Christian Democrats (Finland)

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Christian Democrats
Name in Finnish Kristillisdemokraatit
Name in Swedish Kristdemokraterna
Leader Päivi Räsänen
Founded 1958
Headquarters Karjalankatu 2 C 7 krs.
FIN - 00520 HELSINKI
Political Ideology Christian Democracy,
Conservatism
Political Position Centre-right
European Affiliation European People's Party, European Christian Political Movement
International Affiliation Christian Democrat International
Colours Blue, Orange
Website http://www.kristillisdemokraatit.fi (Finnish)
See also Finnish Politics

Finnish Parliament
Finnish Government
Finnish President
Political parties
Elections

The Christian Democrats (Finnish: Kristillisdemokraatit, KD; Swedish: Kristdemokraterna) is a political party in Finland. The party was founded in 1958, chiefly from the Christian faction of the conservative National Coalition Party. The name was initially Finnish Christian League (in Finnish Suomen Kristillinen Liitto, SKL; in Swedish Finlands Kristliga Förbund) but it was changed in 2001.

The Christian Democrats have a tendency of forming alliances with other parties during elections and their success in elections is mainly determined by their success in these alliances. Their own voter base is stable and loyal, totaling around 5% of the votes.

Contents

[edit] Ideology

The Christian Democrats is a conservative right-of-centre party. However, in many social issues such as poverty and family policy, the party is nearer to the left-of-centre views.

Ideologically the Christian Democrats represent the Christian world view in politics in Finland. The party emphasizes the Christian values as the basis of their political work, family as the center of the society, and responsible freedom.

The party is an observer member of the European People's Party (EPP).

[edit] Politicians

[edit] List of party chairs

  • Olavi Päivänsalo (1958-1964)
  • Ahti Tele (1964-1967)
  • Eino Sares (1967-1970)
  • Olavi Majlander (1970-1973)
  • Raino Westerholm (1973-1982)
  • Esko Almgren (1982-1989)
  • Toimi Kankaanniemi (1989-1995)
  • Bjarne Kallis (1995-2004)
  • Päivi Räsänen (2004-)

[edit] Current members of parliament

  • Päivi Räsänen (Häme constituency)
  • Kari Kärkkäinen (Pohjois-Savo constituency)
  • Sari Palm (Kymi constituency)
  • Bjarne Kallis (Vaasa constituency)
  • Toimi Kankaanniemi (Keski-Suomi constituency)
  • Leena Rauhala (Pirkanmaa constituency)
  • Tarja Tallqvist (Uusimaa constituency)

[edit] Elections results

[edit] Parliament elections

Year MPs Votes Share of votes
1958 0 3 358 0,17%
1966 0 10 646 0,45%
1970 1 28 228 1,40%
1972 4 65 228 2,53%
1975 9 90 599 3,29%
1979 9 138 244 4,77%
1983 3 90 410 3,03%
1987 5 74 209 2,58%
1991 8 83 151 3,05%
1995 7 82 311 2,96%
1999 10 111 835 4,17%
2003 7 148 987 5,34%
2007 7 134 643 4,9%

[edit] Local council elections

Year Councillors Votes Share of votes
1972 134 49 877 2,0%
1976 322 85 792 3,2%
1980 333 100 800 3,7%
1984 257 80 455 3,0%
1988 273 71 614 2,72%
1992 353 84 481 3,2%
1996 353 75 494 3,2%
2000 443 95 009 4,3%
2004 392 94 666 4,0%

[edit] European parliament elections

Year MEPs Votes Share of votes
1996 0 63 134 2,8%
1999 1 29 637 2,4%
2004 0 70 845 4,3%

[edit] See also

[edit] External links