Social Democratic Party of Finland
Encyclopedia
The Social Democratic Party of Finland is one of the three major political parties
in Finland
, along with the Centre Party
and the National Coalition Party. Jutta Urpilainen
is the current SDP leader. The party has been in the Finnish government cabinet
for long periods and has set many fundamental policies of the Finnish state. The party is currently present in the current cabinet of Jyrki Katainen
. The SDP aims to group together people in order to achieve social-democratic
goals: a society in which "freedom, equality, solidarity and co-operation thrives in a peaceful and clean environment". The SDP has a close relationship with the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions
(SAK). The SDP is a member of the Socialist International
and Party of European Socialists
.
In the early 20th century, the SDP steadily commanded some 40% of the vote, but after the Finnish Civil War
of 1918, communists
split from the party to form the Communist Party of Finland
. After that, the SDP has usually commanded 20–29% of the total votes in all elections where communists or their fronts have been allowed to operate. The Social Democratic Party has about 59,000 members. Tarja Halonen
was SDP's winning candidate for President of Finland
in 2000 and 2006. The two preceding presidents were also SDP presidential candidates. In the 2007 parliamentary election
, SDP received 21.4 percent of the vote and lost 8 seats. In 2008 municipal elections, SDP continued its decline with the largest drop since 1960. In the latest parliamentary election
in 2011 the party received 19.1 per cent of the vote and lost another three seats, giving it 42 seats in the parliament
.
It is to be noted that despite the fact that the word sosiaali in modern Finnish
has a long a, the name of this party is officially spelt in an old-fashioned way with a short a, for historical reasons.
The party was founded as the Finnish Labour Party in 1899. The name was changed to the present form in 1903. The party remained a chiefly extra-parliamentary movement until the universal suffrage
of 1906, after which the SDP's share of the votes and seats at best reached 47% in 1916, when the party secured a majority in the parliament. This was the only time in the history of Finland when one party has had a majority
in the parliament. The SDP lost its majority in the 1917 election and in 1918 started a rebellion that escalated into the Finnish Civil War
.
Former SDP members created the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic
. The war resulted in most party leaders on all levels being killed, imprisoned or seeking refuge in Soviet Russia
. In addition, the process leading to the Civil War and the war itself had stripped the party of its legitimacy and respectability in Finnish political life in the eyes of the right-wing
majority. However, the political support for the party remained strong, and in the elections of 1919, the party, reorganised by Väinö Tanner
, gained some 80 of the 200 seats in the parliament. Some refugee Social Democrats founded the Communist Party of Finland
in Moscow
in 1918. Although the Communist Party was banned in Finland until 1945, the support of the Finnish working class
was in the following elections divided between the Social Democratic Party and organisations acting as communist fronts.
It became the life's work of Väinö Tanner
to regain the SDP's reputation as a party capable of dealing with serious matters, such as governing Finland. The result was a much more patriotic
SDP, leaning less to the left and relatively isolated from its Nordic
sister parties. P.E. Svinhufvud's
animosity however kept SDP out of the government during his presidency in 1931-1937. With the exception of a brief period in 1926, SDP was excluded from Cabinet participation until Kyösti Kallio
was elected President in 1937. During World War II
the party played a central role in a series of broad coalition cabinets, symbolising national unity forged in response to the threat of the USSR
in the Winter War
in 1939-40.
The party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International
between 1923 and 1940.
During the first few months of the Continuation War
(1941–1944) the country, the parliament, and the Cabinet were divided on the question whether Finland's army should stop at the old border and thereby demonstratively refrain from any attempts of conquests. The country's dangerous position called however for national unity, and the party's leadership chose to refrain from any visible protests. This decision is often indicated as one of the main reasons behind post-war division and the high percentage of Communist voters in the first elections after the Continuation War.
After the Continuation War
, the Communist Party was allowed to work openly, and the main feature of Finnish political life during period 1944–1949 was fierce competition between the Social Democrats and the Communists for voters and control of the labor unions. At this time, the political field was divided roughly equally between the Social Democrats, Communists and the Agrarian League
, each party commanding some 25% of the vote. In the post-war era, the Social Democratic Party adopted a line defending the Finnish sovereignty and democracy in line with the Agrarian League and other bourgeois
political parties, finally leading to the expulsion of the Communists from the Cabinet in 1949. However, it remained obvious that the Soviet Union
was much more openly critical against SDP than against the "openly" bourgeois parties.
Because of the anti-communist activities, the United States Central Intelligence Agency
funded the party. The money was laundered by giving it to Nordic sister parties, which delivered it, or to organisations that bought "luxury goods" such as coffee
abroad and imported them and sold them with a high profit; the post-war rationing
served to inflate prices.
