The 2017 Finns Party leadership election was held in Jyväskylä, Finland, on June 10, 2017, to elect the new chair of the Finns Party. All members of the party who had paid their subscription were allowed to vote in the election. The incumbent party chair Timo Soini, who had led the party since 1997, did not run for the leadership this time.

MEP MEP may refer to: Organisations and politics * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka * Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka * Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...

Jussi Halla-aho and

Sampo Terho In Finnish mythology, the ''Sampo'' () is a magical device or object described in many different ways that was constructed by the blacksmith Ilmarinen and that brought riches and good fortune to its holder, akin to the horn of plenty (cornucopi ...

, Minister for European Affairs, Culture and Sport, were considered the strongest candidates to succeed him. Leena Meri and Veera Ruoho, two Members of the Finnish Parliament, and Riku Nevanpää, a local politician, also ran for party chair. Raimo Rautiola, another local politician, initially stood for election but pulled out of the race on 5 June. The election was won by Halla-aho who received 949 votes in the first round, 56% of the total vote. Terho received 629 votes. In addition, Laura Huhtasaari was chosen as the first deputy leader, while Teuvo Hakkarainen and

Juho Eerola Juho Seppo Antero Eerola (born 24 February 1975 in Kymi, Finland) is a Finnish politician of the Finns Party. He was elected to the Finnish Parliament in the 2011 election. He is also a member of the city council of Kotka. In the True Finns' par ...

won the races for second and third deputy leaders of the party, respectively. The incumbent party secretary

Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo Riikka Pirjo Maaria Slunga-Poutsalo (born 23 April 1971 in Alatornio) is a Finnish politician currently serving in the Parliament of Finland for the Finns Party at the Uusimaa Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of ...

maintained her position after a vote. These selections were characterised by newspaper ''

Helsingin Sanomat ''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...

'' as a takeover by the anti-immigration wing of the Finns party, from the allegedly more moderate followers of the former leader Soini. Halla-aho's rise to power was described as a "unique event in Finnish political history" by the Prime Minister and Centre leader Juha Sipilä. According to ''Bloomberg News'', the results of the leadership election put the future of the ruling coalition in jeopardy. On 12 June, both Sipilä and

NCP NCP may refer to: Science and medicine * Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (a temporary name for COVID-19), an outbreak that was officially identified in late 2019. * HIV-1 nucleocapsid protein 7 (NCp7), a target of zinc finger inhibitors * Nucleosome ...

leader Petteri Orpo tweeted that in their view, they could not carry on co-operating with Halla-aho-led Finns Party. On 13 June, twenty Members of Parliament left the Finns Party parliamentary group and formed a new group of their own, called

New Alternative The Finnish Reform Movement ( fi, Korjausliike, korj), is a Finnish conservative political party. It was founded by the 19 MPs who left the Finns Party on 13 June 2017 in protest against Jussi Halla-aho having been elected party leader. The new ...

(which later became a party called Blue Reform). Included in this group of defectors were former leader and current Foreign Minister Soini, as well as all the other Finns Party Ministers (Terho,

Jari Lindström Jari Tapani Lindström (born 28 June 1965) is a Finnish politician and former Minister of Employment. He represented the Finns Party till 2017 and was first elected to the Parliament in 2011 in the former constituency of Kymi. In 2014, Lindström ...

, Jussi Niinistö, Pirkko Mattila) and Speaker of Parliament

Maria Lohela Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

Notable endorsements

Jussi Halla-aho

* Teuvo Hakkarainen, MP for Central Finland. * Laura Huhtasaari, MP for Satakunta. * Olli Immonen, MP for

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

Sampo Terho

, Minister for Labour, MP for South-Eastern Finland. *

, Speaker of the Parliament, MP for

Finland Proper Southwest Finland, calqued as Finland Proper ( fi, Varsinais-Suomi ; sv, Egentliga Finland), is a region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The regi ...

. * Jussi Niinistö, Minister for Defence, MP for Uusimaa.

Notable endorsements

Jussi Halla-aho

Sampo Terho

Opinion polls

Results

See also

References

Further reading