1925 Finnish presidential election

none Finland presidential 1919 Finnish presidential election 1919 1931 Finnish presidential election 1931 15–16 January 1925 Lauri_Kristian_Relander.jpg Lauri Kristian Relander Agrarian League (Finland) 172 123,932 Risto Ryti.png Risto Ryti National Progressive Party (Finland) 109 71,199 President Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg National Progressive Party (Finland) Lauri Kristian Relander Agrarian League (Finland) Two-stage presidential elections were held in Finland in 1925. On 15 and 16 January the public elected presidential electors to an electoral college.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p606 978-3-8329-5609-7 They in turn elected the president. The result was a victory for Lauri Kristian Relander, who won on the third ballot.Nohlen & Stöver, p627 The turnout for the popular vote was just 40%.Nohlen & Stöver, p622 The outgoing president, Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, had refused to seek a second term. According to Agrarian and Centrist politician, Johannes Virolainen, he stepped down after one term because he believed that an incumbent president would be too likely to win re-election. Ståhlberg claimed that he had already completed his political service to Finland as president. Moreover, he wanted to step down because many right-wing Finns (especially veterans of the Civil War and supporters of the Greater Finland movement) opposed him. According to historian Pentti Virrankoski, Ståhlberg hoped that his retirement would advance parliamentary politics in Finland. Ståhlberg's party, the Progressives, chose Risto Ryti, the governor of the Bank of Finland, as their presidential candidate. The Agrarians only chose Lauri Kristian Relander as their presidential candidate in early February 1925. The National Coalitioners originally chose former Regent and Prime Minister Pehr Evind Svinhufvud as their presidential candidate, but before the presidential electors met, they replaced Svinhufvud with Hugo Suolahti, an academician working as the rector of the University of Helsinki.Heikinheimo Ilmari Suomen elämäkerrasto 731 Werner Söderström Publications 1955 Relander surprised many politicians by defeating Ryti as a dark-horse candidate, although he had served as the Speaker of Parliament and as Governor of the Province of Viipuri. Ståhlberg had quietly favoured Ryti as his successor because he considered Ryti a principled and unselfish politician. He was disappointed with Relander's victory and told one of his daughters that if he had known beforehand that Relander would be elected as his successor, he would have considered seeking a second term.Sakari Virkkunen, Finland's Presidents I / Suomen presidentit I. Helsinki: Otava Ltd., 1994, pgs. 183-187 (Ståhlberg), pgs. 10–17Johannes Virolainen, The Last Electoral Term / Viimeinen vaalikausi. Helsinki: Otava Ltd., 1991Raimo Salokangas, "The Independent Republic" (Itsenäinen tasavalta), pgs. 631–632 in Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds., A Small Giant of the Finnish History / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen. Helsinki: WSOY, 2003Pentti Virrankoski, A History of Finland / Suomen historia, volumes 1&2. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society (Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura), 2009, pgs. 791–792). Results Popular vote Social Democratic Party 165091 79 National Coalition Party 141240 68 Agrarian League 123932 69 Swedish People's Party 78422 35 National Progressive Party 71199 33 Socialist Workers' Party 41213 16 Others 822 0 2258 1572485 Nohln & Stöver Electoral college Väinö Tanner Social Democratic Party 78 2 Lauri Kristian Relander Agrarian League 69 97 172 Hugo Suolahti National Coalition Party 68 80 Risto Ryti National Progressive Party 33 104 109 Karl Söderholm Swedish People's Party 35 Matti Väisänen Socialist Workers' Party 16 16 Väinö Voionmaa Social Democratic Party 1 0 1 19 Nohlen & Stöver References Category:Presidential elections in Finland Finland Finland