In the presidential election of 1956, SDP's candidate Karl-August Fagerholm
lost with only one single elector's vote to Urho Kekkonen
. Fagerholm would act as a Prime Minister in 1956-1957 and 1958-1959. The latter Cabinet was, however, forced to resign due to Soviet pressure, leading to a series of Agrarian League Cabinets. In 1958 a faction of the party resigned and formed the Alliance of Finnish Workers and Small Farmers (TPSL) around the former SDP chairman Emil Skog due to the election of Väinö Tanner
as party chairman. The dispute was over several issues: should thr SDP function as an interest group or not, and should they co-operate with the anti-Communists and right-wingers or President Kekkonen, the Agrarians and Communists. During the 1960s, this fraction dwindled, its members returning little by little to the SDP or joining the Communists. The founder himself, Emil Skog, returned in 1965, and in 1970, the fraction lost its seats in the parliament.
Only in 1966, the SDP was able to satisfy the Soviet Union about its friendly attitude towards her and could return to the Cabinet. Since then, the SDP has been represented in most Finnish Cabinets, often cooperating with the centrist
-agrarian
Centre Party
(formerly the Agrarian League), but sometimes with the liberal-conservative
National Coalition Party. A period in opposition for the SDP occurred during 1991–1995, when the Cabinet was formed by the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party.
Prime Minister Lipponen headed cabinets 1995-2003. During this time, the party adopted a pro-European line and contributed actively to the Finnish membership of the European Union
in 1995 in concert with the Cabinet. SDP won 53 of the 200 seats in Parliament in the elections on 16 March 2003, which ended in a very close run with the Centre Party. As a result, the SDP's chairman Paavo Lipponen
became the Speaker
of Parliament, and the Centre Party chairwoman Anneli Jäätteenmäki
became Prime Minister of Finland
, leading a coalition Cabinet that also included the minority Swedish People's Party beside the two major partners. SDP had eight portfolios in the Cabinet. After two months Jäätteenmäki resigned due to a scandal and was replaced by Matti Vanhanen
.
Majority of SDP members are recently over 60 years old. Approximately 60% of the members are men.
, the party lost eight seats and finished with the third place. The chairman of the largest party, Matti Vanhanen of the Centre Party, was named Prime Minister, but he selected the second-most popular National Coalition party, the Green League
and the Swedish People's Party to the cabinet, leaving the Social Democratic Party in opposition. SDP leader Eero Heinäluoma
did not immediately resign as a party chairman; however, he announced his withdrawal from the next vote for party chairman on the next party conference, where he was replaced by Jutta Urpilainen
. The SDP suffered losses in the 2008 municipal election and the 2009 European election
.
In the 2011 parliamentary election
the SDP lost three more seats, ending up with 42 seats. The party's vote share was lower than in any previous parliamentary election at 19.1 per cent. However, as the Centre Party lost even more, the Social Democrats came second place after the National Coalition Party, receiving only some 1,500 votes more than the right-wing populist
True Finns
, who came third. After lengthy negotiations, a six-party coalition government was formed, the Jyrki Katainen cabinet
, with the National Coalition Party and the Social Democrats as its two main parties. SDP party chairman Jutta Urpilainen became Minister of Finance
, with National Coalition leader Jyrki Katainen
serving as Prime Minister.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, along with the Centre Party
Centre Party (Finland)
The Centre Party is a centrist and Nordic agrarian political party in Finland. It is one of the four largest political parties in the country, along with the Social Democratic Party , the National Coalition Party and the True Finns , and currently has 35 seats in the Finnish Parliament...
and the National Coalition Party. Jutta Urpilainen
Jutta Urpilainen
Jutta Pauliina Urpilainen is the current Minister of Finance of Finland and the Chairperson of the Social Democratic Party of Finland . She was elected in June 2008 as the first female chairperson of the SDP....
is the current SDP leader. The party has been in the Finnish government cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
for long periods and has set many fundamental policies of the Finnish state. The party is currently present in the current cabinet of Jyrki Katainen
Jyrki Katainen's cabinet
Jyrki Katainen's cabinet is the 72nd cabinet of Finland, formed as a result of the 2011 post-parliamentary election negotiations between the Finnish parliamentary parties...
. The SDP aims to group together people in order to achieve social-democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
goals: a society in which "freedom, equality, solidarity and co-operation thrives in a peaceful and clean environment". The SDP has a close relationship with the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions
Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions
The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, usually referred to by the acronym SAK is the largest trade union confederation in Finland...
(SAK). The SDP is a member of the Socialist International
Socialist International
The Socialist International is a worldwide organization of democratic socialist, social democratic and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.- History :...
and Party of European Socialists
Party of European Socialists
The Party of European Socialists is a European political party led by Sergei Stanishev, former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. The PES comprises social-democratic national-level political parties primarily from Member state of the European Union, as well as other nations of the European continent. The...
.
