Social Democratic Party of Finland

Social Democratic Party of Finland Sosialidemokraatit(Finnish) Socialdemokraterna(Swedish)
Abbreviation	SDP SD
Chairperson	Antti Lindtman
Secretary	Mikkel Näkkäläjärvi
General Secretary	Kari Anttila
Parliamentary group leader	Tytti Tuppurainen
First deputy chair	Nasima Razmyar
Founded	20 July 1899(1899-07-20)
Headquarters	Siltasaarenkatu 18–20C, 00530Helsinki
Newspaper	Demokraatti
Think tank	Kalevi Sorsa Foundation
Student wing	Social Democratic Students
Youth wing	Social Democratic Youth
Women's wing	Social Democratic Women in Finland
Children’s wing	Nuoret Kotkat
Swedish-speaking wing	Finlands Svenska Socialdemokrater
Membership(2021)	29,450
Ideology	Social democracy Pro-Europeanism
Political position	Centre-left
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists
European Parliament group	Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
International affiliation	Progressive Alliance Socialist International
Nordic affiliation	SAMAK The Social Democratic Group
Colours	Red
Anthem	Työväen marssi
Eduskunta	43 / 200
European Parliament	2 / 15
Municipalities	1,451 / 8,859
County seats	277 / 1,379
Website
sdp.fi
Politics of Finland Political parties Elections

TheSocial Democratic Party of Finland(SDP,Finnish:Suomen sosialidemokraattinen puolue[ˈsuo̯menˈsosiɑ(ː)liˌdemokrɑːtːinenˈpuo̯lue],nicknamed:demaritin Finnish;Swedish:Finlands socialdemokratiska parti) is asocial democraticpolitical party in Finland.It is the third largest party in theParliament of Finlandwith 43 seats. Founded in 1899 as theWorkers' Party of Finland(Finnish:Suomen työväenpuolue;Swedish:Finlands arbetarparti), the SDP is Finland's oldest active political party and has a close relationship with theCentral Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions.It is also a member of theParty of European Socialists,Progressive Alliance,Socialist InternationalandSAMAK.

Following the resignation ofAntti Rinnein December 2019,Sanna Marinbecame the country's 46thPrime Minister.SDP formed a newcoalition governmenton the basis ofits predecessor,in effect continuing cooperation with theCentre Party,theGreen League,theLeft Allianceand theSwedish People's Party.Seven of theFinnish Governmentits nineteen ministers are SDP members.

In September 2023,Antti Lindtmanwas elected leader of the party following Marin's resignation after the2023 election.

History

The SDP's party conference in Oulu in 1906.

The party was founded as the Workers' Party of Finland in 1899, with its first meeting being held from 17–20 July inTurku.At the beginning of the 1900s the party presented demands as well as solutions to thetenant farmerquestion, the managing of employment, improvement ofworkers’ rights,freedom of speechand an8-hour work day.
In its 1903 second party conference inForssa,the party's name was renamed to the present form: Social Democratic Party of Finland, but theGrand Duchy of Finland's thengovernor-generalNikolay Bobrikovhad forbidden the SDP from using "social democratic" in their name before, but this ban was not followed by the party members when the name was changed. At the same time, the at the time, radicalForssa Programmewas agreed upon, which served as the official party platform until 1952. The goals of the programme were an 8-hour workday, aminimum wage,universal compulsory educationandprohibition.

TheForssa Programmeis based on theErfurt Programmeapproved by theSocial Democratic Party of Germanyin 1891 and theSocial Democratic Party of Austria's programme, respectively. Its immediate demands have been fulfilled, but the most significant and currently unfulfilled requirement is the right to vote directly on laws (direct democracy,as opposed torepresentative democracy(except for two times, and then just on advisory referendums: once about prohibition in 1931 and another on the1994 Finnish European Union membership referendum.))The demands on total separation of church and state, abolition ofreligious educationin all schools and to the prohibition of alcohol have since then, all been abandoned.

