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Finnish parliamentary election 2011

Finnish parliamentary election, 2011
Finland
← 2007 17 April 2011 (2011-04-17) 2015 →

All 200 seats to the Parliament
101 seats needed for a majority
Turnout 70.5%
  First party Second party Third party
  Jyrki Katainen Jutta Urpilainen Timo Soini
Leader Jyrki Katainen Jutta Urpilainen Timo Soini
Party National Coalition Social Democratic Finns
Leader since 2004 2008 1997
Last election 50 seats, 22.26% 45 seats, 21.44% 5 seats, 4.05%
Seats won 44 42 39
Seat change Decrease6 Decrease3 Increase34
Popular vote 599,138 561,558 560,075
Percentage 20.4% 19.1% 19.1%
Swing Decrease1.9% Decrease2.3% Increase15.0%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
  Mari Kiviniemi Paavo Arhinmäki Anni Sinnemäki
Leader Mari Kiviniemi Paavo Arhinmäki Anni Sinnemäki
Party Centre Left Alliance Green League
Leader since 2010 2009 2009
Last election 51 seats, 23.11% 17 seats, 8.82% 15 seats, 8.46%
Seats won 35 14 10
Seat change Decrease16 Decrease3 Decrease5
Popular vote 463,266 239,039 213,172
Percentage 15.8% 8.1% 7.3%
Swing Decrease7.3% Decrease0.7% Decrease1.2%

  Seventh party Eighth party
  Stefan Wallin Päivi Räsänen
Leader Stefan Wallin Päivi Räsänen
Party Swedish People's Christian Democrat
Leader since 2006 2004
Last election 9 seats, 4.57% 7 seats, 4.86%
Seats won 9 6
Seat change Steady0 Decrease1
Popular vote 125,785 118,453
Percentage 4.3% 4.0%
Swing Decrease0.3% Decrease0.9%

Prime Minister before election

Mari Kiviniemi
Centre

Prime Minister

Jyrki Katainen
National Coalition


Mari Kiviniemi
Centre

Jyrki Katainen
National Coalition

Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 17 April 2011 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Advance voting, which included voting by Finnish expatriates, was held between 6 and 12 April with a turnout of 31.2%.

The importance of the election was magnified due to Finland's capacity to influence the European Union's decision in regard to affecting a bailout for Portugal via the European Financial Stability Facility, as part of financial support systems for debt-laden European countries, and the fall of the Portuguese government. Small differences in the opinion polls for the traditional three big parties (the National Coalition Party, the Centre Party and the Social Democratic Party) and the surprising rise in support for the True Finns also electrified the atmosphere ahead of the election.

The election resulted in a breakthrough for the populist True Finns, which came head-to-head with the three big parties, while every other parliamentary party in mainland Finland, excluding Åland, lost popularity. The National Coalition Party (NCP) also ended up as the biggest party for the first time in its history. The total turnout rose to 70.5% from 67.9% in the previous election; and corruption scandals also resulted in an anti-incumbency vote. The incumbent, Centre Party-led coalition, which included the NCP, Green League and Swedish People's Party (SPP), lost its majority by two seats and their Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi of the Centre Party signaled that her party would then sit in opposition.


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