In the early 20th century, the SDP steadily commanded some 40% of the vote, but after the Finnish Civil War
Finnish Civil War
The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I in Europe. The Civil War concerned control and leadership of The Grand Duchy of Finland as it achieved independence from Russia after the October Revolution in Petrograd...
of 1918, communists
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
split from the party to form the Communist Party of Finland
Communist Party of Finland
The Communist Party of Finland was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944.SKP did not participate in any elections with its own name. Instead, front organisations were used...
. After that, the SDP has usually commanded 20–29% of the total votes in all elections where communists or their fronts have been allowed to operate. The Social Democratic Party has about 59,000 members. Tarja Halonen
Tarja Halonen
Tarja Kaarina Halonen is the incumbent President of Finland. The first female to hold the office, Halonen had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 when she resigned after her election to the presidency...
was SDP's winning candidate for President of Finland
President of Finland
The President of the Republic of Finland is the nation's head of state. Under the Finnish constitution, executive power is vested in the President and the government, with the President possessing extensive powers. The President is elected directly by the people of Finland for a term of six years....
in 2000 and 2006. The two preceding presidents were also SDP presidential candidates. In the 2007 parliamentary election
Finnish parliamentary election, 2007
The Finnish parliamentary election of 2007 was the 35th election to the Eduskunta , held on 18 March 2007 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Early voting was possible from the 7–13 March. Two hundred MPs were elected from 15 constituencies.Election themes included a reduction...
, SDP received 21.4 percent of the vote and lost 8 seats. In 2008 municipal elections, SDP continued its decline with the largest drop since 1960. In the latest parliamentary election
Finnish parliamentary election, 2011
An election to the Eduskunta was held on 17 April 2011 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Advance voting, which included voting by Finnish expatriates, was held between 6 and 12 April with a turnout of 31.2%....
in 2011 the party received 19.1 per cent of the vote and lost another three seats, giving it 42 seats in the parliament
Parliament of Finland
The Eduskunta , is the parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and meets in the Parliament House in Helsinki. The latest election to the parliament took place on April 17, 2011.- Constitution :...
.
It is to be noted that despite the fact that the word sosiaali in modern Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
has a long a, the name of this party is officially spelt in an old-fashioned way with a short a, for historical reasons.
History
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
of 1906, after which the SDP's share of the votes and seats at best reached 47% in 1916, when the party secured a majority in the parliament. This was the only time in the history of Finland when one party has had a majority
Majority government
A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...
in the parliament. The SDP lost its majority in the 1917 election and in 1918 started a rebellion that escalated into the Finnish Civil War
Finnish Civil War
The Finnish Civil War was a part of the national, political and social turmoil caused by World War I in Europe. The Civil War concerned control and leadership of The Grand Duchy of Finland as it achieved independence from Russia after the October Revolution in Petrograd...
.
Former SDP members created the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic
Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic
The Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic was a short-lived Finnish socialist government, established by a revolution just prior to the Finnish Civil War and in the aftermath of the October Revolution...
. The war resulted in most party leaders on all levels being killed, imprisoned or seeking refuge in Soviet Russia
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
. In addition, the process leading to the Civil War and the war itself had stripped the party of its legitimacy and respectability in Finnish political life in the eyes of the right-wing
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
majority. However, the political support for the party remained strong, and in the elections of 1919, the party, reorganised by Väinö Tanner
Väinö Tanner
Väinö Tanner was a pioneer and leader in the cooperative movement in Finland, and Prime Minister of Finland from 1926 to 1927....
, gained some 80 of the 200 seats in the parliament. Some refugee Social Democrats founded the Communist Party of Finland
Communist Party of Finland
The Communist Party of Finland was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944.SKP did not participate in any elections with its own name. Instead, front organisations were used...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in 1918. Although the Communist Party was banned in Finland until 1945, the support of the Finnish working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
was in the following elections divided between the Social Democratic Party and organisations acting as communist fronts.
Väinö Tanner
Väinö Tanner was a pioneer and leader in the cooperative movement in Finland, and Prime Minister of Finland from 1926 to 1927....
to regain the SDP's reputation as a party capable of dealing with serious matters, such as governing Finland. The result was a much more patriotic
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
SDP, leaning less to the left and relatively isolated from its Nordic
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
sister parties. P.E. Svinhufvud's
Pehr Evind Svinhufvud
Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad , December 15, 1861 – February 29, 1944) was the third President of Finland from 1931 to 1937. Serving as a lawyer, judge, and politician in the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland, he played a major role in the movement for Finnish independence...
animosity however kept SDP out of the government during his presidency in 1931-1937. With the exception of a brief period in 1926, SDP was excluded from Cabinet participation until Kyösti Kallio
Kyösti Kallio
Kyösti Kallio was the fourth President of Finland . He was a prominent leader of the Agrarian League, and served as Prime Minister four times and Speaker of the Parliament six times.-Early life:...
was elected President in 1937. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the party played a central role in a series of broad coalition cabinets, symbolising national unity forged in response to the threat of the USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
in 1939-40.
