The Finns Party,formerly known as the True Finns,is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The party is currently a participant in the Government of Petteri Orpo,holding seven ministerial portfolios. The party achieved its electoral breakthrough in the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election,when it won 19.1% of votes,becoming the third largest party in the Finnish Parliament. In the 2015 election the party got 17.7% of the votes,making it the parliament's second-largest political party. The party was in opposition for the first 20 years of its existence. In 2015,it joined the coalition government formed by Prime Minister Juha Sipilä. Following a 2017 split,over half of the party's MPs left the parliamentary group and were subsequently expelled from their party membership. This defector group,Blue Reform,continued to support the government coalition,while the Finns Party went into opposition. The party,having been reduced to 17 seats after the split,increased its representation to 39 seats in the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election,while Blue Reform failed to win any seats. During the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election,the Finns Party finished in second place and recorded their strongest result,46 seats,since the party's founding.
Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb is a Finnish politician who has been the 13th president of Finland since 1 March 2024,having won the 2024 presidential election. He previously served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015.
Jussi Kristian Halla-aho is a Finnish politician,currently serving as the Speaker of the Parliament of Finland since 2023. Halla-aho has served as a member of the Parliament of Finland from 2011 to 2014 and again since 2019,and as the leader of the Finns Party from 10 June 2017 to 14 August 2021. Previously,between 2014 and 2019,he was a member of the European Parliament,where he was part of the Identity and Democracy group.
Anna-Maja Kristina Henriksson is a Swedish-speaking Finnish politician. She has served as Finland's Minister of Justice,in Jyrki Katainen's cabinet and Alexander Stubb's cabinet from 2011 to 2015,Antti Rinne's cabinet from June to December 2019 and in Sanna Marin's cabinet from December 2019 to June 2023. Currently,Henriksson is the country's longest-serving Minister of Justice.
A 2011 poll showed that 66% of Finnish respondents considered Finland to be a racist country but only 14% admitted to being racist themselves. Minority groups facing the most negative attitudes were Finnish Kale,Somalis,and ethnic groups mostly consisting of Muslims. Many Finnish people believe that Finns played little or no role in colonialism,a view known as "Finnish exceptionalism". However,Finns did settle while not an independent people the Sámi land and in the north and were involved in European colonial projects in Africa and North America. Finns at the time were subjects of Sweden and later the Russian Empire,which has been used to excuse their participation in colonialism.
Antti Petteri Orpo is a Finnish politician currently serving as the prime minister of Finland since 2023 and as the leader of the National Coalition Party since 2016. He briefly served as speaker of the Parliament of Finland after the 2023 parliamentary election.
Sanni Grahn-Laasonen is a Finnish politician and a member of the National Coalition Party. She was the Minister of Education and Culture 2015-2019. She was the Minister of the Environment in Alexander Stubb's cabinet between 2014 and 2015. Before her career in politics she has worked as a journalist in the Finnish afternoon newspaper Iltalehti.
Wille-Werner Rydman is a Finnish politician serving as Minister of Economic Affairs,representing the Finns Party and formerly the National Coalition Party. Rydman was elected to the parliament in 2015,gaining 4,524 votes in the elections. He has also been a member of the City Council of Helsinki since 2012. He received a Masters of Social Sciences from the University of Helsinki in 2008,after which he worked as a parliamentary assistant. On 6 July 2023,Rydman was appointed Minister of Economic Affairs in the Orpo Cabinet.
Soldiers of Odin is an anti-immigrant group which was founded in Kemi,Finland,in October 2015. The group was established in response to the thousands of migrants who were arriving in Finland amidst the European migrant crisis. They call themselves a "patriotic organisation that fights for a Finland" that wants to scare away "Islamist intruders" they say cause insecurity and increase crime.
Li Sigrid Andersson is a Finnish politician who served as Minister of Education from 2019 to 2023. The leader of the Left Alliance,she has been a Member of Parliament since 2015. She is also the city councilor of Turku and was the chair of the party's youth wing,Left Youth.
Elina Maria Valtonen is a Finnish politician who has served as Minister for Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Petteri Orpo since 2023. A member of the National Coalition Party (NCP),she has represented the constituency of Uusimaa in the Parliament of Finland since 2014. In the 2021 municipal election she collected the second-highest number of votes in Helsinki and was elected a member of its city council.
Kai Aslak Mykkänen is a Finnish politician who currently serves as Minister of the Environment and Climate Change. He is a former Minister of the Interior and represents the National Coalition Party in the Uusimaa electoral district.
Arto Olavi Satonen is a Finnish politician and a member of the Finnish Parliament,representing the National Coalition Party. He was first elected to the Parliament in the 2003 parliamentary election. Satonen served as the vice-chairman of the parliamentary group of the National Coalition Party 2012–2014 and chairman 2014–2016. In June 2016 Satonen was chosen as the second deputy speaker for the Parliament and served in the position until the reshuffle of the seats in February 2018.
Sanna Mirella Marin is a Finnish former politician who served as prime minister of Finland from 2019 to 2023 and as the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) from 2020 to 2023. She was a Member of Parliament from 2015 to 2023. She was re-elected as member of parliament in April 2023 but resigned from her position in the Finnish parliament to become a strategic adviser on political leaders' reform programmes in the Tony Blair Institute in September 2023.
The 2017 Finnish government crisis followed the Finns Party leadership election held on 10 June 2017. Prime Minister Juha Sipiläand Minister of Finance Petteri Orpo announced on 12 June that they would no longer cooperate in a coalition government with the Finns Party after Jussi Halla-aho was elected party chairman. The crisis resolved on 13 June when twenty MPs defected from the Finns Party's parliamentary group,forming what would eventually become The Finnish Reform Movement party. Sipilä's government retained a majority in Finland's parliament as The Finnish Reform Movement continued as a member of the coalition.
Leena Kristiina Meri is a Finnish politician,representing the Finns Party in the Parliament of Finland. She has served in the Parliament since 2015 and in the City Council of Hyvinkääsince 2013.
Ville Tapani Tavio is a Finnish politician and member of the Parliament of Finland (MP). He became the chairperson of the Finns Party Parliamentary Group in April 2019. He has been Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade since June 2023.
Riikka Katriina Purra is a Finnish politician,serving as the Deputy Prime Minister of Finland,and Finance Minister,since 2023. She is also a member of the Parliament of Finland for the Finns Party for the Uusimaa constituency. In August 2021 she was elected the new leader of the party,after Jussi Halla-aho.
Events in the year 2023 in Finland.
The Orpo Cabinet is the 77th government of Finland. It was formed following the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election and succeeds the Marin Cabinet led by the Social Democrats and was formally appointed by President Sauli Niinistöon 20 June 2023. The cabinet is headed by Petteri Orpo and is a coalition between the National Coalition Party,Finns Party,the Swedish People's Party,and the Christian Democrats.
