The Centre Party ( fi, Suomen Keskusta , ''Kesk''; sv, Centern i Finland), officially the Centre Party of Finland, is an agrarian

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

. Ideologically, the Centre Party is positioned in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

on the political spectrum. It has been described as liberal, social liberal,

liberal-conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

, and conservative-liberal. Its leader is Annika Saarikko, who was elected in September 2020 to follow Katri Kulmuni, the former finance minister of Finland. As of December 2019, the party has been a coalition partner in the Marin Cabinet, led by Prime Minister

Sanna Marin Sanna Mirella Marin (; born 16 November 1985) is a Finnish politician who has been serving as the Prime Minister of Finland since 2019. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP), she has been a Member of Parliament since 2015. ...

of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SDP). Founded in 1906 as the Agrarian League ( fi, link=no, Maalaisliitto; sv, link=no, Agrarförbundet), the party represented rural communities and supported

decentralisation Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

of political power from

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. In the 1920s, the party emerged as the main rival to the SDP and Kyösti Kallio, the party's first prime minister, held the office four times between 1922 and 1937. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the party settled as one of the four major political parties in Finland, alongside the SPD, the National Coalition Party and the Finnish People's Democratic League until the 1980s. Urho Kekkonen served as President of Finland from 1956 to 1982, by far the longest period of any president. The name Centre Party was adopted in 1965 and Centre of Finland in 1988. The Centre Party was the largest party in Parliament from 2003 to 2011, during which time Matti Vanhanen was Prime Minister for seven years. By

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

, the party was reduced in parliamentary representation from the largest party to the fourth largest, but it reclaimed its status as the largest party in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

. In 2019, it suffered a considerable defeat, losing 18 of 49 seats. As a

Nordic agrarian party The Nordic agrarian parties, also referred to as Nordic Centre parties, Scandinavian agrarian parties or Agrarian Liberal parties are agrarian political parties that belong to a political tradition particular to the Nordic countries. Positioning t ...

, the Centre Party's political influence is greatest in small and rural municipalities, where it often holds a majority of the seats in the municipal councils. Decentralisation is the policy that is most characteristic of the Centre Party which has been the ruling party in Finland a number of times since

Finnish independence Finland declared its independence on 6 December 1917. The formal Declaration of Independence was only part of the long process leading to the independence of Finland. History Proclamation of Empress Elizabeth (1742) The subject of an independ ...

. Twelve of the Prime Ministers of Finland, three of the Presidents and a former European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs have been from the party. The Centre Party is the mother organisation of the Finnish Centre Students, the

Finnish Centre Youth Finnish Centre Youth fi, Keskustanuoret is the biggest political youth organisation in Finland with 17 000 members. It is the youth wing of the Centre Party. It is formed by 19 regional organisations and approximately 400 local associations. Th ...

and the .

History

Founding

The party was founded in 1906 as a movement of citizens in the Finnish countryside. Before Finnish independence, political power in Finland was centralised in the capital and to the

estates of the realm The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed a ...

. The centralisation gave space for a new political movement. In 1906, two agrarian movements were founded. They merged in 1908 to become one political party known as the Agrarian League or ''Maalaisliitto''. An older, related movement was the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

which had overlapping membership and gave future to Agrarian League activists experience in working in an organisation.

Santeri Alkio's ideology

Soon the ideas of humanity, education, the spirit of the land, peasant-like freedom,

, "the issue of poor people",

progressivism Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, tech ...

Mylly, Juhani. Maalaisliitto-Keskustan historia II. and later the "green wave" became the main political phrases used to describe the ideology of the party. Santeri Alkio was the most important ideological father of the party.

Defending the republic

At the dawn of Finnish independence, conservative social forces made an attempt to establish the Kingdom of Finland. The Agrarian League opposed

monarchism Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

fiercely, even though monarchists claimed that a new king from the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

and

Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenb ...

would have safeguarded Finnish foreign relations. At this time, anti-

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...

peasants threatened the existence of the party.Vares 2006, p. 113.Vares 2006, p. 108 Because around forty Social Democratic members of the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

had escaped to Russia after the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

and about fifty others had been arrested, the Agrarian League members of the Parliament became the only republicans in Parliament in 1918. Nevertheless, the news about the problems of the German Empire from German liberals encouraged the fight of Agrarian League in the Parliament.Vares 2006, p. 122-126 The Agrarian League managed to maintain the republican voices in the Parliament until the fall of the German Empire which ruined the dreams of the monarchists.Vares 1998, p. 288-289 The relentless opposition to the monarchy was rewarded in the 1919 Finnish parliamentary election and the party became the biggest non-

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

party in Finland with 19.7% of the votes.