The party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International
Labour and Socialist International
The Labour and Socialist International was an international organization of socialist and labour parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The LSI was a forerunner of the present-day Socialist International....
between 1923 and 1940.
During the first few months of the Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
(1941–1944) the country, the parliament, and the Cabinet were divided on the question whether Finland's army should stop at the old border and thereby demonstratively refrain from any attempts of conquests. The country's dangerous position called however for national unity, and the party's leadership chose to refrain from any visible protests. This decision is often indicated as one of the main reasons behind post-war division and the high percentage of Communist voters in the first elections after the Continuation War.
After the Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...
, the Communist Party was allowed to work openly, and the main feature of Finnish political life during period 1944–1949 was fierce competition between the Social Democrats and the Communists for voters and control of the labor unions. At this time, the political field was divided roughly equally between the Social Democrats, Communists and the Agrarian League
Centre Party (Finland)
The Centre Party is a centrist and Nordic agrarian political party in Finland. It is one of the four largest political parties in the country, along with the Social Democratic Party , the National Coalition Party and the True Finns , and currently has 35 seats in the Finnish Parliament...
, each party commanding some 25% of the vote. In the post-war era, the Social Democratic Party adopted a line defending the Finnish sovereignty and democracy in line with the Agrarian League and other bourgeois
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
political parties, finally leading to the expulsion of the Communists from the Cabinet in 1949. However, it remained obvious that the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
was much more openly critical against SDP than against the "openly" bourgeois parties.
Because of the anti-communist activities, the United States Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
funded the party. The money was laundered by giving it to Nordic sister parties, which delivered it, or to organisations that bought "luxury goods" such as coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
abroad and imported them and sold them with a high profit; the post-war rationing
Rationing
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services. Rationing controls the size of the ration, one's allotted portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.- In economics :...
served to inflate prices.
In the presidential election of 1956, SDP's candidate Karl-August Fagerholm
Karl-August Fagerholm
Karl-August Fagerholm was Speaker of Parliament and three times Prime Minister of Finland . Fagerholm became chairman of the Social Democrats after the armistice in the Continuation War...
lost with only one single elector's vote to Urho Kekkonen
Urho Kekkonen
Urho Kaleva Kekkonen , was a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland and later as the eighth President of Finland . Kekkonen continued the “active neutrality” policy of his predecessor President Juho Kusti Paasikivi, a doctrine which came to be known as the “Paasikivi–Kekkonen...
. Fagerholm would act as a Prime Minister in 1956-1957 and 1958-1959. The latter Cabinet was, however, forced to resign due to Soviet pressure, leading to a series of Agrarian League Cabinets. In 1958 a faction of the party resigned and formed the Alliance of Finnish Workers and Small Farmers (TPSL) around the former SDP chairman Emil Skog due to the election of Väinö Tanner
Väinö Tanner
Väinö Tanner was a pioneer and leader in the cooperative movement in Finland, and Prime Minister of Finland from 1926 to 1927....
as party chairman. The dispute was over several issues: should thr SDP function as an interest group or not, and should they co-operate with the anti-Communists and right-wingers or President Kekkonen, the Agrarians and Communists. During the 1960s, this fraction dwindled, its members returning little by little to the SDP or joining the Communists. The founder himself, Emil Skog, returned in 1965, and in 1970, the fraction lost its seats in the parliament.
Centrism
In politics, centrism is the ideal or the practice of promoting policies that lie different from the standard political left and political right. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of left-right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between...
-agrarian
Agrarianism
Agrarianism has two common meanings. The first meaning refers to a social philosophy or political philosophy which values rural society as superior to urban society, the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker, and sees farming as a way of life that can shape the ideal social values...
Centre Party
Centre Party (Finland)
The Centre Party is a centrist and Nordic agrarian political party in Finland. It is one of the four largest political parties in the country, along with the Social Democratic Party , the National Coalition Party and the True Finns , and currently has 35 seats in the Finnish Parliament...
(formerly the Agrarian League), but sometimes with the liberal-conservative
Liberal conservatism
Liberal conservatism also known as progressive conservatism is a variant of political conservatism which incorporates liberal elements. As "conservatism" and "liberalism" have had different meanings over time and across countries, the term "liberal conservatism" has been used in quite different...
National Coalition Party. A period in opposition for the SDP occurred during 1991–1995, when the Cabinet was formed by the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party.
