1925 Finnish presidential election

Two-stage presidential elections were held in Finland in 1925. On 15 and 16 January the public elected presidential electors to an electoral college.[1] They in turn elected the President. The result was a victory for Lauri Kristian Relander, who won on the third ballot.[2] The turnout for the popular vote was just 39.7%.[3] The outgoing President, K.J. Ståhlberg, had refused to seek a second term. According to the late 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. President 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 Pentti Virrankoski, a Finnish historian, President 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 (Principal) of the University of Helsinki (Heikinheimo, Ilmari, Suomen elämäkerrasto (The Biography Compilation of Finland), pg. 731, Helsinki: Werner Söderström Publications Ltd., 1955). Relander surprised many politicians by defeating Ryti as a dark-horse presidential candidate, although he had served as the Speaker of the Finnish 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 (see, for example, Sakari Virkkunen, Finland's Presidents I / Suomen presidentit I. Helsinki: Otava Ltd., 1994, pgs. 183-187 (Ståhlberg), pgs. 10-17; Johannes Virolainen, The Last Electoral Term / Viimeinen vaalikausi. Helsinki: Otava Ltd., 1991; Raimo 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, 2003; Pentti Virrankoski, A History of Finland / Suomen historia, volumes 1&2. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society (Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura), 2009, pgs. 791-792).

1925 Finnish presidential election

15–16 January 1925

Nominee Lauri Kristian Relander Risto Ryti Party Agrarian National Progressive Electoral vote 172 109 Popular vote 123,932 71,199

President before election Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg National Progressive Elected President Lauri Kristian Relander Agrarian

Results

Popular vote

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Social Democratic Party	165,091	26.5	79
National Coalition Party	141,240	22.7	68
Agrarian League	123,932	19.9	69
Swedish People's Party	78,422	12.6	35
National Progressive Party	71,199	11.4	33
Socialist Workers' Party	41,213	6.6	16
Others	822	0.1	0
Invalid/blank votes	2,258	–	–
Total	624,177	100	300
Source: Nohln & Stöver

Electoral college

Candidate	Party	First ballot		Second ballot		Third ballot
		Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Väinö Tanner	Social Democratic Party	78	26.0	2	0.7	–	–
Lauri Kristian Relander	Agrarian League	69	23.0	97	32.3	172	57.3
Hugo Suolahti	National Coalition Party	68	22.7	80	26.7	–	–
Risto Ryti	National Progressive Party	33	11.0	104	34.7	109	36.3
Karl Söderholm	Swedish People's Party	35	11.7	–	–	–	–
Matti Väisänen	Socialist Workers' Party	16	5.3	16	5.3	–	–
Väinö Voionmaa	Social Democratic Party	1	0.3	–	–	–	–
Invalid/blank votes		0	0.0	1	0.3	19	6.3
Total		300	100	300	100	300	100
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p606 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p627
3. Nohlen & Stöver, p622