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09th Dec 2019

Finland’s Sanna Marin is about to become the world’s youngest Prime Minister

Jade Hayden

She’s 34-years-old.

Sanna Marin is about to become to world’s youngest Prime Minister.

At 34-years-old, the Finnish politician is set to be sworn into government on Tuesday making her the youngest world leader.

Marin, who is Finland’s current transport minister, was nominated by her Social Democrat party over the weekend.

She will be Finland’s third female Prime Minister after Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki and Mari Kiviniemi.

Marin has been a member of the Finnish government since 2015 and minister for transport since June, 2019.

Born in Helsinki in 1985, she graduated from the University of Tampere with a Masters degree in administrative sciences. She was the first person in her family to go to university.

In 2015, she told a local publication that growing up as part of a “rainbow family” had made her feel invisible.

Marin spent her childhood living with her mother and her mother’s female partner.

“That was something that couldn’t be discussed,” said Marin. “It is only now in the 21st century that the debate on rainbow families has begun quite openly.”

“The silence was the hardest. Invisibility caused a feeling of incompetence. We were not recognised as a true family or equal with others.

“But I wasn’t bullied much. Even when I was little, I was very candid and stubborn. I wouldn’t have taken anything easy.”

Marin will be appointed as Prime Minister following last week’s stepping down of Social Democrat leader Antti Rinne.

She will lead a centre-left coalition government alongside four other parties, all of which are headed by women.

Topics:

Finland,news