Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, the world’s youngest female head of government, has been narrowly ousted by her conservative rivals in Sunday’s elections.
Marin’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) finished third in the parliamentary elections, garnering 19.9% of the vote behind both the center-right National Coalition and the populist-right Finns Party by less than one percent each. The SDP was plagued by high inflation and surging national debt, according to NPR.
Finnish voters have given a boost to conservative parties in a weekend election, depriving the popular left-wing Prime Minister Sanna Marin of another term as the country prepares to make its historic entry into NATO in a day’s time. https://t.co/S3KPG9nkTs
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 3, 2023
Marin, 37, is the fourth youngest head of government in the world. She entered office in 2019 at age 34, making her the world’s youngest leader at the time.
Despite the election loss, her personal popularity remained high in Finland after she led the country’s COVID-19 response and ushered it into NATO. She made international news in Aug. 2022 when private videos of her partying in Helsinki were leaked to the public, showing her drinking and dancing in an apartment, in addition to footage of her dancing intimately with a man who was not her husband at a club. (RELATED: Someone Is Trying To Call The Fun Police On Finnish PM Seen Partying In Epic Video)
Marin previously had to apologize for going to a nightclub during the COVID-19 pandemic after being exposed to the virus. She defended the videos leaked in 2022 and took a drug test to prove that she was not using any substances aside from alcohol. She claimed to have the right to “cut loose” just like anyone else.