The Swedish People's Party of Finland (SPP; , SFP; , RKP) is a Finnish political party founded in 1906. Its primary aim is to represent the interests of the minority

Swedish-speaking population of Finland The Swedish-speaking population of Finland (whose members are called by many names—see below; ; ) is a linguistic minority in Finland. They maintain a strong identity and are seen either as a separate cultural, ethnic or linguistic group or ...

. The party is currently a participant in the Government of Petteri Orpo, holding the posts of

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

and Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering. Along with the post Minister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity until 13 June, 2025. An ethnic catch-all party, its main election issue since its inception has been the Swedish-speaking Finns' right to their own language while maintaining the position of Swedish as an official language in Finland. Ideologically, it is liberal,

social-liberal Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited ...

centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

, and

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...

. The party has been in government from 1979 to 2015 and again from 2019, with one or two ministerial portfolios in

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, and has collaborated with parties across the

left–right political spectrum The left–right political spectrum is a system of classifying political positions, ideologies and political parties, parties, with emphasis placed upon issues of social equality and social hierarchy. In addition to positions on the left and on ...

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. The fact that the winning party in Finland has usually needed the support from the party to form a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

has meant that the SPP has been able to affect the

politics of Finland The politics of Finland take place within the framework of a Parliamentary system, parliamentary representative democracy. Finland is a republic whose head of state is President of Finland, President Alexander Stubb, who leads the nation's for ...

on a larger scale than the party's actual size would suggest. The continued position of Swedish as one of two

official language An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...

s in Finland in the face of a steady erosion of the Swedish speakers' share of the Finnish population from 12% at independence compared to 5% today as well as the preservation of the Swedish-speaking minority's right to engage in Swedish culture are two examples of the party's influence in Finnish politics. The party is a member of the

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberalism, liberal political parties. The political international was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal and progressive democratic parties aim ...

, the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; , ADLE) was a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and the European Democratic Party. ALDE had political ...

, and

Renew Europe Renew Europe (or simply Renew) is a liberal, centrist to centre-right, pro-European political group of the European Parliament founded for the ninth European Parliament term. The group is the successor to the Alliance of Liberals and Dem ...

. The youth organisation of the party is called Svensk Ungdom (Swedish Youth).

History and electorate

Svenska folkpartiet election poster 1907

The Swedish Party (1870–1906), a parliamentary elite party based on members in the

Diet of Finland The Diet of Finland (Finnish language, Finnish ''Suomen maapäivät'', later ''valtiopäivät''; Swedish language, Swedish ''Finlands Lantdagar''), was the Diet (assembly), legislative assembly of the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1809 to 1906 ...

, is the historical predecessor of the Swedish People's Party of Finland. It was a part of the

Svecoman movement The Svecoman (, , ) movement was a Suecophile or pro- Swedish nationalist movement that arose in the Grand Duchy of Finland at the end of the 19th century chiefly as a reaction to the demands for increased use of Finnish vigorously presented by ...

and its main policy was opposition of the Fennoman movement. Unlike Fennomans, who were largely liberal on other matters than the language question, the Svecoman were

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

. Axel Lille and Axel Olof Freudenthal are often considered as some of the main "founding fathers" of the movement. Most members of the Liberal Party joined the Swedish Party in the 1880s, after the Liberals ceased to exist as a distinct party. The Swedish People's Party of Finland was founded in the 1906 party congress of the Swedish Party, making it one of the oldest parties in Finland. The first leader of the Swedish People's Party was Axel Lille. The current leader of the party is Anders Adlercreutz. In the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that ...

the representative for

Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...

