List of political parties in Finland

This article lists political parties
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

in Finland
Politics of Finland
Politics of Finland takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic and of a multi-party system. The President of Finland is the head of state, leads the foreign policy, and is the Commander-in-chief of the Defense Forces. The Prime Minister of Finland is the head...

.
Finland has a multi-party system

Multi-party system

A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition, e.g.The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in the United Kingdom formed in 2010. The effective number of parties in a multi-party system is normally...

with three strong parties, in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition government

Coalition government

A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...

s.

The party system has been rather stable since the foundation of the parliament (1907) and independence (1917), as parties founded then or their breakoff factions have consistently held the overwhelming majority in the parliament. The establishment of the Green Party is the exception.

Registered political parties

Under Finnish law, a political association that fulfils certain conditions may become an officially registered party. A registered party may nominate candidates in all national and local elections, and a party that is represented in parliament is entitled to a government subsidy relative to its number of seats. To qualify as a registered party, an association must have bylaws guaranteeing democratic internal organization and must be able to present 5,000 signatures from supporters who are eligible to vote. A party that fails to win a single seat in two consecutive parliamentary elections is stricken from the register but may apply again.

Name in English	Name in Finnish	Name in Swedish	abbr.	Leader	MPs	Founded
Parliamentary parties
National Coalition Party National Coalition Party (Finland) The National Coalition Party is a liberal conservative political party in Finland founded in 1918.The National Coalition Party is one of the four largest parties in Finland, along with the Social Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the True Finns...	Kansallinen Kokoomus	Samlingspartiet	Kok.	Jyrki Katainen Jyrki Katainen Jyrki Tapani Katainen is the Prime Minister of Finland and chairman of the country's largest party, the National Coalition Party.-Career:...	44	1918
Christian Democrats of Finland Christian Democrats (Finland) The Christian Democrats is a Christian democratic political party in Finland. Formerly known as the Finnish Christian League , the Christian Democrats have six seats in the Finnish Parliament and one in the European Parliament.The party was founded in 1958, chiefly from the Christian faction of...	Suomen Kristillisdemokraatit	Kristdemokraterna i Finland	KD	Päivi Räsänen Päivi Räsänen Päivi Maria Räsänen, née Kuvaja , is a Finnish politician. The chairwoman of the Christian Democrats since 2004, she is the current Minister of the Interior of Finland....	6	1958
True Finns True Finns True Finns or The Finns is a populist and nationalist political party in Finland, founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The head of the movement is Timo Soini. In the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election, The party won 19.1% of votes, becoming the third largest party...	Perussuomalaiset	Sannfinländarna	PS	Timo Soini Timo Soini Timo Juhani Soini is a Finnish politician, and co-founder and current leader of the True Finns party. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2011, when he returned to the Parliament of Finland. Well-known as an EU-sceptic populist, he was elected a member of the Espoo city...	39	1995¹
Centre Party Centre Party (Finland) The Centre Party is a centrist and Nordic agrarian political party in Finland. It is one of the four largest political parties in the country, along with the Social Democratic Party , the National Coalition Party and the True Finns , and currently has 35 seats in the Finnish Parliament...	Suomen Keskusta	Centern i Finland	Kesk.	Mari Kiviniemi Mari Kiviniemi Mari Johanna Kiviniemi is a Finnish politician and former Prime Minister of Finland. On 22 June 2010, as the new leader of the Centre Party, she was elected Prime Minister of Finland by the Finnish Parliament following the resignation of Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen...	35	1906
Swedish People's Party of Finland	Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue	Svenska folkpartiet i Finland	RKP	Stefan Wallin Stefan Wallin Stefan Erik Wallin is a Swedish-speaking Finnish politician. He is currently Finland's Minister of Defence in Jyrki Katainen's cabinet....	9 + 1²	1906³
Social Democratic Party of Finland 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...	Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue	Finlands Socialdemokratiska Parti	SDP	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....	42	1899
