Meet the New Deputies of Latvia's 15th Saeima

The 15th Saeima, Latvia's parliament, convenes for its first session on Monday, 3 November. For the next four years, politicians with long experience will sit alongside those taking up a seat for the first time. The news portal Delfi has prepared an overview of the new representatives.

The prime minister and business figures

The most detailed profile covers Andris Kulbergs, 47, Latvia's prime minister. He spent most of his career in the car industry and sits on the board of the Auto Association. He entered politics in 2022, when he was elected to the previous Saeima on the United List ticket. In opposition he chaired parliamentary inquiry committees into the Rail Baltica project and into the rise in Riga's heating tariffs. After the government of Evika Siliņa fell, the president of Latvia asked him to form a cabinet, and the Saeima approved it on 28 May this year.

Other deputies in the overview come from business and management. Jānis Jenzis, 53, has run hotels and restaurants and is now president of the Latvian Restaurant Association. Edgars Štelmahers, 57, has headed the linen manufacturer New Rosme since 2009. Māris Ozoliņš, 47, is editor of the car portal iAuto.lv, and Jānis Stērninieks, 56, is an entrepreneur.

Public administration and sport

Līga Meņģelsone, 54, previously served as director general of the Employers' Confederation of Latvia and as health minister. Karīna Miķelsone, 43, was chair of the Ādaži municipal council. Guntars Vītols, 54, is an adviser to the finance minister, while lawyer Viesturs Vitovskis, 43, has been parliamentary secretary at the Ministry of Justice since June 2026.

Raimonds Bergmanis, 60, a former weightlifter and defence minister, will serve his fifth consecutive term in the Saeima. Liene Apine, 49, is president of the Latvian Paralympic Committee.

Criminal proceedings

Lawyer Mārtiņš Brencis, 45, was briefly detained on 28 October in a criminal case run by EPPO, the European Public Prosecutor's Office, together with KNAB, over suspected fraud involving European Union funds in the Alūksne municipality. The prime minister dismissed him as his adviser. Brencis has confirmed he holds the status of a person against whom criminal proceedings have been opened, but says he does not plan to give up his seat.