The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a

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 ...

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

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. It is the current governing political party of Finland. Founded in 1918, the National Coalition Party is one of the "big three" parties that have dominated Finnish national politics for several decades, along with 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 Form ...

and the Centre Party. The current party chair is

Petteri Orpo Antti Petteri Orpo (; born 3 November 1969) is a Finland, 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 Parliame ...

, elected on 11 June 2016. The party self-statedly bases its politics on "freedom, responsibility and democracy, equal opportunities, education, supportiveness, tolerance and caring" and supports

multiculturalism Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...

and gay rights. Their foreign stances are pro-NATO and

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...

oriented, the party is also a member of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

(EPP). The party is described by literature as a liberal, conservative as well as liberal-conservative party on the centre-right, with catch-all characteristics. The party's vote share has been approximately 20% in parliamentary elections since the 1990s and has only been out of coalition governments for eight years since then. It won 44 out of 200 seats in the

parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

elections of 2011, becoming the largest party in the Finnish Parliament (; ) for the first time in its history. On the

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

level, it emerged as the most popular party for the first time in 2008. More recently, the NCP became the largest party during the Finnish 2023 general election, with 48 seats, and has been the leading party in the governing Orpo Cabinet since 20 June 2023. Incumbent

President of Finland The president of the Republic of Finland (; ) is the head of state of Finland. The incumbent president is Alexander Stubb, since 1 March 2024. He was elected president for the first time in 2024 Finnish presidential election, 2024. The presi ...

Alexander Stubb Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb (, born 1 April 1968) is a Finnish politician who has been the 13th president of Finland since 2024. He previously served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015. Rising in politics as a researcher specialis ...

is affiliated with the NCP, as was his immediate predecessor,

Sauli Niinistö Sauli Väinämö Niinistö (, born 24 August 1948) is a Finnish politician who served as the 12th president of Finland from 2012 to 2024. A lawyer by education, Niinistö was Chairman of the National Coalition Party (NCP) from 1994 to 2001, Mini ...

History

1918–1939

The National Coalition Party was founded on 9 December 1918 after the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

by the majority of the

Finnish Party The Finnish Party () was a Fennoman conservative political party in the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland and independent Finland. Born out of Finland's language strife in the 1860s, the party sought to improve the position of the Finnish langu ...

and the minority of the

Young Finnish Party The Young Finnish Party or Constitutional-Fennoman Party ( or ) was a liberal and nationalist political party in the Grand Duchy of Finland. It began as an upper-class reformist movement during the 1870s and formed as a political party in 1894. ...

, both supporting

Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse Frederick Charles Louis Constantine, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse (; ; 1 May 1868 – 28 May 1940), was the brother-in-law of the German Emperor, Wilhelm II. He was elected King of Finland on 9 October 1918, but renounced the throne on 1 ...

as the

King of Finland This is a list of heads of state of Finland; that is, the kings of Sweden with regents and viceroys of the Kalmar Union, the grand dukes of Finland, a title used by most Swedish monarchs and Russian emperors, up to the two-year regency following ...

in the new monarchy. The previous day, the republicans of both parties had founded the National Progressive Party. With over 600 representatives, the foundational meeting of NCP declared the following:

A national coalition is needed over old party lines that have lost meaning and have too long separated similarly thinking citizens. This coalition's grand task must be to work to strengthen in our nation the forces that maintain society. Lawful societal order must be strictly upheld and there must be no compromise with revolutionary aspirations. But simultaneously, determined constructive reform work must be pursued."

The party sought to accomplish their task by advocating for

constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

and, failing that, strong governmental powers within a republican framework. On the other hand, their goal was to implement a number of social and economic reforms, such as

compulsory education Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all people and is imposed by the government. This education may take place at a registered school or at home or other places. Compulsory school attendance or compulsory sc ...

universal health care Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized a ...

