Mari Kiviniemi
| Mari Kiviniemi | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 62nd Prime Minister of Finland | |
|
In office 22 June 2010 – 22 June 2011 |
|
| President | Tarja Halonen |
| Deputy | Jyrki Katainen |
| Preceded by | Matti Vanhanen |
| Succeeded by | Jyrki Katainen |
| Minister for Public Administration and Local Government | |
|
In office 19 April 2007 – 22 June 2010 |
|
| Prime Minister | Matti Vanhanen |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Tapani Tölli |
| Minister for Foreign Trade and International Development Acting |
|
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In office 3 September 2005 – 2 March 2006 |
|
| Prime Minister | Matti Vanhanen |
| Preceded by | Paula Lehtomäki |
| Succeeded by | Paula Lehtomäki |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
27 September 1968 Seinäjoki, Finland |
| Political party | Centre Party |
| Spouse(s) | Juha Louhivuori (m. 1996) |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Helsinki |
Mari Johanna Kiviniemi (born 27 September 1968) is a Finnish politician, who served as the second female Prime Minister of Finland.
Since 25 August 2014, she is Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD.
Kiviniemi was born in Seinäjoki, Finland. She grew up in rural Southern Ostrobothnia, the daughter of a chicken farmer, and went to school in Jalasjärvi. As a teenager during high school, she spent a year as an exchange student in Germany. She enrolled in the University of Helsinki in 1988 to study economics.
Kiviniemi is a career politician, and first ran as a candidate for Member of Parliament in 1991, garnering less than 5,000 votes, while serving as the Secretary General of the Centre Party Student Union. The year after completing the work for her Master's degree in Social Sciences, she ran again in the 1995 general elections, this time winning a seat from the Southern Ostrobothnia district with 9,350 votes.
Kiviniemi is also a member of the Helsinki city council, in addition to her work in national politics. She has been on the city council since 2005.
In 2003, Kiviniemi was elected to a leadership position within the Centre Party, serving as vice-chairman (one of three) until June 2008, when she was voted off at that summer's party convention. She became a special advisor to Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen in 2004, and was twice appointed by him to serve as a Cabinet minister: first in September 2005 on a temporary basis when the incumbent went on maternity leave for six months; and then on a full-time basis in April 2007.
On 22 January 2010, one month after Prime Minister Vanhanen announced he would be stepping down as leader (chair) of the Centre Party at its June 2010 convention, Kiviniemi announced her candidacy for the vacancy. Her campaign was formally launched in April.
Delegates to the Centre Party Convention met in Lahti to elect a new leader on 12 June 2010. Kiviniemi won the second-round run-off, defeating Mauri Pekkarinen by a vote of 1,357 to 1,035. Prime Minister Vanhanen met with President Tarja Halonen on Friday 18 June and asked her for permission to resign as Prime Minister. Kiviniemi's new post was approved by Parliament on 22 June 2010, with a vote of 115 in favour, 56 against and 29 MPs abstaining or absent. Her election made her Finland's second female prime minister, after Anneli Jäätteenmäki in 2003.
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