Prime Minister Lipponen headed cabinets 1995-2003. During this time, the party adopted a pro-European line and contributed actively to the Finnish membership of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
in 1995 in concert with the Cabinet. SDP won 53 of the 200 seats in Parliament in the elections on 16 March 2003, which ended in a very close run with the Centre Party. As a result, the SDP's chairman Paavo Lipponen
Paavo Lipponen
Paavo Tapio Lipponen is a Finnish politician and former reporter. He was Prime Minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from 1993 to 2005...
became the Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
of Parliament, and the Centre Party chairwoman Anneli Jäätteenmäki
Anneli Jäätteenmäki
Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki, Master of Laws was the first female Prime Minister of Finland, in office from 17 April 2003 to 24 June 2003....
became Prime Minister of Finland
Prime Minister of Finland
The Prime Minister is the Head of Government of Finland. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, who is the Head of State. The current Prime Minister is Jyrki Katainen of the National Coalition Party.-Overview:...
, leading a coalition Cabinet that also included the minority Swedish People's Party beside the two major partners. SDP had eight portfolios in the Cabinet. After two months Jäätteenmäki resigned due to a scandal and was replaced by Matti Vanhanen
Matti Vanhanen
Matti Taneli Vanhanen is a Finnish politician. He is a former Prime Minister of Finland and a former Chairman of the Centre Party. In the second half of 2006 he was President of the European Council. In his earlier career he was a journalist...
.
Majority of SDP members are recently over 60 years old. Approximately 60% of the members are men.
Latest elections
In the 2007 electionFinnish parliamentary election, 2007
The Finnish parliamentary election of 2007 was the 35th election to the Eduskunta , held on 18 March 2007 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Early voting was possible from the 7–13 March. Two hundred MPs were elected from 15 constituencies.Election themes included a reduction...
, the party lost eight seats and finished with the third place. The chairman of the largest party, Matti Vanhanen of the Centre Party, was named Prime Minister, but he selected the second-most popular National Coalition party, the Green League
Green League
The Green League is a centrist green liberal political party in Finland. It has ten seats in the Finnish Parliament and two in the European Parliament. The current chairperson is Ville Niinistö....
and the Swedish People's Party to the cabinet, leaving the Social Democratic Party in opposition. SDP leader Eero Heinäluoma
Eero Heinäluoma
Eero Olavi Heinäluoma is the current Speaker of the Parliament of Finland. A former chairman of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, he was replaced in the party's leadership by Jutta Urpilainen in June 2008....
did not immediately resign as a party chairman; however, he announced his withdrawal from the next vote for party chairman on the next party conference, where he was replaced by Jutta Urpilainen
Jutta Urpilainen
Jutta Pauliina Urpilainen is the current Minister of Finance of Finland and the Chairperson of the Social Democratic Party of Finland . She was elected in June 2008 as the first female chairperson of the SDP....
. The SDP suffered losses in the 2008 municipal election and the 2009 European election
European Parliament election, 2009 (Finland)
The European Parliament election of 2009 in Finland was the election of the delegation from Finland to the European Parliament in 2009.Finland uses the open list d'Hondt method, where voters vote for an individual, but the individual's vote is counted primarily for the party and secondarily for the...
.
In the 2011 parliamentary election
Finnish parliamentary election, 2011
An election to the Eduskunta was held on 17 April 2011 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Advance voting, which included voting by Finnish expatriates, was held between 6 and 12 April with a turnout of 31.2%....
the SDP lost three more seats, ending up with 42 seats. The party's vote share was lower than in any previous parliamentary election at 19.1 per cent. However, as the Centre Party lost even more, the Social Democrats came second place after the National Coalition Party, receiving only some 1,500 votes more than the right-wing populist
Right-wing populism
Right-wing populism is a political ideology that rejects existing political consensus and combines laissez-faire liberalism and anti-elitism. It is considered "right-wing" because of its rejection of social equality and government programs to achieve it, its opposition to social integration, and...
True Finns
True Finns
True Finns or The Finns is a populist and nationalist political party in Finland, founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The head of the movement is Timo Soini. In the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election, The party won 19.1% of votes, becoming the third largest party...
, who came third. After lengthy negotiations, a six-party coalition government was formed, the Jyrki Katainen cabinet
Jyrki Katainen's cabinet
Jyrki Katainen's cabinet is the 72nd cabinet of Finland, formed as a result of the 2011 post-parliamentary election negotiations between the Finnish parliamentary parties...
, with the National Coalition Party and the Social Democrats as its two main parties. SDP party chairman Jutta Urpilainen became Minister of Finance
Minister of Finance (Finland)
The Minister of Finance of Finland handles the Finance of Finland and all other matters covered by the Ministry of Finance...
, with National Coalition leader Jyrki Katainen
Jyrki Katainen
Jyrki Tapani Katainen is the Prime Minister of Finland and chairman of the country's largest party, the National Coalition Party.-Career:...
serving as Prime Minister.
Prominent Social Democrats
- Oskari TokoiOskari TokoiAntti Oskari Tokoi was a Finnish socialist who served as a leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland. During the short-lived Revolution of 1918, Tokoi participated as a leading figure in the revolutionary government....
