Terttu Savola (née Rankila,Perälä, Berit: ''Ilkka'', 3 December 2002, accessed on 25 February 2010 born 22 June 1941) is a Finnish

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. She is the chairperson of the For the Poor party, a member of the council of the city of

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

, the ambassador for human rights and children's rights in the Finnish

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

alliance, and a lecturer in the Finnish Refugee Help Association.

Life and career

Savola was born in

Vimpeli Vimpeli (; ) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region, northeast of Seinäjoki and northwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population de ...

In the early 1990s, she belonged to the council of the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

and was the chairperson of the party's women association. In November 1995, Savola attended the founding conference of the

True Finns The Finns Party ( , PS; , Sannf), formerly known as the True Finns, is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The party achieved its electoral breakthro ...

party, where she was elected as the party's deputy chairperson. Savola only resigned from the Christian Democratic Party after her election as deputy chairman of the True Finns. In the June 1997 party conference, Savola lost her place as deputy chairperson. She still remained a member of the party council. In early 1998, Savola resigned from the True Finns and joined the Remonttiryhmä ("Renovation Group") party. In October 1998, Savola was elected to lead the party's women association Naisremmi ("Band of women"). Savola was fired from the Remonttiryhmä party in spring 1999, when she accused the party chairman Risto Kuisma of being too authoritative. Savola was elected to the city council of Espoo in the 2008 municipal elections and the party For the Poor received its first council seat in its entire history. The cause for this was an

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

with the True Finns.

Timo Soini Timo Juhani Soini (born 30 May 1962) is a Finnish politician who is the co-founder and former leader of the Finns Party. He served as Deputy Prime Minister of Finland from 2015 to 2017 and Minister of Foreign Affairs (Finland), Minister of Foreig ...

's huge popularity also brought Savola, who had received 176 votes, to the city council. Savola was a candidate for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

in 1996 (839 votes), in 2004 (1352 votes) and in 2009 (385 votes) In the 1994 presidential election, Savola supported Elisabeth Rehn of the

Swedish People's Party of Finland The Swedish People's Party of Finland (SPP; , SFP; , RKP) is a Finnish political party founded in 1906. Its primary aim is to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finland. The party is currently a participant i ...

, and in the 2006 Finnish presidential election she supported

Sauli Niinistö Sauli Väinämö Niinistö (, born 24 August 1948) is a Finnish politician who served as the 12th president of Finland from 2012 to 2024. A lawyer by education, Niinistö was Chairman of the National Coalition Party (NCP) from 1994 to 2001, Mini ...

of the

National Coalition Party The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland. Founded in 1918, the ...

. Savola was arrested on election day of the 2011 parliamentary elections, when she sought an interview with the chairmen of the

YLE Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

MTV3 MTV3 (, ) is a Finnish commercial television channel owned and operated by the media company MTV Oy, originally launched on 13 August 1957 as a programming block, becoming its own channel on 1 January 1993. It had the biggest audience share ...

and STT parliamentary parties. The editorial in ''

Helsingin Sanomat , abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital ...

'' condemned the arrest and compared it to the election events in

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. Savola planned to run for president in the 2012 election, but the party did not have time to collect enough supporter cards by the deadline. Savola is the editor of the ''Plari'' newspaper published by the

Southern Ostrobothnia South Ostrobothnia ( ; ) is one of the 19 regions of Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia (administrative region), Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Pirkanmaa, and Satakunta. Among the Finnish regions, South Ostrobo ...

ns in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. She is also a former model.Miettinen, Hanna
Rahan puute vaivaa köyhien asialle pyrkiviä

, 24 May 2004, accessed on 1 August 2008.

References

External links

Official site of the For the Poor party
{{DEFAULTSORT:Savola, Terttu 1941 births Living people People from Vimpeli Finnish women in politics