Post-war period

After the 1919 Finnish parliamentary election, the centrist and progressive forces, including the Agrarian League, were constant members in Finnish governments. Their moderate attitude in restless post-war Finland secured a steady growth in following elections. The party formed many

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the ...

minority governments with National Progressive Party and got its first Prime Ministers ( Kyösti Kallio in 1922 and

Juho Sunila Johan (Juho) Emil Sunila (16 August 1875 – 2 October 1936) was a Finnish politician from the Agrarian League, the managing director of the agrarian finance board, and Prime Minister of Finland in two cabinets. He was born in Liminka. After Sa ...

in 1927).

Conciliation between the left and the right

For the Agrarian League, the centrist governments were just a transitional period towards an era which would integrate the red and white sides of the Civil War into one nation. Nevertheless, not everyone was happy with the conciliatory politics of centrist governments. The

extreme right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of bein ...

Lapua Movement grew bigger and bigger in the Agrarian League strongholds in the countryside. Many party members joined the new radical movement. The Lapua Movement organised assaults and kidnappings in Finland between 1929 and 1932. In 1930, after the kidnapping of progressive president Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, the Agrarian League broke off all its ties to the movement and got a new political enemy in the countryside, the

Patriotic People's Movement Patriotic People's Movement ( fi, Isänmaallinen kansanliike, IKL, sv, Fosterländska folkrörelsen) was a Finnish nationalist and anti-communist political party. IKL was the successor of the previously banned Lapua Movement. It existed from 1 ...

(IKL) which was founded after the Lapua Movement was outlawed. In the 1933 Finnish parliamentary election, the main campaign issues were the differing attitudes towards democracy and the rule of law between the Patriotic Electoral Alliance (the National Coalition Party and the Patriotic People's Movement) and the Legality Front (the Social Democrats, the Agrarian League, the Swedish People's Party and the

Progressives Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, techn ...

). The Patriotic Electoral Alliance favoured continuing the search for suspected communists, the Communist Party and its affiliated organisations in the spirit of the Lapua Movement. The Legality Front did not want to spend any significant time on searching suspected communists but rather wanted to concentrate on keeping the far-right in check. The Legality Front won the elections, but the Agrarian League lost a part of its support.

Cooperation with the Social Democrats

Because of fierce opposition of the president

Pehr Evind Svinhufvud Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (; 15 December 1861 – 29 February 1944) was the third president of Finland from 1931 to 1937. Serving as a lawyer, judge, and politician in the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland, he played a major role in the ...

, the Social Democrats remained outside the government and the Agrarian League was part of the

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

governments until 1937. In the 1937 Finnish presidential election, the Agrarian League candidate Kyösti Kallio was elected president with the votes of centrist (Agrarian and Progressive) and social-democratic coalition which wanted to ensure that President Svinhufvud would not be re-elected. The new president allowed the first

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...

government to be formed in Finland and a new era had begun.

World War II

With the outbreak of the Winter War, a government of national unity was formed. President Kallio died shortly after the war.

Kekkonen, the centrist statesman

In 1956, Urho Kekkonen, the candidate of the Agrarian League, was elected President of Finland after serving as Prime Minister several times and remained President until 1982. Kekkonen continued the active neutrality policy of his predecessor Juho Kusti Paasikivi, a doctrine which came to be known as the Paasikivi–Kekkonen line. Under it, Finland retained its independence while being able to trade with

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

members and those of the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republi ...

Pressure of populism

Veikko Vennamo, a vocal Agrarian politician, ran into serious disagreement particularly with the then-Party Secretary of the Agrarian Party Arvo Korsimo, who was excluded from the parliamentary group. As a result, Vennamo immediately started building his own organisation in 1959 and founded a new party, the

Finnish Rural Party The Finnish Rural Party ( fi, Suomen maaseudun puolue, SMP; sv, Finlands landsbygdsparti, FLP) was an agrarian and populist political party in Finland. Starting as a breakaway faction of the Agrarian League in 1959 as the Small Peasants' Part ...

