The life and scandals of Sanna Marin, the party-loving Prime Minister of Finland

Sanna Marin's Social Democratic Party ended up in third place in the 2023 Finnish Parliamentary Election, putting an end to the Millennial politician's premiership.

The BBC reported that Petteri Orpo from the center-right National Coalition Party won the tight three-way race with 20.8%, followed by the far-right Finns Party with 20.1%.

Marin's most lasting legacy will probably be Finland's entrance into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, no small thanks to mounting concerns of neighboring Russia and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Although Marin has only been Prime Minister of Finland for over three years, it's been a path full of obstacles for the Social Democratic Millennial.

But who is exactly Sanna Marin, and why she attracts so much attention?

Sanna Marin was born in Helsinki in 1985. Her parents split up when she was young due to her father's problems with alcoholism. The Prime Minister was raised by her mother and her female partner, and Marin describes herself as coming from a "rainbow family."

The future Prime Minister joined the youth wing of the Social Democratic Party when she was studying Administrative Science at the University of Tampere. She managed to become First Vice President of the Social Democratic Youth.

Image: Sannamarin / Instagram

Sanna Marin was also the first person in her family to receive higher education. While she was studying, she also worked as a cashier and in a bakery.

Image: Sannamarin / Instagram

The young politician quickly rose through the ranks of the Social Democrats. She was elected to the Tampere City Council in 2012 where, according to the BBC, Marin gained notoriety for YouTube videos of her heated debates with other council members.

When she was only 29, Marin was voted to Parliament for the Pirkanma constituency. The New York Times describes her as “left-leaning, even within her party, and climate change, equality and social welfare are at the top of her agenda”.

The former student of the University of Tampere quickly caught the attention of party leader Antti Rinne, forming part of his inner circle.

When Rinne became Prime Minister in June 2019, there was little surprise that Marin was part of his cabinet, as Minister of Transport and Communications.

However, things weren't easy for the Social Democrats. Rinne stepped down as Prime Minister six months after being sworn in after the Center Party left the government coalition due to his handling of a postal strike.

Sanna Marin was elected to replace her former mentor as Prime Minister on December 3, 2019. She was, at the time, the youngest head of government in the world with only 34 years.

The Finnish Prime Minister quickly drew the attention of the media as a sharp contrast to the older, male-dominated governments. Her 12 out of 19 members of her five-party cabinet are also women, and three of them are younger than Marin.

The young politician was part of BBC's 100 Women list in 2020 and ranked 85th among The World's 100 Most Powerful Women, by Forbes. She was also on the March 2021 cover of TIME magazine to represent one of the one hundred most influential people in the world.

Image: Sannamarin / Instagram

Despite all the responsibilities and the media attention, Sanna Marin still finds time to have a personal life. On August 2020, the Finnish Prime Minister married her boyfriend Markus Räikkönen in a private ceremony. The couple has a daughter together.

Image: Sannamarin / Instagram

Around the world, Marin drew comparisons to fellow Millennial center-left Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

However, not everything has been unanimous praise for the Finnish Prime Minister.

She came under fire in October 2020 for wearing nothing but a blazer on a photoshoot for Trendi Magazine. People from the opposition called the pictures “tasteless” and “demeaning”, according to The Evening Standard.

Image: Trendimag / Instagram

In December 2021, Marin faced backlash for going out clubbing after someone from her cabinet tested positive for Covid-19.

Marin claims she didn't read the texts informing about the positive Covid-19 test until the morning after.

The Finnish politician got into trouble because of partying again in August 2022, when a video of her having a party at her home leaked to the press.

The BBC reports that the young PM declared that she hopes people can understand the difference between her work life and her personal life.

To calm down rumors of substance abuse, Marin subjected herself to a test and displayed the results during a press conference on August 19.

A few commentators have wondered if the reaction would have been the same if this was a male politician, such as Justin Trudeau or Emmanuel Macron.

This might be the end of Marin's premiership, but one can hardly imagine things will be over for the young politician. Who knows what will be in store for her?