What scandal? Marin photos spark debate about who a leader can be

Sanna Marin has been the focus of unusual by Finnish standards - international attention ever since she became the world's youngest prime minister at the age of 34 in December 2019.

- Minna Ålander

Not every Finnish prime minister makes the cover of Time or has their holidays reported on in Italian newspapers.

Raised in modest circumstances by her mother and her mother's female partner, Marin worked in her 20s as a cashier in a department store. Now, as well as prime minister, she is mother to a young child, has a social life and occasionally goes to festivals and parties. For the more conservative parts of society, all that seems hard to combine in one person.

It was not only Marin who made headlines when she took office, but her whole government: in addition to her Social Democratic party, the four other coalition parties (the Centre party, Greens, Left Alliance and Swedish People's party) were female-led - and four of the five party leaders were under 40.