Sanna Marin

Sanna Mirella Marin (born 16 November 1985 in Helsinki) became Prime Minister of Finland on 10 December 2019 at age 34, then one of the world's youngest sitting heads of government. She led a five-party centre-left coalition in which all five party leaders were women, drawn from the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Centre Party, Green League, Left Alliance, and Swedish People's Party.

Before becoming PM, Marin served on the Tampere City Council (chair from 2013), was elected to the Eduskunta (Finnish Parliament) in 2015, and held the post of Minister of Transport and Communications under Antti Rinne from June to December 2019. She succeeded Rinne as SDP leader in August 2020.

Her tenure was dominated by three issues:

• COVID-19 response, including the use of emergency powers under Finland's Emergency Powers Act in spring 2020.
• NATO accession, which she championed after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Finland formally applied for membership on 18 May 2022 and became the 31st NATO member on 4 April 2023, ending decades of military non-alignment.
• Economic and welfare policy, including raising the minimum education age to 18 and expanding family-leave reforms.

In the April 2023 parliamentary election the SDP increased its vote share but finished third in seats behind the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) and the Finns Party. Marin handed over the premiership to Petteri Orpo on 20 June 2023 and stepped down as SDP leader on 1 September 2023. She announced her resignation from parliament in September 2023 to join the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change as a strategic counsellor.

Internationally, Marin became a high-profile voice for Ukraine and for tightened EU sanctions on Russia, and a frequent interlocutor at European Council and Nordic Council meetings.