, and progressive income and property taxation. The monarchist aims failed and Finland became a parliamentary republic—in which the NCP advocated for strong presidential powers. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the fear of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's communist

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

influenced Finnish politics. The

Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

, backed by the

Soviet leaders During its 69-year history, the Soviet Union usually had a '' de facto'' leader who would not always necessarily be head of state or even head of government but would lead while holding an office such as Communist Party General Secretary. Th ...

, accelerated their activities while the ideological position of the National Coalition Party shifted over to very conservative. The new ideology was poorly received, particularly by the youth, attracting instead more

irredentist Irredentism () is one state's desire to annex the territory of another state. This desire can be motivated by ethnic reasons because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to or the same as the population of the parent state. Hist ...

and

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

movements, such as the

Academic Karelia Society The Academic Karelia Society (''Akateeminen Karjala-Seura'', AKS) was a Finnish nationalist and Finno-Ugric activist organization aiming at the growth and improvement of newly independent Finland, founded by academics and students of the Univers ...

Patriotic People's Movement Patriotic People's Movement (, IKL, ) was a Finnish nationalist and anti-communist political party. IKL was the successor of the previously banned Lapua Movement. It existed from 1932 to 1944 and had an ideology similar to its predecessor, exce ...

. In the 1933 parliamentary election, the party formed an electoral coalition with the Patriotic People's Movement, founded by former supporters of the radical and nationalist

Lapua Movement The Lapua Movement (, ) was a radical Finnish nationalist, fascist, pro- German and anti-communist political movement founded in and named after the town of Lapua. Led by Vihtori Kosola, it turned towards far-right politics after its founding ...

—even though P.E. Svinhufvud, the party's first

, played a key role in halting the Lapua Movement and vanquishing their

Mäntsälä rebellion Mäntsälä () is a municipalities of Finland, municipality in the provinces of Finland, province of Southern Finland, and is part of the Uusimaa regions of Finland, region. It has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. ...

. The result was a major defeat as the NCP lost 24 of its 42 seats in

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. The NCP broke ties with the Patriotic People's Movement in 1934 under their newly elected party chair,

Juho Kusti Paasikivi Juho Kusti Paasikivi (, 27 November 1870 – 14 December 1956) was a Finnish politician who served as the seventh president of Finland from 1946 to 1956. Representing the Finnish Party until its dissolution in 1918 and then the National Coaliti ...

, but were nevertheless shut out from the

Finnish Government The Finnish Government (; ; ) is the executive branch and cabinet of Finland, which directs the politics of Finland and is the main source of legislation proposed to the Parliament. The Government has collective ministerial responsibility an ...

until the outbreak of the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

in 1939, only slowly managing to regain their support.

1939–2000

Vapauden puolesta - puolueiden holhousta vastaan

During the Winter War and the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

in 1939–1944, the party took part in the war-time

national unity government A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other na ...

s and generally had strong support for its government policies. After the wars, the National Coalition Party sought to portray itself as a defender of democracy against the resurgent Finnish communists. Chair Paasikivi, who had advocated making more concessions to Soviet Union before the Winter War and taken a cautious line regarding cooperation with Germany before the Continuation War, acted first as

Prime Minister of Finland The prime minister of Finland (; ) is the leader of the Finnish Government. The prime minister and his or her cabinet exercise executive authority in the state. The prime minister is formally ranked third in the protocol after the president ...

(1944–1946) and then as President (1946–1956) of Finland. Paasikivi is remembered as the formulator of Finnish foreign policy after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The conflict between the NCP and the communist

Finnish People's Democratic League Finnish People's Democratic League (, SKDL; , DFFF) was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic Party. It was founded in 1944 as the anti-communist laws in Finland were repealed due ...

culminated when President Paasikivi fired the communist Minister of the Interior

Yrjö Leino Yrjö Kaarlo Leino (28 January 1897 – 28 June 1961) was a Finnish communist politician. Imprisoned twice for his communist activities, and spending much of the Second World War as an underground communist activist, he served as a minister in th ...