Left Alliance Left Alliance (Finland) The Left Alliance is a left-wing political party in Finland. It was founded on the basis of the Finnish People's Democratic League and the Communist Party of Finland in 1990....	Vasemmistoliitto	Vänsterförbundet	Vas.	Paavo Arhinmäki Paavo Arhinmäki Paavo Erkki Arhinmäki is a Finnish politician, the incumbent Minister for Culture and Sport and a member of the Finnish Parliament, representing the Left Alliance, whose leader he has been since June 2009. He was first elected to the Finnish Parliament in the 2007 election and reelected in 2011...	12	1990⁴
Green League Green League The Green League is a centrist green liberal political party in Finland. It has ten seats in the Finnish Parliament and two in the European Parliament. The current chairperson is Ville Niinistö....	Vihreä liitto	Gröna förbundet	Vihr.	Ville Niinistö Ville Niinistö Ville Matti Niinistö is a Finnish politician. He is a member of the parliament, current chairperson of the Green League, incumbent Minister of the Environment and a member of the city council of Turku. Niinistö has a master's degree in political science from the University of Turku...	10	1987
Extraparliamentary parties
For the Poor For the Poor For the Poor is a Finnish political party, not situated anywhere on the traditional political map. It was founded in November 2002...	Köyhien Asialla	För de fattigas väl	Köyh.	Terttu Savola Terttu Savola Terttu Savola is a Finnish politician. She is the chairperson of the For the Poor party, a member of the council of the city of Espoo, the ambassador for human rights and children's rights in the Finnish United Nations alliance, a lecturer in the Finnish Refugee Help Association, and a member of...	–	2002
Independence Party	Itsenäisyyspuolue	Självständighetspartiet	IPU	Antti Pesonen	–	1994
Workers Party of Finland Workers Party of Finland Workers' Party of Finland is a left-wing political party in Finland. The STP was founded in 2006 as a successor to the Alternative League .In the 2007 parliamentary election the party obtained 1,764 votes...	Suomen työväenpuolue	Finlands Arbetarparti	STP	Juhani Tanski	–	1999
Pirate Party Pirate Party (Finland) The Pirate Party of Finland is a registered political party in Finland. The group currently has 3,200 members. The chairman of the party is Pasi Palmulehto from Hollola. The party is a member of Pirate Parties International.-History:...	Piraattipuolue	Piratpartiet	PP	Pasi Palmulehto	–	2008
Change 2011 Change 2011 Change 2011 is a Finnish political party founded in 2009. The chairman of the party is Jiri Keronen from Turku. The party's name refers to 2011 Finnish parliamentary election, the first election the party participated in. The party's main goals are direct democracy, freedom of speech, and the...	Muutos 2011	Förändring 2011	M11	Jiri Keronen	–	2009
Freedom Party	Vapauspuolue – Suomen tulevaisuus	Frihetspartiet	VP	Lisbet Puttonen	–	2009
¹ Predecessor: Rural Party of Finland founded 1959 by Veikko Vennamo Veikko Vennamo Veikko Emil Aleksander Vennamo was a Finnish politician. In 1959, he founded the Finnish Rural Party , which was succeeded by the True Finns in 1995. He had originally been the leader of a faction of the Agrarian League... . ² The Member of Parliament from the region of Åland is usually counted towards the Swedish member count regardless of Åland party affiliation. ³ The Swedish Party (1870–1906), considered a predecessor, was in the Diet of Finland Diet of Finland The Diet of Finland , was the legislative assembly of the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1809 to 1906 and the recipient of the powers of the Swedish Riksdag of the Estates.... . ⁴ Merged Communist Party of Finland Communist Party of Finland The Communist Party of Finland was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944.SKP did not participate in any elections with its own name. Instead, front organisations were used... (1918), Finnish People's Democratic League Finnish People's Democratic League Finnish People's Democratic League was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic Party... (1944), Democratic Alternative Democratic Alternative (Finland) Democratic Alternative was a political party in Finland. Deva was formed in 1986 by expelled members of the Communist Party of Finland and its mass front Finnish People's Democratic League... (1990) and Finnish Women's Democratic League. ⁵ A breakoff faction of the old Communist Party of Finland, originally broken off in mid-1980s.

Other national parties

Communist Party of Finland
Communist Workers' Party – For Peace and Socialism
Islamic Party of Finland (Suomen islamilainen puolue), founded 2007
League of Communists
League of Communists (Finland)
League of Communists is a Finnish Marxist-Leninist political organization. The League of Communists was founded in 14.9.2002 by the Communists who were expelled from the For Peace and Socialism - Communist Workers Party...

(Kommunistien liitto), founded 2002
Liberals
Liberals (Finland)
Liberals is a free market liberal party in Finland. Founded in 1965 as a reunification of the People's Party of Finland and Liberal League. Originally named Liberal People's Party , it restyled its name as Liberals in 2000....

(Liberaalit), founded 1965
Marxist Workers' League (Marxilainen työväenliitto), founded 2000
Patriotic People's Movement of Finland (Suomen isänmaallinen kansanliike), founded 1993
Senior Citizens' Party of Finland
Socialist League
Socialist League (Finland)
The Socialist League is a Trotskyist organisation in Finland. It is affiliated to the International Socialist Tendency...

