SDP takes the win as Finns Party vote collapses
Finland headed to the polls on Sunday to elect thousands of councillors in a range of local and regional bodies.
- Egan Richardson
- Ronan Browne
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Ronan Browne
The Social Democrats took a big win in Finland's municipal elections on Sunday, taking nearly one in four votes nationwide to push the National Coalition Party of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo into second place. In the county council elections, for 21 regional bodies that arrange social and healthcare outside Helsinki, the SDP also topped the poll. The Centre Party recorded a good result in its rural heartlands to secure third spot. Government parties did poorly, with all but the NCP losing support compared to the previous municipal elections in 2021. Turnout in the municipal election was 54.2 percent, while the county elections saw 51.7 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots. The dual vote for municipal and county councils caused logistical issues for election officials, with counting slower than usual for Finland, where large numbers vote in advance and results are usually clear within a couple of hours of polls closing. Coming off the back of two fairly disappointing results in the Presidential and European elections, SDP leader Antti Lindtman said that he was pleased with the campaign. Yle's projections showed his party on course for first place in both the municipal and county council elections. ”The result is something that I wouldn't have dared to dream of,” said Lindtman. ”If the result sticks, a rise of 5.5 percent for the SDP is historic.” The Finns Party saw support collapse compared to the last municipal election, with the party nearly halving its vote from four years ago. They lost support in several towns that are seeing hospital services cut back as part of the central government's savings drive. ”Of course this is a failure,” said party leader Riikka Purra, who is also the Finance Minister. ”The numbers are terrible, and there's no explaining them away.”
In a tough night for the government parties the Christian Democrats struggled to match their 2021 performance, while the Swedish people's party saw a slight decline. The National Coalition, though, saw a slight rise. Prime Minister Orpo said the results for his party were fairly solid despite some losses in the biggest cities including his hometown of Turku, where the NCP was beaten into second place by the resurgent SDP. The party saw support decline by less than a percentage point, a considerably better result than their government partners. ”We always want to win elections. But there is no shame in taking the silver, especially given that we increased our support from the previous election, according to the forecast,” Orpo said. The Centre Party was particularly pleased with its improvement, gaining hundreds of councillors across the country after a series of difficult elections. Leader Antti Kaikkonen was particularly pleased with the county election result, which showed the Centre in a close fight for second spot. ”The top three have broken away from the rest, the differences between them are small,” said Kaikkonen, who also reassured voters that his party would protect care services. ”Nobody needs to fear growing older, the Centre is on your side,” said the Tuusula-based MP. The Greens lost support compared to 2021, but regarded their result as a defensive victory when faced with poor expectations. ”This is a really great result,” said leader Sofia Virta. ”If we get this tonight, then I am really happy and celebrating till the morning, because this surpasses expectations.” The Left Alliance improved their support compared to 2021, with a clear improvement on the eight percent they achieved last time out. Party leader Minja Koskela said the poor support for the government parties was not a shock. ”I'm not surprised,” said Koskela. ”They have not done anything in government that would have generated trust. I haven't seen anything in the city council other than no, no, no and trolling while wearing MAGA hats.” In a good night for the left, Tampere elected a social democrat mayor, with Ilmari Nurminen taking the top job from the National Coalition Party. In Helsinki the race was tighter, with the two parties separated by just a few hundred votes.
Ronan Browne
Yle projection: SDP on course to win both elections
The Social Democratic Party is also on course to win the municipal election, according to Yle's projections.
The forecast puts the SDP on 23.2 percent, with the NCP in second place on 21.6 percent and the Centre Party in third on 16.5 percent.
The Green Party sits in fourth place, on 10.4 percent, while the Left Alliance is on course to finish fifth, with 9.5 percent of the vote.
One of the big stories of this election is the collapse in support for the Finns Party, which has seen its share of the vote drop from 14. percent in 2021 to just 7.7 percent this time around.
Ronan Browne
County turnout up, municipal down
According to the latest figures, the turnout for the county council was up by about four percentage points on the last county vote, held in 2022.
Turnout this time around is forecast to be about 51.7 percent, compared to 47.5 percent in 2022.
The turnout in the municipal election is estimated to be 54.2 percent, down slightly on the previous election, held in 2021, when the figure was 55.1 percent.