, who had used the

State Police State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction o ...

to spy on the party's youth wing among other abuses. In 1951, the party changed its official name from the original ' to the current '. The 1950s were also a time of ideological shifts, as the emphasis on

individual liberty Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...

and

free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...

reforms increased at the expense of

social conservatism Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on Tradition#In political and religious discourse, traditional social structures over Cultural pluralism, social pluralism. Social conservatives ...

and maintenance of a strong government. A minor division in 1958 led to the formation of the

Christian Democrats Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well a ...

party. From 1966 to 1987, the party was in the opposition. By criticizing Finnish communists and President

Urho Kekkonen Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as Prime Minister ...

of the Centre Party, the party had lost the President's trust—and thus governments formed by the Centre Party and left-wing parties followed one another. A new guard emerged within the NCP in the 1970s that sought to improve relations with long-serving President Kekkonen. Their work was partially successful in the late 1970s. However, even though the NCP supported Kekkonen for president in 1978 and became the second largest party in the country in the

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

parliamentary election, a spot in the government continued to elude the NCP until the end of Kekkonen's time in office. During the long years in opposition, the party's support grew steadily and in

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

it attained the best parliamentary election result in its history so far.

Harri Holkeri Harri Hermanni Holkeri (; 6 January 1937 – 7 August 2011) was a Finnish statesman representing the National Coalition Party of Finland (Kokoomus / Samlingspartiet). He was the Prime Minister of Finland 1987–1991, president of the UN General ...

became the party's first prime minister since Paasikivi. During Holkeri's time in office, the Finnish economy suffered a downturn, precipitated by a multitude of factors, and the

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

parliamentary election resulted in a loss. The party continued in government as a minor partner until 2003.

2000–present

After losing six seats in the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

parliamentary election, the National Coalition Party spent the next electoral period in opposition.

Jyrki Katainen Jyrki Tapani Katainen (born 14 October 1971) is a Finnish politician who served as the European Commission's Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness from 2014 until 2019. Katainen was previously prime minister of Finland f ...

was elected party chair in 2004 and in March 2006, vice-president of the European People's Party (EPP). Under the leadership of Katainen, chair until 2014, liberalism became the main attribute of the party. In the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

parliamentary election, the party increased its share to 50 seats in the largest gain of the election. The party held a close second place in Parliament, shy of the Centre Party and its 51 seats. After the election, the party entered into a coalition government together with the Centre Party, the Green League, and the

Swedish People's Party The Swedish People's Party of Finland (SPP; , SFP; , RKP) is a Finnish political party founded in 1906. Its primary aim is to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finland. The party is currently a participant in ...

. The NCP secured important ministerial portfolios, including

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

and

foreign affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

. In the 2011 parliamentary election, the party finished first place for the first time in its history with 44 seats, despite losing six seats, and party chair Jyrki Katainen formed his

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

as a six-party

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

from parties on the left and on the right after lengthy negotiations. The National Coalition Party's candidate in the 2006 Finnish presidential election was former

minister of finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

and former party chair

. He qualified for the second round runoff as one of the top two candidates in the first round but was defeated by the incumbent

Tarja Halonen Tarja Kaarina Halonen (, born 24 December 1943) is a Finns, Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland, and the first and to date only woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer wit ...

with 51.8% of the vote against his 48.2%. The party nominated Sauli Niinistö again for the presidential election of 2012. Niinistö won the election, beating his Green League opponent

Pekka Haavisto Pekka Olavi Haavisto (; born 23 March 1958) is a Finnish politician of the Green League who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2019 to 2023. Haavisto returned to the Finnish Parliament in the Finnish parliamentary election of M ...

decisively on the second round with a 62.6% portion of the votes, and thus becoming the third president elected from the party and the first one since 1956. Niinistö's margin of victory was larger than that of any previous directly elected president in Finland. He won a majority in 14 of the country's 15 electoral districts. Niinistö is described as a pragmatical fiscal conservative and a pro-European who supports the restraint of

bailout A bailout is the provision of financial help to a corporation or country which otherwise would be on the brink of bankruptcy. A bailout differs from the term ''bail-in'' (coined in 2010) under which the bondholders or depositors of global syst ...

