Birger Lahti

Birger Lahti
Lahti in 2018
Member of the Riksdag
Incumbent
Assumed office
29 September 2014
ConstituencyNorrbotten County
Personal details
Born (1964-11-12) 12 November 1964
Political partyLeft Party
SpousePäivi
Children2
ProfessionForest worker

Birger Lahti (born 12 November 1964)[1] is a Swedish politician. Since September 2014, he serves as Member of the Riksdag representing the constituency of Norrbotten County.[2] He is affiliated with the Left Party.[3] He was re-elected as Member of the Riksdag in September 2018 and September 2022.[4][5][6]

Early life

He is from Kaarnevara in the Pajala Municipality. When he was 11, his father participated in the 1975 Swedish forestry workers' strike. This sparked Lahti's political interest as he felt the Left Party was the only one truly supporting the workers.[7]

He is Tornedalian; his first language was Meänkieli.[8][9][10]

Career

In 1984, he began working as a forester.[11] He also worked as a dairy farmer.[12]

In 2001, he was a Left Party leader in Pajala and continued working, as a forestry machine driver. He spoke in support of the party's feminist program.[13]

By 2005, he was a member of the Pajala Municipal Council.[14]

In 2012, he was elected to represent Norbotten County on the Left Party's board alongside Anna Hövenmark.[15]

Shortly after his election in 2014, Lahti became a party spokesperson for energy and business policy. He advocated for LKAB to take over Northland Resources after the latter declared bankruptcy and the future of the Kaunisvaara mine became uncertain.[16][17] During his first term in the Riksdag, he was involved with the Committee on Industry, Committee on Transport, and the Committee on Environment and Agriculture.[18]

In 2021, it was announced that he would be the new rural policy spokesperson for the Left Party.[19] During the lead-up to the 2022 election, he spoke about finding a balance between working towards a future of renewable energy without crippling Northern Swedish economies (as they still rely heavily on forestry, diesel, and gasoline).[20][21]

In 2023, he expressed support for Hybrit, an effort to produce steel without carbon dioxide in Norbotten.[22]

As of March 2025, he was also working as the Left Party's energy policy spokesperson.[23] He voiced opposition to legislation financing four large-scale nuclear reactors, in an effort to achieve net zero emissions by 2045.[24]

Personal life

He and his wife Päivi have two sons.[25]

References

  1. ^ "Birger Lahti". Riksdagen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  2. ^ "List of members elected to the Riksdag in 2014" (PDF). Altinget (in Swedish). Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Riksdagens snabbprotokoll 2022/23:1". Riksdagen.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Riksdagens protokoll 2018/19:1". Sveriges riksdag (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 7 October 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Här är Sveriges nya riksdag – ledamot för ledamot". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Invalda ledamöter 2022". Riksdagen.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 19 September 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  7. ^ Alakangas, Marcu; Isberg, Catharina (30 September 2014). "Norrbottens nya (V)-riksdagsledamot". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  8. ^ "Vänsterpress Nr.8". Vänsterpartiet. 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2025 – via Yumpu.
  9. ^ Regnström, Erik (13 July 2022). "Birger Lahti (V) Norrbottenista haluaa pitää haja-asutusalueiden puolta - Sveriges Radio Finska". Sveriges Radio (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  10. ^ "Ellen Juntti ja Birger Lahti - ainuat meänkieliset valtiopäivilä - Meänraatio". Sveriges Radio (in Finnish). 21 September 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  11. ^ Jönsson, Nils (18 July 2014). ""Jag kommer från glesaste glesbygd"". Norrbottens-Kuriren (in Swedish). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  12. ^ Andrén Meiton, Louise (13 August 2018). "V: Inför kortare arbetsdag till priset av lägre löneökningar". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish) – via PressReader.
  13. ^ Granestrand, Lasse (17 November 2001). "En populär, nykter alkoholist med 631 000 väljare som reser sig varje gång hon räknas ut. Men tar Gudrun Schyman med sig framgången in i framtiden?". Dagens Nyheter (in Swedish). p. 10.
  14. ^ "Ingen folkomröstning om Allégården". Norrbottens-Kuriren (in Swedish). 21 February 2005. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  15. ^ "Två från länet nya i V-styret". Norrbottens-Kuriren (in Swedish). 7 January 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  16. ^ Lindgren, Josephine (1 October 2014). "Lahti blir energipolitisk talesperson för (V)". Norrländska Socialdemokraten (in Swedish). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  17. ^ Nordlund, Stig (9 October 2014). "Vänsterpartiet: "Beordra LKAB att ta över"". Norrbottens-Kuriren (in Swedish). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  18. ^ Redebo, Susanne (31 July 2016). "Pendlande Birger har varit Pajala trogen – STR-T". Svenska Tornedalingars Riksförbund – Tornionlaaksolaiset (in Swedish). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  19. ^ "Birger Lahti blir ny landsbygdspolitisk talesperson för V - P4 Norrbotten". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). 14 March 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  20. ^ ""Det handlar om att vinna landsbygdens röster"". Land Lantbruk (in Swedish). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  21. ^ Regnström, Erik (13 July 2022). "Birger Lahti (V) Norrbottenista haluaa pitää haja-asutusalueiden puolta - Sveriges Radio Finska" [Birger Lahti (V) from Norrbotten wants to support sparsely populated areas - Sveriges Radio Finska]. Sveriges Radio (in Finnish). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  22. ^ Johansson, Nils (16 February 2023). "Lahti (V) vs Palmqvist (SD): "Pulsen började stiga"". Norrländska Socialdemokraten (in Swedish). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  23. ^ Aro, Emilia (27 March 2025). "Oppositionen: "Regeringen säljer grisen i säcken" - Nyheter (Ekot)". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  24. ^ "Sweden passes passes law to fund new generation of nuclear reactors". Reuters. 21 May 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  25. ^ "Birger Lahti - Valkompass 2022 | SVT Nyheter". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
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