The SDP was closely associated with theFinnish Trade Union Federation(SAJ), established in 1907, with all of its members also being members of the party.The party remained a chiefly extra-parliamentary movement untiluniversal suffragewas introduced in 1906, after which the SDP's share of the votes reached 47% in the1916 Finnish parliamentary election,when the party secured amajorityin the parliament, the only time in the history of Finland when one party has had such a majority. The party lost its majority in the1917 Finnish parliamentary electionafter theRussian Provisional Governmenthad rejected itsValtalaki 1917proposal and disbanded the Finnish government, starting a rebellion with the broader Finnish labour movement that quickly escalated into theFinnish Civil Warin 1918.

SDP members declared Finland asocialist republic,but they were defeated by the forces of theWhite Guard.The war resulted in most of the party leaders being killed, imprisoned or left to seek refuge inSoviet Russia.In addition, the process leading to the civil war and the war itself had stripped the party of itspolitical legitimacyand respectability in the eyes of the right-wing majority. However, the political support for the party remained strong. In the1919 Finnish parliamentary election,the party, reorganised byVäinö Tanner,received 80 of the 200 seats of the parliament. In 1918, former exiled SDP members founded theCommunist Party of Finland(SKP) in Moscow. Although the SKP was banned in Finland until 1944, it was represented by front organisations, leading to the support of the Finnish working class being divided between the SDP and the SKP.

It became the life's work ofVäinö Tannerto re-establish the SDP as a serious, governing party. The result was a much more patriotic SDP which leaned less to the left and was relatively isolated from itsNordicsister parties, namely the DanishSocial Democrats,theNorwegian Labour Partyand theSwedish Social Democratic Party.PresidentPehr Evind Svinhufvud's animosity kept the SDP out of government during his presidency from 1931 to 1937. With the exception of a brief period in 1926, when Tanner formed a minority government, the SDP was excluded from cabinet participation untilKyösti Kalliowas elected President in 1937. DuringWorld War II,the party played a central role in a series of broad coalition cabinets, symbolising national unity forged in response to the threat of theSoviet Unionin theWinter Warof 1939–1940. The SDP was a member of theLabour and Socialist Internationalfrom 1923 to 1940.

During the first few months of theContinuation War(1941–1944), the country, the parliament and the cabinet were divided on the question of whether Finland's army should stop at the old border and thereby demonstratively refrain from any attempt of conquests. However, the country's dangerous position called for national unity and the SDP's leadership chose to refrain from any visible protests. This decision is sometimes indicated as one of the main reasons behind the post-war division between the main left-wing parties (the SKP and the SDP) and the high percentage of SKP voters in the first elections after the Continuation War. After the war, the SKP was allowed to continue working and the main feature of Finnish political life during the 1944–1949 period was the competition between the SDP and the SKP, both for voters and for the control of the labour unions. During this time, the political field was divided roughly equally between the SDP, the SKP and theAgrarian League,each party commanding some 25% of the vote. In the post-war era, the SDP adopted a line of defending Finnish sovereignty and democracy in line with the Agrarian League and otherbourgeoispolitical parties, finally leading to the expulsion of the SKP from the cabinet in 1948. As a result, the Soviet Union remained more openly critical towards the SDP than the centre-right parties.

SDP municipal election poster from 1933 ( "Municipal power to those who work" ).

Because of the SDP'santi-communism,the United StatesCentral Intelligence Agencysupported the party by means of funds laundered through Nordic sister parties or through organisations that bought luxury goods such as coffee abroad, then imported and sold them for a high profit as post-warrationingserved to inflate prices. In the1956 Finnish presidential election,the SDP candidateKarl-August Fagerholmlost by only one electoral vote toUrho Kekkonen.Fagerholm would act as Prime Minister in theFagerholm II Cabinet(1956–1957) and theFagerholm III Cabinet(1958–1959). The latter cabinet was forced to resign due to Soviet pressure, leading to a series of cabinets led by the Agrarian League. In 1958, due to the election ofVäinö Tanneras party chairman, a faction of the SDP resigned and formed theSocial Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders(TPSL) around the former SDP chairmanEmil Skog.The dispute was over several issues, namely whether the party should function as an interest group and whether it should co-operate with the anti-communists and right-wingers or with president Kekkonen, the Agrarian League and the SKP. During the 1960s, the TPSL dwindled, its members returning one by one to the SDP or joining the SKP, with Skog himself returning to the SDP in 1965. In the1970 Finnish parliamentary election,the TPSL failed to gain any seats in parliament. Only in 1966 was the SDP able to satisfy the Soviet Union about its friendly attitude towards it and could thus return to the cabinet. Since then, the SDP has been represented in most Finnish cabinets, often cooperating with thecentrist-agrarianCentre Party (formerly the Agrarian League), but sometimes with theliberal-conservativeNational Coalition Party.The SDP was in opposition from 1991 to 1995, when the main parties in the cabinet were the Centre Party and theNational Coalition Party(NCP).

