Marin, who when she became prime minister at the age of 34 was the world’s youngest elected leader, is a career politician whose rise through the ranks of Finland’s center-left Social Democratic Party has appeared effortless. At the age of 27, he led the city council of Tampere, the nation’s third largest city, gaining acclaim after a video of his goofy handling of a surreal 10-hour debate on a high-speed tram proposal went viral. (After agonizing debate, the streetcar project eventually passed.) When former prime minister Antti Rinne resigned in December 2019 over his handling of postal workers’ strikes, Marin, then minister of transport and communications, took the top job. International attention inevitably followed: Marin led a five-party coalition in which every leader was a woman and most were under 40. Socially savvy Marin was seen as a much-needed breath of fresh air for her party, attracting a much-needed younger voter base who could relate to Marin’s breastfeeding selfies or the modest, millennial-style apartment she shared with her husband, Markus Räikkönen . before he became prime minister. An efficient, capable administrator who lacks the wild charisma of a Clinton or a Blair, Marin prefers a low-key, evidence-based approach to decision-making. She proved adept at managing the complex intra-party relationships required by Finland’s coalition politics, leading her coalition to agree a new budget in April 2021 after tense negotiations. She has won praise for her swift, decisive leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic and most recently secured Finland’s entry into NATO, to the relief of many inside the country who feared Russia’s territorial ambitions might extend beyond its borders. To the left of her party, Marin is passionate about environmental issues and women’s rights. He pledged that Finland would be zero by 2035 and improved the country’s already generous parental leave system for both mothers and fathers. After the birth of her daughter Emma in 2018, Marin and Räikkönen split their parental leave equally and she spoke about why she felt it was so important that they both spend time at home. In person, Marin is composed, well-prepared and sometimes stiff, always on top of her briefs and rarely prone to embarrassing blunders. He has been known to personally provide reporters with briefing papers outlining their key areas of interest during interviews and expect them to read it. This work ethic stems from childhood: Marin’s parents divorced when she was a child and money was tight. She worked in a bakery to supplement her mother’s income and later as a cashier to put herself through university. When Marin graduated, she was the first member of her family to earn a degree. She is also a proud supporter of LGBTQ rights: after separating from her father, her mother had a same-sex relationship. Her supporters say the attacks on Marin are fueled by misogyny. Marin addresses a panel session during the 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. Photo: Alessandro Della Valle/EPA Ironically, it is a side of Marin rarely seen in public – gregarious, free-spirited and relaxed – that now threatens to undo the PM. In December 2021, she apologized for visiting a Helsinki nightclub with friends after being exposed to Covid-19: she had gone out without her official phone and did not receive a text telling her to self-isolate until after she returned home. This week, Marin took a drug test (which came back negative) after footage emerged of her dancing and drinking with friends at a private party and later at a Helsinki nightclub with a group of musicians, models and social media influencers networking. Marin initially defended her right to socialize outside of work hours, stating that she had only had a moderate drink and was at her desk the next morning. But she later apologized after photos of her friends posing topless at her official residence were leaked online. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Her supporters argue that the attacks on Marin are fueled by misogyny, and indeed it is true that sexism has dogged the Marin administration in retrospect. At Davos in 2020, shortly after she was installed as leader, a committee moderator asked Marin how her government was working, leading to her polite but puzzled response:[It works] like any government. We’re not in a women’s locker room and we’re not talking about the locker room.” Later that year, Marin was criticized for going braless under a black jacket for a magazine shoot. Critics point out that Marin appears to be in bad company and wonder if the prime minister can be used by those seeking to boost their media profile. They also question the wisdom of allowing herself to be filmed partying by people she, on reflection, couldn’t trust. The timing is inopportune: Marin’s party is trailing the centre-right National Coalition in the polls and it looks likely that she will no longer be prime minister in the 2023 general election. Marin is a proud supporter of LGBTQ rights: after separating from her father, her mother had a same-sex relationship. Photo: Saara Peltola/LEHTIKUVA/AFP/Getty Images But Marin has also been met with outpouring of support, particularly from Finnish women, who have shared videos of themselves partying in support of their embattled prime minister with the hashtag #solidaritywithsanna. The party controversy goes to the heart of what makes Marin such an engaging, but occasionally divisive, leader. After becoming Prime Minister, Marin announced that she had no intention of becoming a permanent politician. At first she continued to live in her private apartment and shop at the local supermarket. (She was forced to move to her official residence, Kesäranta, to better manage the Covid response.) And it is this same insistence on authenticity that drives Marin’s desire to maintain a normal social life, to her credit and occasionally to her peril. In a 2020 interview with British Vogue, Marin stated that she “just wants to[s] to be honest and be myself. I find it much easier.” Maybe others need to understand the idea that world leaders can also be normal people.
