Former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin is joining the Tony Blair Institute as a strategic counselor.
Marin announced the news during a press conference Thursday, saying she was excited about the new role. “This is a great honor. I am excited to step into this new role. I believe that this will also benefit the whole of Finland,” Marin said, as reported by local media.
In a statement released Thursday, the institute said it was “pleased” to welcome Marin in her new position, where she will work closely with multiple teams across countries and advise political leaders on their reform programs.
“Our mission is to help political leaders worldwide deliver change for their people — and Sanna Marin knows exactly how to do that,” said former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, head of the eponymous institute, in a statement.
In order to assume the new role, Marin has asked to resign as a Finnish member of parliament. But she said she is still a Social Democrat and does not rule out running for election at some point in the future. “I’m a politician and a person of ideas, that doesn’t change,” Marin said.
Marin, who had been Finland’s prime minister since 2019, stepped down in April after losing in the national election. Her Social Democrats came in third, behind the center-right National Coalition Party and the anti-immigration Finns Party.
The Tony Blair Institute has had an increasing influence on Keir Starmer’s U.K. Labour Party, having hosted Starmer at its Future of Britain Conference — the first time a Labour leader has openly shared a platform with the divisive ex-prime minister since Labour was booted from government in 2010.
Blair’s policy focus is now largely on the hot-button issues of AI and tech, and his institute has a team of around 60 people working on those topics.
