sv, Samlingspartiet
, leader1_title = Chairman
, leader1_name =
Petteri Orpo
Antti Petteri Orpo (born 3 November 1969) is a Finnish politician serving as the leader of the National Coalition Party since 2016. He has previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Finland from 2017 to 2019, Minister of Finance from 2016 to 2 ...
, leader2_title = Deputy chairs
, leader2_name =
Antti Häkkänen
Antti Edvard Häkkänen (born 16 January 1985 in Mäntyharju, Finland) is a Finnish politician, representing the National Coalition Party. He has served as a Member of Parliament since 2015. From 2017 to 2019, Häkkänen served as Minister of Just ...
Elina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen
Anna-Kaisa Ikonen (born 4 April 1977) is a Finnish politician currently serving in the Parliament of Finland representing the National Coalition Party from the Pirkanmaa
Pirkanmaa (; sv, Birkaland; la, Birkaria, link=no), also known as ''Tam ...
, merger =
Finnish Party
The Finnish Party ( fi, Suomalainen Puolue) was a Fennoman conservative political party in the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland and independent Finland. Born out of Finland's language strife in the 1860s, the party sought to improve the positio ...
,
Young Finnish Party
The Young Finnish Party or Constitutional-Fennoman Party ( fi, Nuorsuomalainen Puolue or ) was a liberal and nationalist political party in the Grand Duchy of Finland. It began as an upper-class reformist movement during the 1870s and formed as a ...
, youth_wing = Youth of the National Coalition Party
, wing2_title = Student wing
, wing2 = Student Union of National Coalition Party – Tuhatkunta
, membership_year = 2016
, membership = 34,000
, european =
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...
, europarl =
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...
, affiliation1_title = Nordic affiliation
, affiliation1 =
Conservative Group da, Den Konservative Gruppe no, Den konservative gruppen is, Flokkahópur hægrimanna
, logo = Logo of the Conservative Group.png
, colorcode =
, headquarters = Christiansborg
DK-1240 København K
, chairman = ...
, seats1_title =
Parliament of Finland
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 ...
, seats1 =
, seats2_title =
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
, seats2 =
, seats3_title =
Municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
, seats3 =
, seats4 =
, seats4_title =
County seats
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
, colours =
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...
, wing3_title = Women's wing
, wing3 = '
, wing4_title = LGBT wing
, wing4 = '
The National Coalition Party (NCP; fi, Kansallinen Kokoomus ; '; sv, Samlingspartiet; ') is a
liberal-conservative
Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
in
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
.
Ideologically, the National Coalition Party 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,
and it has been described as
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
,
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
,
conservative-liberal, and
liberal-conservative
Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
.
Founded in 1918, the National Coalition Party is one of the "big three" parties that have dominated Finnish national politics for several decades, along with the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Fo ...
and the
Centre Party. The current party chair is
Petteri Orpo
Antti Petteri Orpo (born 3 November 1969) is a Finnish politician serving as the leader of the National Coalition Party since 2016. He has previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Finland from 2017 to 2019, Minister of Finance from 2016 to 2 ...
, elected on 11 June 2016. The party self-statedly bases its politics on "freedom, responsibility and democracy, equal opportunities, education, supportiveness, tolerance and caring"
and supports
multiculturalism
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...
and
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
rights. Their foreign stances are pro-
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
and
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''. Politi ...
orientated, and they are a member of the
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...
(EPP).
The party's vote share was approximately 20% in parliamentary elections in the 1990s and 2000s. It won 44 out of 200 seats in the
parliamentary
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...
elections of 2011, becoming the largest party in the Finnish Parliament (; ) for the first time in its history. On the
municipal
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
level, it became the most popular party in 2008. In the
2015 election, the NCP lost its status as the country's largest party, finishing second in votes and third in seats, but again joined the
governing coalition
A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
. After the
2019 election, it became the third-largest party in the Finnish Parliament, behind the Social Democrats and the
Finns Party
The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns ( fi, Perussuomalaiset, PS, sv, Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party.
The ...
, and became the second-largest opposition party after being excluded from the
Rinne Cabinet
The cabinet of Antti Rinne was the 75th government of Finland. It was formed following the parliamentary election of 2019 and was formally appointed by President Sauli Niinistö on 6 June 2019. The cabinet consisted of a coalition formed by the ...
.
