Maria Lohela | |
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Speaker of the Parliament of Finland | |
Assumed office 29 May 2015 |
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Preceded by | Juha Sipilä |
Member of Finnish Parliament for Finland Proper |
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Assumed office 20 April 2011 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Nivala, Finland |
11 June 1978
Political party | The Finns Party |
Spouse(s) | Samppa Mattila (m. 2015) |
Residence | Turku |
Alma mater | University of Turku |
Website | marialohela |
Maria Lohela (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈmɑriɑ ˈlohelɑ], born 11 June 1978) is a Finnish politician and the current Speaker of the Parliament. She has served as a Member of Parliament for Finland Proper since 2011. After having maintained her seat in the 2015 election, Lohela became Speaker of the Parliament in May 2015. 36 years old when elected Speaker, she is one of the youngest MPs to hold that office in the parliament's history. Before her parliamentary career, she took her bachelor's degree in University of Turku, majoring in English language. She has also served as a member of the Turku city council between 2009 and 2012.
Lohela has been a proponent of a tighter immigration policy for Finland. Along with other prominent Finns Party politicians, Lohela was one of the authors of the so-called "Nuiva Manifesti" (Finnish for "The sour manifesto"), an election campaign programme critical of current Finnish immigration policy.