- Chairman of the SenateSenate of FinlandThe Senate of Finland combined the functions of cabinet and supreme court in the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1816 to 1917 and in the independent Republic of Finland from 1917 to 1918....
1917 - Yrjö SirolaYrjö SirolaYrjö Elias Sirola was a Finnish socialist politician, teacher, and newspaper editor...
- Founder of the Communist Party of FinlandCommunist Party of FinlandThe Communist Party of Finland was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944.SKP did not participate in any elections with its own name. Instead, front organisations were used...
. - Väinö TannerVäinö TannerVäinö Tanner was a pioneer and leader in the cooperative movement in Finland, and Prime Minister of Finland from 1926 to 1927....
: Prime Minister , Foreign Minister during the Winter WarWinter WarThe Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty... - Karl-August FagerholmKarl-August FagerholmKarl-August Fagerholm was Speaker of Parliament and three times Prime Minister of Finland . Fagerholm became chairman of the Social Democrats after the armistice in the Continuation War...
: Prime Minister 1948-1950, 1956-1957, 1958-1959, Speaker of Parliament 1945-1948, 1950–1956, 1957–1958, 1958–1962, 1965–1966 - Rafael PaasioRafael PaasioKustaa Rafael Paasio was a prominent Finnish politician and editor from Social Democratic Party. He served as Prime Minister of Finland twice ....
: Prime Minister 1966-1968, 1972 - Kalevi SorsaKalevi SorsaTaisto Kalevi Sorsa was a Finnish politician who was Prime Minister of Finland four times: 1972–1975, 1977–1979, 1982–1983 and 1983–1987 and at the date of his death still held the Finnish record of most days of incumbency as prime minister...
: Prime Minister 1972-1975, 1977-1979, 1982-1987 - Mauno KoivistoMauno KoivistoMauno Henrik Koivisto is a Finnish politician who served as the ninth President of Finland from 1982 to 1994. He also served as Prime Minister 1968–1970 and 1979–1982...
: President 1982–1994 - Martti AhtisaariMartti AhtisaariMartti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland , Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work....
: President 1994–2000 and a Nobel Peace Price winner - Erkki TuomiojaErkki TuomiojaErkki Sakari Tuomioja is the Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs. He is currently a member of the Finnish Parliament.Tuomioja is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, although his political views are thought to be more to the left than the party line. He is also a member of ATTAC...
: Foreign Minister 2000–2007 and 2011- - Paavo LipponenPaavo LipponenPaavo Tapio Lipponen is a Finnish politician and former reporter. He was Prime Minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from 1993 to 2005...
: Prime Minister 1995–2003 and Speaker of the Parliament 2003-2007 - Tarja HalonenTarja HalonenTarja Kaarina Halonen is the incumbent President of Finland. The first female to hold the office, Halonen had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 when she resigned after her election to the presidency...
: President 2000–2012 - Eero HeinäluomaEero HeinäluomaEero Olavi Heinäluoma is the current Speaker of the Parliament of Finland. A former chairman of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, he was replaced in the party's leadership by Jutta Urpilainen in June 2008....
: Speaker of the Parliament 2011- - Jutta UrpilainenJutta UrpilainenJutta Pauliina Urpilainen is the current Minister of Finance of Finland and the Chairperson of the Social Democratic Party of Finland . She was elected in June 2008 as the first female chairperson of the SDP....
: Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister 2011-
Chairmen
- Nils Robert af Ursin - 1899-1900
- J. A. Salminen - 1900
- K. F. Hellstén - 1900-1903
- Taavi Tainio - 1903-1905
- Emil Perttilä - 1905-1906
- Edvard Valpas - 1906-1909
- Matti PaasivuoriMatti PaasivuoriMatti Paasivuori was a Finnish politician from Social Democratic Party. Paasivuori was the Chairman of the Social Democratic Party on three occasions: 1909–1911, 1913–1917 and 1926–1930....
- 1909-1911 - Otto Wille Kuusinen - 1911-1913
- Matti PaasivuoriMatti PaasivuoriMatti Paasivuori was a Finnish politician from Social Democratic Party. Paasivuori was the Chairman of the Social Democratic Party on three occasions: 1909–1911, 1913–1917 and 1926–1930....
- 1913-1917 - Kullervo MannerKullervo MannerKullervo Achilles Manner was a Finnish journalist and politician. He was a member of the Finnish parliament, serving as its Speaker in 1917. He was also chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland between 1917–1918. During the Finnish Civil War, he led the Finnish People's Delegation...
- 1917-1918 - Väinö TannerVäinö TannerVäinö Tanner was a pioneer and leader in the cooperative movement in Finland, and Prime Minister of Finland from 1926 to 1927....
