The Christian Democrats ( fi, Suomen Kristillisdemokraatit, sv, Kristdemokraterna i Finland; KD) is a Christian-democratic political party in Finland. It was founded in May 1958, chiefly by the Christian faction of the National Coalition Party. It entered parliament in 1970. The party leader since 28 August 2015 has been

Sari Essayah Sari Miriam Essayah (born 21 February 1967 in Haukivuori) is a Finnish retired racewalker and a politician, former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and Member of Parliament since 2015. She is the president of the Finnish Christian Democr ...

. The Christian Democrats have five seats in the

Finnish Parliament The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

. It is positioned on the

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

on the political spectrum. The party name was for a long time abbreviated to SKL (standing for , , ''Finnish Christian League''), until 2001, when the party changed its name to the current ''Christian Democrats'' and its abbreviation to ''KD''.The KD was a minor party in the

coalition government led by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Esko Aho between 1991 and 1994 and later a part of Rainbow coalition led by

Jyrki Katainen Jyrki Tapani Katainen (born 14 October 1971) is a Finnish politician who served as the European Commission's Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness from 2014 until 2019. Katainen was previously Prime Minister of Finland f ...

and Alexander Stubb between 2011 and 2015. The party is a member of the European People's Party (EPP). ''KD-lehti'' ( en, CD News) is the party's weekly newspaper.

History

When the Christian Democrats was founded in 1958, as the name ''Finnish Christian League'', the communist-dominated Finnish People's Democratic League was polling about 25 per cent and became the largest parliamentary grouping. That, together with lax alcohol laws, salacious publications and assistance from the Norwegian KrF, sparked the Christian initiative.Freston P., (2004) Protestant Political Parties Aldershot (Ashgate), pp.42 The 1960s were and 'incubation period', but there was a growing conviction of the need for parliamentary seats in the wake of liberal legislation. At the 'earthquake election' of 1970, after four years of Popular front government, the CD had a solitary

Raino Westerholm Raino Olavi Westerholm (20 November 1919 – 1 June 2017) was a Finnish politician. Westerholm was born in Kuusankoski. He was leader of the Finnish Christian League from 1973 to 1982. He was also member of the Finnish parliament from 1970 to 19 ...

elected. Westerholm was a party chair between 1973 and 1982. Westerholm polled a creditable 8.8 per cent at the 1978 presidential election. The modest 'Westerholm effect' was a backlash for long-serving Urho Kekkonen, who was backed by all of the larger parties.Arter, D. (2009) Scandinavian Politics Today Manchester (Manchester University Press), pp.126-128 Party was a junior coalition partner in government from 1991 to 1995, when it occupied the development aid portfolio. It was a soft Eurospectic party and stressed the importance of the principle of subsidiarity in European affairs. After being renamed The Christian Democrats in 2001 it moved to a

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...

stance.

Bjarne Kallis Johan Bjarne Kallis (born 21 March 1945 in Kokkola) is the former chairman of the Christian Democratic Party (KD), previously known as the Finnish Christian Coalition (SKL), and a member of the Parliament of Finland. Kallis works as the principal ...

, the party chairman between 1995 and 2004, was instrumental in the party's change of name and concern to attract a wider electorate, being able to draw votes from the Swedish People's Party and Finnish-speaking Conservative and

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

voters. At the 2003 general election, The Christian Democrats polled their highest vote of 5.3 %.Arter, D. (2006) Democracy in Scandinavia (Manchester University Press), pp.187 English-speaking members of the party founded their own chapter in Helsinki in 2004. Its monthly meetings attract immigrants to participate in societal matters and the issues that are particularly important to them. In 2005, a Russian-speaking chapter was also founded in Helsinki.

Ideology

The party describes itself as following the tenets of Christian democracy. It emphasizes "respect of human dignity, the importance of family and close communities, defending the weak, encouraging resourcefulness and individual and collective responsibility, not just for themselves but also for their neighbours and the rest of creation". Membership is open to everyone who agrees with these values and aims. The party also claims to be committed to

environmental protection Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair dam ...

. It is also orientated towards socially conservative policies.

Politicians

Finnish Christian League parliamentary election campaign 1972

Parliamentary election 1972 campaign event of Finnish Christian League at 1971.

