The 36-year-old leader of the Left Alliance, Li Andersson, is her party's pick to run for president.
Her political career began in 2008 at the age of 21 when she ran for election to the council in her native Turku. She fell short that time, gaining just 175 votes, but was then elected chair of the Left Alliance's youth wing, The Left Youth, in 2011.
She became Left Alliance leader in 2016, receiving 62 percent of votes in an unofficial poll of party members, leading to the other candidates withdrawing from the race.
Andersson is now a third-term MP, having first been elected to parliament in 2015. She served as Minister for Education in former PM Sanna Marin's "First Five" cabinet, after being appointed to the position by Marin's predecessor Antti Rinne (SDP) in 2019.
A Swedish-speaking Finn, she has established a position in national politics as an effective advocate with a strong power base in the south-west of the country. She'll be looking to parlay that support into a solid showing in this election.
This is part of a series of profiles on candidates in the presidential election. Our really simple guide provides some essential information about the race to become Finland's next president.
Running on climate change and Nato
When announcing her intention to stand as her party's candidate for president, Andersson said she was especially motivated by the lack of left-leaning candidates stepping forward, saying voters on the right had "more options".
"In the first round, it is extremely important that there is a broad range of candidates who bring different views and priorities," Andersson said at the time.
She added that she planned to build her campaign around two main issues: climate change and Finland's place in Nato.
Andersson said that, in her view, Finland should follow the Nordic policy line within the Nato alliance, citing Norway as a specific example. The Norwegians, members of the alliance since 1949, have for example declined to host permanent Nato bases or nuclear weapons on their soil.
Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, when support for Finland joining Nato grew within Finnish society, Andersson stated that her party would not quit the government over a possible Nato application.
The Left Alliance had traditionally been Finland's most anti-Nato party and even joined the SDP-led coalition government in 2019 on the express condition that the nation would not apply to join any military alliance.
In terms of climate change, the Left Alliance candidate said the issue is "our time’s biggest threat to nature, health, equality and safety".
Andersson also noted that, as president, she wanted to become a voice for those forgotten people of Finnish society, such as the homeless, substance abusers and low-income families.
The Finnish president's role is, however, largely restricted to foreign policy duties, so Andersson's ability to influence these issues as president would be limited.
Slim chances
The latest Yle poll published in December suggests Andersson has the backing of about five percent of the electorate, putting her in sixth position and around 26 percentage points behind the frontrunner, Alexander Stubb (NCP).
Although her chances of success in the presidential elections seem somewhat slim, Andersson is a renowned vote-magnet.
In 2015 she was elected to parliament with the highest number of personal votes in the region of Southwest Finland, and in municipal elections two years later she received the most votes of any candidate outside of Helsinki.
In 2019, she was second on the national level only to former Finns Party leader — and fellow presidential candidate — Jussi Halla-aho in terms of individual votes, garnering over 24,000 first preferences.
In an interview with Yle, Andersson said that her "superpower" as Finnish president would be her deep immersion in the world of politics, both domestic and international.
"Even though I get tired at times, I never wake up in the morning feeling that this work doesn't matter. It has a huge significance for people and for Finnish society as a whole," she stated.
She also noted that the growing number of global crises will be the main challenge facing Finland's next president.
"The war in Ukraine, of course, but also the crisis in the Middle East, which will widen the gap between different groups of countries. It is very likely that, as a result of the war in Gaza, we will see even greater confrontations between different countries and groups of countries," she said.
At the end of October, Andersson publicly criticised Finland's decision to abstain from voting in favour of a UN resolution, calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
This tallies with the position she has set out in her election manifesto on finding humanitarian solutions to the challenges facing the world.
"Finland must pursue a foreign and security policy based on human rights. We must act as an active peace broker in the world," Andersson stated.
Yle's presidential election compass offers a viewpoint on how the candidates line up on various issues. The compass is available in English here.
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