1951 Finnish parliamentary election

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1951 Finnish parliamentary election
Flag of Finland 1920-1978 (State).svg
  1948 1–2 July 1951 1954  

All 200 seats in the Parliament of Finland
101 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Emil-Skog-1957.jpg Vieno Johannes Sukselainen.jpg Kulo (cropped).JPG
Leader Emil Skog V. J. Sukselainen Kusti Kulo
Party SDP Agrarian SKDL
Last election26.32%, 54 seats24.24%, 56 seats19.98%, 38 seats
Seats won535143
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 1Decrease2.svg 5Increase2.svg 5
Popular vote480,754421,613391,134
Percentage26.52%23.26%21.58%
SwingIncrease2.svg 0.20ppDecrease2.svg 0.98ppIncrease2.svg 1.60pp

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Arvo Salminen (cropped).jpg Ralf Torngren1.jpg Eino Saari in 1961 (cropped).jpg
Leader Arvo Salminen Ralf Törngren Eino Saari
Party National Coalition RKP People's
Last election17.04%, 33 seats7.34%, 13 seats3.91%, 5 seats
Seats won281410
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 5Increase2.svg 1Increase2.svg 5
Popular vote264,044131,719102,933
Percentage14.57%7.27%5.68%
SwingDecrease2.svg 2.47ppDecrease2.svg 0.07ppIncrease2.svg 1.77pp

 Seventh party
 
Party ÅS
Last election0.35%, 1 seat
Seats won1
Seat changeSteady2.svg
Popular vote5,686
Percentage0.31%
SwingDecrease2.svg 0.04pp

Prime Minister before election

Urho Kekkonen
Agrarian

Prime Minister after election

Urho Kekkonen
Agrarian

Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 1 and 2 July 1951. [1]

Contents

Background

Urho Kekkonen of the Agrarian League had served as Prime Minister since March 1950, after losing the February 1950 presidential election to President Juho Kusti Paasikivi.

Kekkonen had governed first with the Swedish People's Party and National Progressive Party, but in January 1951 the Social Democratic Party had joined his government. The rationing of goods was ending gradually and the war reparation payments to the Soviet Union were to be completed by 1952. Prime Minister Kekkonen sought to reduce inflation by persuading the employers' organizations and labour unions to refrain from wage increases for the time being. In May 1951, these organizations agreed not to raise wages or prices for five months. During this "castle peace" or civic peace, the Social Democrats took most leadership positions in the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions.

The communist Finnish People's Democratic League benefited from the fact that the Social Democrats had agreed to govern with the Agrarians, and had thus "betrayed" (according to some Communists' campaign rhetoric) their fellow left-wingers. The economy's and inflation rate's stabilization possibly hurt the low-income workers (a likely constituency of the Communists) more than the white-collar workers or the businessmen, and this could partly explain the Communists' gain of five deputies. The People's Party of Finland had been formed as the Progressives' successor, and this fresh start can have contributed to its five-seat gain. After the elections, Kekkonen continued to serve as Prime Minister, forming his third government in September 1951. He introduced a new economic stabilization programme, which tied the prices and wages to an automatic full compensation. [2]

Results

1951 Eduskunta.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Social Democratic Party 480,75426.5253–1
Agrarian League 421,61323.2651–5
Finnish People's Democratic League 391,13421.5843+5
National Coalition Party 264,04414.5728–5
Swedish People's Party 131,7197.2714+1
People's Party of Finland 102,9335.6810+5
Åland Coalition 5,6860.3110
Small Farmers Party 4,9640.2700
Liberal League 4,9360.270New
Radical People's Party 4,4860.2500
Finnish People's Party 2430.010New
Others3050.020
Total1,812,817100.002000
Valid votes1,812,81799.29
Invalid/blank votes12,9620.71
Total votes1,825,779100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,448,23974.58
Source: Tilastokeskus 2004, [3] Suomen virallinen tilasto [4]

By electoral district

Electoral district Total
seats
Seats won
SDP ML SKDL Kok RKP SK ÅS
Åland 11
Central Finland 124521
Häme 1452331
Kymi156423
Lapland 81331
North Karelia1143211
North Savo1325411
North Vaasa813112
Oulu 1828611
Pirkanmaa 135143
Satakunta 154443
South Savo1245111
South Vaasa1013123
Uusimaa 331026573
Varsinais-Suomi 17434222
Total2005351432814101
Source: Statistics Finland [5]

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p606 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds. (2003) A Small Giant of the Finnish History WSOY, pp803-808
  3. File "595. Eduskuntavaalit 1927–2003 (Tilastokeskus 2004)
  4. Suomen virallinen tilasto 29 A, Kansanedustajain vaalit, XXII(?).
  5. Suomen virallinen tilasto XXIX A:23: Eduskuntavaalit vuonna 1951. Statistics Finland. 1952.