council at 27.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin.

(Photo Courtesy: sannamarin.net)

Finland on Sunday, 9 December, appointed 34-year-old parliamentarian Sanna Marin as its prime minister, making her the world’s youngest serving PM and the country’s youngest-ever leader.

She is also the third woman to head Finland’s government.

The outgoing leader and former president of the Social Democratic Party, Antti Rinne, resigned on Tuesday, 3 December, after losing the confidence of the coalition partner Centre Party, paving the way for Marin to become the PM, reported The Guardian.

The Centre Party withdrew its support to Rinne after the government’s now-scrapped plan to cut wages for 700 postal workers spiraled into a political crisis with widespread protests.

Who is Sanna Marin?

Sanna Marin has had a meteoric rise ever since she became the head of her hometown Tampere’s city council at the age of 27, according to The Guardian.

Former vice president of the Social Democratic Party, she was elected to the Finnish parliament for the first time in 2015 from the industrial district of Pirkanmaa in southern Finland.

According to AFP, Marin became the country’s transport and communication minister in July this year.

The 34-year-old narrowly beat Ukraine’s 35-year-old leader Oleksiy Honcharuk and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, 39, to become the youngest PM on Sunday.

All five parties in Finland’s ruling coalition are now led by women: Li Anderson, 32, (Left Alliance); Maria Ohisalo, 34, (Green League); Katri Kulmuni, 32, (Centre Party); Anna-Maja Henriksson, 55, (Swedish People’s Party).

(With inputs from AFP and The Guardian)