The1995 Finnish parliamentary electionsaw a landslide victory for the SDP, achieving their best results sinceWorld War II.The SDP rose to government from the opposition and leaderPaavo Lipponenheaded two consecutive cabinets from 1995 to 2003. During this time, the party adopted apro-Europeanstance and contributed actively to the Finnish membership in the European Union in 1995 in concert with the cabinet. In the2003 Finnish parliamentary election,the SDP won 53 of the 200 seats, ending up a close second to the Centre Party. As a result, Lipponen became theSpeaker of Parliamentand the Centre Party leaderAnneli Jäätteenmäkibecame the newPrime Minister,leading acoalition cabinetthat included the SDP which got eight ministerial posts. After two months in office, Jäätteenmäki resigned due to a scandal relating to theIraq leakand was replaced byMatti Vanhanen,another Centre Party representative, who commanded theVanhanen I Cabinet.

Sanna Marin,the party's leader from August 2020 to September 2023.

Support for the Social Democrats by municipality in the2011 Finnish parliamentary electionwhich saw the party faring strongest in southern and eastern parts of the country.

In the2007 Finnish parliamentary election,the SDP gained the third-most votes. The chairman of the then-largest Centre Party, Matti Vanhanen, became the Prime Minister and formed acoalition cabinetconsisting of theGreen League,the NCP and theSwedish People's Party of Finland(SPP), leaving the SDP to the opposition. SDP leaderEero Heinäluomadid not immediately resign as party chairman, but he did announce his withdrawal from running for party chairman in the following party conference. He was replaced byJutta Urpilainen.The SDP suffered further losses in the2008 Finnish municipal electionsand the2009 European Parliament election.In the2011 Finnish parliamentary election,the SDP lost three more seats, ending up with 19.1 percent of the vote which corresponded to 42 seats, the party's worst-ever result. However, as the Centre Party lost even more voters, the SDP became the second-largest party in the country after the NCP, receiving only some 1,500 votes more than theFinns Partywhich came in third. After lengthy negotiations, a six-party coalition government, theKatainen Cabinet,was formed with the NCP and the SDP as the two main parties. SDP leader Jutta Urpilainen became the cabinet'sMinister of Finance,with NCP chairmanJyrki Katainenserving as Prime Minister.

In the 2014 party conference, Urpilainen was narrowly defeated by her challengerAntti Rinnein a 257 to 243 vote.Urpilainen subsequently stepped down as the Minister of Finance, passing the seat on to Rinne.In the2015 Finnish parliamentary election,the drop of support continued for the SDP. The party lost eight more seats compared to the 2011 parliamentary election, ending up with 34 seats and 16.5 percent of the vote. With the repeat of the worst-ever result, the SDP dropped to being the fourth largest political party in Finland, receiving 50,110 fewer votes than the NCP, yet 237,000 more votes than the Green League. The SDP was left in the opposition and provided extensive criticism on the actions of theSipilä Cabineton matters such as alcohol policy, cuts to education spending and the so-called active model.On 22 June 2016,Maria Tolppanen,a Finns Party representative, joined the SDP. This increased the SDP's parliamentary seat number to 35.

In the2019 Finnish parliamentary election,the SDP gained 6 seats in comparison to the 2015 parliamentary election and became the largest party in the parliament.Based on the answers and initial talks with all parties,Rinneannounced that he would negotiate forming a government with theCentre Party,theGreen League,theLeft Allianceand theSwedish People's Party.The negotiations were ultimately successful and theRinne Cabinetwas formally inaugurated on 6 June 2019.On 3 December 2019, Rinne resigned as Prime Minister after the Centre Party had expressed a lack of confidence in Rinne for his handling of the events surrounding a postal strike in Finland.He was followed in the position bySanna Marin,who was appointed as Prime Minister on 10 December 2019.

