Toimi Olavi Kankaanniemi (born 26 February 1950) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

politician, born in

Tyrvää Tyrvää (; sv, Tyrvis) was a municipality in the Satakunta region, Turku and Pori Province, Finland. It was established in 1439 when the Tyrvää parish was separated from the parish of Karkku. In 1915, the market town of Vammala was separated fr ...

. Kankaanniemi was the Chairman of the Finnish

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 ...

from 1989 to 1995. In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, he was a candidate for

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 ...

, finishing ninth of eleven candidates. He served as a Member of 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 ...

from 1987 to 2011. Kankaanniemi was also a minister in the cabinet of

Esko Aho Esko Tapani Aho (born 20 May 1954) is a Finnish politician who was prime minister of Finland from 1991 to 1995. Early life and career Aho was born in Veteli, Finland. Prior to attending university, he began a career in politics. From 1974 to ...

from 1991 to 1994, responsible for international development as well as alcohol issues. He resigned from the cabinet in 1994, citing his opposition to 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 ...

, which Finland was about to join. After retiring from the Parliament Kankaanniemi resigned his membership in the Christian Democrats and, in 2012, joined 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 ...

(True Finns) as a candidate in that year's municipal election. He became a member of the Finns Party the following year. He was a candidate in the

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...

, but was not elected. In the 2015 parliamentary election Kankaanniemi returned to the parliament as a Finns Party MP. After admitting to sending sexually suggestive messages over Facebook to several women, Kankaanniemi was removed from the Finns Party's government negotiation team.HS: Finns MP Kankaanniemi kicked out of coalition talks
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