(''Suomen maaseudun puolue'', SMP). Vennamo was a populist and became a critic of Kekkonen and

political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, i ...

within the old parties, particularly the Agrarian League. Although this party had some success, it was essentially tied to Veikko Vennamo's person. His son Pekka Vennamo was able to raise the party to new success and into government in 1983, but after this the Rural Party's support declined steadily and eventually the party went bankrupt in 1995. Immediately after this, the

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establi ...

Finns Party (''Perussuomalaiset'') was founded by former members of SMP.

Transformation to the Centre Party

In 1965, the party changed its name to the Centre Party (''Keskustapuolue'') and in 1988 took its current Centre Party of Finland name (''Suomen Keskusta''). Despite urbanisation of Finland and a temporary nadir in support, the party managed to continue to attract voters. The Liberal People's Party (LKP) became a member party of the Centre Party in 1982. The two separated again after the success of the Liberal People's Party in the 1985 Swedish general election.

Division over EU membership

The Centre Party was a key player in making the decision to apply for Finnish EU membership in 1992. As the leading governing party, its support for the application was crucial. The party itself, both leadership and supporters, was far from united on the issue. In the Parliament, 22 out of 55 Centre MPs voted against the application. In June 1994, the party congress decided to support EU membership (by 1607 votes to 834), but only after the Prime Minister and Party Chairman Esko Aho threatened to resign if the party were to oppose the membership. The centrist tradition of defending equal political and economic rights for peripheral areas was reflected in the internal resistance that opposed chairman Aho's ambitions to lead Finland to the EU. The Centre Party was in opposition from 1995 to 2003 and opposed adopting the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

as Finland's currency. However, the party accepted the euro after regaining power in 2003.

2012 and beyond

The party congress in June 2012 elected the newcomer Juha Sipilä to replace Mari Kiviniemi as the party's chair. Sipilä defeated young deputy chairman Tuomo Puumala and a well known veteran politician Paavo Väyrynen in the voting. The previous chairman Mari Kiviniemi succeeded Matti Vanhanen as Prime Minister in 2010, serving in the office for one year. At the time, she was the third Centre Party Prime Minister of Finland in succession.

Anneli Jäätteenmäki Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki (born 11 February 1955) is a Finnish politician who was the first female Prime Minister of Finland from 17 April 2003 to 24 June 2003. From 2004 until 2019, she served as a Member of the European Parliament (ME ...

preceded Vanhanen and she was the first woman as a Prime Minister of Finland. She did not seek another term as party chair. Olli Rehn, a member of the party, served in the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

for ten years between 2004 and 2014 and was the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs from 2010 to 2014. The Centre Party was the biggest loser of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election, losing 16 seats and going from largest party to fourth place. The party's support was lower than in any parliamentary election since 1917. However, the party won the 2015 Finnish parliamentary election and formed a coalition with the Finns Party and the National Coalition Party. In March 2016, the Centre Party announced that its candidate for the

2018 Finnish presidential election Presidential elections were held in Finland on 28 January 2018. The incumbent Sauli Niinistö received 62.7% of the vote and was elected for a second term, avoiding a second round. The term is from 1 March 2018 to 1 February 2024 (if 2024 presi ...

would be the former Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, the first declared presidential candidate in the race. The Centre Party was again the biggest loser in the 2019 Finnish parliamentary election, losing 18 seats and going from largest party to fourth place. The party's support was even lower than in 2011. Due to the devastating defeat, Sipilä consequently announced that he would continue as the chairman only until the Centre Party's next convention in September 2019. The party congress in September 2019 elected the Minister of Economic Affairs Katri Kulmuni to replace Sipilä as the party's chair. On 5 September 2020, during a party congress, Annika Saarikko was elected as the leader of the Centre Party to replace Katri Kulmuni. During late 2022, The Centre Party was polling at its lowest record in support in polls with less then 10% support.

