Jani Toivola

{{Short description|Finnish actor and politician (born 1977)}}

{{BLP sources|date=February 2013}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Jani Toivola

| honorific-suffix =

| image = Jani Toivola 2015.jpg

| caption = Toivola in 2015

| constituency_MP = Uusimaa

| parliament = Finnish

| majority =

| term_start = 2011

| term_end = 2019

| predecessor =

| successor =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1977|11|27|df=y}}

| birth_place = Vaasa, Finland

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = Finnish

| party = Green League

| spouse =

| relations =

| children =

| residence =

| alma_mater =

| occupation = Actor, dancer

| profession =

| religion =

| signature =

| website = [http://janitoivola.net http://janitoivola.net]

| footnotes =

}}

Jani Petteri Toivola (born 27 November 1977) is a Finnish actor, dancer, author and an ex-politician. He studied in HB Acting Studio, New York City in 1999–2002. He has performed in several dance works, television series and plays. Toivola is also openly gay.{{cite news |title=Jani Toivola ei peittele rakkauttaan miehiin |url=https://www.iltalehti.fi/idols/a/200701275661615 |newspaper=Iltalehti |date=27 January 2007 |language=fi}} His father is Kenyan and his mother is Finnish.{{Cite web|title=He's the other politician with a white mother and a black Kenyan father|url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2013-12-31/hes-other-politician-white-mother-and-black-kenyan-father|access-date=29 June 2021|website=The World from PRX|date=30 December 2013 |language=en}}

Toivola has been a veejay for the chart programme of the music channel The Voice. He has also so far hosted the third and fourth season of the Finnish Idols television series together with Ellen Jokikunnas.

In the Finnish parliamentary election of 2011, Toivola was elected to the Parliament of Finland as a candidate of the Green League. He was the first Finnish Black MP.{{Cite web|title=BBC World Service - Outlook, Protestors, Politicians and Scribes|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01rzdj4|access-date=29 June 2021|website=BBC|language=en-GB}} In 2018 he announced that he would not run for a third term.{{Cite web|title=Toivola: I've decided not to run in next spring's elections|url=https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finland-news/politics/15863-toivola-i-ve-decided-not-to-run-in-next-spring-s-elections.html|access-date=29 June 2021|website=www.helsinkitimes.fi|date=4 October 2018 |language=en-gb}}