Juha Sipilä

Juha Sipilä Petri ( born April 25, 1961 in Veteli ) is a Finnish politician of the center. Since 9 June 2012, he is chairman of the party.

The engineer and successful entrepreneur was first elected at the 2011 general election in the Finnish parliament. He was then Deputy Group Chairman of the Centre.

In April 2012, he announced his candidacy for the post of party chairman. At the party on June 9, 2012, he was elected on the second ballot with 1251 votes, his opponent was Tuomo Puumala 872 votes. This Sipilä succeeds Mari Kiviniemi, who was no longer taken up after two years as chairman. After only one year in Parliament Sipilä the general public in Finland is largely unknown. Also in the party apparatus he had not been noticed by good networking. However, he is member of the Centre since youth days, starting in the youth organization of the center. His choice is interpreted by political observers as a test of a new beginning, without the shadow of the party funding scandal of 2008.

Sipilä is married to Minna- Maaria Sipilä since 1981. The couple has five children, four sons and a daughter. He is a Christian and follower of Laestadianism as well as a member of the movement Rauhan Sana (in German the word of peace ).