History
1918–1939
The National Coalition Party was founded on 9 December 1918 after the
Finnish Civil War
The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...
by the majority of the
Finnish Party
The Finnish Party ( fi, Suomalainen Puolue) was a Fennoman conservative political party in the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland and independent Finland. Born out of Finland's language strife in the 1860s, the party sought to improve the positio ...
and the minority of the
Young Finnish Party
The Young Finnish Party or Constitutional-Fennoman Party ( fi, Nuorsuomalainen Puolue or ) was a liberal and nationalist political party in the Grand Duchy of Finland. It began as an upper-class reformist movement during the 1870s and formed as a ...
, both supporting
Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse
Frederick Charles Louis Constantine, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse (german: Friedrich Karl Ludwig Konstantin Prinz und Landgraf von Hessen-Kassel; fi, Fredrik Kaarle; 1 May 1868 – 28 May 1940), was the brother-in-law of the German Empe ...
as the
King of Finland
This is a list of monarchs and heads of state of Finland; that is, the kings of Sweden with regents and viceroys of the Kalmar Union, the grand dukes of Finland, a title used by most Swedish monarchs, up to the two-year regency following the inde ...
in the new monarchy.
The previous day, the republicans of both parties had founded the
National Progressive Party.
With over 600 representatives, the foundational meeting of NCP declared the following:
A national coalition is needed over old party lines that have lost meaning and have too long separated similarly thinking citizens. This coalition's grand task must be to work to strengthen in our nation the forces that maintain society. Lawful societal order must be strictly upheld and there must be no compromise with revolutionary aspirations. But simultaneously, determined constructive reform work must be pursued."
The party sought to accomplish their task by advocating for
constitutional monarchy
A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...
and, failing that, strong governmental powers within a republican framework. On the other hand, their goal was to implement a number of social and economic reforms, such as
compulsory education
Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all people and is imposed by the government. This education may take place at a registered school or at other places.
Compulsory school attendance or compulsory schooling ...
,
universal health care
Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized ar ...
, and progressive income and property taxation. The monarchist aims failed and Finland became a parliamentary republic—in which NCP advocated for strong presidential powers. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the threat posed by
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
's communist
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
influenced Finnish politics.
Communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
, backed by Soviet leaders, accelerated their activities while the ideological position of the National Coalition Party shifted to strongly conservative. The new ideology was poorly received, particularly by the youth, attracted instead more to irredentist and fascist movements, such as the
Academic Karelia Society or
Patriotic People's Movement
Patriotic People's Movement ( fi, Isänmaallinen kansanliike, IKL, sv, Fosterländska folkrörelsen) was a Finnish nationalist and anti-communist political party. IKL was the successor of the previously banned Lapua Movement. It existed from 1 ...
.
In the
1933 parliamentary election, the party formed an electoral coalition with the Patriotic People's Movement, founded by former supporters of the radical nationalist
Lapua Movement—even though
P.E. Svinhufvud, the party's first
President of Finland
The president of the Republic of Finland ( fi, Suomen tasavallan presidentti; sv, Republiken Finlands president) is the head of state of Finland. Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the Finnish Government and the p ...
, played a key role in halting the Lapua Movement and vanquishing their
Mäntsälä rebellion. The result was a major defeat as the NCP lost 24 of its 42 seats in
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
. The NCP broke ties with the Patriotic People's Movement in 1934 under the newly elected party chair
J.K. Paasikivi, but was nevertheless shut out from the
Finnish Government
sv, Finlands statsråd
, border =
, image = File:Finnish Government logo.png
, image_size = 250
, caption =
, date =
, state = Republic of Finland
, polity =
, cou ...
until the outbreak of the
Winter War
The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
in 1939 and only slowly regained support.
1939–2000
During the Winter War and the
Continuation War
The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...
in 1939–1944, the party took part in the war-time
national unity government
A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nat ...
s and generally had strong support for its government policies. After the wars, the National Coalition Party sought to portray itself as a defender of democracy against the resurgent Finnish communists. Chair Paasikivi, who had advocated making more concessions to Soviet Union before the Winter War and taken a cautious line regarding cooperation with Germany before the Continuation War, acted first as
Prime Minister of Finland
The prime minister of Finland ( fi, Suomen pääministeri; ) is the leader of the Finnish Government. The prime minister and their cabinet exercise executive authority in the state. The prime minister is formally ranked third in the protocol ...
(1944–1946) and then as President (1946–1956) of Finland. Paasikivi is remembered as the formulator of
Finnish foreign policy after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The conflict between the NCP and the communist
Finnish People's Democratic League
Finnish People's Democratic League ( fi, Suomen Kansan Demokraattinen Liitto, SKDL; sv, Demokratiska Förbundet för Finlands Folk, DFFF) was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic P ...
culminated when President Paasikivi fired the communist Minister of the Interior
Yrjö Leino
Yrjö Kaarlo Leino (28 January 1897 – 28 June 1961) was a Finnish communist politician. Imprisoned twice for his communist activities, and spending much of the Second World War as an underground communist activist, he served as a minister in th ...