s to partner countries. Upon taking office, Niinistö intended to strengthen interaction with the United States and China and maintain good relations with Russia as well as address the

European debt crisis The euro area crisis, often also referred to as the eurozone crisis, European debt crisis, or European sovereign debt crisis, was a multi-year debt crisis and financial crisis in the European Union (EU) from 2009 until, in Greece, 2018. The e ...

. Niinistö was re-elected in 2018 for a second six-year term. He ran as an independent but had the support of the National Coalition Party. In 2014, Katainen stepped down as party chair and Prime Minister of Finland for a vice-presidential position in the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

. Katainen was replaced by

as chair of the National Coalition Party in the June 2014 leadership election and thus became the prime minister. Katainen's cabinet was likewise succeeded by the Stubb Cabinet on 23 June 2014. Stubb went on to lead the party into the 2015 parliamentary election, in which the National Coalition Party placed second in votes and third in parliamentary seats. After the election, National Coalition joined a right-leaning majority coalition consisting of the three largest parties – the Centre Party, the Finns Party and the National Coalition Party. During his term, Stubb faced growing criticism for the NCP's poor poll results, the declining economy as well as compromises in the three-party government. After two years as party chair, Stubb was voted by 361 to 441 to be replaced by Petteri Orpo at the leadership election of June 2016. After the 2019 election, it became the third-largest party in the Finnish Parliament, behind the Social Democrats and the

Finns Party The Finns Party ( , PS; , Sannf), 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 achieved its electoral breakthro ...

, and became the second-largest opposition party after being excluded from the Rinne Cabinet. Following the 2023 general election, it became the largest party with 48 seats. As a result, its leader

started forming a coalition government. The Orpo Cabinet was sworn into office on 20 June 2023, a NCP-led coalition with the

and

Swedish People's Party of Finland The Swedish People's Party of Finland (SPP; , SFP; , RKP) is a Finnish political party founded in 1906. Its primary aim is to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finland. The party is currently a participant i ...

. In February 2024, National Coalition Party candidate Alexander Stubb was elected as Finland's next president. In the second round of the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

he beat Pekka Haavisto, a green running as an independent, by 51.6 percent to 48.4 percent.

Ideology and political position

Ideologically, the National Coalition Party is positioned from

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

on the political spectrum, and it has been described as

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

, conservative-liberal, and

fiscally conservative In American political theory, fiscal conservatism or economic conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, an ...

. In 2014, the non-profit The Democratic Society described it as "the heir to both liberal and conservative strains of right-of-centre thought" that is becoming increasingly liberal compared to its official stance of conservatism. Specifically, it contains elements of

cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...

and social reformism. For example, it supports

, work-based

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

queer rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notab ...

and

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

. Despite the fact that it was previously considered to be critical of the Nordic welfare model, campaigning for strict doctrines of economic liberalism, in the 1970s the party shifted to supporting more social liberal policies, such as increased

social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

, which was justified by the increase of individual liberty, although, in more recent years, some have accused the party of adopting more critical views of the welfare state and of embracing more fiscally conservative positions, in addition to the abandoning of their socially liberal and green values in order to move votes away from the growing

towards themselves. In

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

, the party advocates for

multilateralism In international relations, multilateralism refers to an alliance of multiple countries pursuing a common goal. Multilateralism is based on the principles of inclusivity, equality, and cooperation, and aims to foster a more peaceful, prosperous, an ...

. It is

and supports continued

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU). For decades, the party advocated for Finnish membership in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, and supported the country's accession to the alliance in 2023, despite being in

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comedy ...

at the time.

