 | |
| Abbreviation | Swedish:SFP Finnish:RKP, R |
| Chairperson | Anders Adlercreutz |
| Secretary | Fredrik Guseff [fi] |
| Parliamentary group leader | Otto Andersson (Member of the Finnish Parliament) [fi] |
| Deputy chairs | Ramieza Mahdi [fi] Cecilia Ehrnrooth Sandra Bergqvist |
| Chair of the party council | Eva Biaudet |
| Founded | 1906 |
| Headquarters | Simonkatu 8A, 00100Helsinki, Finland |
| Newspaper | Medborgarbladet [fi] |
| Think tank | Ajatushautomo Agenda [fi] |
| Student wing | Liberala Studerande LSK [sv][1] |
| Youth wing | Svensk Ungdom |
| Women's wing | Svenska Kvinnoförbundet[1] |
| Seniors' wing | Förbundet Svenska Seniorer i Finland |
| Membership(2025) |  24,000[2] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre tocentre-right[3] |
| European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
| European Parliament group | Renew Europe |
| International affiliation | Liberal International |
| Nordic affiliation | Centre Group |
| Colours |
|
| Eduskunta[a] | 10 / 200 (5%) |
| European Parliament | 1 / 15 (7%) |
| Municipalities | 452 / 8,586 |
| County seats | 71 / 1,379 |
| Website | |
| sfp.fi | |
TheSwedish People's Party of Finland (SPP;Swedish:Svenska folkpartiet i Finland,SFP;Finnish:Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue,RKP) is aFinnish political party founded in 1906. Its primary aim is to represent the interests of the minoritySwedish-speaking population of Finland.[4][5][6] The party is currently a participant in theGovernment of Petteri Orpo, holding the posts ofMinister of Education andMinister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering. Along with the postMinister of Youth, Sport and Physical Activity until 13 June, 2025.
An ethniccatch-all party,[7] 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.[8] Ideologically, it isliberal,[9][10][11]social-liberal,[12]centrist,[13][14] andpro-European.[15] The party has been in government from 1979 to 2015 and again from 2019, with one or two ministerial portfolios ingovernment, and has collaborated with parties across theleft–right political spectrum inparliament.
The fact that the winning party in Finland has usually needed the support from the party to form acoalition government has meant that the SPP has been able to affect thepolitics of Finland on a larger scale than the party's actual size would suggest. The continued position of Swedish as one of twoofficial languages 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 inSwedish culture are two examples of the party's influence in Finnish politics. The party is a member of theLiberal International, theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, andRenew Europe. The youth organisation of the party is calledSvensk Ungdom (Swedish Youth).
TheSwedish Party (1870–1906), a parliamentaryelite party based on members in theDiet of Finland, is the historical predecessor of the Swedish People's Party of Finland. It was a part of theSvecoman movement and its main policy was opposition of theFennoman movement.
Unlike Fennomans, who were largelyliberal on other matters than the language question, the Svecoman wereconservative.Axel Lille andAxel 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 wasAxel Lille.
The current leader of the party isAnders Adlercreutz.[17] In theParliament of Finland the representative forÅland 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 theSwedish speaking minority, which makes up about 5.5% of Finland's population.[18] 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 the2011 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 governingcoalition cabinets. Since 1956, the year whenUrho Kekkonen 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 (SDP), the split SDP factionSocial Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders andFinnish People's Democratic League) and theCentre Party.
Short periods of rule by single-party minority governments, Miettunen cabinet (1961–62, Centre) and Paasio's second government (1972, SDP) and of nonpartisancaretaker governments 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, theGreens 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 the2015 parliamentary election when it was left out of theSipilä Cabinet.[19] In June 2019, the SPP returned to government with two ministerial positions in theRinne Cabinet, the Minister of Justice and the Minister for Nordic Cooperation and Equality.[20]
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 wordSuomen ("of Finland") to its official Finnish name.
