Prime Minister of Latvia facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia
Flag of the prime minister of Latvia
Incumbent Andris Kulbergs since 28 May 2026
Government of Latvia
Member of	Government of Latvia European Council Saeima
Appointer	President
Term length	No term limit
Inaugural holder	Kārlis Ulmanis
Formation	19 November 1918; 107 years ago (1918-11-19)
Abolished	1940–1991
Salary	€53,601 annually

The Prime Minister of Latvia is a very important leader in the country's government. Think of them as the main leader of the team of ministers who help run Latvia. The President of Latvia chooses who they think should be Prime Minister. But, to get the job, that person needs to have enough support from the members of the Saeima, which is Latvia's parliament. This means they need most of the elected representatives to agree with them.

This article will show you a list of all the people who have been Prime Minister of Latvia. We'll look at those from Latvia's first time as an independent country (from 1918 to 1940) and also those since Latvia became independent again (from 1990 until today). For a few years, from 1990 to 1993, this leader was called the Chairman of the Council of Ministers.

List of Prime Ministers
Timeline
Statistics
See also

List of Prime Ministers

Republic of Latvia: 1918–1940

Political party:
      Independent
      Latvian Farmers' Union (LZS)
      Union of Social Democrats – Mensheviks and Rural Workers (MP)
      Democratic Centre (DC)
      Progressive Association of New Farmers (PA)
      New Farmers-Small Landowners Party (LJSP)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party		Cabinet	Saeima
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Tenure	Political party		Cabinet	Saeima
1		Kārlis Ulmanis (1877–1942)	18 November 1918	13 July 1919	2 years, 213 days		Latvian Farmers' Union	Provisional I LZS–LNP–DC–DS	People's Council
			14 July 1919	8 December 1919				Provisional II LZS–LŽNP DC joined later
			9 December 1919	11 June 1920				Provisional III LZS–LŽNP DS joined later
			12 June 1920	18 June 1921				Ulmanis I LZS–DS–LDP DS exited later	Const. Assembly (1920)
2		Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics (1887–1925)	19 June 1921	19 July 1922	1 year, 222 days			Meierovics I LZS–DC–MP–LTP LTP exited later
2		Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics (1887–1925)	20 July 1922	26 January 1923	1 year, 222 days	Meierovics II LZS–MP–LDP
3		Jānis Pauļuks (1865–1937)	27 January 1923	27 June 1923	152 days		Independent	Pauļuks LZS–LSPDS–DC–LJS–MP	1st (1922)
(2)		Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics (1887–1925)	28 June 1923	26 January 1924	213 days		Latvian Farmers' Union	Meierovics III LZS–LSPDS–DC–LJS–MP
4		Voldemārs Zāmuēls (1872–1948)	27 January 1924	18 December 1924	327 days		Independent	Zāmuēls BNC–DC–LJS
5		Hugo Celmiņš (1877–1941)	19 December 1924	23 December 1925	1 year, 5 days		Latvian Farmers' Union	Celmiņš I LZS–DC MP and LJS joined later
(1)		Kārlis Ulmanis (1877–1942)	24 December 1925	6 May 1926	134 days			Ulmanis II LZS–LJSP–LJS–LZP NA joined later	2nd (1925)
6		Arturs Alberings (1877–1934)	7 May 1926	18 December 1926	226 days			Alberings LZS–DC–LJSP–LJS–LZP
7		Marģers Skujenieks (1886–1941)	19 December 1926	23 January 1928	1 year, 36 days		Menshevik	Skujenieks I LSDSP–MP–LPP–DC–LJS DC exited cabinet
8		Pēteris Juraševskis (1872–1945)	24 January 1928	30 November 1928	312 days		Democratic Centre	Juraševskis LZS–DC–LZP–VRP/DbRP
(5)		Hugo Celmiņš (1877–1941)	1 December 1928	26 March 1931	2 years, 116 days		Latvian Farmers' Union	Celmiņš II LZS–DC–LJSP–LDZA–LA–KNP–VRP/DbRP DC, KNP, VRP / DbRP exited cabinet	3rd (1928)
(1)		Kārlis Ulmanis (1877–1942)	27 March 1931	5 December 1931	254 days		Latvian Farmers' Union	Ulmanis III LZS–LJSP–LDZA–NA–MKRA–LKZP–LPP	3rd (1928)
(7)		Marģers Skujenieks (1886–1941)	6 December 1931	23 March 1933	1 year, 108 days		Progressive Association of New Farmers	Skujenieks II PA–DC–LZS–LZPA LJSP joined later	4th (1931)
9		Ādolfs Bļodnieks (1889–1962)	24 March 1933	16 March 1934	358 days		Party of New Farmers and Smallholders	Bļodnieks LJSP–LZS–DC–LZPA–PA–LKKP–KDP DC, PA exited cabinet
(1)		Kārlis Ulmanis (1877–1942)	17 March 1934	15 May 1934	6 years, 95 days		Latvian Farmers' Union	Ulmanis IV LZS–KA–LKKP–LPP–KDP
(1)		Kārlis Ulmanis (1877–1942)	15 May 1934	19 June 1940	6 years, 95 days		Independent	Ulmanis V Independent
—		Augusts Kirhenšteins (1872–1963)	20 June 1940	25 August 1940	66 days		Independent (Pro-LKP)	Kirhenšteins Independent–LKP

Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic: 1940-1990

Between 1940 and 1990, Latvia was part of the Soviet Union. During this time, the country was governed by leaders chosen by the Soviet Union, instead of its own independent government. These leaders were part of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Political party:
Communist Party of Latvia (LPK)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of Office			Political Party
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Tenure	Political Party
—		Vilis Lācis (1904–1966)	25 August 1940	27 November 1959	19 years, 94 days		Communist Party of Latvia
—		Jānis Peive (1906–1976)	27 November 1959	23 April 1962	2 years, 147 days		Communist Party of Latvia
—		Vitālijs Rubenis (1914–1994)	23 April 1962	5 May 1970	8 years, 12 days		Communist Party of Latvia
—		Jurijs Rubenis (1925–2004)	5 May 1970	6 October 1988	18 years, 154 days		Communist Party of Latvia
—		Vilnis Edvīns Bresis (1938–2017)	6 October 1988	7 May 1990	1 year, 213 days		Communist Party of Latvia

Republic of Latvia: 1990–present

Latvia became an independent country again on May 4, 1990, after it adopted the Declaration of the Restoration of Independence. Since then, it has had its own Prime Ministers.

Political party:
      Independent
      Popular Front of Latvia (LTF)
      Latvian Way (LC)
      For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK (TB/LNNK)
      People's Party (TP)
      New Era Party (JL)
      Latvian Green Party (LZP)
      Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way (LPP/LC)
      Unity (V)
      Liepāja Party (LP)
      New Unity (JV)
      United List (AS)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party		Cabinet	Saeima
No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Tenure	Political party		Cabinet	Saeima
10		Ivars Godmanis (born 1951)	7 May 1990	3 August 1993	3 years, 40 days		Popular Front of Latvia	Godmanis I LTF LC joined later	SC (1990)
11		Valdis Birkavs (born 1942)	3 August 1993	15 September 1994	1 year, 43 days		Latvian Way	Birkavs LC–LZS–LZP	5th (1993)
12		Māris Gailis (born 1951)	15 September 1994	21 December 1995	1 year, 97 days		Latvian Way	Gailis LC–TPA–LZS–LZP TB joined later and exited cabinet	5th (1993)
13		Andris Šķēle (born 1958)	21 December 1995	13 February 1997	1 year, 229 days		Independent	Šķēle I DP'S'–TB–LC–LNNK–LZS–LZP–LVP	6th (1995)
13		Andris Šķēle (born 1958)	13 February 1997	7 August 1997	1 year, 229 days		Independent	Šķēle II DP'S'–TB–LC–LNNK–LZS–LZP KDS joined later
14		Guntars Krasts (born 1957)	7 August 1997	26 November 1998	1 year, 111 days		For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK	Krasts TB/LNNK–LC–LZS–LZP–DPS–KTP DPS and KTP exited cabinet
15		Vilis Krištopans (born 1954)	26 November 1998	16 July 1999	232 days		Latvian Way	Krištopans LC–TB/LNNK–JP LSDSP joined later	7th (1998)
(13)		Andris Šķēle (born 1958)	16 July 1999	5 May 2000	294 days		People's Party	Šķēle III TP–LC–TB/LNNK
16		Andris Bērziņš (born 1951)	5 May 2000	7 November 2002	2 years, 186 days		Latvian Way	Bērziņš LC–TP–TB/LNNK–JP
17		Einars Repše (born 1961)	7 November 2002	9 March 2004	1 year, 123 days		New Era Party	Repše JL–TB/LNNK–LZS–LPP–LZP LPP exited cabinet	8th (2002)
18		Indulis Emsis (born 1952)	9 March 2004	2 December 2004	268 days		Latvian Green Party	Emsis TP – LPP – LZS – LZP
19		Aigars Kalvītis (born 1966)	2 December 2004	7 November 2006	3 years, 18 days		People's Party	Kalvītis I TP–JL–LZS–LPP–LZP JL exited cabinet
19		Aigars Kalvītis (born 1966)	7 November 2006	20 December 2007	3 years, 18 days		People's Party	Kalvītis II TP–LZS–LPP–TB/LNNK–LZP–LC	9th (2006)
(10)		Ivars Godmanis (born 1951)	20 December 2007	12 March 2009	1 year, 82 days		Latvia's First Party/Latvian Way	Godmanis II LPP/LC–TP–LZS–TB/LNNK–LZP
20		Valdis Dombrovskis (born 1971)	12 March 2009	3 November 2010	4 years, 316 days		New Era Party	Dombrovskis I JL–TP–TB/LNNK–LZS–LZP–PS
			3 November 2010	25 October 2011			New Era Party	Dombrovskis II JL–PS–SCP–LZS–LZP–LP JL, PS, SCP, LP later replaced by V	10th (2010)
			25 October 2011	22 January 2014			Unity	Dombrovskis III V–ZRP–NA	11th (2011)
21		Laimdota Straujuma (born 1951)	22 January 2014	5 November 2014	2 years, 20 days			Straujuma I V–RP–NA–LZS–LZP	11th (2011)
21		Laimdota Straujuma (born 1951)	5 November 2014	11 February 2016	2 years, 20 days			Straujuma II V–NA–LZS–LZP–LuV–LP	12th (2014)
22		Māris Kučinskis (born 1961)	11 February 2016	23 January 2019	2 years, 346 days		Liepāja Party	Kučinskis V–NA–LZS–LZP–LuV–LP	12th (2014)
23		Krišjānis Kariņš (born 1964)	23 January 2019	14 December 2022	4 years, 235 days		New Unity	Kariņš I JV–JKP–KPV LV–A/P!–NA KPV LV exited cabinet	13th (2018)
23		Krišjānis Kariņš (born 1964)	14 December 2022	15 September 2023	4 years, 235 days			Kariņš II JV–NA–AS	14th (2022)
24		Evika Siliņa (born 1975)	15 September 2023	28 May 2026	2 years, 255 days			Siliņa JV–ZZS–PRO PRO exited cabinet
25		Andris Kulbergs (born 1979)	28 May 2026	Incumbent	9 days		United List	Kulbergs AS–JV–NA–ZZS

