Finland’s Social Democrats has elected a 34-year-old former transport minister to the post of prime minister on Sunday, making her the youngest head of government in the country’s history.
Sanna Marin narrowly won Sunday’s vote to replace outgoing leader Antti Rinne, who resigned on Tuesday after losing the confidence of the coalition partner Centre Party over his handling of a postal strike.
While deflecting questions about her age, Marin told reporters on Sunday night, “We have a lot of work to do to rebuild trust. I have never thought about my age or gender, I think of the reasons I got into politics and those things for which we have won the trust of the electorate.”
At 34, Marin also becomes one of the world’s youngest state leaders, ahead of Ukraine’s prime minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, who is currently 35.
Former PM Antti Rinne had headed Finland’s centre-left five-party coalition since June, and Marin’s appointment is unlikely to lead to significant policy changes by the Social Democrat-led administration.
Parliament is expected to formally swear in the new prime minister on Tuesday.