, who had used the
State Police
State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction o ...
to spy on the party's youth wing among other abuses.
In 1951, the party changed its official name from the original ' to the current '. The 1950s were also a time of ideological shifts, as the emphasis on
individual liberty
Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...
and
free market
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any o ...
reforms increased at the expense of
social conservatism
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institutio ...
and maintenance of a strong government. A minor division in 1958 led to the formation of the
Christian Democrats
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...
party. From 1966 to 1987, the party was in the opposition. By criticizing Finnish communists and President
Urho Kekkonen
Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as Prime Minister ...
of the Centre Party, the party had lost the President's trust—and thus governments formed by the Centre Party and left-wing parties followed one another. A new guard emerged within the NCP in the 1970s that sought to improve relations with long-serving President Kekkonen. Their work was partially successful in the late 1970s. However, even though the NCP supported Kekkonen for president in 1978 and became the second largest party in the country in the
1979 parliamentary election, a spot in the government continued to elude the NCP until the end of Kekkonen's time in office.
During the long years in opposition, the party's support grew steadily and in
1987 it attained the best parliamentary election result in its history so far.
Harri Holkeri
Harri Hermanni Holkeri (; 6 January 1937 – 7 August 2011) was a Finnish statesman representing the National Coalition Party of Finland (Kokoomus / Samlingspartiet). He was the Prime Minister of Finland 1987–1991, president of the UN Gen ...
became the party's first prime minister since Paasikivi. During Holkeri's time in office, the Finnish economy
suffered a downturn, precipitated by a multitude of factors, and the
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
parliamentary election resulted in a loss. The party continued in government as a minor partner until 2003.
2000–present
After losing six seats in the
2003 parliamentary election, the National Coalition Party spent the next electoral period in opposition.
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 fr ...
was elected party chair in 2004 and in March 2006, vice-president of the European People's Party (EPP). Under the leadership of Katainen, chair until 2014, liberalism became the main attribute of the party. In the
2007 parliamentary election, the party increased its share to 50 seats in the largest gain of the election. The party held a close second place in Parliament, shy of the Centre Party and its 51 seats. After the election, the party entered into a coalition government together with the Centre Party, the Green League, and the
Swedish People's Party
The Swedish People's Party of Finland ( sv, Svenska folkpartiet i Finland (SFP); fi, Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (RKP)) is a political party in Finland aiming to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finlan ...
. The NCP secured important ministerial portfolios, including
finance
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
and
foreign affairs. In the 2011 parliamentary election, the party finished first place for the first time in its history with 44 seats, despite losing 6 seats, and party chair Jyrki Katainen formed his
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
as a six-party
coalition government
A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
from parties on the left and on the right after lengthy negotiations.
The National Coalition Party's candidate in the
2006 Finnish presidential election was former
minister of finance
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
and former party chair
Sauli Niinistö
Sauli Väinämö Niinistö (; born 24 August 1948) is a Finnish politician who has served as president of Finland since March 2012, the 12th person to hold that office.
A lawyer by education, Niinistö was Chairman of the National Coalition Part ...
. He qualified for the second round runoff as one of the top two candidates in the first round but was defeated by the incumbent
Tarja Halonen
Tarja Kaarina Halonen (; born 24 December 1943) is a Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland, and the first woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer with the Central Organisa ...
with 51.8% of the vote against his 48.2%. The party nominated Sauli Niinistö again for the
presidential election of 2012. Niinistö won the election, beating his Green League opponent
Pekka Haavisto
Pekka Olavi Haavisto (born 23 March 1958) is a Finnish politician of the Green League who has been serving as the Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2019.
Haavisto returned to the Finnish Parliament in the Finnish parliamentary election of M ...
decisively on the second round with a 62.6% portion of the votes, and thus becoming the third president elected from the party and the first one since 1956. Niinistö's margin of victory was larger than that of any previous directly elected president in Finland. He won a majority in 14 of
the country's 15 constituencies.
Niinistö is described as a pragmatical fiscal conservative and a pro-European and supporting restraint of
bailout
A bailout is the provision of financial help to a corporation or country which otherwise would be on the brink of bankruptcy.
A bailout differs from the term ''bail-in'' (coined in 2010) under which the bondholders or depositors of global sys ...
s to partner countries. Upon taking office, Niinistö intended to strengthen interaction with the United States and China and maintain good relations with Russia as well as address the
European debt crisis
The European debt crisis, often also referred to as the eurozone crisis or the European sovereign debt crisis, is a multi-year debt crisis that took place in the European Union (EU) from 2009 until the mid to late 2010s. Several eurozone membe ...
