Li Sigrid Andersson (born 13 May 1987) is a Finnish politician who has been serving as Minister of Education since 2019. The leader of the Left Alliance, she has been a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

since 2015. She is also the city councilor of Turku and was the chair of the party's youth wing, Left Youth.

Education

Andersson graduated from

Åbo Akademi University Åbo Akademi University ( sv, Åbo Akademi , ) is the only exclusively Swedish language multi-faculty university in Finland (or anywhere outside Sweden). It is located mainly in Turku (Åbo is the Swedish name of the city) but has also activiti ...

in 2010 with a

Bachelor of Social Sciences The academic undergraduate degree of Bachelor of Social Science (BSS, B.Soc.Sc., or B.Soc.Sci.) requires three to four years of study in the social sciences at an institution of higher education, primarily found in the Commonwealth of Nations. I ...

degree in

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

, specializing in

international human rights law International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law are primarily made up of treaties, a ...

and refugee law, with a minor in

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

and culture.

Political career

In the parliamentary elections of 2015 Andersson was elected with the highest number of personal votes in

Varsinais-Suomi Southwest Finland, calqued as Finland Proper ( fi, Varsinais-Suomi ; sv, Egentliga Finland), is a Regions of Finland, region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-H ...

(with 17 seats). Candidates in the district included the chairmen of the

National Coalition Party sv, Samlingspartiet , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Petteri Orpo , leader2_title = Deputy chairs , leader2_name = Antti HäkkänenElina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen , merger = Finnish Party, Young Finn ...

and the

Green League The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the polit ...

. In the 2017 municipal elections, she got most votes of candidates outside Helsinki, sixth nationally. In February 2016, Andersson announced running for Left Alliance chair. On 6 June 2016, she received 3,913 (61.85%) votes in an unofficial poll between the party members, after which the other candidates withdrew from the running, leaving her the only remaining candidate. The decision was confirmed on 11 June 2016 at the Left Alliance party meeting in Oulu. After the 2019 parliamentary election, in which the Left Alliance gained four seats, the party joined the SDP-led

Rinne Cabinet The cabinet of Antti Rinne was the 75th government of Finland. It was formed following the parliamentary election of 2019 and was formally appointed by President Sauli Niinistö on 6 June 2019. The cabinet consisted of a coalition formed by the ...

. Andersson became Minister of Education. She temporarily left her ministerial post in December 2020 to go on maternity leave. Andersson belongs to the

Swedish-speaking Finn The Swedish-speaking population of Finland (whose members are called by many names; fi, suomenruotsalainen) can be used as an attribute., group=Note—see below; sv, finlandssvenskar; fi, suomenruotsalaiset) is a linguistic minority in Finl ...

national minority.

Personal life

Li Andersson cohabits with former ice-hockey player in

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

. She gave birth to their first child, a daughter, in January 2021.

Electoral history

Municipal elections

Parliamentary elections

European Parliament elections

Source:Electoral information service
Retrieved 15 April 2019.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersson, Li 1987 births Living people Politicians from Turku Swedish-speaking Finns Left Alliance (Finland) politicians Ministers of Education of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–19) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2019–23) 21st-century Finnish women politicians Finnish socialist feminists Women government ministers of Finland