Centre Party still the biggest party – Coalition Party the surprise performer

The Centre Party of Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen retained its position as Finland’s largest single party in the Finnish parliamentary elections, even though support for the party was slightly down on its showing at the last elections. The biggest surprise was provided by the Coalition Party, which overtook the Social Democratic Party.

Electoral gathering at the Permanent Representation of Finland to the EU in Brussels

The candidate polling the most votes was Sauli Niinistö, with a record-breaking total of over 60 000 votes.

The tradition in Finland is for negotiations to form the new government to be led by the biggest party. The Centre Party’s Matti Vanhanen has publicly declared his willingness to continue as prime minister. The Centre Party polled 23.1 percent of the popular vote, the Coalition Party 22.3 percent, and the Social Democratic Party 21.4 percent.

The breakdown of seats between the biggest parties in the 200-seat Finnish parliament is now as follows: Centre Party 51 seats (-4), the Coalition Party 50 (+10) and the SDP 45 (-8). The Left Alliance (with 17 members) lost two seats. The Greens (15) and the Swedish People’s Party (9) each gained one seat, while the True Finns (5) now have two more seats.

Sauli Niinistö, Vice President of the European Investment Bank, amassed 60 498 votes, an all-time record in Finland. Niinistö is a former Minister of Finance in Finland. Last year he stood for election as Finnish President but was beaten in the second round by Tarja Halonen.

Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen polled 24 037 votes, while Timo Soini of the True Finns received 19 690. Minister for European Affairs Paula Lehtomäki (Centre Party) received 16 406 votes and Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja (SDP) 12 885. The former skiing champion Juha Mieto (Centre Party) polled 13 762, while former Member of the European Parliament Heidi Hautala (Green Party) polled 12 899 votes.

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