Ideology

The SDP is a centre-leftsocial-democraticparty.

In its 2020 declaration of principles the party's ideals and priorities are:sustainable development,all-encompassing equality,peace,solidarity,freedom,co-operation,a clean and pristine environmenttogether withdemocratic socialism.The SDP also embraceshumanism's values as well as theNordic model's accomplishments.

In the 1900s, the party known as theFinnish Workers' Partywas founded on the basis ofsocial issues,class andsocialism.SDP was the only political party in Finland for a long time. In 1907, the SDP was the strongest socialist party in Europe, as evidenced by the qualified majority in theSenate of Finlandin 1917. At the beginning of the 20th century, the party received its main support from groups of thelandless populationand therural population.In 1919, at the SDP's meeting, a split was made with the radical communists, as a result of which they broke away and founded theSSTP.As a result of thecivil warand theOctober Revolution,the workers' movement became even more divided.

Up untilRussia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine,the party opposed on joiningNATOand instead preferred to remain in thePartnership for Peace.

The SDP is in favour ofqueer rights,the construction ofnuclear power plants,the conservation ofSwedishas one of Finland's twoofficial languagesand to the increasing of the funding given topublic schoolsand universities.The party is advocating for Finland to become coal-free by 2030.The SDP had advocated for policies preventing foreigners from outside the EU from working in Finland,but has since then softened its positions on immigration and has come to support certain immigration reforms. In its 2023 parliamentaryelection programmeits self-declared goal was the increasing of work-based immigration coming to Finland as a way of responding to the county's labour shortage and low birth rate.In 2023, the SDP, along with theNCP,both criticised theFinns Partyfor their lack of willingness to the easing ofwork permitrequirements to foreigners coming from outside the European Union.

The party opposed certain economic reforms both in the2011 Finnish parliamentary electionand in the subsequent negotiations about the government programme.The SDP maintains a close relationship with trade unions. The party has opposed social reforms that would reduce the role of earnings-related unemployment benefits. The government pays them to recipients through financial middlemen that are almost exclusively trade unions.The SDP also supports theseparation of church and state.

Controversies

The SDP's politicians, among several other finnish political parties’ members, have received criticism about their connections with the Russians for years by some of the media and academics, for example, SDP politiciansEero Heinäluoma,Paavo Lipponen,Erkki Tuomioja,Antton Rönnholm andTarja Halonenhave all had past connections to Russia.
In 2005, according to Halonen, Russia's goals were: "...democracy, human rights and good governance." 9 years later, in 2014 afterRussia annexed Crimea,Halonen thought that Russia should not have been punished by sanctions or isolation.

SDP's former party secretary Antton Rönnholm has also taken his part. Through hisconsulting firm's servicesoffered toGazprom,he sent an invoice for almost 200,000 euros to them for assisting in theSouth Stream gas pipeline project.More than half of Gazprom is owned by the Russian state, and it is partly used as a geopolitical tool in Europe and the rest of the world.

In February 2022, politicianErkki Tuomiojapublished a work with the title "Finland and NATO – Why Finland should have the opportunity to apply for NATO membership and why that opportunity should not be used now". In his work Tuomioja estimated that Russia was viewed rather unanalytically.

Also in February 2022, when Russia had already been pressuring Ukraine for a long time, the social democraticMEPEero HeinäluomaandMauri Pekkarinenfrom theCentre Partyboth said in a Finnish current affairs television programme that preparing for the Russian threat was part of the problem. According to Heinäluoma, placing defensive armaments in Russia's neighbouring countries was instead a threat to Russia.

Paavo Lipponenhas lobbied for and been a consultant for Russia'sNord Streamproject since 2008.That year,Russia went to war against Georgia,which marked the start of Putin's foreign policy's aggresiveness.In a report of theEuropean Parliament'sspecial committeein 2022, former Social Democratic Party and Centre Party prime ministers Lipponen andEsko Ahowere said to be among the European politicians that Russia and China had hijacked to promote their interests.Some current SDP politicians have therefore built their careers by appeasing Russia. However, in 2023, during the premiership of former Social Democratic PartychairSanna Marin, Finland officially joinedNATO.

