Parliamentary election in Finland 1970

← 1966Parliamentary election in Finland 19701972 →

Result (in%)

 %

30th

20th

10

0

23.4

18.1

17.1

16.6

10.5

6.0

5.3

1.4

1.6

SDP

COOK

KESK

SKDL

SMP

LKP

RKP

TPSL

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to 1966

 % p

 10

   8th

   6th

   4th

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

  -6

-3.8

+4.3

-4.1

-4.6

+9.5

-0.5

-0.4

-1.2

+0.8

SDP

COOK

KESK

SKDL

SMP

LKP

RKP

TPSL

Otherwise.

Distribution of seats

        

A total of 200 seats

• SKDL : 36
• SDP : 52
• SMP : 18
• LBP : 8
• RKP : 12
• KESK : 36
• KOK : 37
• SKL : 1

The parliamentary elections in Finland in 1970 took place on March 15-16, 1970. It was the election of the 25th Finnish parliament .

After a slide to the left in the last election led to the formation of a coalition between Social Democrats and People's Democrats, right-wing forces were the winners in 1970. The conservative rallying party gained eleven seats and became the second largest party behind the Social Democratic Party. The rural party reached over 10% and for the first time had a parliamentary group. In addition to the Social Democratic Party and the People's Democratic Union, the losers also included the Center Party (loss of 13 seats) and the Social Democratic Federation of Workers and Small Farmers, which lost all of its seven seats and was no longer able to move into parliament.

Starting position

After the 1966 election, the Social Democrats Rafael Paasio and Mauno Koivisto had become prime ministers and heads of a left-dominated government. Under Koivisto, in addition to the Social Democratic Party, the Rural Federation, the People's Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Federation of Workers and Small Farmers, the Swedish People's Party was also involved in government. In the meantime, a feeling of concern for the old values ​​and traditions spread in society, which was reinforced by the left-wing government phase. The conservative rallying party and, above all, the rural party of Finland, known as the protest party, benefited from this during the election campaign.

Participating parties

Ten 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	Rafael Paasio
	Finnish Center Party Suomen Keskusta (KESK) Centern i Finland	social liberal	Johannes Virolainen
	Democratic Union of the Finnish People Suomen Kansan Demokraattinen Liitto (SKDL) Demokratiska Förbundet för Finlands Folk (DFFF)	socialist	Ele Alenius
	National Collection Party Kansallinen Kokoomus (KOK) Samlingspartiet	conservative	Juha Rihtniemi
	Liberal People's Party Liberaalinen Kansanpuolue (LKP) Liberala Folkpartiet	liberal	Pekka Tarjanne
	Swedish People's Party Ruotsalainen Kansanpuolue (RKP) Svenska Folkpartiet (SFP)	liberal	Jan-Magnus Jansson
	Social-Democratic Federation of Workers and Small Farmers Työvänen ja Pienviljelijäin Sosialidemokraattinen Liitto (TPSL) Arbetarnas och Småbrukarnas Socialdemokratiska Förbund (ASSF)	social democratic
	Finnish Rural Party Suomen Maaseudun Puolue (SMP) Finlands Landsbygdsparti	centrist	Veikko Vennamo

Election result

The turnout was 82.2 percent, 2.7 percentage points below the turnout in the last general election in 1966.

Results of the parliamentary elections in Finland in 1970

Political party		be right			Seats
		number	%	+/-	number	+/-
	Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP)	594.185	23.43	−3.80	52	−3
	National Collection Party (KOK)	457,582	18.05	+4.26	37	+11
	Finnish Center Party (KESK)	434.150	17.12	−4.11	36	−13
	Democratic Union of the Finnish People (SKDL)	420,556	16.58	−4.62	36	−5
	Finnish Rural Party (SMP) (*)	265,939	10.49	+9.46	18th	+17
	Liberal People's Party (LKP)	150,823	5.95	−0.52	8th	−1
	Swedish People's Party (RKP)	135,465	5.34	−0.35	11	-
	Social Democratic Federation of Workers and Small Farmers (TPSL)	35,453	1.40	−1.19	-	−7
	Christian Federation of Finland (SKL)	28,547	1.13	+0.68	1	+1
	Åländsk Samling (**)	8,971	0.35	−0.05	1	-
	Entrepreneur's Party (District Organization of Lapland)	248	0.01	+0.01	-	-
	Others	3,863	0.15	+0.15	-	-
total		2,535,782	100.00		200
Valid votes		2,535,782	99.66
Invalid votes		8,728	0.34
voter turnout		2,544,510	82.23
Eligible voters		3,094,359	100.00
Source:

• (*) Comparative values ​​for the Rural Party of Finland are the 1966 election results of the Small Farmers' Party of Finland.
• (**) Åland mandate

After the election

The coalition negotiations dragged on, which is why President Urho Kekkonen initially commissioned Teuvo Aura from the Liberal People's Party to form a transitional government. In the summer of 1970 they finally agreed on a grand coalition led by the center politician Ahti Karjalainen . In addition to the Center Party, the coalition also included the Social Democratic Party, the Swedish People's Party, the Liberal People's Party and the People's Democratic Union. In the fall of 1970, the government was still being put to a severe test when the income negotiations ended without results. In 1971 the general strike finally broke out and the disputes between the Social Democratic Party and the Landbund grew, so that Urho Kekkonen had parliament dissolved and new elections ordered for January 1972. Until then, he again commissioned Teuvo Aura to form a transitional government.

Overview of the cabinets:

52. Cabinet Aura I - Teuvo Aura (Liberal People's Party) - Transitional Government (May 14, 1970 to July 15, 1970)
53. Cabinet Karjalainen II - Ahti Karjalainen (Center Party) - Government of the Center Party, Social Democratic Party, Swedish People's Party, Liberal People's Party, People's Democratic Union (July 15, 1970 to October 29, 1971)
54. Cabinet Aura II - Teuvo Aura (Liberal People's Party) - Transitional Government (October 29, 1971 to February 23, 1972)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Official result of the 1970 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

• - Period of political change (1962–1972)