Sanna Marin was announced as Finland’s new prime minister earlier in December. Marin takes over from Antti Rinne, who resigned following criticism of his handling of a postal strike. At just 34 years old, Marin is now the youngest Prime Minister in the world, and leader of the Social Democrats.  The new female prime minister is part of a centre-left coalition government in Finland, formed with five other party leaders, all of whom are women. Three of these women are under 35. Marin’s cabinet will hold twelve women, and seven men – one of the highest share of females in a cabinet in the European Union.

Source: REUTERS/Lehtikuv

But what does this mean for Finland? 

Feminists across the world have applauded and congratulated Marin, and have been inspired by the promise of such a change in leadership. The new prime minister has been described as a “talented politician known for her leadership skills whose progressive program stresses combating climate change, protecting the country’s famous social protections like health care and reaching out to young people.” Others, however, have been less hopeful, and more critical of the young prime minister. Marin, along with the other female leaders, has been deemed “unexperienced” [sic], and there have also been some sexist tendencies in her critique, including some media coverage commenting on the physical appearance of the new Prime Minister. The Estonian President recently apologised after the country’s interior minister mocked Marin, belittling her as a “sales girl”.

Yet for Finland, Marin’s new leadership is nothing out of the ordinary. The Nordic country has consistently ranked highly in terms of its achievements for gender equality. It was the first European country to give women the right to vote, in 1906, and was the first in the world to allow them to stand as candidates in political elections the same year. Given the country’s pioneering political history, it is not unusual for Finns to see a large cohort of females in senior political positions: 63% of its senior members of government are women – the highest share in the European Union.

Source: The Economist

And what does it mean for the rest of the continent? 

Other cabinets across the continent (and the world) are not quite as successfully gender-balanced as Finland’s. Although Spain has consistently held a very high proportion of female cabinet members, the rest of the continent seems to be lagging behind. Just two of the fourteen cabinets around the world with at least 50% female ministers are European. 

Furthermore, it seems that women across Europe are still finding it difficult to reach the top jobs. As a higher proportion of men still dominate many of the top job sectors, concerns have been raised over a “glass ceiling” for women in their careers. A major reason for this is that many women in Western Europe seem to be struggling with the work-life balance. They are affected in particular as the burden of childcare, or taking care of elderly family members, still often falls on women. It is not uncommon for these responsibilities to prevent them from continuing to work, let alone from aspiring towards more prestigious careers. 

Nevertheless, the number of female political leaders in Europe is on the rise: despite Theresa May stepping down earlier this year, three other women have taken office in 2019. These are Brigitte Bierlein, Austria’s Interim Chancellor; Sophie Wilmès, Belgium’s Prime Minister; and Mette Frederiksen, Denmark’s Prime Minister. Perhaps this is indicative of a new pattern of change in striking an increasingly gender-balanced political climate across Europe.

Tough times ahead

Yet, Marin faces a challenging road ahead. Interestingly enough, there appears to be a rising wave of populism across northern Europe, not dissimilar to what is also being observed across other parts of Europe. Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, advocating for anti-immigration, has arguably reinvigorated the Left across Europe, through her bid to neutralise anti-immigrant nationalism whilst also preserving the deep-rooted Danish job security ethos. There is no doubt that populism has been a potent force in Denmark.

Undeniably, waves of populism do have considerable presence across other Nordic countries. Finland, for one, has been “grappling with a surge in far-right nationalism” over recent years. This is related, unsurprisingly, to fears about immigration, as well as to some key anti-green rural voters, many of whom believe that the cost of curbing emissions and fighting climate change will simply be too high. Recent opinion polls have also suggested that the far-right populist True Finns Party are in fact the most popular party in the country.

It’s interesting for the Social Democrats”, says Bäck, a lecturer in political science at the University of Helsinki. “Because their support is mostly among those who are older, to have young women coming up as leaders is quite special. It’s clear that these parties both need and demand change in their structures, to try in some way to take into account changes in society and attract younger voters.” 

One of the reasons that populism is on the rise in Denmark is that many of the Social Democratic Party’s voters are older, and are prone to supporting more populist and potentially sexist ideologies. As a young female prime minister, Marin’s leadership of the party directly contrasts and challenges these views. In turn, it could be a challenge for her to prove herself to these voters, particularly given that like many other OECD countries, Denmark’s population is ageing.

There is no doubt that Marin’s leadership of Finland will not be an easy path: labour disputes have led to a number of strikes breaking out in recent months, there is a constant battle to deliver the strong welfare state expected by the people (Marin herself is a strong advocator of this), and the nation has still not fully recovered economically since the financial crisis of 2008. The challenge for Marin and her cabinet, it thus seems, will be to return to the stable politics and “sisu” – the Finnish word for the stoicism, strength, and courage that has characterised previously successful Finnish governments. Nevertheless, it is already clear that the new prime minister has offered hope in a world that still conditions us to believe that young women cannot rise to the top.