The prime minister of Finland (; ) is the leader of 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 ...

. 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 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 ...

and the speaker of the Parliament but is in practice the most powerful office-holder. Finland's first prime minister,

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 Grand Duchy of Finland, which was at that time an autonomous s ...

(also later the 3rd president of Finland), was appointed on 27 November 1917, just a few days before the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

declared its independence. The incumbent prime minister 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 ...

of the

National Coalition Party The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland. Founded in 1918, the ...

. Orpo was sworn in on 20 June 2023.

History

In 1918, the

Senate of Finland The Senate of Finland (; ) combined the functions of Cabinet (government), cabinet and supreme court in the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1816 to 1917 and in independent Finland from 1917 to 1918. The body that would become the Senate was establis ...

was transformed into the Government of Finland, and the position of vice-chairman of the Economic Division was transformed into that of the prime minister. Kesäranta, located in the westerly Meilahti subdivision of

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 ...

, has been the official residence of the prime minister of Finland since 1919. Since its independence in 1917, Finland has had 72 cabinets. The longest lasting have been the two cabinets of prime minister

Paavo Lipponen Paavo Tapio Lipponen (; born 23 April 1941) is a Finnish politician and former reporter. He was prime minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Finland from 1993 to 2005. He also served as speaker of ...

( Lipponen I and Lipponen II), both lasting the entire parliamentary term, or 1,464 days. File:Pääministerien juhlalounas 27.9.2022.jpg, Celebratory lunch of Finland's Prime Ministers on 27 September 2022 File:Kesäranta talvella 2.JPG, Kesäranta, the official residence of the Prime Minister of Finland, in Taka-Töölö,

Appointment

The prime minister's appointment follows 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 ...

election, which are scheduled to be held once every four years. Under the provisions of the

Constitution of Finland The Constitution of Finland ( or ) is the supreme source of national law of Finland. It defines the basis, structures and organisation of government, the relationship between the different constitutional organs, and lays out the fundamental right ...

, the president nominates a prime minister after the parties in the

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 ...

have negotiated the distribution of seats in the new cabinet and the government's programme. The parliament must ratify the nominated prime minister with an

absolute majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the " Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements. For example, if a gr ...

in a confidence

vote Voting is the process of choosing officials or policies by casting a ballot, a document used by people to formally express their preferences. Republics and representative democracies are governments where the population chooses representative ...

without other candidates. If the nominee doesn't receive sufficient support, a new round of negotiations and a second nomination by the President follows. If the second nominee also fails to gain an absolute majority, a third vote is held, in which any member of parliament can nominate a candidate; in this round a

plurality Plurality may refer to: Law and politics * Plurality decision, in a decision by a multi-member court, an opinion held by more judges than any other but not by an overall majority * Plurality (voting), when a candidate or proposition polls more ...

is sufficient for election. The above procedure was first used to elect Anneli Jäätteenmäki to the premiership in 2003. Previously it was assumed that the president would nominate the candidate who, in a third round of voting, would have gained a relative majority, this usually being the leader of the party with the largest seat share in parliament. Before the 2000 constitution was enacted, full formal powers to appoint the prime minister and the rest of the government had been the privilege of the president, who was free to diverge from

principles, although the ministers appointed had to have the confidence of the parliament. Formally, the prime minister nominates the remaining members of the government, who are then, with the consent of Parliament, appointed by the president. In practice, the seats are divided between parties during the negotiations to form the government, so that the prime minister candidate must take into account the opinions of the participating parties and cannot nominate or remove whoever they wish.

Salary and benefits

The prime minister's salary is €12,173 per month. In addition, the prime minister receives half of the parliamentary salary. The full parliamentary salary is, as of 1 May 2011, at least €6,335 a month, so the Finnish prime minister receives at least €14,842 per month in total. The salary is subject to income tax. The prime minister is entitled to 30 vacation days during each calendar year. The maintenance, staff and services of Kesäranta, the official residence, are paid for by the government. The prime minister's benefits do not include free meals or meal allowance. The prime minister has transportation and security services at their disposal at all times.

Timeline

References

External links