Timeline

Statistics

#	Prime Minister	Date of birth	Age at ascension (first term)	Time in office (total)	Age at retirement (last term)	Date of death	Longevity
1	Ulmanis, KārlisKārlis Ulmanis	18770904September 4, 1877(September 4, 1877)	41 07541 years, 75 days	09 3349 years, 334 days	62 28762 years, 287 days	19420920September 20, 1942	&&&&&&&&&&023756.&&&&&023,75665 years, 16 days
2	Meierovics, ZigfrīdsZigfrīds Meierovics	18870206February 6, 1887(February 6, 1887)	34 13334 years, 133 days	02 0702 years, 70 days	36 35436 years, 354 days	19250822August 22, 1925	&&&&&&&&&&014076.&&&&&014,07638 years, 197 days
3	Pauļuks, JānisJānis Pauļuks	18651112November 12, 1865(November 12, 1865)	57 07657 years, 76 days	00 152152 days	57 22857 years, 228 days	19370621June 21, 1937	&&&&&&&&&&026153.&&&&&026,15371 years, 221 days
4	Zāmuēls, VoldemārsVoldemārs Zāmuēls	18720522May 22, 1872(May 22, 1872)	51 25051 years, 250 days	00 327327 days	52 21052 years, 210 days	19480116September 25, 1944	&&&&&&&&&&027631.&&&&&027,63175 years, 239 days
5	Celmiņš, HugoHugo Celmiņš	18771030October 30, 1877(October 30, 1877)	47 05047 years, 50 days	03 1213 years, 121 days	53 14753 years, 147 days	19410730July 30, 1941	&&&&&&&&&&023283.&&&&&023,28363 years, 273 days
6	Alberings, ArtursArturs Alberings	18760108January 8, 1876(January 8, 1876)	50 11950 years, 119 days	00 226226 days	50 34550 years, 345 days	19340426April 26, 1934	&&&&&&&&&&021292.&&&&&021,29258 years, 108 days
7	Skujenieks, MarģersMarģers Skujenieks	18860622June 22, 1886(June 22, 1886)	40 18040 years, 180 days	02 1452 years, 145 days	46 27446 years, 274 days	19410712July 12, 1941	&&&&&&&&&&020108.&&&&&020,10855 years, 20 days
8	Juraševskis, PēterisPēteris Juraševskis	18720323March 23, 1872(March 23, 1872)	55 30755 years, 307 days	00 312312 days	56 25256 years, 252 days	19450110January 10, 1945	&&&&&&&&&&026590.&&&&&026,59072 years, 293 days
9	Blzodnieks, AzdolfsĀdolfs Bļodnieks	18890724July 24, 1889(July 24, 1889)	43 24343 years, 243 days	00 358358 days	44 23544 years, 235 days	19620321March 21, 1962	&&&&&&&&&&026537.&&&&&026,53772 years, 240 days
—	Augusts Kirhenšteins	18720918September 18, 1872(September 18, 1872)	67 27667 years, 276 days	00 06666 days	67 34267 years, 342 days	19631103November 11, 1963	&&&&&&&&&&033282.&&&&&033,28291 years, 46 days
10	Godmanis, IvarsIvars Godmanis	19511127November 27, 1951(November 27, 1951)	38 16138 years, 161 days	04 1244 years, 124 days	57 10557 years, 105 days	Living	&&&&&&&&&&027220.&&&&&027,22074 years, 191 days (living)
11	Birkavs, ValdisValdis Birkavs	19420728July 28, 1942(July 28, 1942)	51 00651 years, 6 days	01 0431 year, 43 days	52 04952 years, 49 days	Living	&&&&&&&&&&030629.&&&&&030,62983 years, 313 days (living)
