Prime Minister of Finland (2023–present)
On 2 April 2023, Orpo's National Coalition Party won the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election. The party had led the polls since mid-2021 and finished first, with 20.8% of the votes and 48 seats in the parliament, increasing their total by 10 seats. This was the party's third highest result in its history. Orpo began government formation talks when the new parliament and President convened the week after Easter and named him as the lead negotiator.
Orpo campaigned on a platform of reducing Finland's government debt and the yearly budget deficit as well as reducing income taxes. He defines himself as a "fiscal conservative."
Orpo was elected by parliamentary groups as the Speaker of the Parliament of Finland on 12 April on a temporary basis until a new government is formed.
On 27 April, it was announced that Orpo would begin final negotiations with the Finns Party, the Swedish People's Party and the Christian Democrats to form a coalition government. This coalition of parties was confirmed on 15 June, with the government formation, including the names of its ministers, announced on 17 June. His party received eight cabinet posts, the Finns Party seven (including the Ministries of Finance, the Interior and Justice), while the Swedish People's Party and the Christian Democrats shared the remaining five. It is Finland's most right-wing government since the end of the Second World War; indeed, it is one of the few occasions since the return of peace that one side of the Finnish political spectrum has been able to form a government on its own.
Orpo became Prime Minister of Finland on 20 June 2023. The government's roadmap makes cutting public spending a priority. Petteri Orpo announced a €6 billion cut in the state budget, stating that the greatest danger threatening Finland was "the debt crisis" (it stands at 74% of GDP), and reforms, some of which "are going to hurt".
The coalition is betting on unprecedented cuts in social benefits. For example, the conditions for receiving unemployment benefit will be tightened, a one-day waiting period will be introduced at the start of sick leave, and access to housing benefit will be restricted. In addition, the right to strike will be restricted and a fine introduced for unauthorized work stoppages. The government agreement also provides for easier redundancies and the use of fixed-term contracts, while increasing investment in vocational training.
These announcements were welcomed by employers, who see in the program the reforms they have been "demanding for decades", but the unions denounced "an attack on employees". While the center-left and left-wing parties also denounced a "difficult program, especially for people on low and middle incomes" (Sanna Marin) and "the most anti-worker government in Finnish history" (Li Andersson), Finns Party leader Riikka Purra declared that she "saw no divergence between the interests of employers and employees".
With regard to immigration, reception conditions will be restricted. Asylum will no longer be granted on a temporary basis, and six full years' residence in Finland will be required to apply for a permanent residence permit. Family reunification and access to naturalization will be restricted. In addition, the country will only accept 500 refugees per year under the relocation scheme, compared with 1,050 at present. Immigrant workers will no longer have the same privileges as permanent residents, and will have to leave the country within three months of being laid off.
During the first month of his cabinet, there were numerous scandals regarding past writings by the Finns Party ministers, including the Deputy Prime Minister Riikka Purra. The scandal around Nazi-connected joking and potential connections to neo-Nazi organisations of Minister of Economic Affairs Vilhelm Junnila led to him resigning. Orpo's Cabinet's party Swedish People's Party of Finland have criticized Orpo for too weak leadership during the Junnila scandal. Orpo's leadership among the various controversies was also questioned and criticized widely in Finnish and international media. In March 2024 Orpo stated in Politico that the Finns are not a far-right party anymore in his opinion. After Orpo opened an anti racist campaign of his cabinet in August 2024 Deputy Prime Minister Purra stated the Finns Party likely do not participate as a party and added "better immigration policy" as an example of her anti-racist deeds.
He condemned Hamas' actions during the Gaza war and expressed his support to Israel and its right to self-defense. The Orpo cabin has approved the two-state solution as solution of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. In August 2025 Orpo stated that the two-state solution will be realized when all Western and Arab countries are committed to supporting the existence of both the Palestinian and Israeli states.
Although in 2019 Orpo was co-founder of Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action his cabinet's Finance Minister Riikka Purra stated in January 2024 that climate matters are not responsibility of the Finance Minister.
In 2024, Orpo condemned racist attacks made against Daniela Owusu, a Finnish-Ghanaian woman who was elected to serve as Saint Lucy for the national Saint Lucy's Day celebrations, and issued a formal apology to Owusu.
After the US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, Orpo said, "it is important for Finland that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon and that no new nuclear-weapon state emerges in the world."
In December 2025, Miss Finland at the time, Sarah Dzafce, was reported to have made racist remarks on social media directed against East Asians. Members of parliament endorsed these views, and Orpo issued statements that appeared to shield them. At first Orpo called remarks "chidish" but not "racist". After the comments spread widely in East Asia, Orpo apologized for them. Orpo cabinet's Debuty Prime Minister party Finns first deputy chair Teemu Keskisarja has commented that there is no point in apologizing for the eye-stretching photos.
