'Two prime ministers were spotted drinking and having a good time - a double standard is at play'

OPINION -- Woo-hoo! All cheer the PM and beer!

Anthony Albanese was spotted necking the amber elixir at a Gang of Youths concert at Sydney's Enmore Theatre and the crowd went wild.

Albo always struck me as a bit of dag, but everything about the beer chugging scene appeared to deliver the PM cool cred.

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Watching alternative rockers on a school night, tick. Joy Division t-shirt, tick, tick. Quaffing a coldie, standing, then toasting his empty cup to the cheering crowd, tick, tick, tick.

It would appear Aussies love their (male) leaders with an empty beer glass in hand.

When Bob Hawke was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, he set a world record for downing a yard of ale in eleven seconds.

It laid the beery foundations, and fortitude, for further sculling as seen by him at the SCG in 2012 and 2014.

Tony Abbott once knocked back a large glass of beer in an astonishing seven seconds. Oi oi oi!

By contrast, there were more jeers than cheers for Finland's Prime Minister, Sanna Marin, after leaked footage of her at a party.

Marin's crime? Letting loose with a clutch of Finnish celebrities where, shock horror, alcohol and dancing were involved.

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On the surface, a double standard is at play, rooted I suspect in ageism, sexism and possibly jealousy.

Marin is young (at 36, Finland's youngest ever leader). She's a woman and a mother.

And, as the leaked video reveals, she has some smooth dance moves.

Over the weekend, Marin took a drug test to "clear suspicion".

An out of shape/old/uncool bloke lets loose and it's deemed ace; entertainment for the hoi polloi.

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Would beer-swilling male leaders be subjected to such a harsh backlash? I suspect not.

By comparison a, dare I say it, attractive, young, female leader parties and she's deemed a disgrace. Unprofessional. Unbecoming. Incompetent. Irresponsible.

A woman lets her hair down and she must fight for her right to party.

All politicians, male and female, should face the same scrutiny.

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My only criticism of Marin applies to all leaders, regardless of gender: Read the room.

Finland is experiencing turbulent times. The country shares a 1,340-kilometre land border with Russia and is facing some serious fallout from the invasion of Ukraine.

There are the pressing issues around Finland joining NATO and rejecting Russian tourist visas to negotiate.

This is not the first time Marin's edgy, cool and perhaps poorly-timed party ways have caused her trouble.

In December she was forced to apologise on Facebook when she danced at a Helsinki nightclub until 4am.

This time, it was neither the dancing nor the late night that offended; rather the fact Marin was out after close contact with her COVID-positive foreign minister, at a time when the world was in peak pandemic panic mode.

So whether a leader is a woman or a man, of course they are entitled to let off a bit of steam, chug a beer, or break out some dance moves — unless their country is on the brink of a crisis.

Perhaps during those testing times it's best to work hard and save the revelry for later. Like saying no to a Mai Tai in Hawaii when your country's on fire.

On episode 6 of The Elliott Exchange, Tom and Elise debate the double standards our partying PMs face.