Finnish parliamentary election, 1958

Finland

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Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 6 and 7 July 1958.^[1] The communist Finnish People's Democratic League emerged as the largest party, but was unable to form a government.

Background

Between March 1956, when Urho Kekkonen (Agrarian League) became President, and the 1958 elections, Finland had had four governments; Karl-August Fagerholm's Social Democratic Party majority government, V. J. Sukselainen's Agrarian minority government, and two civil-service caretaker governments, led by the Governor of the Bank of Finland, Rainer von Fieandt and the Chief Justice of Finland's Supreme Administrative Court, Reino Kuuskoski. The Social Democrats and Agrarians found it difficult to work together in the government, which significantly reduced Finland's chances of having a stable government, because the two other large or fairly large parties, the Finnish People's Democratic League and National Coalition Party, were excluded from the government.

The Social Democrats had been split into two parties since Väinö Tanner, a veteran Social Democrat and a former political prisoner (one of the eight "war culprits" after World War II), had very narrowly been elected the Social Democratic leader over Fagerholm in July 1957. The Social Democrats were among Kekkonen's chief opponents and wanted to defeat him in the 1962 presidential elections. After becoming President, Kekkonen wanted to defeat the Social Democrats politically, and thus their split into the majority and the minority, the so-called Skogists (after former Defence Minister Emil Skog) helped him move closer towards that goal.

In addition, Finland was suffering from a recession and, by that time's standards, a high unemployment rate, which helped the Finnish People's Democratic League to increase their support. After these elections, Fagerholm formed his third government, which included the Social Democrats, Agrarians, National Coalitioners, Swedish People's Party and the People's Party of Finland, in August 1958. Already when he appointed Fagerholm's government, President Kekkonen indicated that he would not help if it encountered problems. Soon the government ran into difficulties: the Soviet Union interrupted its trade negotiations with Finland, and in November or December 1958, the Soviet ambassador to Finland returned to the Soviet Union. These "night frosts," along with President Kekkonen's and the other Agrarians' opposition (Foreign Minister Virolainen resigned from the government at the beginning of December 1958, and former Assistant Finance Minister Karjalainen wrote that it was time for the wise people to leave the government), caused Fagerholm to tender his resignation in December 1958. Sukselainen formed another centrist minority government in January 1959, while Kekkonen visited the Soviet Union where the Soviet leader Khrushchev assured him that all was again well in the Finnish-Soviet relations.^[2]^[3]

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Finnish People's Democratic League	450,220	23.2	50	+7
Social Democratic Party	449,536	23.1	48	–6
Agrarian League	448,364	23.1	48	–5
National Coalition Party	297,094	15.3	29	+5
Swedish People's Party	126,365	6.5	13	+1
People's Party of Finland	114,617	5.9	8	–5
Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders	33,947	1.7	3	New
Liberal League	6,424	0.3	0	0
Åland Coalition	5,487	0.3	1	0
Agrarian League Opposition	5,057	0.3	0	New
Finnish Christian League	3,358	0.2	0	New
Free Citizens and Centre List	3,033	0.2	0	New
Free Economy List	331	0.0	0	New
People's Co-operation League	160	0.0	0	New
Others	242	0.0	0	–
Invalid/blank votes	10,162	–	–	–
Total	1,944,235	100	200	0
Registered voters/turnout	2,606,258	75.0	–	–
Source: Tilastokeskus 2004,^[4] Suomen virallinen tilasto^[5]

Popular vote

SKDL			23.16%
SDP			23.12%
ML			23.06%
KOK			15.28%
RKP			6.50%
KP			5.90%
SDP.OPP			1.75%
Others			1.24%

Parliament seats

SKDL			25.00%
SDP			24.00%
ML			24.00%
KOK			14.50%
RKP			6.50%
KP			4.00%
SDP.OPP			1.50%
Others			0.50%

References

↑ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p606 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
↑ Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds. (2003) A Small Giant of the Finnish History, WSOY, 2003, p786, 811, 817–821
↑ Johannes Virolainen (1991) The Last Electoral Term, Otava
↑ 595. Eduskuntavaalit 1927–2003 (Tilastokeskus 2004)
↑ Suomen virallinen tilasto 29 A, Kansanedustajain vaalit XXVI(?)

Elections and referendums in Finland

Parliamentary elections	1863 1867 1872 1877 1882 1885 1888 1891 1894 1900 1901 1905 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1913 1916 1917 1919 1922 1924 1927 1929 1930 1933 1936 1939 1945 1948 1951 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1972 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019

Municipal elections	1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1928 1930 1933 1936 1945 1947 1950 1953 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2017

Presidential elections	1919 1925 1931 1937 1940 1943 1944 1946 1950 1956 1962 1968 1973 1978 1982 1988 1994 2000 2006 2012 2018

European elections	1996 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019

Referendums	1931 1994

Elections in brackets were not public elections

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