Ideology

The ideology of the party is unusual in the European context. Unlike many other large parties in Europe, its ideology is not primarily based on economic systems. Rather, the ideas of humanity, education, the spirit of the land, peasant-like freedom,

, "the issue of poor people", environmentalism and progressivism play a key role in Centre Party politician speeches and writings. From the very beginning of its presence, the party has supported the idea of decentralisation. Despite belonging to the Liberal International, the Centre Party does not play quite the same role in Finnish politics as do liberal parties in other countries because the party evolved from agrarian roots. The party has a more conservative wing, and prominent conservatives within the party such as

Paavo Väyrynen Paavo Matti Väyrynen (born 2 September 1946) is a Finnish politician and former member of the Finnish Parliament who has represented the Seven Star Movement, the Citizen's Party and Centre Party. He is currently member of Centre Party. Väyr ...

have criticised overt

economic An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

and cultural liberalism. In addition, the 2010 party congress voted to oppose

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. When the Finnish Parliament voted on same-sex marriage in 2014, 30 of the 36 Centre MPs voted against it. The party is also divided on the issue of deepening European integration and contains a notable Eurosceptic faction based on its more rural interests. The party expressly rejects a federal Europe. The Centre Party was originally opposed to Finland's membership in the

currency, but the party later stated that it would not seek to withdraw from the Economic and Monetary Union once Finland had entered. In Finland, there is no large party that supports

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostilit ...

''per se''. Instead, liberalism is found in most major parties including the Centre Party which supports decentralisation, free will, free and fair trade and small enterprise. The Centre Party characteristically supports decentralisation, particularly decreasing the central power, increasing the power of municipalities and populating the country evenly. During the party's premierships between 2003 and 2011, these policies were also manifested as transferrals of certain government agencies from the capital to smaller cities in the regions. Throughout the period of Finland's independence, the Centre Party has been the party most often represented in the government. The country's longest-serving President, Urho Kekkonen, was a member of the party as were two other Presidents. Today, only a small portion of the votes given to the party come from farmers and the Centre Party draws support from a wide range of professions. However, even today rural Finland and small towns form the strongest base of support for the party, although it has strived for a breakthrough in the major southern cities as well. In the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election, the party received only 4.5 per cent of votes cast in the capital Helsinki, compared to the 33.4 per cent in the largely rural electoral district of

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after ...

Organisation

Party structure

In the organisation of the Centre Party, local associations dominate the election of party leaders, the selection of local candidates and drafting of policy. The headquarters in Apollonkatu, Helsinki leads financing and organisation of elections. The party has 2.500 local associations which have 160.000 individual members. The local associations elect their representatives to the party congress which elects the party leadership and decide on policy. The local associations form also 21 regional organisations which have also their representatives in the party congress. The party congress is the highest decision-making body of the party. It elects the chairman, three deputy chairmen, the secretary-general and the party council. The party council with 135 members is the main decision-making body between the party congresses. The party council elects the party government (excluding the leaders elected by the party congress) and the working committee. The party council, the party government and the Working Committee must have at least 40% representation of both sexes. The Finnish Centre Students, the and the

have their own local and regional organisations which also name their representatives to the party congress.

People

File:Annika Saarikko 2020 (cropped).jpg, Annika Saarikko, chairwoman of the Centre Party File:Petri Honkonen.jpg,

Petri Honkonen Petri Erkki Olavi Honkonen (born 29 July 1987) is a Finnish politician, representing the Centre Party in the Parliament of Finland since 2015. He was born in Pylkönmäki, and was elected to the Parliament from the Central Finland Central Fi ...

, deputy chairman File:Antti Kurvinen.JPG,

Antti Kurvinen Antti Ilmari Vilhelm Kurvinen (born July 14, 1986) is a Finnish politician currently serving in the Parliament of Finland for the Centre Party at the Vaasa constituency. Honors * Order of the Lion of Finland The Order of the Lion of F ...

, chairman of the parliamentary group File:Hanna-Leena Mattila.jpg, Hanna-Leena Mattila, deputy chairwoman of the parliamentary group

Chairman

* Annika Saarikko (born 1983)

Deputy chairmen

(born 1987), Member of the Parliament *

Markus Lohi Markus Samuli Lohi is a Finnish politician currently serving in the Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution ...