Egan Richardson
Left leader: ”It looks really great”
The Left Alliance has seen a jump in support in this election, and leader Minja Koskela was jubilant when asked about the results. ”Sure this looks really great to us,” she told Yle as her party cemented their fourth position. The Centre Party, meanwhile, was delighted with its third spot in Yle's projection. ”The top three have broken away from the rest, the differences between them are small,” said leader Antti Kaikkonen. ”Nobody needs to fear growing older, the Centre is on your side,” said the Tuusula-based MP.
Ronan Browne
Yle projects SDP to win county election
According to Yle's forecast, the Social Democratic Party is on course to win the county council election with 22.2 percent of the vote. ”The forecast shows that the people of Finland voted for change,” Lindtman told Yle shortly after the projection was revealed. As the county council election relates to the provision of health and social care services, Lindtman promised an improvement in how these services are arranged and provided. ”We will work hard to ensure that treatment is made available. Diseases are not being cured in queues,” he said, referring to the government's handling of Finland's healthcare system. Yle's projection puts the SDP about two percentage points ahead of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's NCP, with the Centre Party coming in third. Orpo told Yle that he viewed the results as a reflection of his party's resolve to be fiscally responsible, and their voters' appreciation of that. ”I'm satisfied that the National Coalition Party has taken responsibility at a very difficult time,” said Orpo, whose government has cut spending in an effort to reduce budget deficits. The forecast suggests a drop in Finns Party support of over 3 percentage points, compared to the previous county vote in 2022, leaving Riikka Purra's party in sixth place in the standings.
”Of course, the mood cannot be good when there is a clear defeat. It is nicer to win elections, but we will get through this too,” Purra told Yle.
Ronan Browne
SDP lead in county vote at half-way point
With just over half the votes now counted in the county council election, the Social Democratic Party is the clear leader. Party chair Antti Lindtman told Yle that Sunday's sunny weather may have helped to mobilise voters. ”This is where things get even more tense and intense,” Lindtman said about the next few hours as the votes continue to come in.
The SDP also looks on course to win some of the mayoral races in Finland's big cities, including in Tampere where sitting mayor Kalervo Kummola (NCP) interrupted an live Yle interview with Ilmari Nurminen to congratulate his rival on taking the seat -- despite the fact that just over half of the votes have been counted.
”In Tampere, the age racism shown by the local newspaper Aamulehti had an impact,” the 79-year-old Kummola said. Yle's forecast for the county council election is expected at 9:35pm, while the projection for the municipal vote is expected at 10:10pm.
Ronan Browne
”Clear defeat” for Finns Party, Purra says
In reaction to the release of the advance voting results, Finns Party leader Riikka Purra told Yle that it looks like a ”clear defeat” for her party. ”There are surely many reasons, but let's first see how this percentage develops [as counting continues],” said Purra at her party's election night event. ”It's to be hoped at least that it will rise with the votes from election day, as often happens for us.” Finns Party supporters are often slow to vote outside of parliamentary elections, and Purra said that the results suggest a clear defeat for her party. ”Of course it's nicer to win elections than lose them,” said Purra.
Egan Richardson
Polls close, SDP lead in advance voting
Polling booths have now closed across the country, and the task of counting the votes for both elections has begun.
The Social Democrats have the lead in advance voting figures for the municipal elections, which were released at 8pm as polls closed.
The Finns Party were down in sixth place, with a big drop in support compared to their numbers from four years ago.
Yle's projection will take these results and turnout figures and offer an estimate of the likely result.
Ronan Browne
What to look out for
As these are local and regional elections, most people will be watching out for the results in their own area, but there are some bigger themes to keep an eye on.
The governing National Coalition Party and the opposition Social Democrats are in a neck-and-neck race to top the poll in both elections, with Yle's most recent poll finding the Antti Lindtman-led SDP ahead of PM Petteri Orpo's NCP by the slimmest of margins — just 0.1 percent — in the municipal vote.
Many observers will also be looking to see how the NCP's governing partner, the Finns Party, fares in these elections as pre-election polls have suggested the party could see its support nosedive in both elections.
The race to become the new mayor of Helsinki will also grab many people's attention. The post goes to the party with the most votes, and that is likely to be either the incumbent National Coalition, whose candidate for mayor is Daniel Sazonov; Atte Harjanne representing the Greens or Eveliina Heinäluoma of the Social Democrats.
In Tampere there is an especially tight race for mayor, which was decided in favour of the National Coalition by just 15 votes in 2021.
And of course there is the question about turnout, and especially the turnout among foreign-background voters — a topic we discussed during our APN election special.