(Sosialistiliitto), founded 1998

Parties in parliament

Christian Workers' League of Finland (Suomen Kristillisen Työväen Liitto, KTL) 1906–1922
Communist Party of Finland
Communist Party of Finland
The Communist Party of Finland was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944.SKP did not participate in any elections with its own name. Instead, front organisations were used...

(Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, SKP) 1918–1992
Constitutional Right Party (Perustuslaillinen Oikeistopuolue, POP) 1973–1992
Democratic Alternative
Democratic Alternative (Finland)
Democratic Alternative was a political party in Finland. Deva was formed in 1986 by expelled members of the Communist Party of Finland and its mass front Finnish People's Democratic League...

(Demokraattinen Vaihtoehto, Deva) 1986–1990
Finnish Party
Finnish Party
The Finnish Party was a Fennoman conservative political party in the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland and independent Finland. Born out of Finland's language strife in the 1860s, the party sought to improve the position of the Finnish language in Finnish society...

(Suomalainen Puolue) 1860s–1918
Finnish People's Democratic League
Finnish People's Democratic League
Finnish People's Democratic League was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic Party...

(Suomen Kansan Demokraattinen Liitto, SKDL) 1945–1990
Finnish People's Unity Party (Suomen Kansan Yhtenäisyyden Puolue, SKYP) 1972–1983
Kirjava ”Puolue” – Elonkehän Puolesta 1988–2003
Liberal League (Vapaamielisten liitto) 1951–1965
National Progressive Party
National Progressive Party (Finland)
The National Progressive Party was a liberal political party in Finland from 1918 to 1951. The party was founded December 8 1918, after the Finnish Civil War, by the republican majority of the Young Finnish Party and the republican minority of the Finnish Party...

(Kansallinen Edistyspuolue) 1918-1951
Patriotic People's Movement
Patriotic People's Movement (Finland)
Patriotic People's Movement, abbreviated to IKL), was a Finnish nationalist and anti-communist political party. IKL was the successor of the previously banned Lapuan liike...

(Isänmaallinen kansanliike)
People's Party (Kansanpuolue) 1917–1918
People's Party
People's Party (Finland, 1932)
The People's Party was a political party in Finland. It had a populist and peasant-oriented profile. The party was founded in Ylivieska on August 21, 1932 and it was mainly active in Kalajokilaakso region. Yrjö Hautala was the chairman of the party, and Fredrik Rautio the vice chairman...

(Kansanpuolue) 1932–1936
People's Party of Finland (Suomen Kansanpuolue) 1951–1965
Reform Group (Remonttiryhmä) 1998–2001
Rural Party of Finland (Suomen Maaseudun Puolue) 1959–1995
Smallholders' Party (Pienviljelijäin Puolue) 1936–195?
Smallholders' Party of Finland (Suomen Pienviljelijäin Puolue) 1929–1936
Socialist Electoral Organisation of Workers and Smallholders (Sosialistinen työväen ja pienviljelijöiden vaalijärjestö, STPV) 1924–1930
Socialist Workers' Party of Finland
Socialist Workers' Party of Finland
Socialist Workers' Party of Finland was a Finnish political party in the early 1920s. The SSTP consisted of radical leftists who split from the Social Democratic Party of Finland after the Finnish Civil War of 1918. The banned Communist Party of Finland was the main force behind the party but...

(Suomen Sosialistinen Työväenpuolue, SSTP) 1920–1923
Socialist Unity Party
Socialist Unity Party (Finland)
Socialist Unity Party was a left-wing political party in Finland. The SYP was founded in March 1946 by socialists working inside the communist-dominated Finnish People's Democratic League . Most of the founders were former members of the Social Democratic Party of Finland...

(Sosialistinen yhtenäisyyspuolue, SYP) 1946-1955
Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders (Työväen ja Pienviljelijöiden Sosialidemokraattinen Liitto, TPSL) 1959–1973
Young Finnish Party
Young Finnish Party
The Young Finnish Party or Constitutional-Fennoman Party was a liberal and nationalist political party in the Grand Duchy of Finland...

(Nuorsuomalainen Puolue) 1894/1905–1918
Young Finns
Young Finns
Young Finns was a liberal political party in Finland founded in 1994 and abolished in 1999. In the 1995 parliamentary elections, the party gained two seats, held by Risto Penttilä and Jukka Tarkka. In the 1999 election Young Finns failed to get any seats and it was discontinued...

