Since April 2015, he has represented the electoral district of Uusimaa in the Parliament of Finland as a Social Democrat.

Since 1997 Harakka worked for Yle and hosted television programs called Musta laatikko, Pressiklubi, and 10 kirjaa.

[7] He subsequently served the Finance and budget spokesperson of the parliamentary group and member of the Grand Committee of the Parliament.

[1] On 15 December 2016 Harakka announced his candidacy for the leadership of Social Democratic Party.

He has described Boris Johnson's decision 2019 to prorogue parliament as "incredible", and compared it to "banning saunas in Finland".