1924 Finnish parliamentary election

1924 Finnish parliamentary election

←  1922 1–2 April 1924 1927  →
All 200 seats in the Parliament of Finland 101 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Väinö Tanner Pekka Heikkinen Antti Tulenheimo Party SDP Agrarian National Coalition Last election 25.06%, 53 seats 20.27%, 45 seats 18.15%, 35 seats Seats won 60 44 38 Seat change 7 1 3 Popular vote 255,068 177,982 166,880 Percentage 29.02% 20.25% 18.99% Swing 3.96pp 0.02pp 0.84pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Eric von Rettig Oskari Mantere Party RKP STPV National Progressive Last election 12.41%, 25 seats – 9.21%, 15 seats Seats won 23 18 17 Seat change 2 New 2 Popular vote 105,733 91,839 79,937 Percentage 12.03% 10.45% 9.09% Swing 0.38pp New 0.12pp
Prime Minister before election Aimo Cajander Independent Prime Minister after election Lauri Ingman National Coalition

Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 1 and 2 April 1924. ^[1] Although the Social Democratic Party remained the largest in Parliament with 60 of the 200 seats, Lauri Ingman of the National Coalition Party formed a centre-right majority government in May 1924. It remained intact until the Agrarians left in November 1924. Voter turnout was 57.4%. ^[2]

Background

President Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg decided to dissolve Parliament in January 1924 and to organise early elections for April 1924, as since August 1923, Parliament had been 27 members short following the arrest of the Communist MPs suspected of treason. Around December 1923 and January 1924, the Social Democrats threatened to withdraw from Parliament, unless early elections were held. Prime Minister Kyösti Kallio opposed the dissolution of Parliament, true to his parliamentary principles, and resigned after Ståhlberg indicated that he would dissolve Parliament. After Kallio's resignation, Ståhlberg appointed a caretaker government of civil servants, led by Professor Aimo Cajander (a Progressive). The 1922 land reform had been enacted, on the initiative of Prime Minister Kallio. The National Coalitioners were becoming more right-wing and less reformist. The Progressives were losing votes to the National Coalitioners and Agrarians, with their brand of petty-bourgeois, urban liberalism losing its appeal in the still heavily agrarian Finland. ^{[3] [4]}

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	255,068	29.02	60	+7
	Agrarian League	177,982	20.25	44	–1
	National Coalition Party	166,880	18.99	38	+3
	Swedish People's Party	105,733	12.03	23	–2
	Electoral Organisation of Socialist Workers and Smallholders	91,839	10.45	18	–9
	National Progressive Party	79,937	9.09	17	+2
	Peasants' List	456	0.05	0	New
	Others	1,046	0.12	0	–
Total		878,941	100.00	200	0
Valid votes		878,941	99.45
Invalid/blank votes		4,884	0.55
Total votes		883,825	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,539,393	57.41
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

See also

• List of members of the Parliament of Finland, 1924–1927

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p606 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p613
3. Sakari Virkkunen, Finland's Presidents I / Suomen presidentit I, Helsinki: WSOY, 1994
4. Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds., A Small Giant of the Finnish History / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen, Helsinki: WSOY, 2003