(Nuorsuomalaiset) (1994–1999)

Parties outside parliament

Farmers' Party (Maanviljelijäin Puolue) 1927–1929
Finland – Fatherland (Suomi – Isänmaa) 1993–2006
Finnish Active Resistance Party (Suomen aktiivinen vastustuspuolue) 1904–1908
Finnish People's Blue-whites
Finnish People's Blue-whites
The Finnish People's Blue-whites was a Finnish political party with a far-right nationalist agenda, led by the controversial political figure Olavi Mäenpää. It was founded in 1993 as Independent People's Front , and was known as National Front from 1997 until 2001...

(Suomen Kansan Sinivalkoiset, SKS) 1993–2010
Finnish People's Organisation (Suomen Kansan Järjestö) 1933–1936
Finnish People's Party
Finnish People's Party
Finnish People's Party was a minor political party in Finland. The party participated in the 1951 parliamentary elections and got 243 votes ....

(Suomalainen kansanpuolue) 1950s
Finnish Socialist Party (Suomalaissosialistinen Puolue) 1932–1937
Finnish Socialist Workers' Party (Suomalaissosialistinen Työväen Puolue) 1934–?
Forces for Change in Finland
Forces for Change in Finland
The Forces for Change in Finland was a Finnish election cartel formed for the 2003 parliamentary election...

(Muutosvoimat Suomi) 2002–2006
Independence Party (Itsenäisyyspuolue) 1960s
Independent Middle Class (Itsenäinen keskiluokka) 1949–1951
Information Society Party (Tietoyhteiskuntapuolue, TYP) 2006–2007
Joint Responsibility Party (Yhteisvastuu puolue) 1987–2003
Left Group of Finnish Workers
Left Group of Finnish Workers
Left Group of Finnish Workers was a socialist political party in Finland. The party was active in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The group was founded by activists who had previously cooperated with the Communist Party of Finland . Niilo Wälläri, Eino Pekkala, Erkki Härmä and Kusti Kulo were some...

(Suomen työväen vasemmistoryhmä) 1929–1930
Liberal Democrats of Finland (Suomen Liberaalidemokraatit) 1993–1994
Liberal party (Liberaalinen puolue) 1880–1885
National Democratic Party (Kansallis-Demokraattinen Puolue)
National Radical Party (Kansallinen Radikaalipuolue) 1990s
National Socialist Work Organisation of Finland (Suomen Kansallissosialistinen Työjärjestö) 1940–1943
National Socialist People's Party of Finland (Suomen Kansallissosialistinen Työväenpuolue) 1941–?
National Socialists of Finland (Suomen Kansallissosialistit) 1941–1944
National Workers' Party (Kansallinen Työväenpuolue) 1917–?
Natural Law Party (Luonnonlain puolue) 1994–2000
Neo-Socialist Party (Uus-sosialistinen puolue) 1940–?
New Finnish Party (Uusi Suomalainen Puolue) 1932–?
Organisation of National Socialists (Kansallissosialistien Järjestö) 1940–1944
Party of Finnish National Work (Suomalais-Kansallisen Työn Puolue) 1939–?
Party of Humanity (Ihmisyydenpuolue) 1991–1995
Party Organisation of Finnish Entrepreneurs (Suomen Yksityisyrittäjäin Puoluejärjestö) 1972–1979
Patriotic People's Party (Isänmaallinen Kansanpuolue) 1932–1933
Peasant People's Party (Talonpoikaiskansan puolue) 1926–?
Pensioners' Party of Finland (Suomen Eläkeläisten Puolue) 1985–1999
Radical People's Party
Radical People's Party (Finland)
Radical People's Party was a Finnish populist political party led by Ernesti Hentunen. The party was active in the 1940s and 1950s and it was strongly personified by its eccentric chairman. The Radicals participated three times in the parliamentary elections and once in the municipal elections....

(Radikaalinen Kansanpuolue) 1944–1951
Reform Party Liberals (Uudistuspuolue Liberaalit) 1989–1991
Socialist Party of Work (Sosialistinen Työpuolue) 1917–1919
Socialist Workers' Party
Socialist Workers Party (Finland)
Socialist Workers' Party was a political party in Finland. The STP was founded in 1973 as split from Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders...

(Sosialistinen Työväenpuolue) 1973–
Swedish party (Ruotsalainen puolue) 1870–1906
Taxpayers' Party of Finland (Suomen veronmaksajain puolue) 1990s
United Front (Yhteisrintama) 193?–1940
Women's Party (Naisten puolue) 1990–1995
Work Front of Finland (Suomen Työrintama) 1936–1939

External links

NSD: European Election Database - Political parties of Finland

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Registered political parties

Other national parties

Parties in parliament

Parties outside parliament

See also

External links