Finnish presidential election, 1925

Finnish presidential election, 1925

15–16 January 1925

Nominee Lauri Kristian Relander Risto Ryti Party Agrarian National Progressive Electoral vote 172 109

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

Finland
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Finland
State Constitution Declaration of Independence Human rights
Executive President (list) Sauli Niinistö Prime Minister (list) Juha Sipilä Cabinet Executive departments
Legislative 37th Parliament Speaker: Maria Lohela
Judiciary General Courts Supreme Court Courts of Appeal District Courts Administrative Courts Supreme Administrative Court Regional Administrative Courts Prosecutor General Matti Kuusimäki Chancellor of Justice Jaakko Jonkka
Recent elections Parliamentary: 2007 2011 2015 Presidential: 2000 2006 2012 European: 2004 2009 2014
Political parties National Coalition Party (KOK) Social Democratic Party (SDP) Finns Party (formerly True Finns, PS) Centre Party (KESK) Left Alliance (VAS) Green League (VIHR) Swedish People's Party (RKP) Christian Democrats (KD) Politicians
Administrative divisions Regions (Maakunnat, Landskap) Sub-regions (Seutukunnat, Ekonomiska regioner) Municipalities (Kunnat, Kommuner)
Foreign relations Ambassadors
Other countries Atlas

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).

Results

Popular vote

Electoral college

References

Elections and referendums in Finland
Parliamentary elections	1863 1867 1872 1877 1882 1885 1888 1891 1894 1900 1901 1905 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1913 1916 1917 1919 1922 1924 1927 1929 1930 1933 1936 1939 1945 1948 1951 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1972 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019
Municipal elections	1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1928 1930 1933 1936 1945 1947 1950 1953 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2017
Presidential elections	1919 1925 1931 1937 1940 1943 1944 1946 1950 1956 1962 1968 1973 1978 1982 1988 1994 2000 2006 2012 2018
European elections	1996 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019
Referendums	1931 1994
Elections in brackets were not public elections