In September 2023, whenAntti Lindtmangot electedchairof the SDP, a scandal broke out due to him in hisadolescent years,posing near four other naked young adults, nude, wearing apointed hatin the style of achristmas elf,covered by abalaclavaand with anairsoft gunin hand. While two others were doing anazi salutein the same picture. Because of this, Lindtman was accused of being a nazi. He responded by stating that the image had been taken during his time in a high school film group by the name of "Team Paha, English: Team Bad" in aPikkujouluparty while they were messing around and firmly denied the allegation of being anational socialist.

Theparty secretary,Mikkel Näkkäläjärvi's, nomination and subsequent appointment to his role during the SDP's 2023conferenceinJyväskyläwas criticised because of his criminal background. In 2011 he haddriven a car while under the presence of alcohol,and was charged with a 30-daysuspended sentenceand an accompanying fine. Näkkäläjärvi had also broken into a retired old lady'ssummer cottageas a 15-year-old teenager with three others around the same age as him and participated in the killing and burning of a grown-up cat in abonfire.Following this, he was charged with burglary, vandalism andanimal crueltyas a young person. Näkkäläjärvi has apologised for all of his past misdeeds.

Voter base

The average age of an SDP member is 61.5 years.Over one half of all SDP voters are active members of the workforce.

Symbols, logos and posters

• 
  Logo between 2010–2015.
• 
  Historic logo.
• 
  A Social Democratic Party poster for the1972 Finnish parliamentary election.
• 
  TYÖ Poster used in the2011 Finnish parliamentary electionand the2012 Finnish municipal elections.

Prominent Social Democrats

Oskari Tokoi	Chairperson of theSenatein 1917.
Yrjö Sirola	Founder of theCommunist Party of Finland.
Väinö Tanner	Prime Minister(1926–1927). Foreign Minister(1939–1940).
Karl-August Fagerholm	Prime Minister (1948–1950, 1956–1957 and 1958–1959). Speaker of Parliament(1945–1948, 1950–1956, 1957–1958, 1958–1962 and 1965–1966).
Rafael Paasio	Prime Minister (1966–1968 and 1972).
Kalevi Sorsa	Prime Minister (1972–1975, 1977–1979 and 1982–1987).
Mauno Koivisto	Prime Minister (1968–1970 and 1979–1982). President(1982–1994).
Pentti Väänänen	Secretary General of theSocialist International(1983–1989).
Martti Ahtisaari	President (1994–2000). Nobel Peace Prizelaureate (2008).
Erkki Tuomioja	Foreign Minister (2000–2007 and 2011–2015).
Paavo Lipponen	Prime Minister (1995–2003). Speaker of the Parliament (2003–2007).
Tarja Halonen	Foreign Minister (1995–2000). President (2000–2012).
Eero Heinäluoma	Speaker of the Parliament (2011–2015).
Jutta Urpilainen	Finance MinisterandDeputy Prime Minister(2011–2014).
Antti Rinne	Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister (2014–2015). Prime Minister (2019).
Sanna Marin	Prime Minister (2019–2023). Minister of Transport and Communications(2019).

Leaders of the Social Democrats

Antti Rinne,the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from May 2014 to August 2020.

Time	Leader
1899–1900	Nils Robert af Ursin
1900	J. A. Salminen
1900–1903	K. F. Hellstén
1903–1905	Taavi Tainio
1905–1906	Emil Perttilä
1906–1909	Edvard Valpas-Hänninen
1909–1911	Matti Paasivuori
1911–1913	Otto Wille Kuusinen
1913–1917	Matti Paasivuori
1917–1918	Kullervo Manner
1918–1926	Väinö Tanner
1926–1930	Matti Paasivuori
1930–1942	Kaarlo Harvala
1942–1944	Väinö Salovaara
1944–1946	Onni Hiltunen
1946–1957	Emil Skog
1957–1963	Väinö Tanner
1963–1975	Rafael Paasio
1975–1987	Kalevi Sorsa
1987–1991	Pertti Paasio
1991–1993	Ulf Sundqvist
1993–2005	Paavo Lipponen
2005–2008	Eero Heinäluoma
2008–2014	Jutta Urpilainen
2014–2020	Antti Rinne
2020–2023	Sanna Marin
2023–present	Antti Lindtman