is usually included in SPP's parliamentary group, regardless of his/her party affiliation; parties on Åland are separate from those on the mainland, but their common interest in Swedish-language issues gives them much in common with the Swedish People's Party group as regards national politics. The party receives its main electoral support from the Swedish speaking minority, which makes up about 5.5% of Finland's population. During its history, the party has suffered slow but steady decline in adherence, following the decline of the percentage of Swedish-speaking population. In 1907, the party received 12% of national votes; after World War II, it received 7% of the vote; and in the 2011 parliamentary election, it received 4.3% of the votes (and nine MPs). In municipal elections, it holds large majorities in municipalities with a Swedish-speaking majority. Despite its position as one of the minor political parties in the Finnish parliament, it has frequently been one of the partners forming the governing coalition cabinets. Since 1956, the year when

Urho Kekkonen Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as Prime Minister ...

was elected President, the party has been nearly continuously in the government. It has been part of all coalitions with the significant exception of Paasio's first cabinet (1966–68), which included only socialists (

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SDP), the split SDP faction Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders and

Finnish People's Democratic League Finnish People's Democratic League (, SKDL; , DFFF) was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic Party. It was founded in 1944 as the anti-communist laws in Finland were repealed due ...

) and the Centre Party. Short periods of rule by single-party minority governments, Miettunen cabinet (1961–62, Centre) and Paasio's second government (1972, SDP) and of nonpartisan

caretaker government A caretaker government, also known as a caretaker regime, is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it co ...

s have also interrupted its stay in the government. For this reason, the SPP is often criticized for being a single-issue party that allegedly accepts nearly all other policies as long as its own vital interest, the status of the Swedish language is maintained. However, although Vanhanen's first cabinet made Swedish a voluntary subject in the upper secondary schools' matriculation exam, the SPP remained in the government. In contrast, the Greens left the previous government after a new nuclear power plant was decided in 2002. The SPP's long continuous participation in the Finnish cabinets came to an end in following the 2015 parliamentary election when it was left out of the Sipilä Cabinet. In June 2019, the SPP returned to government with two ministerial positions in the Rinne Cabinet, the Minister of Justice and the Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Equality. Recently, the SPP has emphasized the liberal part of its programme, attempting to woo voters outside its traditional Swedish-speaking electorate. In 2010, the party added the word ''Suomen'' ("of Finland") to its official Finnish name.

Election results

Parliament of Finland

ImageSize = width:1100 height:240 PlotArea = width:1000 height:160 left:60 bottom:50 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:15 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:0 Colors= id:SB value:rgb(0.055,0.533,0.827) PlotData= bar:% color:SB width:20 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S bar:1907 from:start till:12.60 text:12,6 bar:1908 from:start till:12.74 text:12,7 bar:1909 from:start till:12.31 text:12,3 bar:1910 from:start till:13.53 text:13,5 bar:1911 from:start till:13.31 text:13,3 bar:1913 from:start till:13.07 text:13,1 bar:1916 from:start till:11.76 text:11,8 bar:1917 from:start till:10.90 text:10,9 bar:1919 from:start till:12.13 text:12,1 bar:1922 from:start till:12.41 text:12,4 bar:1924 from:start till:12.03 text:12,0 bar:1927 from:start till:12.20 text:12,2 bar:1929 from:start till:11.45 text:11,5 bar:1930 from:start till:10.03 text:10,0 bar:1933 from:start till:10.42 text:10,4 bar:1936 from:start till:10.36 text:10,4 bar:1939 from:start till:9.61 text:9,6 bar:1945 from:start till:7.90 text:7,9 bar:1948 from:start till:7.34 text:7,3 bar:1951 from:start till:7.20 text:7,2 bar:1954 from:start till:6.76 text:6,8 bar:1958 from:start till:6.50 text:6,5 bar:1962 from:start till:6.11 text:6,1 bar:1966 from:start till:5.69 text:5,7 bar:1970 from:start till:5.34 text:5,3 bar:1972 from:start till:5.06 text:5,1 bar:1975 from:start till:4.66 text:4,7 bar:1979 from:start till:4.23 text:4,2 bar:1983 from:start till:4.61 text:4,6 bar:1987 from:start till:5.30 text:5,3 bar:1991 from:start till:5.48 text:5,5 bar:1995 from:start till:5.14 text:5,1 bar:1999 from:start till:5.12 text:5,1 bar:2003 from:start till:4.61 text:4,6 bar:2007 from:start till:4.57 text:4,6 bar:2011 from:start till:4.28 text:4,3 bar:2015 from:start till:4.87 text:4,9 bar:2019 from:start till:4.53 text:4,5 bar:2023 from:start till:4.31 text:4,3

