Sirpa Paatero withdraws from politics after decades of service in Finland

Former Social Democrat Member of Parliament and long-serving minister, Sirpa Paatero, has announced her decision to withdraw largely from politics. She will not run for local or regional elections in the upcoming spring.

Paatero, from Kotka, expressed that she wishes to focus on other areas of her life, despite her intention to continue supporting her party. Last weekend, she was in Joensuu, training activists on local council operations. However, she now plans to keep her weekends free, which she finds remarkable after years of political engagement.

The transition came after Paatero’s unexpected exit from Parliament in spring 2023, following a campaign in which she was fully committed. “I have no job to return to,” Paatero stated on the election night of April 2, 2023. She had been a member of Parliament since 2006 and held several ministerial positions, including Minister for Development from 2014 to 2015, Minister for Local Government and Ownership Steering in 2019, and Minister for Local Government from 2019 to 2023 under Sanna Marin’s administration.

Reflecting on her political journey, Paatero noted the experience was both demanding and fulfilling, involving nearly twenty years of extensive travel across Finland. Professionally, she is a director in preventive substance abuse work.

Her decision to step back from politics has been straightforward for her. Having resigned from the party council post-election, she is now focused on local politics as a city councilor in Kotka. Recently, she was elected chair of the Kymenlaakso Emergency and Safe Home Association, a role she values highly as it supports families in need, with her own grandchildren living nearby.