Jutta Urpilainen

Who is Jutta Urpilainen?

Jutta Pauliina Urpilainen is the current Minister of Finance of Finland and the chairperson of the Social Democratic Party of Finland. She was elected in June 2008 as the first female chairperson of the SDP.

Born in Lapua, Southern Ostrobothnia, Urpilainen studied at the University of Jyväskylä, where she graduated as a Master of Education in 2002. She worked as a school teacher until her election to parliament. She was also president of JEF-Finland in 2001. She has been a member of Kokkola city council since 2001. In 2002 she made a CD of her own Christmas carols.

Urpilainen has been a member of parliament for the Vaasa constituency since 2003. She is a member of the Parliamentary Education and Culture Committee, a deputy member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee. She is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

Urpilainen was elected as the party's chair in June 2008, succeeding former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Eero Heinäluoma. She won on the second ballot, defeating former Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja by 218 votes to 132. After the 2011 parliamentary election, where the SDP finished second, Urpilainen was appointed Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister in the cabinet led by Jyrki Katainen.