- 1918-1926 - Matti PaasivuoriMatti PaasivuoriMatti Paasivuori was a Finnish politician from Social Democratic Party. Paasivuori was the Chairman of the Social Democratic Party on three occasions: 1909–1911, 1913–1917 and 1926–1930....
- 1926-1930 - Kaarlo Harvala - 1930-1942
- Väinö Salovaara - 1942-1944
- Onni HiltunenOnni HiltunenOnni Alfred Hiltunen was a Finnish politician, minister in several cabinets and chairman of the Social Democratic Party ....
- 1944-1946 - Emil Skog - 1946-1957
- Väinö TannerVäinö TannerVäinö Tanner was a pioneer and leader in the cooperative movement in Finland, and Prime Minister of Finland from 1926 to 1927....
- 1957-1963 - Rafael PaasioRafael PaasioKustaa Rafael Paasio was a prominent Finnish politician and editor from Social Democratic Party. He served as Prime Minister of Finland twice ....
- 1963-1975 - Kalevi SorsaKalevi SorsaTaisto Kalevi Sorsa was a Finnish politician who was Prime Minister of Finland four times: 1972–1975, 1977–1979, 1982–1983 and 1983–1987 and at the date of his death still held the Finnish record of most days of incumbency as prime minister...
- 1975-1987 - Pertti PaasioPertti PaasioPertti Kullervo Paasio is a Finnish politician from the Social Democratic Party.Paasio participated in the municipal politics of Turku and was elected into the municipal council in 1965. Paasio became member of the Parliament in July 1975, however, he lost the seat in the 1979 parliamentary...
- 1987-1991 - Ulf SundqvistUlf SundqvistUlf Sundqvist is a former chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, a minister in four cabinets in 1970s and a banker in 1980s....
- 1991-1993 - Paavo LipponenPaavo LipponenPaavo Tapio Lipponen is a Finnish politician and former reporter. He was Prime Minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from 1993 to 2005...
- 1993-2005 - Eero HeinäluomaEero HeinäluomaEero Olavi Heinäluoma is the current Speaker of the Parliament of Finland. A former chairman of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, he was replaced in the party's leadership by Jutta Urpilainen in June 2008....
- 2005-2008 - Jutta UrpilainenJutta UrpilainenJutta Pauliina Urpilainen is the current Minister of Finance of Finland and the Chairperson of the Social Democratic Party of Finland . She was elected in June 2008 as the first female chairperson of the SDP....
- 2008-
Election results
b>Parliament
|
table class="wikitable"> | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year | MPs | Votes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 Finnish parliamentary election, 1948 Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 1 and 2 July 1948.-Background:The political atmosphere during the July 1948 Finnish parliamentary elections was heated. Many Finns across the party lines believed that the Communists and People's Democrats had pursued their goal of making Finland a... |
54 | 494 719 | 26,32 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1951 Finnish parliamentary election, 1951 Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 1 and 2 July 1951.-Background:Urho Kekkonen had served as Prime Minister since March 1950, after losing the February 1950 presidential election clearly to President J.K... |
53 | 480 754 | 26,52 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1954 Finnish parliamentary election, 1954 Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 7 and 8 March 1954.-Background:In June 1953, Prime Minister Kekkonen had presented a simultaneous deflationary program, which tried to lower wages, prices and public expenditures to the level of the export industry's profitability... |
54 | 527 094 | 26,25 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1958 Finnish parliamentary election, 1958 Year 1958 Eduskunta election took place 6–7 July 1958. As the result of the election Democratic Alliance of the Finnish People has been one of a few cases for a communist party to have become the dominant party in a Western European country during the Cold War... |
48 | 449 536 | 23,12 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1962 Finnish parliamentary election, 1962 Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 4 and 5 February 1962.-Background:Sukselainen's second minority government had resigned in 1961, followed by Prime Minister Martti Miettunen's first government, also a centrist minority government. In the spring of 1961, Mr... |
38 | 448 930 | 19,50 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1966 Finnish parliamentary election, 1966 Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 20 and 21 March 1966.-Background:Prime Minister Johannes Virolainen had led a centre-right coalition government since September 1964. Meanwhile, the Social Democratic leader Rafael Paasio had moved the party somewhat more to the left, in order to... |
55 | 645 339 | 27,23 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1970 Finnish parliamentary election, 1970 Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 15 and 16 March 1970.-Background:Social Democrat Mauno Koivisto had replaced his party leader Rafael Paasio as Prime Minister in March 1968. His government was very broad-based, including the Social Democrats, Centrists, Communists, Swedish People's... |
52 | 594 185 | 23,43 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1972 Finnish parliamentary election, 1972 Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 2 and 3 January 1972.-Background:Prime Minister Karjalainen's centre-left government lost one party, the Communists, in March 1971 and was forced to resign in October 1971, due to the Social Democrats' and Centrists' disagreement over the amount of... |
55 | 664 724 | 25,78 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975 Finnish parliamentary election, 1975 Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 21 and 22 September 1975.-Background:Prime Minister Kalevi Sorsa's government survived until June 1975. It resigned because of internal disagreements over the ways to combat Finland's recession, which had largely been caused by the 1973 Oil Crisis,... |