List of party chairs

* Olavi Päivänsalo (1958–1964) * Ahti Tele (1964–1967) * Eino Sares (1967–1970) * Olavi Majlander (1970–1973) *

(1973–1982) * Esko Almgren (1982–1989) * Toimi Kankaanniemi (1989–1995) *

(1995–2004) * Päivi Räsänen (2004–2015) *

(2015–)

First vice chairs

(1971–1973) * Ilmari Helimäki (1973–1982) * Olavi Ronkainen (1982–1985) * Marjatta Laakko (1985–?) * Juhani Peltonen (-1991) * Leea Hiltunen (1991–2003) * Marja-Leena Kemppainen (2003–2005) *

Peter Östman Peter Johan Östman (born 16 December 1961) is a member of the Parliament of Finland and is the Chairman of the Christian Democratic Parliamentary Group. Early life Ostman was born in 1961 in Larsmo, Ostrobothnia. His family comes from Larsmo ...

(2005–2009) * Sari Palm (2009–2011) * Teuvo V. Riikonen (2011–2013) * Sauli Ahvenjärvi (2013–2015) * Tommy Björkskog (2015–2017) * Tiina Tuomela (2017–2019) *

(2019–)

Party secretary

* 1958–1959: S. N. Venho * 1959–1965: Paavo Luostarinen * 1965–1978: Eino Pinomaa * 1979–1982: Esko Almgren * 1982–1996: Jouko Jääskeläinen * 1997–2002:

Milla Kalliomaa ''Milla'', the Mexican star, is a genus of monocotyledonous plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Brodiaeoideae. They are native mostly to Mexico, with one species extending into Guatemala, Honduras, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. ''M ...

* 2003: Eija-Riitta Korhola * 2003–2007:

Annika Kokko Annika is a feminine given name. It is the Swedish pet form of Anna, similar to Anneke in the Netherlands. It is also common in Germany, Finland and Estonia, gaining popularity after 1969 from the character of that name in the ''Pippi Longstoc ...

* 2007–2009:

* 2009–2011:

* 2011–2021: Asmo Maanselkä * 2022–: Elsi Juupaluoma

Current members of parliament

(Savo-Karjala constituency) * Antero Laukkanen (Uusimaa constituency) * Päivi Räsänen (Häme constituency) * Sari Tanus (Pirkanmaa constituency) *

(Vaasa constituency)

European Parliament

was the most recent MEP of the party; she was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

in the 2009 election but failed to win re-election in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

Election results

Parliamentary elections

ImageSize = width:600 height:240 PlotArea = width:500 height:160 left:50 bottom:60 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:15 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:0 PlotData= bar:% color:blue width:22 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S bar:1958 from:start till:0.17 text:0,2 bar:1962 bar:1966 from:start till:0.45 text:0,5 bar:1970 from:start till:1.40 text:1,4 bar:1972 from:start till:2.53 text:2,5 bar:1975 from:start till:3.29 text:3,3 bar:1979 from:start till:4.77 text:4,8 bar:1983 from:start till:3.03 text:3,0 bar:1987 from:start till:2.58 text:2,6 bar:1991 from:start till:3.05 text:3,1 bar:1995 from:start till:2.96 text:3,0 bar:1999 from:start till:4.17 text:4,2 bar:2003 from:start till:5.34 text:5,3 bar:2007 from:start till:4.86 text:4,9 bar:2011 from:start till:4.03 text:4,0 bar:2015 from:start till:3.54 text:3,5 bar:2019 from:start till:3.90 text:3,9

Municipal elections

European parliamentary elections

Presidential elections

Indirect elections

Direct elections

Literature

* *

Affiliated organisations

* Christian Democratic Youth of Finland fi, Suomen Kristillisdemokraattiset Nuoret sv, Finlands Kristdemokratiska Unga * Christian Democratic Women of Finland fi, Suomen Kristillisdemokraattiset Naiset sv, Finlands Kristdemokratiska Kvinnor * KD News fi, KD-Lehti * Kompassi Think Tank fi, Ajatushautomo Kompassi

References

External links

* {{Authority control Christian democratic parties in Europe Protestant political parties Conservative parties in Finland 1958 establishments in Finland Registered political parties in Finland Political parties established in 1958 Social conservative parties Member parties of the European People's Party