(born 1972), Member of the Parliament * Riikka Manner (born 1981)

Party secretary

* Riikka Pirkkalainen (born 1979)

Chairman of the parliamentary group

(born 1986)

Deputy chairmen of the parliamentary group

Eeva Kalli Eeva Kalli (born 10 January 1981 in Kiukainen) is a Finnish politician currently serving in the Parliament of Finland for the Centre Party at the Satakunta Satakunta (in both Finnish and Swedish, ) is a region ( / ) of Finland, part of t ...

(born 1981) * Hanna-Leena Mattila (born 1968)

Other famous Centre Party politicians today

File:Olli_Rehn_by_Moritz_Kosinsky_2.jpg,

Olli Rehn Olli Ilmari Rehn (; born 31 March 1962) is a Finnish economist and public official who has been serving as governor of the Bank of Finland since 2018. A member of the Centre Party, he previously served as the European Commissioner for Enlargeme ...

, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs File:Hannu_Takkula_Remembrance_Forum.jpg, Hannu Takkula, Member of the European Parliament File:Simo Rundgren.jpg, Simo Rundgren, Member of the Finnish Parliament File:Janne Seurujärvi.jpg, Janne Seurujärvi, first Sami in the Finnish Parliament File:Laura Kolbe.jpg, Laura Kolbe, Member of Helsinki City Council File:Timo Kalli.jpg,

Timo Kalli Timo Juhani Kalli (born 22 February 1947 in Kiukainen, now Eura, Satakunta) is a Finnish former politician from the Centre Party. He is a farmer by profession. Kalli was a member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representa ...

, Member of Finnish Parliament and ex-Speaker of the Finnish Parliament File:Sirkka-Liisa Anttila.jpg, Sirkka-Liisa Anttila, Member of the Finnish Parliament and ex-Minister of Agriculture and Forestry File:Eskokiviranta1.JPG,

Esko Kiviranta Esko Emil Kiviranta (born 2 September 1950) is a Finnish politician representing the Finnish Centre Party (''Keskusta''). He has been a member of the Finnish Parliament since 19 March 2003. Kiviranta was born in Sauvo Sauvo (; sv, Sagu) ...

, Member of Finnish Parliament File:Jäätteenmäki Anneli 2014-02-06 1.jpg,

, Member of the European Parliament and ex-Prime Minister File:Mikkoalatalo7.JPG,

Mikko Alatalo Mikko Tapio Alatalo (born 1 May 1951) is a Finnish musician and politician. Career Alatalo was born in Kuivaniemi, now a part of Ii, Finland. He is mostly known for his long and successful musical career. His style is primarily seen as chi ...

, Member of Finnish Parliament File:Lasse Hautala Seinäjoki (cropped).jpg, Lasse Hautala, Member of Finnish Parliament File:Antti Kaikkonen in 2019.jpg,

Antti Kaikkonen Antti Samuli Kaikkonen (born 14 February 1974 in Turku, Finland) is a Finnish politician of the Centre party. He has been a member of the Finnish Parliament from Uusimaa since 2003. Kaikkonen was the president of Finnish Centre Youth from 199 ...

, Member of the Finnish Parliament File:Seppokaariainenoffice.jpg, Seppo Kääriäinen, Member of the Finnish Parliament, ex-Minister (many ministerial positions) and ex-Speaker of the Finnish Parliament File:Mauri Pekkarinen.jpg,

Mauri Pekkarinen Reijo Mauri Matias Pekkarinen (born 6 October 1947, in Kinnula, Finland) is a Finnish politician, currently serving as a Member of European Parliament for Finland. He is the Centre Party of Finland (''Suomen Keskusta'') deputy and secretary, ...

, Member of Finnish Parliament and ex-Minister (many ministerial positions) File:Paavo Väyrynen.jpg,

, Three-time presidential candidate, honorary chairman and ex-Minister (many ministerial positions)

International Representation

The party is a member of the

Liberal International Liberal International (LI) is a worldwide organization of liberal political parties - a political international. It was founded in Oxford in 1947 and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties, aiming to strengthen liberalism aroun ...

and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and subscribes to the liberal manifestos of these organisations. The Centre Party has been a full member of the Liberal International since 1988, having first joined as an observer member in 1983. In the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

, the Center Party sits in the Renew Europe group with 2 MEPs. In the European Committee of the Regions, the Center Party sits in the Renew Europe CoR group with one full and two alternate members for the 2020-2025 mandate. Mirja Vehkapera is Deputy Coordinator in the COTER Commission.

