Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
politician, economist and a member of the
Finnish Parliament
The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...
, representing the
National Coalition Party
sv, Samlingspartiet
, leader1_title = Chairman
, leader1_name = Petteri Orpo
, leader2_title = Deputy chairs
, leader2_name = Antti HäkkänenElina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen
, merger = Finnish Party, Young Finn ...
, which he joined after having been a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from 1975 to 2015. He was elected the Mayor of Helsinki in August 2021 by the Helsinki city council.
Early life and education
Vartiainen was born in Helsinki and according to Vartiainen, he was raised in a Christian environment. Both of Vartiainen's parents were Karelian refugees, his father being born and raised in Ladogan-Karelian
Sortavala
Sortavala (russian: Сортавала; Finnish and krl, Sortavala; sv, Sordavala); till 1918 Serdobol (russian: Сердоболь) is a town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finnish bor ...
and his mother being born in 1931 in Viipuri. Vartiainen's family included himself and three sisters. Vartiainen's father Henri Vartiainen was an economist and economic researcher. Vartiainen completed his mandatory military service in Finland and his current rank in the reserve is lieutenant. Vartiainen joined the Social Democratic Party of Finland in 1975. Vartiainen studied economics, other social sciences and philosophy at the University of Helsinki, earning his Doctorate of Social Sciences in Economics in 1992.
Career before politics
Throughout his career, Vartiainen has worked in Helsinki and Stockholm, Sweden. He worked as an adjunct research assistant at the Academy of Finland Research Council for Culture and Society in 1984–1986. Between 1993 and 2005, Vartiainen worked as a researcher and senior researcher at the Finnish Labour Institute for Economic Research (Palkansaajien tutkimuslaitos). Between 2002 and 2005, Vartiainen worked at the Swedish Trade Union Institute for Economic Research as a researcher in 2002–2003 and as the Managing Director in 2003–2005. In 2005, Vartiainen became the Research Director of the Swedish National Institute of Economic Research (Konjukturinstitutet). Vartiainen worked at the Konjunkturinstitutet until 2012, when he became the Director General of the Finnish VATT Institute for Economic Research, an institution that produces and studies scientific research and analyses of micro- and macroeconomics as well as economic policy in Finland.
Political career
Vartiainen left the Social Democratic Party of Finland in 2015, citing the party's movement further away from right-leaning social democracy (In Finnish: ''oikeistodemarius'') and the inability of the party and the trade union movement to engage in the reforms needed to secure public finances in aging Finland.
Vartiainen was elected to the parliament in 2015 as a representative of the
National Coalition Party
sv, Samlingspartiet
, leader1_title = Chairman
, leader1_name = Petteri Orpo
, leader2_title = Deputy chairs
, leader2_name = Antti HäkkänenElina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen
, merger = Finnish Party, Young Finn ...
from the Helsinki district, gaining 11,436 votes in the elections. He was re-elected in
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
with 8,206 votes.
In 2021 Vartiainen was the National Coalition Party's mayoral candidate of Helsinki in the
2021 Finnish municipal elections
Municipal elections were held in Finland on 13 June 2021 after being rescheduled from 18 April due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Context
The 2017 Finnish municipal elections, last municipal elections were held in 2017 and were won by the National Co ...
, being elected to the city council of Helsinki with 13,898 votes, coming third in the personal vote share after fellow National Coalition Party candidate Elina Valtonen with 15,793 votes and the Finns Party's
Jussi Halla-Aho
Jussi Kristian Halla-aho (born 27 April 1971) is a Finnish politician who has served as a member of the Parliament of Finland from 2011 to 2014 and again since 2019, and as the leader of the Finns Party from 10 June 2017d'Hondt voting method in parliamentary and municipal elections, with the party gathering a total of 25,6% of the total share of votes and 23 representatives out of a total of 85 in the city council. As expected, Vartiainen assumed the title of
Mayor of Helsinki
The City Council of Helsinki (, ) is the main decision-making organ in the local politics of Helsinki, Finland. The City Council deals with issues such as city planning, schools, health care, and public transport.
The 85-seat Council's members a ...
in August 2021, when the newly elected session of the city council began and the council chose a mayor, traditionally picked from the party with the largest share of representatives. Finnish politician, city council representative and researcher
Atte Kaleva
Atte may refer to the following people:
;Finnish given name
* Atte Engren (born 1988), Finnish ice hockey goaltender
* Atte Hoivala (born 1992), Finnish football player
* Atte Mäkinen (born 1995), Finnish ice hockey defenceman
* Atte Muhonen (188 ...
took the seat of Vartiainen in the
Parliament of Finland
The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...
when Vartiainen assumed the mayorship.
Political views
Vartiainen describes himself as a "right-leaning
social democrat
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...
" (in Finnish: ''oikeistodemari''), following the footsteps of Finnish career politician
Väinö Tanner
Väinö Alfred Tanner (; 12 March 1881 – 19 April 1966; surname until 1895 ''Thomasson'') was a leading figure in the Social Democratic Party of Finland, and a pioneer and leader of the cooperative movement in Finland. He was Prime Minister ...
.
Vartiainen supports work-based immigration to Finland.
Vartiainen does not support the Marin administration's social and healthcare reform law (in Finnish ''sote-uudistus)'', which he describes as counter-productive, cost-increasing and expensive.
Other activities
* National Audit Office of Finland (NAOF), Member of the Advisory Board (2017-2019)Advisory Board 2017-2019 National Audit Office of Finland (NAOF).