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1907 | 112,267 | 12.60 | 24 / 200 | Opposition | |
| 1908 | 103,146 | 12.74 | 24 / 200 |  | Opposition |
| 1909 | 104,191 | 12.31 | 25 / 200 |  1 | Opposition |
| 1910 | 107,121 | 13.53 | 26 / 200 | 1 | Opposition |
| 1911 | 106,810 | 13.31 | 26 / 200 | | Opposition |
| 1913 | 94,672 | 13.07 | 25 / 200 | 1 | Opposition |
| 1916 | 93,555 | 11.76 | 21 / 200 | 4 | Opposition |
| 1917 | 108,190 | 10.90 | 21 / 200 | | Coalition |
| 1919 | 116,582 | 12.13 | 22 / 200 | 1 | Coalition(1919) |
| Opposition(1919-1920) | |||||
| Coalition(1920-1921) | |||||
| Opposition(1921-1922) | |||||
| 1922 | 107,414 | 12.41 | 25 / 200 | 3 | Opposition |
| 1924 | 105,733 | 12.03 | 23 / 200 | 2 | Coalition(1924-1925) |
| Opposition(1925-1927) | |||||
| 1927 | 111,005 | 12.20 | 24 / 200 | 1 | Opposition |
| 1929 | 108,886 | 11.45 | 23 / 200 | 1 | Opposition |
| 1930 | 113,318 | 10.03 | 20 / 200 | 3 | Coalition |
| 1933 | 115,433 | 10.42 | 21 / 200 | 1 | Coalition |
| 1936 | 131,440 | 11.20 | 21 / 200 | | Opposition(1936-1937) |
| Coalition(1937-1939) | |||||
| 1939 | 124,720 | 9.61 | 18 / 200 | 3 | Coalition |
| 1945 | 134,106 | 7.90 | 14 / 200 | 4 | Coalition |
| 1948 | 137,981 | 7.34 | 13 / 200 | 1 | Opposition(1948-1950) |
| Coalition(1950-1951) | |||||
| 1951 | 130,524 | 7.20 | 14 / 200 | 1 | Coalition |
| 1954 | 135,768 | 6.76 | 12 / 200 | 2 | Coalition(1954) |
| Opposition(1954-1956) | |||||
| Coalition(1956-1958) | |||||
| 1958 | 126,365 | 6.50 | 13 / 200 | 1 | Coalition(1958-1961) |
| Opposition(1961-1962) | |||||
| 1962 | 140,689 | 6.11 | 13 / 200 | | Coalition |
| 1966 | 134,832 | 5.69 | 11 / 200 | 2 | Coalition |
| 1970 | 135,465 | 5.34 | 11 / 200 | | Coalition |
| 1972 | 130,407 | 5.06 | 9 / 200 | 2 | Opposition(1972) |
| Coalition(1972-1975) | |||||
| 1975 | 128,211 | 4.66 | 9 / 200 | | Coalition |
| 1979 | 122,418 | 4.23 | 9 / 200 | | Coalition |
| 1983 | 137,423 | 4.61 | 10 / 200 | 1 | Coalition |
| 1987 | 152,597 | 5.30 | 12 / 200 | 2 | Coalition |
| 1991 | 149,476 | 5.48 | 11 / 200 | 1 | Coalition |
| 1995 | 142,874 | 5.14 | 11 / 200 | | Coalition |
| 1999 | 137,330 | 5.12 | 11 / 200 | | Coalition |
| 2003 | 128,824 | 4.61 | 8 / 200 | 3 | Coalition |
| 2007 | 126,520 | 4.57 | 9 / 200 | 1 | Coalition |
| 2011 | 125,785 | 4.28 | 9 / 200 | | Coalition |
| 2015 | 144,802 | 4.88 | 9 / 200 | | Opposition |
| 2019 | 139,640 | 4.53 | 9 / 200 | | Coalition |
| 2023 | 133,318 | 4.31 | 9 / 200 | | Coalition |
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 129,425 | 5.75 (#6) | 1 / 16 | New | ELDR |
| 1999 | 84,153 | 6.77 (#6) | 1 / 16 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 94,421 | 5.70 (#6) | 1 / 14 | 0 | ALDE |
| 2009 | 101,453 | 6.09 (#6) | 1 / 13 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 116,747 | 6.76 (#7) | 1 / 13 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 116,033 | 6.34 (#7) | 1 / 13 | 0 | RE |
| 2024 | 112,245 | 6.14 (#7) | 1 / 15 | 0 |
| Election | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| 1994 | Elisabeth Rehn | 702,211 | 22.0 (#2) | 1,476,294 | 46.1 (#2) | Lost |
| 2000 | 241,877 | 7.9 (#4) | Lost | |||
| 2006 | Henrik Lax | 48,703 | 1.6 (#7) | Lost | ||
| 2012 | Eva Biaudet | 82,598 | 2.7 (#7) | Lost | ||
| 2018[21] | Nils Torvalds | 44,776 | 1.5 (#8) | Lost | ||
| 2024[22] | Did not contest | |||||
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The Swedish language is one of the twoofficial languages of Finland. The SPP has as its main purpose the protection and strengthening of the position of theSwedish 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:
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 speakingpresidential candidates have gathered considerable support, although not necessarily as candidates for the Swedish People's Party of Finland:
The SPP supportedFinland's accession bid to NATO.[23]
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Adlercreutz stated in his acceptance speech that the party has a special place in the domestic political landscape, as the "only liberal centre-right party" in Finland.
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