Voter base

Eduskuntavaalit 2011 - Kansallinen Kokoomus

The magazine ''

Suomen Kuvalehti ''Suomen Kuvalehti'' ( or 'the Finnish picture magazine') is a weekly Finnish language family and news magazine published in Helsinki, Finland. History and profile ''Suomen Kuvalehti'' was founded in 1873 and published until the year 1880. The m ...

'' created a profile of a typical National Coalition Party voter from over 18,000 interviews in 2011: a 36-year-old lawyer or management consultant living with a family in the

Helsinki metropolitan area Helsinki metropolitan area (, ) or Greater Helsinki (, ) is the metropolitan area around Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It also includes the smaller Helsinki capital region, capital region. The terms Helsinki metropolitan area, Greater H ...

who supports economic liberalism, conservative values and enjoys

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

. Unlike other conservative parties in Europe, the party's voters come predominantly from

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

s while

rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

s tend to favor the Centre Party. In 2005, the NCP had the highest proportion of female members out of the major parties. Membership in the party was momentarily on the rise in 2008, but declined from 41,000 to 34,000 by 2016. In contrast, the party had 81,000 members in 1970. According to 2008 polling data, the National Coalition Party was the most positively viewed party by Finns and was the most favored party among the young generation in polls conducted in 2008 and 2014.

Organisation

Structure

The main structure of the National Coalition Party comprises municipal and local chapters organized into districts and as well as the women's, student and youth wings. The

party conference The terms party conference ( UK English), political convention ( US and Canadian English), and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party memb ...

(), the main decision-making body convening every two years with representatives from the suborganisations as its members, elects the

party chair In politics, a party chair (often party chairperson/-man/-woman or party president) is the presiding officer of a political party. The nature and importance of the position differs from country to country, and also between political parties. Th ...

and three deputy chairs as well as the 61-member party council ().

Leadership

The party chair and the deputy chairs lead the party board (), which is in charge of the daily management and is composed of a representative from each district and from each of the three wings. The party council also elects the

party secretary In politics, a party secretary is a senior official within a political party with responsibility for the organizational and daily political work. In most parties, the party secretary is second in rank to the party leader (or party chairman). In s ...

to head the main office, located in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, and to coordinate the National Coalition Party's activities according to the board's decisions. Additionally, the NCP has separate groups for coordinating

ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

, members of the Finnish Parliament, and members of

the European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it a ...

Funding

Two foundations, ' and ', assist the party with a source of funding and as an

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...

, respectively. Reportedly, donations to ' are kept secret, but according to the treasurer, donations are a limited asset compared to the foundation's 5 million

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

investment capital. In 2008, the foundation supported NCP with €400,000. The NCP owns two companies, ' and ', to publish the party newspapers ' and ' as well as to handle media communications. Additionally, some thematic organizations report themselves as close to the party, such as the

Swedish-language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family, spoken predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, making it the fourth most spoken Germanic language, and the first ...

group ' and the

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

network '.

Election results

Election results are based on respective files of the Official Statistics of Finland () published by the national

Statistics Finland Statistics Finland ( , ) is the national statistical institution in Finland, established in 1865 to serve as an information service and to provide statistics and expertise in the statistical sciences. The institution employs more than 800 exper ...

institution.