54 | 683 590 | 24,86 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1979 Finnish parliamentary election, 1979 Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 18 and 18 March 1979.-Background:Prime Minister Miettunen's centrist minority government had resigned in May 1977. After a two-year break, Social Democrat Kalevi Sorsa returned to office as Prime Minister... |
52 | 691 512 | 23,89 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1983 Finnish parliamentary election, 1983 The Finnish parliamentary election in 1983 was held after the victory of Mauno Koivisto in the presidential election of 1982. As was customary in Finland after a presidential election, the government resigned after Koivisto's victory in January 1982... |
57 | 795 953 | 26,71 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987 Finnish parliamentary election, 1987 The Finnish parliamentary election of 1987 moved the country somewhat to the right. It was uncertain how far, because the voter participation rate--at a comparatively low 75 percent, 5 percent lower than usual--hurt the left more than the right and had a varying impact... |
56 | 695 331 | 24,14 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991 Finnish parliamentary election, 1991 The Finnish Parliamentary election of 1991, held on March 17, was historic, since it led to the Centre Party becoming the largest parliamentary party, forming a purely centre-right government for the first time after 1966 The Finnish Parliamentary election of 1991, held on March 17, was historic,... |
48 | 603 080 | 22,12 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995 Finnish parliamentary election, 1995 The 32nd elections to the Finnish parliament were held on March 19, 1995. The previous centre-right cabinet fell, as the Social Democrats made strong gains and achieved the best result of any party after the Second World War... |
63 | 785 637 | 28,25 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999 Finnish parliamentary election, 1999 The 1999 Finnish parliamentary election was held on March 21, 1999. Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen's Social Democrats remained the largest party of the Eduskunta, despite significant losses... |
51 | 612 963 | 22,86 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003 Finnish parliamentary election, 2003 The Finnish parliamentary election of 2003 was the 34th election to the Eduskunta , held on 16 March 2003 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term... |
53 | 683 223 | 24,47 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 Finnish parliamentary election, 2007 The Finnish parliamentary election of 2007 was the 35th election to the Eduskunta , held on 18 March 2007 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Early voting was possible from the 7–13 March. Two hundred MPs were elected from 15 constituencies.Election themes included a reduction... |
45 | 594 194 | 21,44 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 Finnish parliamentary election, 2011 An election to the Eduskunta was held on 17 April 2011 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Advance voting, which included voting by Finnish expatriates, was held between 6 and 12 April with a turnout of 31.2%.... |
42 | 561 049 | 19,16 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
b>Municipal
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European P>rliament
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b>Presidential
|
table class="wikitable"> | direct | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidate | Votes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988 Finnish presidential election, 1988 Presidential elections were held in Finland in 1988. They were the first elections held under the new system. Previously the public had elected an electoral college that in turn elected the President... * |
Mauno Koivisto Mauno Koivisto Mauno Henrik Koivisto is a Finnish politician who served as the ninth President of Finland from 1982 to 1994. He also served as Prime Minister 1968–1970 and 1979–1982... |
1 513 234 | 48,90 % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994 Finnish presidential election, 1994 Presidential elections were held in Finland on 16 January 1994, with a second round on 6 February. It was the first time the President had been solely elected by a popular vote and saw Martti Ahtisaari defeat Elisabeth Rehn in the second round. Voter turnout was 78.4% in the first round and 78.7%... |
Martti Ahtisaari Martti Ahtisaari Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland , Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work.... |
1 828 038 2 1 723 485 |
1 25,9 % 2 53,9 % |
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| 2000 Finnish presidential election, 2000 Presidential elections were held in Finland on 16 January 2000, with a second round on 6 February. The result was a victory for Tarja Halonen of the Social Democratic Party, who became the country's first female President. During the elections Halonen was the incumbent Minister for Foreign... |
Tarja Halonen Tarja Halonen Tarja Kaarina Halonen is the incumbent President of Finland. The first female to hold the office, Halonen had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 when she resigned after her election to the presidency... |
1 1 224 431 2 1 644 532 |
1 40,0 % 2 51,6 % |
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| 2006 Finnish presidential election, 2006 The Finnish Presidential election of 2006 saw the re-election of Tarja Halonen as President of Finland for a second six-year term.The first round of voting in Finnish presidential elections always takes place on the third Sunday of January, in this case 15 January 2006... |
Tarja Halonen Tarja Halonen Tarja Kaarina Halonen is the incumbent President of Finland. The first female to hold the office, Halonen had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 when she resigned after her election to the presidency... |
1 1 397 030 2 1 630 980 |
1 46,3 % 2 51,8 % |
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