Election results

See also:Elections in Finland

Parliament of Finland

Parliament of Finland
Election	Popular vote				Number of seats			Status
	Votes	%	± pp	Rank	Seats	+/–	Rank
1907	329,946	37.03	37.03	1st	80 / 200	80	1st	Opposition
1908	310,826	38.40	1.37	1st	83 / 200	3	1st	Opposition
1909	337,685	39.89	1.49	1st	84 / 200	1	1st	Opposition
1910	316,951	40.04	0.15	1st	86 / 200	2	1st	Opposition
1911	321,201	40.03	0.01	1st	86 / 200	0	1st	Opposition
1913	312,214	43.11	3.08	1st	90 / 200	4	1st	Opposition
1916	376,030	47.29	4.18	1st	103 / 200	13	1st	Opposition
1917	444,670	44.79	2.50	1st	92 / 200	11	1st	Opposition
1919	365,046	37.98	7.51	1st	80 / 200	12	1st	Opposition
1922	216,861	25.06	12.22	1st	53 / 200	27	1st	Opposition
1924	255,068	29.02	3.96	1st	60 / 200	7	1st	Opposition(1924–1926)
								Coalition(1926–1927)
1927	257,572	28.30	0.72	1st	60 / 200	0	1st	Opposition
1929	260,254	27.36	0.94	1st	59 / 200	1	2nd	Opposition
1930	386,026	34.16	6.80	1st	66 / 200	7	1st	Opposition
1933	413,551	37.33	3.17	1st	78 / 200	12	1st	Opposition
1936	452,751	38.59	1.26	1st	83 / 200	5	1st	Opposition(1936–1937)
								Coalition(1937–1939)
1939	515,980	39.77	1.18	1st	85 / 200	2	1st	Coalition
1945	425,948	25.08	14.69	1st	50 / 200	35	1st	Coalition
1948	494,719	26.32	1.24	1st	54 / 200	4	2nd	Coalition(1948–1950)
								Opposition(1950–1951)
								Coalition(1951)
1951	480,754	26.52	0.20	1st	53 / 200	1	1st	Coalition(1951–1953)
								Opposition(1953–1954)
								Coalition(1954)
1954	527,094	26.25	0.27	1st	54 / 200	1	1st	Coalition(1954–1957)
								Opposition(1957–1958)
1958	449,536	23.12	3.13	2nd	48 / 200	6	2nd	Coalition(1958–1959)
								Opposition(1959–1962)
1962	448,930	19.50	3.62	3rd	38 / 200	10	3rd	Opposition
1966	645,339	27.23	7.73	1st	55 / 200	17	1st	Coalition
1970	594,185	23.43	3.80	1st	52 / 200	3	1st	Coalition
1972	664,724	25.78	2.35	1st	55 / 200	3	1st	Coalition
1975	683,590	24.86	0.92	1st	54 / 200	1	1st	Coalition(1975–1976)
								Opposition(1976–1977)
								Coalition(1977–1979)
1979	691,512	23.89	0.97	1st	52 / 200	2	1st	Coalition
1983	795,953	26.71	2.82	1st	57 / 200	5	1st	Coalition
1987	695,331	24.14	2.57	1st	56 / 200	1	1st	Coalition
1991	603,080	22.12	2.02	2nd	48 / 200	8	2nd	Opposition
1995	785,637	28.25	6.13	1st	63 / 200	15	1st	Coalition
1999	612,963	22.86	5.39	1st	51 / 200	12	1st	Coalition
2003	683,223	24.47	1.61	2nd	53 / 200	2	2nd	Coalition
2007	594,194	21.44	3.03	3rd	45 / 200	8	3rd	Opposition
2011	561,558	19.10	2.34	2nd	42 / 200	3	2nd	Coalition
2015	490,102	16.51	2.59	4th	34 / 200	8	4th	Opposition
2019	546,471	17.73	1.22	1st	40 / 200	6	1st	Coalition
2023	617,552	19.95	2.22	3rd	43 / 200	3	3rd	Opposition

