Parliamentary election in Finland in 1951

← 1948General election 19511954 →

Result (in%)

 %

30th

20th

10

0

26.5

23.3

21.6

14.6

7.2

5.7

1.1

SDP

ML

SKDL

COOK

RKP

KP

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to 1948

 % p

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

+0.2

-0.9

+1.6

-2.4

-0.1

+1.8

-0.2

SDP

ML

SKDL

COOK

RKP

KP

Otherwise.

Distribution of seats

      

A total of 200 seats

• SKDL : 43
• SDP : 53
• CP : 10
• RKP : 15
• ML : 51
• KOK : 28

The parliamentary elections in Finland in 1951 took place on July 2-3, 1951. It was the election for the 20th Finnish parliament .

Although Urho Kekkonens Landbund recorded the largest loss of votes next to the conservative rallying party, he was able to continue his coalition with Social Democrats and the Swedish People's Party. The People's Democrats, who suffered heavy losses in the July 1948 elections, gained the most and cemented their position among the three strongest parties.

Starting position

Urho Kekkonen from the Landbund became Prime Minister of a minority government made up of the Landbund, Sweden and the Progress Party on March 17, 1950. In January 1951, this coalition won a majority because Kekkonen took the Social Democrats into the government. After a minor crisis as a result of the Korean War, which made wage and price regulation in Finland necessary, the Finnish mark was stabilized in 1951 and a stability program was implemented that supported the economy.

After the National Progressive Party only held five seats, it disbanded. It was eventually followed by the People's Party of Finland, which was founded by a large part of the former Progressive Party.

Participating parties

Eleven different parties ran for election.

The following parties were already represented in parliament:

Political party		Alignment	Top candidate
	Social Democratic Party of Finland Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (SDP) Finlands Socialdemokratiska Parti	social democratic	Emil Skog
	Landbund Maalaisliitto (ML) Agrarförbundet	social liberal	Vieno Sukselainen
	Democratic Union of the Finnish People Suomen Kansan Demokraattinen Liitto (SKDL) Demokratiska Förbundet för Finlands Folk (DFFF)	socialist	Kusti Kulo
	National Collection Party Kansallinen Kokoomus (KOK) Samlingspartiet	conservative	Arvo salt mines
	Swedish People's Party Ruotsalainen Kansanpuolue (RKP) Svenska Folkpartiet (SFP)	liberal	Ralf Törngren
	People's Party of Finland Suomen Kansanpuolue (KP) Finska Folkpartiet (FFP)	liberal	Eino Saari

Election result

The turnout was 74.6 percent, 3.6 percentage points below the turnout in the last parliamentary election in 1948.

The biggest losses were for the Landbund and the Collection Party (five seats each). The left People's Democrats, on the other hand, won five seats. The People's Party of Finland, which emerged from the National Progressive Party, received 5.7% of the vote and ten seats.

Result of the parliamentary elections in Finland in 1951

Political party		be right			Seats
		number	%	+/-	number	+/-
	Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP)	480,754	26.52	+0.20	53	−1
	Land Federation (ML)	421.613	23.26	−0.98	51	−5
	Democratic Union of the Finnish People (SKDL)	391.134	21.58	+1.60	43	+5
	National Collection Party (KOK)	264.044	14.57	−2.47	28	+5
	Swedish People's Party (RKP)	130,524	7.20	−0.14	14th	+1
	People's Party of Finland (KP)	102.933	5.68	+1.77	10	+5
	Åländsk Samling *	5,686	0.31	−0.04	1	-
	Small farmers party	4,964	0.27	−0.02	-	-
	Liberal Federation (VL)	4,936	0.27	+0.27	-	-
	Radical People's Party (RadKP)	4,486	0.25	−0.02	-	-
	Swedish Liberal Party (RVP)	1,195	0.07	+0.07	-	-
	Finnish People's Party	243	0.01	+0.01	-	-
	Others	305	0.02	−0.26	-	-
total		1,812,817	100.00		200
Valid votes		1,812,817	99.29
Invalid votes		12,962	0.71
voter turnout		1,825,779	74.58
Eligible voters		2,448,239	100.00
Source:
Notes: * Åland mandate

After the election

Urho Kekkonen's third cabinet, which included the Landbund, the SDP and the Swedish People's Party, remained in office until July 9, 1953. Kekkonen had previously announced his resignation at the end of June 1953, as there had been controversies between the Landbund and the Social Democrats over a cost-cutting program that would prevent a recession instead of a currency devaluation. President Juho Kusti Paasikivi instructed Kekkonen to form a minority government that he would lead. The coalition that was then formed with the Swedish People's Party remained in office for only four months. In order to finally solve the cost crisis and to prevent the Soviet Union from increasing influence, especially after Stalin's death, Paasikivi finally appointed a managing government under Sakari Tuomioja of the Liberal League, which had no seats in parliament. Tuomioja led a coalition with members of the People's Party, the Swedish People's Party, the Gathering Party and some independents. The measure finally paid off and the cabinet remained in office for about six months, until May 5, 1954. The early elections took place on March 7th and 8th, 1954.

Overview of the cabinets:

35. Kekkonen III Cabinet - Urho Kekkonen (Landbund) - Government: Landbund, Social Democrats, Swedish People's Party ( September 20, 1951 to July 9, 1953 )
36. Kekkonen IV Cabinet - Urho Kekkonen (Landbund) - Government: Landbund, Swedish People's Party ( July 9, 1953 to November 17, 1953 )
37. Tuomioja cabinet (executive) - Sakari Tuomioja (Liberal Association) - ( November 17, 1953 to May 5, 1954 )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Official result of the 1951 parliamentary election yle.fi (Finnish)
2. ↑ ^{a b} Valtiolliset ja kunnalliset vaalit, 1951–2012  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. stat.fi , Excel file  

Web links

• Finnish postage stamps - crises