Juhana Mikael Vartiainen (born 28 May 1958) is a Finnish politician, economist and a member of the

Finnish Parliament The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The P ...

, representing the

National Coalition Party The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland. Founded in 1918, the ...

, which he joined after having been a member of the

Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland ( , SDP, nicknamed: ''demarit'' in Finnish; , SD) is a social democratic political party in Finland. It is the third-largest party in the Parliament of Finland with a total of 43 seats. Founded in 1899 as ...

from 1975 to 2015. He was elected the Mayor of Helsinki in August 2021 by the Helsinki city council.

Early life and education

Vartiainen was born in Helsinki and according to Vartiainen, he was raised in a Christian environment. Both of Vartiainen's parents were Karelian refugees, his father being born and raised in Ladogan-Karelian

Sortavala Sortavala (; Finnish language, Finnish and ; ), previously known as Serdobol () until 1918, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Republic of Karelia, Russia, located at the northern tip of Lake Ladoga near the Finland, Finni ...

and his mother being born in 1931 in Viipuri. Vartiainen's family included himself and three sisters. Vartiainen's father Henri Vartiainen was an economist and economic researcher. Vartiainen completed his mandatory military service in Finland and his current rank in the reserve is lieutenant. Vartiainen joined the Social Democratic Party of Finland in 1975. Vartiainen studied economics, other social sciences and philosophy at the University of Helsinki, earning his Doctorate of Social Sciences in Economics in 1992.

Career before politics

Throughout his career, Vartiainen has worked in Helsinki and Stockholm, Sweden. He worked as an adjunct research assistant at the Academy of Finland Research Council for Culture and Society in 1984–1986. Between 1993 and 2005, Vartiainen worked as a researcher and senior researcher at the Finnish Labour Institute for Economic Research (Palkansaajien tutkimuslaitos). Between 2002 and 2005, Vartiainen worked at the Swedish Trade Union Institute for Economic Research as a researcher in 2002–2003 and as the Managing Director in 2003–2005. In 2005, Vartiainen became the Research Director of the Swedish National Institute of Economic Research (Konjukturinstitutet). Vartiainen worked at the Konjunkturinstitutet until 2012, when he became the Director General of the Finnish VATT Institute for Economic Research, an institution that produces and studies scientific research and analyses of micro- and macroeconomics as well as economic policy in Finland.

Political career

Vartiainen left the Social Democratic Party of Finland in 2015, citing the party's movement further away from right-leaning social democracy (In Finnish: ''oikeistodemarius'') and the inability of the party and the trade union movement to engage in the reforms needed to secure public finances in aging Finland. Vartiainen was elected to the parliament in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

as a representative of the

from the Helsinki district, gaining 11,436 votes in the elections. He was re-elected in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

with 8,206 votes. In 2021 Vartiainen was the National Coalition Party's mayoral candidate of Helsinki in the

2021 Finnish municipal elections Municipal elections were held in Finland on 13 June 2021 after being rescheduled from 18 April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Context The last municipal elections were held in 2017 and were won by the National Coalition Party with a 20.7 percen ...

, being elected to the city council of Helsinki with 13,898 votes, coming third in the personal vote share after fellow National Coalition Party candidate Elina Valtonen with 15,793 votes and the Finns Party's

Jussi Halla-Aho Jussi Kristian Halla-aho (; born 27 April 1971) is a Finnish politician, currently serving as the Speaker of the Parliament of Finland since 2023. Halla-aho has served as a member of the Parliament of Finland from 2011 to 2014 and again since 201 ...

at 18,978 votes. Vartiainen's National Coalition Party won the election in Helsinki, as Finland uses the d'Hondt voting method in parliamentary and municipal elections, with the party gathering a total of 25,6% of the total share of votes and 23 representatives out of a total of 85 in the city council. As expected, Vartiainen assumed the title of

Mayor of Helsinki In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

in August 2021, when the newly elected session of the city council began and the council chose a mayor, traditionally picked from the party with the largest share of representatives. Finnish politician, city council representative and researcher Atte Kaleva took the seat of Vartiainen in the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that ...

when Vartiainen assumed the mayorship.

Political views

Vartiainen describes himself as a "right-leaning

social democrat Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

" (in Finnish: ''oikeistodemari''), following the footsteps of Finnish career politician

Väinö Tanner Väinö Alfred Tanner (; 12 March 1881 – 19 April 1966; surname until 1895 ''Thomasson'') was a leading figure in the Social Democratic Party of Finland, and a pioneer and leader of the cooperative movement in Finland. He was Prime Minist ...

. Vartiainen supports work-based immigration to Finland. Vartiainen does not support the Marin administration's social and healthcare reform law (in Finnish ''sote-uudistus)'', which he describes as counter-productive, cost-increasing and expensive.

Other activities

* National Audit Office of Finland (NAOF), Member of the Advisory Board (2017-2019)Advisory Board 2017-2019
National Audit Office of Finland (NAOF).

References

1958 births Living people Politicians from Helsinki Social Democratic Party of Finland politicians National Coalition Party politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–2019) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2019–2023) Mayors of Helsinki {{NationalCoalition-politician-stub