The Finns Party, the second-largest group in Parliament, has surpassed the Centre as the most popular party in rural Finland.
The development marks a significant change, as the Centre has been the dominant political force in the countryside since it was established as the Agrarian League, in 1908, nearly a decade before Finland gained independence.
The nationalist Finns Party, led by Finance Minister Riikka Purra, is now the second largest in Parliament, while the once-mighty Centre has fallen to fourth place.
The Finns Party is the most popular in almost as many municipalities as the Centre, according to the Finnish news agency STT.
In this past April's parliamentary elections, the Centre still had a slight edge, leading in 104 of Finland's 309 municipalities while the Finns Party was the largest in 99 of them.
In the 2019 parliamentary elections, the Centre was number one in 173 municipalities while the Finns Party held the top spot in 35 municipalities.
Edge in rural areas and small towns
Especially in rural areas and small towns, the Finns Party has clearly taken over from the Centre as the most popular party. However, both parties tend to fare more poorly in the densely populated urban areas of southern Finland.
In the previous elections, the Centre led in four constituencies out of the 12 electoral districts in mainland Finland, while the Finns Party only led in one. This spring, the Centre was no longer the largest in any electoral district, while the Finns Party came out on top in six of them.
In the current Parliament, the Finns Party is the second-biggest group with 46 seats, just behind PM Petteri Orpo's National Coalition Party's 48. Former PM Sanna Marin's SDP is third with 43 while the Centre, led by former finance minister Annika Saarikko, is a relatively distant fourth with 23 seats in the 200-seat body.