Parliament of Finland

ImageSize = width:1010 height:240 PlotArea = width:900 height:160 left:50 bottom:60 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:25 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:0 Colors= id:SB value:rgb(0.075,0.388,0.537) PlotData= bar:% color:SB width:22 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S bar:1919 from:start till:15.71 text:15.7 bar:1922 from:start till:18.15 text:18.1 bar:1924 from:start till:18.99 text:19.0 bar:1927 from:start till:17.74 text:17.7 bar:1929 from:start till:14.51 text:14.5 bar:1930 from:start till:18.05 text:18.1 bar:1933 from:start till:16.93 text:16.9 bar:1936 from:start till:10.36 text:10.4 bar:1939 from:start till:13.58 text:13.6 bar:1945 from:start till:15.04 text:15.0 bar:1948 from:start till:17.04 text:17.0 bar:1951 from:start till:14.57 text:14.6 bar:1954 from:start till:12.80 text:12.8 bar:1958 from:start till:15.28 text:15.3 bar:1962 from:start till:15.06 text:15.1 bar:1966 from:start till:13.79 text:13.8 bar:1970 from:start till:18.05 text:18.1 bar:1972 from:start till:17.59 text:17.6 bar:1975 from:start till:18.37 text:18.4 bar:1979 from:start till:21.65 text:21.7 bar:1983 from:start till:22.12 text:22.1 bar:1987 from:start till:23.13 text:23.1 bar:1991 from:start till:19.31 text:19.3 bar:1995 from:start till:17.89 text:17.9 bar:1999 from:start till:21.03 text:21.0 bar:2003 from:start till:18.55 text:18.6 bar:2007 from:start till:22.26 text:22.3 bar:2011 from:start till:20.44 text:20.4 bar:2015 from:start till:18.20 text:18.2 bar:2019 from:start till:17.0 text:17.0 bar:2023 from:start till:20.8 text:20.8

European Parliament

Municipal

Presidential

Indirect elections

Direct elections

The elected Presidents of the National Coalition Party

File:Pehr Evind Svinhufvud (cropped).jpg, P.E. Svinhufvud File:J.K. Paasikivi 1945 portrait (cropped).jpg,

J.K. Paasikivi Juho Kusti Paasikivi (, 27 November 1870 – 14 December 1956) was a Finnish politician who served as the seventh president of Finland from 1946 to 1956. Representing the Finnish Party until its dissolution in 1918 and then the National Coalitio ...

File:Саули Ниинистё (52074997569).jpg,

File:Alexander Stubb - 2024 (73516) (cropped).jpg,

Prominent party leaders

The following NCP members have held high offices: *

Lauri Ingman Lars (Lauri) Johannes Ingman (30 June 1868 – 25 October 1934) was a Finnish theologian, bishop and politician. He was born in Teuva. In 1906 he began to serve as the editor of '' Vartija'', a Christian magazine. From 1916 to 1930 he was the pr ...

– Prime Minister 1918–1919, 1924–1925 * Antti Tulenheimo – Prime Minister 1925 *Pehr Evind Svinhufvud – President 1931–1937 *

Edwin Linkomies Edwin Johannes Hildegard Linkomies (22 December 1894 – 9 September 1963, until 1928 ''Edwin Flinck)'' was Prime Minister of Finland from March 1943 to August 1944, and one of the seven politicians sentenced to five and a half years in pri ...

– Prime Minister 1943–1944 *Juho Kusti Paasikivi – President 1946–1956, Prime Minister 1944–1946 *

– Prime Minister 1987–1991 *

Riitta Uosukainen Riitta Maria Uosukainen (née Vainikka; 18 June 1942, Jääski, Viipuri Province, Finland (now Svetogorsk, Leningrad Oblast, Russia)) is a Finnish politician and former Member of Parliament. She is one of the nine people to gain the highest h ...

– Minister of Education 1991–1994, Speaker of the Parliament 1994–2003 *Sauli Niinistö – Minister of Finance 1995–2003, Speaker of the Parliament 2007–2011, President 2012–2024 *

– Minister of Finance 2007–2011, Prime Minister 2011–2014, vice president of the

2014–2019 *Alexander Stubb – Prime Minister, 2014–2015, Minister of Finance 2015–2016, President of Finland, 2024– *

– Minister of Finance 2016–2019, Speaker of the Parliament 2023–2023, Prime Minister 2023–

Notes

References

External links

Official website
(in English) {{Authority control Political parties established in 1918 1918 establishments in Finland Liberal parties in Finland Centre-right parties in Europe Conservative parties in Finland International Democracy Union member parties Member parties of the European People's Party Parties represented in the European Parliament Pro-European political parties in Finland Liberal conservative parties Neoliberal parties Economic liberalism Registered political parties in Finland