.
Niinistö was re-elected in 2018 for a second six-year term. He ran as an independent but had the support of the National Coalition Party.
In 2014, Katainen stepped down as party chair and Prime Minister of Finland for a
vice-president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
position in the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
. Katainen was replaced by
Alexander Stubb
Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb (born 1 April 1968) is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015. He rose to politics as a researcher specialized in the affairs of the European Union and was elected to the European ...
as chair of the National Coalition Party in the
June 2014 leadership election and thus became the prime minister. Katainen's cabinet was likewise succeeded by the
cabinet of Alexander Stubb on 23 June 2014.
Stubb went on to lead the party into the
2015 parliamentary election, in which the National Coalition Party placed second in votes and third in parliamentary seats. After the election, National Coalition joined a right-leaning majority coalition consisting of the three largest parties – the Centre Party, the Finns Party and the National Coalition Party. During his term, Stubb faced growing criticism for the NCP's poor poll results, the declining economy as well as compromises in the three-party government. After two years as party chair, Stubb was voted by 441 to 361 to be replaced by Petteri Orpo at the
leadership election of June 2016.
Ideology and political position
According to its 2006-adopted
party platform
A political party platform (US English), party program, or party manifesto (preferential term in British & often Commonwealth English) is a formal set of principle goals which are supported by a political party or individual candidate, in order ...
, the National Coalition Party's policy is based on "freedom, responsibility and democracy, equality of opportunity, education, supportiveness, tolerance and caring".
The party is described by literature as a liberal
and conservative
as well as a liberal-conservative
party in the centre-right
with
catch-all party
A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a term used in reference to a political party's policy of permitting or encouraging a broad spectrum of views among its members. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined i ...
characteristics.
The non-profit Democratic Society described it as "the heir to both liberal and conservative strains of right-of-centre thought" that is becoming increasingly liberal compared to its official stance of conservatism.
Specifically, it contains elements of
cultural
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...
and
economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...
and social reformism. For example, it supports
multiculturalism
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...
, work-based
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
,
gay rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 3 ...
and
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
.
Although it was previously considered to have been critical of the
Nordic welfare model
The Nordic model comprises the economic and social policies as well as typical cultural practices common to the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden). This includes a comprehensive welfare state and multi-level co ...
and campaigned for strict doctrines of economic liberalism, the party in the 1970s shifted to supporting more
social liberalism
Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...
, such as increased
social security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
and a
welfare state
A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...
, which was justified by increased individual liberty.
In
international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...
, the party advocates for
multilateralism
In international relations, multilateralism refers to an alliance of multiple countries pursuing a common goal.
Definitions
Multilateralism, in the form of membership in international institutions, serves to bind powerful nations, discourage ...
. It is
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''. Politi ...
and supports continued
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...
within the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
(EU). The party also advocates for Finnish membership in
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
.
Voter base
The magazine ''
Suomen Kuvalehti
''Suomen Kuvalehti'' (lit. "Finland's picture magazine", or "The Finnish picture magazine") is a weekly Finnish language family and news magazine published in Helsinki, Finland.
History and profile
''Suomen Kuvalehti'' was founded in 1873 and pu ...
'' created a profile of a typical National Coalition Party voter from over 18,000 interviews in 2011: a 36-year-old lawyer or management consultant living with a family in the
Capital region
A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...
who supports economic liberalism and conservative values and enjoys
alpine skiing
Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...
and
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
. Unlike other conservative parties in Europe, the party's voters are predominantly urban while rural regions favor the Centre Party.
In 2005, the NCP had the highest proportion of women members out of the major parties. Membership in the party was momentarily on the rise in 2008, but had declined from 41,000 to 34,000 by 2016.
In contrast, the party had 81,000 members in 1970.
According to 2008 polling data, the National Coalition Party was the most positively viewed party by Finns and was the most favored party among young generations in 2008 and 2014 polls.
Organisation
The main structure of the National Coalition Party comprises municipal and local chapters organized into districts and as well as the women's, student and youth wings. The
party conference
The terms party conference (UK English), political convention ( US and Canadian English), and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party membe ...
(), the main decision-making body convening every two years with representatives from the suborganisations as its members, elects the
party chair and three deputy chairs as well as the 61-member party council ().
The party chair and the deputy chairs lead the party board (), which is in charge of the daily management and is composed of a representative from each district and from each of the three wings. The party council also elects the
party secretary to head the main office, located in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, and to coordinate the National Coalition Party's activities according to the board's decisions. Additionally, the NCP has separate groups for coordinating
ministers
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...
