Eero Heinäluoma
Encyclopedia
Parliament of Finland
The Eduskunta , is the parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and meets in the Parliament House in Helsinki. The latest election to the parliament took place on April 17, 2011.- Constitution :...
. A former chairman of the Finnish Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party of Finland
The Social Democratic Party of Finland is one of the three major political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party. Jutta Urpilainen is the current SDP leader. The party has been in the Finnish government cabinet for long periods and has set many...
, he was replaced in the party's leadership by Jutta Urpilainen
Jutta Urpilainen
Jutta Pauliina Urpilainen is the current Minister of Finance of Finland and the Chairperson of the Social Democratic Party of Finland . She was elected in June 2008 as the first female chairperson of the SDP....
in June 2008.
Heinäluoma was elected Chairman in June 2005, succeeding former Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Finland
The Prime Minister is the Head of Government of Finland. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, who is the Head of State. The current Prime Minister is Jyrki Katainen of the National Coalition Party.-Overview:...
Paavo Lipponen
Paavo Lipponen
Paavo Tapio Lipponen is a Finnish politician and former reporter. He was Prime Minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from 1993 to 2005...
. He was the Minister of Finance
Minister of Finance (Finland)
The Minister of Finance of Finland handles the Finance of Finland and all other matters covered by the Ministry of Finance...
of Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
between 2005 and 2007.
Heinäluoma held various posts in the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions
Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions
The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, usually referred to by the acronym SAK is the largest trade union confederation in Finland...
(SAK) from 1983 to 2003. He was a director in SAK from 2000 to 2003. Heinäluoma was appointed as party secretary
Party secretary
In politics, a party secretary is a senior official within a political party with responsibility for the organizational and daily political work. In most parties, the party secretary is second in rank to the party leader ....
in 2002 and in the 2003 Parliamentary election, he was elected as a Member of Parliament from the Electoral District of Uusimaa
Uusimaa
Uusimaa, or Nyland in Swedish, is a region in Finland. It borders the regions Finland Proper, Tavastia Proper, Päijänne Tavastia and Kymenlaakso...
. Ever since he took up the post of Party secretary he had, according to many, been groomed as Lipponen's heir.
He won on the first ballot, getting 201 of 350 votes. His rivals were Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja
Erkki Tuomioja
Erkki Sakari Tuomioja is the Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs. He is currently a member of the Finnish Parliament.Tuomioja is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, although his political views are thought to be more to the left than the party line. He is also a member of ATTAC...
, with 138 votes, and Minister of Education Tuula Haatainen, with 11 votes.
As party chairman, Heinäluoma ordered a reshuffle of SDP cabinet ministers and assumed the position of Minister of Finance on September 23, 2005. In 2007 elections
Finnish parliamentary election, 2007
The Finnish parliamentary election of 2007 was the 35th election to the Eduskunta , held on 18 March 2007 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Early voting was possible from the 7–13 March. Two hundred MPs were elected from 15 constituencies.Election themes included a reduction...
, the party led by Heinäluoma suffered a significant loss, losing 15% of their seats in the parliament, and having the worst result since 1962. The loss led to the resignation of Heinäluoma as the party chairman.
Heinäluoma was elected as the chairman of the Social Democratic parliamentary group in February 2010 and served in that position until becoming Speaker in June 2011.
Heinäluoma has studied political sciences, but has not finished his degree.