Sanna Marin

Personal details

Prime Minister 10 December 2019 to present
Party Leader, Master of Administrative Sciences, Member of Parliament
Social Democratic Party
Date and place of birth: 16 November 1985, Helsinki
Place of residence: Tampere

Political career

Prime Minister 10 December 2019 to present
Minister of Transport and Communications (Rinne), 6 June 2019–10 December 2019

Social Democratic Party, Party Leader 23 August 2020 to present, 1st Deputy Party Leader 2017–2020, 2nd Deputy Party Leader 2014–2017

Member of Parliament, 2015 to present
Parliament work

Tampere City Council, Chair 2013–2017, Member 2017–2021
Council of Tampere Region, Member 2013–2016

Other information

Family: spouse and child
Interests: outdoor activities
Language skills: Finnish, English, Swedish

Profile

Sanna Marin was born in Helsinki on 16 November 1985. She spent her childhood in Pirkkala and now lives in nearby Tampere with her husband and their daughter Emma (b. 2018). 

Having completed her general upper secondary education in 2004, Marin took a Master’s degree in Administration Sciences at the University of Tampere in 2017. Her Master’s thesis, entitled ‘Finland, a country of Mayors’, looked into the professionalisation process of political leadership in Finnish cities.

In 2015, Marin was elected to Parliament for her first run. There she has been member of the Grand Committee, Legal Affairs Committee and Environment Committee. She is member of Tampere city council, which she chaired in 2013–2017. 

In 2014, Marin was elected as a second deputy party leader of the Social Democratic Party, and since 2017 she has served as the First Deputy Party Leader. In August 2020, Marin was elected as Chair of the Social Democratic Party.

Marin has been actively engaged in politics since 2006. “Being involved and making a difference represent civil rights for me. Changing things takes commitment. The welfare state or the ground rules for working life should not be taken for granted; they are the result of hard work and determined efforts.” 

Environmental values are also close to Sanna Marin’s heart: “Climate change and loss of biodiversity are some of the biggest problems of our times. Addressing them takes strong political will and determination.”

During the government formation talks in spring 2019, Marin chaired the negotiating table that addressed the theme ‘Carbon neutral Finland that protects biodiversity’. She served as Minister of Transport and Communications in the Rinne Government.

Sanna Marin was appointed Prime Minister on 10 December 2019. Marin is the third female Prime Minister of Finland and the youngest prime minister in Finland’s history.