European Parliament

Presidential elections

Political positions

The Swedish language is one of the two

s of Finland. The SPP has as its main purpose the protection and strengthening of the position of the Swedish language in Finland. The Swedish People's Party of Finland has the most eclectic profile of any of the political parties in Finland. Its members and supporters chiefly include: * Fishermen and farmers from the Swedish-speaking coastal areas. * Small-town dwellers from the adjacent Swedish-speaking and

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

towns. * A significant part of the

. * Left-leaning

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

people. * Liberals in general, who currently have no representation of their own in the

, and who as such benefit from the predominantly liberal values of the SPP. Although the SPP represents a small minority of Finland, having Swedish as a mother tongue is not much of a political handicap in and of itself. Several times, Swedish speaking presidential candidates have gathered considerable support, although not necessarily as candidates for the Swedish People's Party of Finland: * In 1944, the Swedish-Finnish Carl G. E. Mannerheim a hero of Finnish independence became Finland's 6th president. * In 1956, the Swedish-speaking

Social Democrat Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

Karl-August Fagerholm got one elector's vote less than needed to be elected, and the Agrarian

was elected. * In 1994, the SPP's candidate Elisabeth Rehn was defeated by the Social Democrat candidate

Martti Ahtisaari Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (, 23 June 1937 – 16 October 2023) was a Finnish politician, the tenth president of Finland, from 1994 to 2000, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a United Nations diplomat and mediation, mediator noted for his inte ...

, also with a narrow margin (53.9% to 46.1%). * In 2024, the NCP's candidate

Alexander Stubb Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb (, born 1 April 1968) is a Finnish politician who has been the 13th president of Finland since 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015. Rising in politics as a researcher specialis ...

was elected as the 13th president of Finland. The SPP supported Finland's accession bid to NATO.

List of party leaders

* Axel Lille (1906–1917) * Eric von Rettig (1917–1934) * Ernst von Born (1934–1945) * Ralf Törngren (1945–1955) * Ernst von Born (1955–1956) *

Lars Erik Taxell Lars Erik Taxell (6 April 1913 – 7 October 2013), was a Finnish legal scholar and politician. He was the leader of the Swedish People's Party of Finland in 1956–1966. He was also the Rector (academia), Rector of the Åbo Akademi University ...

(1956–1966) * Jan-Magnus Jansson (1966–1973) * Kristian Gestrin (1973–1974) *

Carl Olof Tallgren Carl Olof Tallgren (28 January 1927 – 16 June 2024) was a Finnish politician who served as the Minister of Finance (Finland), minister of finance between 1970 and 1971. He was one of the heads of the Swedish People's Party of Finland. Early l ...

(1974–1977) * Pär Stenbäck (1977–1985) * Christoffer Taxell (1985–1990) * Ole Norrback (1990–1998) * Jan-Erik Enestam (1998–2006) * Stefan Wallin (2006–2012) * Carl Haglund (2012–2016) * Anna-Maja Henriksson (2016–2024) * Anders Adlercreutz (2024–present)

Notes

References

External links

Website of the Swedish People's Party of Finland
(in Swedish)
Website in English
{{Authority control Swedish People's Party of Finland Liberal parties in Finland 1906 establishments in the Russian Empire Political parties established in 1906 Parties represented in the European Parliament Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party member parties Registered political parties in Finland Political parties of minorities in Finland