Somalis in public office in Europe

Who are the Somali Europeans in public office?

People of Somali heritage hold or have held seats in four national parliaments in mainland Europe and once in the European Parliament. Most sit for parties of the left or the Greens, and most are in the Nordic countries. This page lists them by country, newest national office first. For the United Kingdom, see British Somalis in public life.

Who sits in Sweden's Riksdag?

Five people of Somali origin won Riksdag seats in the September 2026 election (Dawan, 21 September 2026).

All rows: Dawan, 21 September 2026.

• Leila Ali Elmi won 1,467 personal votes in 2018 (SVT). In 2026 she became deputy chair of the Riksdag's Committee on Cultural Affairs (Riksdag, member page).
• Mohamed Abdukardir Ali: police opened an inquiry into suspected election fraud linked to his personal-vote campaign in Dalarna (SVT, 2026). Prosecutors said no one had been named a suspect, and Ali denies involvement (EFN, 23 September 2026). The Left Party said he would take a "time out" at the start of the term (TV4).

Abdirizak Waberi (Moderate Party), born in Somalia in 1966, sat for Gothenburg from 2010 to 2014 (Riksdag, member page). He was the first Somali-born member, before Elmi (Hiiraan Online, September 2018).

• A Swedish court later convicted him of aggravated embezzlement and bookkeeping offences linked to a Gothenburg school he had run (TV4). Prosecutors said about SEK 13 million meant for pupils went to projects in Somalia; he denied the charges (TV4).
• The appeal court upheld the verdict (same source). Reports give the sentence as four or four and a half years in prison.

More on the community is on the Sweden page.

Who sits in Norway's Storting?

Marian Abdi Hussein (Socialist Left Party) has represented Oslo since 2021, after serving as a deputy member from 2017 (Storting, member page). She was described as the first elected MP with a Somali background (Euronews, June 2022).

• Re-elected: she won a second term in September 2025, for 2025 to 2029 (Storting; SONNA).
• Committees: she sat on the Health and Care Services Committee from 2021 to 2025 (Storting). Oslo SV's 2025 report says she now chairs the Labour and Social Affairs Committee (Oslo SV, 2026).
• Party role: she became one of SV's deputy leaders in March 2023 (Hiiraan Online, March 2023).
• Background: her family moved to Norway from Saudi Arabia when she was 10, and she worked as a social worker (Euronews).

More is on the Norway page.

Who has sat in Finland's Eduskunta?

Suldaan Said Ahmed (Left Alliance) sat for Helsinki from 9 September 2021 to 4 April 2023 (Wikipedia). He was Finland's first MP with a Somali background, entering from the party list to replace another member (Al Jazeera, 6 July 2021; Euronews).

• He has sat on Helsinki City Council since 2017 (Euronews).
• Envoy: on 23 January 2024 the Foreign Minister appointed him her Special Envoy on Peace Mediation in the Horn of Africa (Finnish Government, January 2024). He had held the same role in 2022 to 2023 (Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland). He has visited Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia in the role (Finnish Government).

Zahra Abdulla, a former midwife, was elected to Helsinki City Council for the Green League in 1997 (UNHCR). Sources give her council service as 1997 to 2017; she later joined the Left Alliance (Wikipedia; Left Alliance).

Fadumo Dayib, a Finnish public health expert, ran for president of Somalia in 2016 (Harvard Kennedy School). See her people page and the Finland page.

Who has sat in the Dutch parliament?

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, born in Somalia, sat in the Tweede Kamer for the VVD from January 2003 to May 2006 (Al Jazeera, 16 May 2006). She was known for her criticism of Islam (Irish Times, 2006).

• 2006: she resigned after the immigration minister said she would lose her Dutch citizenship over false details in her asylum claim (Al Jazeera, 16 May 2006). She had admitted the false details publicly before standing in 2003 (same source).
• In June 2006 the government said she could keep her citizenship (Al Jazeera, 27 June 2006). The row over her case led D66 to leave the coalition, and the government stepped down (Reuters archive, 2006).

More is on the Netherlands page.

Who has represented Italy in Europe?

Dacia Valent, born in Mogadishu in 1963 to an Italian father and a Somali mother, was elected to the European Parliament in 1989 (Il Fatto Quotidiano, 26 January 2015). She sat from 1989 to 1994, first with the Italian Communist Party and then Communist Refoundation (Parltrack). She died in Rome in January 2015 (Il Fatto Quotidiano).

Writers Igiaba Scego and Cristina Ali Farah are among Italy's public voices of Somali heritage (Somali people in Italy, Wikipedia). More is on the Italy page.

Who holds local office elsewhere in Europe?

• Denmark: Nuuradiin S. Hussein (Social Democrats) was Aalborg's deputy mayor for jobs and welfare (Altinget). He arrived in Denmark at 18 and worked eight years as a social worker in East Aalborg (Star Tribune). In January 2026 he chaired the board of the Port of Aalborg (Altinget, January 2026).
• Belgium: Sarah (Sahra) Mohamed Khalif (Flemish socialists) won a Leuven city council seat in October 2018, aged 21, with about 772 votes (Hiiraan Online, October 2018). VRT reports she becomes Leuven's alderman for care, welfare and cemeteries on 1 January 2027 (VRT, 23 June 2026).
• Germany and Ireland: see Germany and Ireland.

How do Somali Swedes vote?

In Sweden's 2018 election, 79% of eligible Swedish Somalis voted, against 87% nationally, and women voted more than men (The Global Village, 2021). In Finland's 2017 municipal elections, Somalis had the highest turnout, 39%, of any group of non-Finnish background (Somalis in Finland, Wikipedia).

Related pages

• Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Ireland
• British Somalis in public life
• Somali Americans in public office
• Somali Canadians in public life
• Fadumo Dayib