Tuula Irmeli Haatainen (born 11 February 1960) is a Finnish politician 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 ...

, with the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

. She was the Minister of Education 2003–2005 and the Minister of Social Affairs and Health 2005–2007. In 2007 Haatainen was chosen as the Deputy Mayor of Helsinki and she left the parliament. She returned to the parliament following the 2015 elections, in which she received 6,662 personal votes. On 2 September 2017, Haatainen was nominated as the candidate of the Social Democratic Party in 2018

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

. In the election, Haatainen placed sixth with 3.3 percent of the votes, while the incumbent president

Sauli Niinistö Sauli Väinämö Niinistö (; born 24 August 1948) is a Finnish politician who has served as president of Finland since March 2012, the 12th person to hold that office. A lawyer by education, Niinistö was Chairman of the National Coalition Part ...

went on to secure his second term with a majority of votes. After the presidential election, on 5 February 2018, Haatainen was elected as the Second Deputy Speaker of the Parliament. She served in the position until the collapse of

Rinne Cabinet The cabinet of Antti Rinne was the 75th government of Finland. It was formed following the parliamentary election of 2019 and was formally appointed by President Sauli Niinistö on 6 June 2019. The cabinet consisted of a coalition formed by the ...

in December 2019, after which she joined the subsequent

Marin Cabinet The Marin Cabinet is the incumbent 76th government of Finland. It was formed following the collapse of the Rinne Cabinet and officially took office on 10 December 2019. The cabinet headed by Sanna Marin consists of a coalition formed by the Socia ...

as Minister of Employment. She is a trained nurse and has practised in her home region of

Northern Savonia North Savo (or Northern Savonia; fi, Pohjois-Savo; sv, Norra Savolax) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of South Savo, Central Finland, North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, and North Karelia. Kuopio is the largest city in the regi ...

, and in

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...

References

1960 births Living people People from Tuusniemi Social Democratic Party of Finland politicians Ministers of Education of Finland Ministers of Social Affairs of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (1995–99) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1999–2003) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2003–07) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–19) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2019–23) Candidates for President of Finland Women government ministers of Finland Women members of the Parliament of Finland 21st-century Finnish women politicians {{SocialDemocraticPartyFinland-politician-stub