, members of Parliament, and members of
the European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
.
Two foundations, ' and ', assist the party with a source of funding and as an
archive
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...
, respectively. Reportedly, donations to ' are kept secret, but according to the treasurer, donations are a limited asset compared to the foundation's 5 million
euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
investment capital. In 2008, the foundation supported NCP with €400,000. The NCP owns two companies, ' and ', to publish the party newspapers ' and ' as well as to handle media communications. Additionally, some thematic organizations report themselves as close to the party, such as the
Swedish-language group ' and the
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
network '.
Election results
Election results are based on respective files of the Official Statistics of Finland () published by the national Statistics Finland
Statistics Finland ( fi, Tilastokeskus, sv, Statistikcentralen) is the national statistical institution in Finland, established in 1865 to serve as an information service and to provide statistics and expertise in the statistical sciences. The i ...
institution.
Parliament of Finland
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bar:1933 from:start till:16.93 text:16,9
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bar:1945 from:start till:15.04 text:15,0
bar:1948 from:start till:17.04 text:17,0
bar:1951 from:start till:14.57 text:14,6
bar:1954 from:start till:12.80 text:12,8
bar:1958 from:start till:15.28 text:15,3
bar:1962 from:start till:15.06 text:15,1
bar:1966 from:start till:13.79 text:13,8
bar:1970 from:start till:18.05 text:18,1
bar:1972 from:start till:17.59 text:17,6
bar:1975 from:start till:18.37 text:18,4
bar:1979 from:start till:21.65 text:21,7
bar:1983 from:start till:22.12 text:22,1
bar:1987 from:start till:23.13 text:23,1
bar:1991 from:start till:19.31 text:19,3
bar:1995 from:start till:17.89 text:17,9
bar:1999 from:start till:21.03 text:21,0
bar:2003 from:start till:18.55 text:18,6
bar:2007 from:start till:22.26 text:22,3
bar:2011 from:start till:20.44 text:20,4
bar:2015 from:start till:18.20 text:18,2
bar:2019 from:start till:17.0 text:17,0
European Parliament
Municipal
Presidential
Indirect elections
Direct elections
Prominent party leaders
The following NCP members have held high offices:
*
Lauri Ingman
Lars (Lauri) Johannes Ingman (30 June 1868, in Teuva – 25 October 1934, in Turku) was a Finnish theologian, bishop and politician. In 1906 he began to serve as the editor of ''Vartija'', a Christian magazine. From 1916 to 1930 he was the profess ...
– Prime Minister 1918–1919, 1924–1925
*
Antti Tulenheimo
Antti Agathon Tulenheimo (4 December 1879 – 3 September 1952) was a Finnish politician from the National Coalition Party who served as Prime Minister of Finland in 1925.
He was also minister of the interior from November 1918 to April 1919. H ...
– Prime Minister 1925
*Pehr Evind Svinhufvud – President 1931–1937
*
Edwin Linkomies
Edwin Johannes Hildegard Linkomies (22 December 1894 – 9 September 1963, until 1928 ''Edwin Flinck)'' was Prime Minister of Finland from March 1943 to August 1944, and one of the seven politicians sentenced to five and a half years in pris ...
– Prime Minister 1943–1944
*Juho Kusti Paasikivi – President 1946–1956, Prime Minister 1944–1946
*Harri Holkeri – Prime Minister 1987–1991
*Riitta Uosukainen – Minister of Education 1991–1994, Speaker of the Parliament 1994–2003
*Sauli Niinistö – Minister of Finance 1995–2003, Speaker of the Parliament 2007–2011, President 2012–
*Jyrki Katainen – Minister of Finance 2007–2011, Prime Minister 2011–2014, vice president of the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
2014–
*Alexander Stubb – Prime Minister, 2014–2015, Minister of Finance 2015–2016
See also
*
Constitution of Finland
The Constitution of Finland ( fi, Suomen perustuslaki or sv, Finlands grundlag) is the supreme source of national law of Finland. It defines the basis, structures and organisation of government, the relationship between the different constitutio ...
*
Foreign relations of Finland
The foreign relations of Finland are the responsibility of the president of Finland, who leads foreign policy in cooperation with the government. Implicitly the government is responsible for internal policy and decision making in the European ...
*
Moderate Party
The Moderate Party ( sv, Moderata samlingspartiet , ; M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a liberal-conservative political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free market, civil liberties and economic liber ...
– similar party in Sweden
*
Nordic model
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Portal bar, Finland, Politics, Liberalism, Conservatism
Political parties established in 1918