Iiris Suomela (born 1 May 1994) was a one term Finnish politician formerly serving 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 ...

for the

Green League The Green League, ( , Vihr; ; ; ; ) shortened to the Greens, (; ) is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a reformist party and it supports femi ...

at the

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; ; ), also known as ''Tampere Region'' in government documents, is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme and Southwest Finland. Most of the wate ...

constituency. She was a member of the Grand Committee and the Finance Committee. She has also formerly been vice chairperson for Tampere city council, and a Member of the Board of Directors of

University of Tampere The University of Tampere (UTA) (, ) was a public university in Tampere, Finland that was merged with Tampere University of Technology to create the new Tampere University on 1 January 2019. The university offered undergraduate, postgraduate an ...

. While the elected temporarily leader of the Green League,

Maria Ohisalo Maria Karoliina Ohisalo (born 8 March 1985) is a Finnish politician and researcher who served as Minister of the Interior between 2019 and 2021. The former chairman of the Green League, she has been a Member of Parliament since 2019. Ohisalo s ...

, was on parental leave during first half of 2022, Suomela was the acting chairperson of the party. Suomela led the party into country's first county elections in January 2022, in which the Green League was among the biggest losers, as health and social care tend to be topics that do not attract younger voters who make up a major part of Green League's supporters.

Early life and education

Suomela was born in

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

. She did her International Baccaulerate in

Atlantic College UWC Atlantic (formally the United World College of the Atlantic, and often referred to by its original name, Atlantic College) is an Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent boarding school in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales. Fo ...

which is located in Wales and is part of the

United World Colleges The United World Colleges (UWC) is an international network of schools and educational programmes with the shared aim of "making education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future." The organisation was fo ...

network. Soon after she started her Master's Degree studies in sociology in

Political career

Suomela is an environmentalist and human rights advocate. She was one of two founders of th
Suostumus2018 campaign
whose goal was to rewrite the Finnish penal code regarding sexual assault so that lack of consent would be sufficient to convict an assaulter (whereas previously there had to be e.g. a threat of violence). The parliament approved the law in its new form in June 2022. Suomela was elected Member of Parliament in the 2019 parliamentary elections from the Pirkanmaa constituency with 4,873 votes. In the same year, Suomela was also a candidate for the European Parliament but was not elected. In the parliamentary election 2023, Suomela failed to get reelected but said she's planning to run in the next election. After her mandate as an MP expired, she resumed her studies at the University of Tampere.

Personal life and family

Suomela's partner is entrepreneur and former politician Matti Parpala. They had a child in November 2020.

References

1994 births Living people Politicians from Tampere Green League politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (2019–2023) 21st-century Finnish women politicians Women members of the Parliament of Finland {{Finland-politician-stub