Prominent party leaders

File:Santeri Alkio2.jpg, Santeri Alkio, political ideologist File:Relander LC.jpg, Lauri Kristian Relander, president (1925–1931) File:Ky%C3%B6sti_Kallio.png, Kyösti Kallio, four-time prime minister (1922–1937) and president (1937–1940) File:Urho-Kekkonen-1977-c.jpg, Urho Kekkonen, two-time prime minister twice (1950–1956) and president (1956–1981) File:JohannesVirolainen1975.jpg,

Johannes Virolainen Johannes Virolainen (; 31 January 1914 – 11 December 2000) was a Finnish politician and who served as 30th Prime Minister of Finland. Virolainen was born near Viipuri. After the Continuation War Virolainen moved to Lohja, but he remained one ...

, prime minister (1964–1966) File:Esko Aho 2010-05-28.jpg, Esko Aho, prime minister (1991–1995) and executive vice president of Nokia) File:Jäätteenmäki Anneli 2014-02-06 1.jpg,

, first female prime minister (2003) File:Matti Vanhanen 2017 06.jpg, Matti Vanhanen, prime minister (2003–2010) File:Mari Kiviniemi 2010-11-02 (2).jpg,

Mari Kiviniemi Mari Johanna Kiviniemi (born 27 September 1968) is a Finnish politician, who served as the second female Prime Minister of Finland from 2010 to 2011. Since 25 August 2014, she is Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD. Life and career Kiviniemi ...

, prime minister (2010–2011) File:Tallinn Digital Summit. Handshake Juha Sipilä (2017).jpg, Juha Sipilä, prime minister (2015–2019)

List of party presidents

Election results

Parliament of Finland

ImageSize = width:1100 height:240 PlotArea = width:1000 height:160 left:50 bottom:60 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:30 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:0 Colors = id:SB value:rgb(0.01,0.58,0.29) legend:Sea_Battles PlotData = bar:% color:SB width:22 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S bar:1907 from:start till:5.75 text:5.8 bar:1908 from:start till:6.39 text:6.4 bar:1909 from:start till:6.73 text:6.7 bar:1910 from:start till:7.60 text:7.6 bar:1911 from:start till:7.84 text:7.8 bar:1913 from:start till:7.87 text:7.9 bar:1916 from:start till:9.00 text:9.0 bar:1917 from:start till:12.38 text:12.4 bar:1919 from:start till:19.70 text:19.7 bar:1922 from:start till:20.27 text:20.3 bar:1924 from:start till:20.25 text:20.3 bar:1927 from:start till:22.56 text:22.6 bar:1929 from:start till:26.15 text:26.1 bar:1930 from:start till:27.28 text:27.3 bar:1933 from:start till:22.54 text:22.5 bar:1936 from:start till:22.41 text:22.4 bar:1939 from:start till:22.86 text:22.9 bar:1945 from:start till:21.35 text:21.4 bar:1948 from:start till:24.24 text:24.2 bar:1951 from:start till:23.26 text:23.3 bar:1954 from:start till:24.10 text:24.1 bar:1958 from:start till:23.06 text:23.1 bar:1962 from:start till:22.95 text:23.0 bar:1966 from:start till:21.23 text:21.2 bar:1970 from:start till:17.12 text:17.1 bar:1972 from:start till:16.41 text:16.4 bar:1975 from:start till:17.63 text:17.6 bar:1979 from:start till:17.29 text:17.3 bar:1983 from:start till:17.63 text:17.6 bar:1987 from:start till:17.62 text:17.6 bar:1991 from:start till:24.83 text:24.8 bar:1995 from:start till:19.85 text:19.9 bar:1999 from:start till:22.40 text:22.4 bar:2003 from:start till:24.69 text:24.7 bar:2007 from:start till:23.11 text:23.1 bar:2011 from:start till:15.82 text:15.8 bar:2015 from:start till:21.10 text:21.1 bar:2019 from:start till:13.80 text:13.8

Municipal

European Parliament

Presidential elections

Indirect elections

Direct elections

Notes

Sources

* *

References

External links

*
Centre Party: Swedish-speaking section

Website in English

Youth organisations official website
{{authority control Centre Party (Finland) 1906 establishments in Finland