This article is a list of political parties in Finland, which includes

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, ...

's national-level political parties and excludes local and provincial parties (such as the parties of Åland). A party is defined as a political association whose existence is recorded in the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

's party register. Finland has a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system where more than two meaningfully-distinct political parties regularly run for office and win elections. Multi-party systems tend to be more common in countries using proportional ...

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 ...

s which comprise a majority of seats in the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that ...

are the norm. Those parties which are not in government are called the opposition. Due to the lack of an electoral threshold, many parties are usually represented in Parliament. As a result, it is all but impossible for one party to win a majority. Additionally, the parties usually cannot win enough seats between them to form a governing coalition on their own. Most Finnish governments, particularly since

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 ...

, have thus been

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

s comprising parties stretching across the political spectrum. Political parties work in parliamentary groups (''eduskuntaryhmät'') which usually vote with non-absolute party discipline. Parties are composed of local chapters based in municipalities. In

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

, which are fundamental administrative units in the country, parties hold seats in the municipal councils, but often have to compete for them with local non-party groups (independents). Finnish law states that a political association which fulfills certain conditions is eligible to become a political party free of charge. Among these conditions are: * that the primary purpose of the association is to affect governmental affairs, * that it has received at least 5,000 votes in any parliamentary, municipal, county, or European Parliament election, * that the association's rules secure the following of democratic principles in its decision making and activities, * and that it has a general program based on these rules which expresses the association's principles and goals regarding its actions in governmental affairs. A registered party may nominate candidates in any national and local elections, and a party that is represented in parliament is entitled to a government subsidy relative to its number of seats. To qualify as a registered party, an association must have bylaws guaranteeing democratic internal organization and must be able to present 5,000 signatures from its supporters who are eligible to vote. A party that fails to win a single seat in two consecutive parliamentary elections is stricken from the register, but may apply again.

Parliamentary parties

Extra-parliamentary parties

Registered

Those parties that have received neither a seat in the Parliament of Finland nor in 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 ...

, but which are registered political parties, are listed below.

De-registered

The parties listed below have previously held the status of a registered party, but have been de-registered.

Historical parties

Parliamentary historical parties

Extra-parliamentary historical parties

* (''Ruotsalainen puolue'') 1870–1906 * (''Liberaalinen puolue'') 1880–1885 * (''Suomen aktiivinen vastustuspuolue'') 1904–1908 * National Workers' Party (''Kansallinen Työväenpuolue'') 1917–? * (''Sosialistinen Työpuolue'') 1917–1919 * (''Talonpoikaiskansan puolue'') 1924–1933 * (''Maanviljelijäin Puolue'') 1927–1929 *

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political and/ ...

(''Yhteisrintama'') 193?–1940 * New Finnish Party (''Uusi Suomalainen Puolue'') 1932–1945 * Finnish Socialist Party (''Suomalaissosialistinen Puolue'') 1932–1937 * Patriotic People's Party (''Isänmaallinen Kansanpuolue'') 1932–1933 * Finnish People's Organisation (''Suomen Kansan Järjestö'') 1933–1936 * Finnish-Socialist Workers' Party (''Suomalaissosialistinen Työväen Puolue'') 1934–1944 * Finnish Labor Front (''Suomen Työrintama'') 1936–1939 * Party of Finnish National Work (''Suomalais-Kansallisen Työn Puolue'') 1939–? * Finnish National Socialist Labor Organisation (''Suomen Kansallissosialistinen Työväenpuolue'') 1940–1943 * Neo-Socialist Party (''Uus-sosialistinen puolue'') 1940–1945 * Organisation of National Socialists (''Kansallissosialistien Järjestö'') 1940–1944 * National Socialists of Finland (''Suomen Kansallissosialistit'') 1941–1944 * Radical People's Party (''Radikaalinen Kansanpuolue'') 1944–1951 * (''Itsenäinen keskiluokka'') 1949–1951 * Finnish People's Party (''Suomalainen kansanpuolue'') 1950s * Independence Party (''Itsenäisyyspuolue'') 1960s * (''Suomen Yksityisyrittäjäin Puoluejärjestö'') 1972–1979 * Socialist Workers' Party (''Sosialistinen Työväenpuolue'') 1973–1990 * (''Suomen Eläkeläisten Puolue'') 1985–1999 * (''Yhteisvastuu puolue'') 1987–2007 * (''Suomen Senioripuolue'') 1990–2014 * (''Naisten puolue'') 1990–1995 * (''Ihmisyydenpuolue'') 1991–1995 * Finnish People's Blue-whites (''Suomen Kansan Sinivalkoiset'', SKS) 1993–2010 * (''Suomi - Isänmaa'') 1993–2007 * (''Luonnonlain puolue'') 1994–2001 * Workers' Party of Finland (''Suomen Työväenpuolue'') 1999–2018 * Forces for Change in Finland (''Muutosvoimat Suomi'') 2002–2007 * For the Poor (''Köyhien Asialla'') 2002–2015 * Blue and White Front (''Sinivalkoinen Rintama'') 2009–2015 * Citizens' Party (Finland) (''Kansalaispuolue'') 2016–2022 * Finnish Reform Movement (''Korjausliike'') 2017–2023 * Seven Star Movement (''Seitsemän tähden liike'') 2017–2024 * Finnish People First (''Suomen Kansa Ensin'') 2018–2023

References

External links

NSD: European Election Database - Political parties of Finland
{{List of political parties in Europe

Political parties 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 ideological or p ...