Sanna Marin: Finland’s prime minister who wants to stay true to herself

Recent headlines about her social life may have put a dent in her image – but the country’s youngest ever prime minister still has plenty of support in her homeland, writes Chris Stevenson

Among friends: Marin addresses the Social Democratic Party in Lahti on Wednesday (Lehtikuva/AFP/Getty)

I am human,” the Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin told supporters in the southern town of Lahti last year. “And sometimes, in the middle of these dark clouds, I miss joy, light and fun.”

Marin was speaking following days of headlines about her partying, relating to videos leaked on social media of an event a few weeks previously in Helsinki, where the 36-year-old drank alcohol, danced, and sang along to music in a private venue. She later took a drugs test – which came back negative – “to clear up any doubts” about her actions when further footage of the event showed her dancing with a Finnish pop star. There followed a photo of two influencers kissing, partially topless, at a different event held at her official residence. Marin apologised for that and admitted it was “inappropriate”.

It is not the first time that the prime minister, who was 34 when she took up the job in December 2019 – then the world’s youngest serving PM, and Finland’s youngest ever – has hit international headlines over her social life. In December 2021, she was forced to apologise for going clubbing after close contact with her foreign minister, who had tested positive for Covid. Marin said she had left her work phone behind and had missed an instruction to isolate.