Finland's Social Democrats elected a 34-year-old former transport minister to the post of prime minister on Sunday, making her the youngest head of government in the country's history.
Sanna Marin narrowly won Sunday's vote to replace outgoing leader Antti Rinne, who resigned on Tuesday after losing the confidence of the coalition partner Centre Party over his handling of a postal strike.
"We have a lot of work ahead to rebuild trust," Ms Marin told reporters after winning. Antti Lindtman, head of the party's parliamentary group, was runner-up.
The development means that a number of key roles within Finland's multi-party government are now held by women, several who are in their thirties.
This includes Minister of Economic Affairs Katri Kulmuni, Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo, Minister of Education Li Andersson and Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson.
Some of the high-profile women in Finland's government. Source: Twitter
Ms Marin has had a swift rise in Finnish politics since becoming head of the city council of her industrial hometown of Tampere at the age of 27.
She will take over in the middle of a three-day wave of strikes, which will halt production at some of Finland's largest companies from Monday.
The Confederation of Finnish Industries estimates the strikes will cost the companies a combined $A808 million in lost revenue.
Outgoing leader Antti Rinne. Source: Getty
The centre-left coalition, which took office just six months ago, has agreed to continue with its political program stressing a shift to carbon neutrality, after Mr Rinne announced he was stepping down at the demand of the Centre Party.
"We have a joint government program which glues the coalition together," Ms Marin said.
The timing of the change in leadership is awkward for Finland, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union until the end of the year, playing a central role in efforts to hammer out a new budget for the bloc.
Additional reporting: AFP