12	Gailis, MārisMāris Gailis	19510709July 9, 1951(July 9, 1951)	43 03743 years, 37 days	01 0971 year, 97 days	44 16544 years, 165 days	Living	&&&&&&&&&&027361.&&&&&027,36174 years, 332 days (living)
13	Szkzēle, AndrisAndris Šķēle	19580116January 16, 1958(January 16, 1958)	37 33937 years, 339 days	02 1592 years, 159 days	42 11042 years, 110 days	Living	&&&&&&&&&&024978.&&&&&024,97868 years, 141 days (living)
14	Krasts, GuntarsGuntars Krasts	19571016October 16, 1957(October 16, 1957)	39 29539 years, 295 days	01 1111 year, 111 days	41 04141 years, 51 days	Living	&&&&&&&&&&025070.&&&&&025,07068 years, 233 days (living)
15	Krisztopans, VilisVilis Krištopans	19540613June 13, 1954(June 13, 1954)	44 16644 years, 166 days	00 232232 days	45 03345 years, 33 days	Living	&&&&&&&&&&026291.&&&&&026,29171 years, 358 days (living)
16	Bērziņš, AndrisAndris Bērziņš	19510804August 4, 1951(August 4, 1951)	48 27548 years, 275 days	02 1862 years, 186 days	51 09551 years, 95 days	Living	&&&&&&&&&&027335.&&&&&027,33574 years, 306 days (living)
17	Repše, EinarsEinars Repše	19611209December 9, 1961(December 9, 1961)	40 33340 years, 333 days	01 1231 year, 123 days	42 09142 years, 91 days	Living	&&&&&&&&&&023555.&&&&&023,55564 years, 179 days (living)
18	Emsis, IndulisIndulis Emsis	19520102January 2, 1952(January 2, 1952)	52 06752 years, 67 days	00 268268 days	52 33552 years, 335 days	Living	&&&&&&&&&&027184.&&&&&027,18474 years, 155 days (living)
19	Kalvītis, AigarsAigars Kalvītis	19660627June 27, 1966(June 27, 1966)	38 15838 years, 158 days	03 0183 years, 18 days	41 17642 years, 91 days	Living	&&&&&&&&&&021894.&&&&&021,89459 years, 344 days (living)
20	Dombrovskis, ValdisValdis Dombrovskis	19710805August 5, 1971(August 5, 1971)	37 21937 years, 219 days	04 3164 years, 316 days	42 17042 years, 170 days	Living	&&&&&&&&&&020029.&&&&&020,02954 years, 305 days (living)
21	Straujuma, LaimdotaLaimdota Straujuma	19510224February 24, 1951(February 24, 1951)	62 33262 years, 332 days	02 0202 years, 20 days	64 35264 years, 352 days	Living	&&&&&&&&&&027496.&&&&&027,49675 years, 102 days (living)
22	Kučinskis, MārisMāris Kučinskis	19611128November 28, 1961(November 28, 1961)	54 07554 years, 75 days	02 3452 years, 345 days	57 05657 years, 56 days	Living	&&&&&&&&&&023566.&&&&&023,56664 years, 190 days (living)
23	Kariņš, Arturs KrišjānisKrišjānis Kariņš	19641213December 13, 1964(December 13, 1964)	54 04154 years, 41 days	4 years, 235 days	58 years, 276 days	Living	&&&&&&&&&&022455.&&&&&022,45561 years, 175 days (living)
24	Evika Siliņa	19750803August 3, 1975(August 3, 1975)	48 04348 years, 43 days	2 years, 255 days	50 years, 298 days	Living	&&&&&&&&&&018570.&&&&&018,57050 years, 307 days (living)
25	Andris Kulbergs	19790526May 26, 1979(May 26, 1979)	47 00247 years, 2 days	Incumbent		Living	&&&&&&&&&&017178.&&&&&017,17847 years, 11 days (living)