Finnish parliamentary election, 2015

Finnish parliamentary election, 2015

19 April 2015

All 200 seats to the Parliament 101 seats needed for a majority Turnout 70.1%   First party Second party Third party   Leader Juha Sipilä Timo Soini Alexander Stubb Party Centre Finns National Coalition Leader since 2012 1997 2014 Last election 35 seats, 15.8% 39 seats, 19.1% 44 seats, 20.4% Seats won 49 38 37 Seat change 14 1 7 Popular vote 626,218 524,054 540,212 Percentage 21.1% 17.7% 18.2% Swing 5.3% 1.4% 2.2%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Antti Rinne Ville Niinistö Paavo Arhinmäki Party Social Democratic Green League Left Alliance Leader since 2014 2011 2009 Last election 42 seats, 19.1% 10 seats, 7.3% 14 seats, 8.1% Seats won 34 15 12 Seat change 8 5 2 Popular vote 490,102 253,102 211,702 Percentage 16.5% 8.5% 7.1% Swing 2.6% 1.3% 1.0%   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader Carl Haglund Päivi Räsänen Party Swedish People's Christian Democrat Leader since 2012 2004 Last election 9 seats, 4.3% 6 seats, 4.0% Seats won 9 5 Seat change 0 1 Popular vote 144,802 105,134 Percentage 4.9% 3.5% Swing 0.6% 0.5%

Prime Minister before election Alexander Stubb National Coalition Elected Prime Minister TBD

The 2015 Finnish parliamentary election was held on 19 April 2015,^[1] with advance voting from 8 to 14 April.^[2] The 200 members of the Finnish Parliament were elected with the proportional D'Hondt method.

There were 4,463,333 people entitled to vote in Finland and abroad.^[3]

Background

Previous government parties

The incumbent government was formed by a four party coalition, composed of the National Coalition Party, Social Democratic Party, Swedish People's Party and the Christian Democrats as well as the MP for Åland. Left Alliance and the Green League were initially also part of the governing coalition, but both left in 2014.

On 22 June 2011, the parliament elected Jyrki Katainen as prime minister by a vote of 118–72; two Left Alliance MPs voted against Katainen, for which they were formally reprimanded by the Left Alliance parliamentary group. They were subsequently expelled from the group, reducing the government majority from 126 MPs to 124. In March 2014 the Left Alliance announced that it was leaving the cabinet, citing the party's opposition to budget cuts in social welfare programs, which had been agreed to by the other five parties.^[4] This reduced the government's majority to 112 MPs.

In April 2014 Jyrki Katainen announced that he would not seek another term as the chairman of the National Coalition Party. The NCP chose Alexander Stubb as its new chairman in June, and he subsequently became the new Prime Minister. In September 2014 the Green League announced that it was leaving the cabinet. The Greens were opposed to the other governing parties' decision to grant Fennovoima a licence for building a nuclear power plant in Pyhäjoki.^[5] The Greens' departure cut the government's majority to 102 MPs (including the Speaker of the Parliament, who does not vote).^[6]

Changes to the electoral districts

Electoral districts in the 2015 election

In 2013 the parliament decided to merge certain electoral districts to create larger districts: the electoral districts of Northern Savonia and North Karelia have been merged into a new district called Savonia-Karelia, while the electoral districts of Kymi and Southern Savonia have been merged into a new district called South-Eastern Finland.^[7]

Opinion polling

Taloustutkimus opinion polling since 2011 election.

Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first. The highest percentage figure in each poll is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. The table uses the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. However, if that date is unknown, the date of publication will be given instead.

Seats

Opinion polls showing seat projections are displayed in the table below. The highest seat figures in each polling survey have their background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. 101 seats are required for an absolute majority in the Finnish Parliament.

Results

Notes

References

External links

Media related to Parliamentary elections in Finland, 2015 at Wikimedia Commons

Elections and referendums in Finland Parliamentary elections 1863 1867 1872 1877 1882 1885 1888 1891 1894 1900 1901 1905 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1913 1916 1917 1919 1922 1924 1927 1929 1930 1933 1936 1939 1945 1948 1951 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1972 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Municipal elections 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1928 1930 1933 1936 1945 1947 1950 1953 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 Presidential elections (1919) 1925 1931 1937 (1940) (1943) (1946) 1950 1956 1962 1968 1978 1982 1988 1994 2000 2006 2012 next European elections 1996 1999 2004 2009 2014 Referendums 1931 1994 Elections in brackets were not public elections