Veikko Kullervo Helle (11 December 1911, in

Vihti Vihti (; sv, Vichtis) is a small municipality located in the Uusimaa region of province of Southern Finland, approximately northwest of the capital city Helsinki. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is wate ...

– 5 February 2005, in

Lohja Lohja (; sv, Lojo) is a city and municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland. The city has a population of 47,518 (2017), and it covers an area of of which , or 8.3 percent, is water. The population density of Lohja is . The municipality is ...

) was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

politician representing the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

. Helle was originally a carpenter by trade and followed his father into municipal politics and later into the parliament. He was elected in the 1936 municipal elections and he served as a member of parliament from 1951 to 1983. He was four times a minister between 1970 and 1983 and the speaker of the parliament from 1976 to 1978. Helle ran in the elections for SDP chairman in 1963, losing the post to

Rafael Paasio Kustaa Rafael Paasio, born Hellström (6 June 1903 – 17 March 1980) was a prominent Finnish politician and editor from Social Democratic Party. He served as Prime Minister of Finland twice. Paasio was born in Uskela and was in contact with the ...

. In the inner party politics, he represented the right-wing of the SDP. He served as the

minister of labor Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

on four occasions between 1970 and 1983. Helle was a member of the Vihti municipal council for 51 years from 1936 to 1987, and was the chairman of the council 1958–1976.

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