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Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia
Latvijas Republikas Ministru prezidents
Flag of the prime minister of Latvia
Incumbent Evika Siliņa since 15 September 2023
Government of Latvia
Type	Head of government
Member of	Government of Latvia European Council Saeima
Appointer	President
Term length	No term limit
Inaugural holder	Kārlis Ulmanis
Formation	19 November 1918; 106 years ago (1918-11-19)
Abolished	1940–1991
Salary	€53,601 annually

The prime minister of Latvia (Latvian: ministru prezidents) is the most powerful member of the Government of Latvia, who presides over the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers. The officeholder is nominated by the president of Latvia, but must be able to obtain the support of a parliamentary majority in the Saeima.

The tables below display all Latvian prime ministers from both the first period of Latvian independence (1918–1940) and since the country regained its independence (1990–present). From 1990 to 6 July 1993, the head of government was known as the chairman of the Council of Ministers.

A direct translation of the official Latvian term is minister-president. Although the equivalent is used in some European languages, it is not used conventionally in English.

List

1918–1940

Political party:   LZS   Independent   MP   DC   PA   LJSP

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party		Cabinet	Saeima
			Took office	Left office	Days
1		Kārlis Ulmanis (1877–1942)	18 November 1918	13 July 1919	944		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	587			Meierovics I LZS – DC – MP – LTP LTP exited later
			20 July 1922	26 January 1923		Meierovics II LZS – MP – LDP
3		Jānis Pauļuks (1865–1937)	27 January 1923	27 June 1923	152		Independent	Pauļuks LZS – LSPDS – DC – LJS – MP	1st (1922)
(2)		Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics (1887–1925)	28 June 1923	26 January 1924	213		Latvian Farmers' Union	Meierovics III LZS – LSPDS – DC – LJS – MP
4		Voldemārs Zāmuēls (1872–1948)	27 January 1924	18 December 1924	327		Independent	Zāmuēls BNC – DC – LJS
5		Hugo Celmiņš (1877–1941)	19 December 1924	23 December 1925	370		Latvian Farmers' Union	Celmiņš I LZS – DC MP and LJS joined later
(1)		Kārlis Ulmanis (1877–1942)	24 December 1925	6 May 1926	134			Ulmanis II LZS – LJSP – LJS – LZP NA joined later	2nd (1925)
6		Arturs Alberings (1877–1934)	7 May 1926	18 December 1926	226			Alberings LZS – DC – LJSP – LJS – LZP
7		Marģers Skujenieks (1886–1941)	19 December 1926	23 January 1928	401		Menshevik	Skujenieks I LSDSP – MP – LPP – DC – LJS DC exited cabinet
8		Pēteris Juraševskis (1872–1945)	24 January 1928	30 November 1928	312		Democratic Centre	Juraševskis LZS – DC – LZP – VRP / DbRP
(5)		Hugo Celmiņš (1877–1941)	1 December 1928	26 March 1931	846		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			Ulmanis III LZS – LJSP – LDZA – NA – MKRA – LKZP – LPP
(7)		Marģers Skujenieks (1886–1941)	6 December 1931	23 March 1933	474		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		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	2287		Latvian Farmers' Union	Ulmanis IV LZS – KA – LKKP – LPP – KDP
			15 May 1934	19 June 1940			Independent	Ulmanis V Independent
—		Augusts Kirhenšteins (1872–1963)	20 June 1940	25 August 1940	66		Independent (Pro-LKP)	Kirhenšteins Independent – LKP

1990–present

From 4 May 1990 after adopting the Declaration of the Restoration of Independence of the Republic.

Political party:   LTF   LC   Independent   TB/LNNK   TP   JL   LZP   LPP/LC   V   LP   JV

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party		Cabinet	Saeima
			Took office	Left office	Days
10		Ivars Godmanis (born 1951)	7 May 1990	3 August 1993	1136		Popular Front of Latvia	Godmanis I LTF LC joined later	SC (1990)
11		Valdis Birkavs (born 1942)	3 August 1993	15 September 1994	408		Latvian Way	Birkavs LC – LZS – LZP	5th (1993)
12		Māris Gailis (born 1951)	15 September 1994	21 December 1995	462			Gailis LC – TPA – LZS – LZP TB joined later and exited cabinet
13		Andris Šķēle (born 1958)	21 December 1995	13 February 1997	595		Independent	Šķēle I DP'S' – TB – LC – LNNK – LZS – LZP – LVP	6th (1995)
			13 February 1997	7 August 1997				Šķēle II DP'S' – TB – LC – LNNK – LZS – LZP KDS joined later
14		Guntars Krasts (born 1957)	7 August 1997	26 November 1998	476		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		Latvian Way	Krištopans LC – TB/LNNK – JP LSDSP joined later	7th (1998)
(13)		Andris Šķēle (born 1958)	16 July 1999	5 May 2000	294		People's Party	Šķēle III TP – LC – TB/LNNK
16		Andris Bērziņš (born 1951)	5 May 2000	7 November 2002	916		Latvian Way	Bērziņš LC – TP – TB/LNNK – JP
17		Einars Repše (born 1961)	7 November 2002	9 March 2004	488		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		Latvian Green Party	Emsis TP – LPP – LZS – LZP
19		Aigars Kalvītis (born 1966)	2 December 2004	7 November 2006	1113		People's Party	Kalvītis I TP – JL – LZS – LPP – LZP JL exited cabinet
			7 November 2006	20 December 2007				Kalvītis II TP – LZS – LPP – TB/LNNK – LZP – LC	9th (2006)
(10)		Ivars Godmanis (born 1951)	20 December 2007	12 March 2009	448		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	1777		New Era Party	Dombrovskis I JL – TP – TB/LNNK – LZS – LZP – PS
			3 November 2010	25 October 2011				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	750			Straujuma I V – RP – NA – LZS – LZP
			5 November 2014	11 February 2016				Straujuma II V – NA – LZS – LZP – LuV – LP	12th (2014)
22		Māris Kučinskis (born 1961)	11 February 2016	23 January 2019	1077		Liepāja Party	Kučinskis V – NA – LZS – LZP – LuV – LP
23		Krišjānis Kariņš (born 1964)	23 January 2019	14 December 2022	1696		New Unity	Kariņš I JV – JKP – KPV LV – A/P! – NA KPV LV exited cabinet	13th (2018)
			14 December 2022	15 September 2023				Kariņš II JV – NA – AS	14th (2022)
24		Evika Siliņa (born 1975)	15 September 2023	Incumbent	480			Siliņa JV – ZZS – PRO

Timeline

1919–1940

1990–present

Statistics

Notes

During the 1918–1920 Independence War, Latvia was contested by two other governments: the government of Soviet Latvia, led by Pēteris Stučka, and the government of Andrievs Niedra, backed by Baltic Germans. Some sources may list Stučka and Niedra as prime ministers for periods when their governments controlled most of Latvia.

On 15 May 1934, prime minister Ulmanis dissolved parliament and banned all political parties (including his own Farmer's Union), establishing authoritarian rule.

Puppet leader appointed by Soviet authorities. Not recognized as such by the Latvian government.

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References

1. "IG.com Pay Check". IG.
2. "Evika Siliņa | Ministru kabinets". www.mk.gov.lv. Retrieved 2025-01-06.
3. "Evika Siliņa | Ministru kabinets". www.mk.gov.lv. Retrieved 2025-01-06.

External links

• Official list from the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers

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