Municipal

Municipal Councils
Year	Councillors	Votes	%
1945	2,100	265,689
1950		377,294	25.05%
1953		449,251	25.53%
1956		424,977	25.42%
1960	2,261	414,175	21.10%
1964	2,543	530,878	24.75%
1968	2,351	540,450	23.86%
1972	2,533	676,387	27.05%
1976	2,735	665,632	24.82%
1980	2,820	699,280	25.50%
1984	2,830	666,218	24.70%
1988	2,866	663,692	25.23%
1992	3,130	721,310	27.08%
1996	2,742	583,623	24.55%
2000	2,559	511,370	22.99%
2004	2,585	575,822	24.11%
2008	2,066	541,187	21.23%
2012	1,729	487,924	19.57%
2017	1,697	498,252	19.38%
2021	1,451	433,811	17.7%

European Parliament

Parliament of Finland
Year	Popular vote				Number of seats
	Votes	%	± pp	Rank	Seats	+/–	Rank
1996	482,577	21.45%	21.45	2nd	4 / 16	4	2nd
1999	221,836	17.86%	3.59	3rd	3 / 16	1	3rd
2004	350,525	21.16%	3.30	3rd	3 / 14	0	3rd
2009	292,051	17.54%	3.62	3rd	2 / 13	1	3rd
2014	212,211	12.31%	5.23	4th	2 / 13	0	4th
2019	267,342	14.62%	2.31	3rd	2 / 13	0	3rd
2024	272,034	14.87%	0.25	3rd	2 / 15	0	3rd

Presidential elections

Indirect

Electoral college
Year	Candidate	Popular vote				First ballot			Second ballot			Third ballot			Results
		Votes	%	Seats	Rank	Votes	%	Rank	Votes	%	Rank	Votes	%	Rank
1919	Väinö Tanner					1 / 300	0.5	4th							Lost
1925	Väinö Tanner	165,091	26.55	79 / 300	1st	78 / 300	26.0	1st	2 / 300	0.7	5th				Lost
1931	Väinö Tanner	252,550	30.2	90 / 300	1st	90 / 300	30.0	1st	0 / 300	0.0	4th				Lost
1937	Väinö Tanner	341,408	30.68	95 / 300	1st										Lost
1940	Johan Helo					4 / 300	1.30	2nd							Lost
1943
1946
1950		343,828	21.80	64 / 300	2nd
1956	Karl-August Fagerholm	442,408	23.33	72 / 300	2nd	72 / 300	24.0	2nd	114 / 300	38.0	1st	149 / 300	49.7	2nd	Lost
1962	Rafael Paasio	289,366	13.08	36 / 300	3rd	37 / 300	12.3	3rd							Lost
1968	Urho Kekkonen	315,068	15.46	55 / 300	4th	201 / 300	67.0	1st							Won
1978	Urho Kekkonen	569,154	23.25	74 / 300	1st	259 / 300	86.3	1st							Won
1982	Mauno Koivisto	1,370,314	43.10	144 / 300	1st	145 / 300	48.3	1st	167 / 300	55.7	1st				Won
1988	Mauno Koivisto	1,513,234	48.90	128 / 301	1st	144 / 301	48.0	1st	189 / 301	63.0	1st				Won

Direct

Presidency of the Republic of Finland
Year	Candidate	1st round				2nd round				Results
		Votes	%	± pp	Rank	Votes	%	± pp	Rank
1994	Martti Ahtisaari	828,038	25.91	22.99	1st	1,723,485	53.85	5.85	1st	Won
2000	Tarja Halonen	1,224,431	40.03	14.12	1st	1,644,532	51.63	2.22	1st	Won
2006	Tarja Halonen	1,397,030	46.31	6.28	1st	1,630,980	51.79	0.16	1st	Won
2012	Paavo Lipponen	205,020	6.70	39.61	5th					Lost
2018	Tuula Haatainen	97,294	3.25	3.45	6th					Lost
2024	Jutta Urpilainen	140,802	4.34	1.09	6th					Lost

See also

• Nordic model
• List of Social Democratic Party (Finland) breakaway parties

External links

• Official website(in English)