Finnish political party
The
Christian Democrats
(
CD
;
Finnish
:
Suomen Kristillisdemokraatit
;
Swedish
:
Kristdemokraterna i Finland
, KD) is a
Christian-democratic
political party in Finland
.
[4]
[5]
It was founded in May 1958, chiefly by the Christian faction of the
National Coalition Party
.
[6]
[7]
It entered parliament in 1970. The party leader since 28 August 2015 has been
Sari Essayah
.
[8]
The Christian Democrats have five seats in the
Finnish Parliament
. It is positioned on the
centre-right
on the political spectrum.
[9]
The party name was for a long time abbreviated to
SKL
(standing for
Suomen Kristillinen Liitto
,
Finlands Kristliga Forbund
,
Finland's Christian League
), until 2001, when the party changed its name to the current
Christian Democrats
and its Finnish and Swedish abbreviations to
KD
. The CD was a
minor party
in the
centre-right
coalition government led by
Prime Minister
Esko Aho
between 1991 and 1994 and was later a part of a
rainbow coalition
led by
Jyrki Katainen
and
Alexander Stubb
between 2011?2015. It has been a part of the
Orpo Cabinet
since its formation on 20 June 2023.
KD-lehti
is the party's weekly newspaper. The party is a member of the
European People's Party
and the
European People's Party Group
.
[
citation needed
]
History
[
edit
]
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.
[10]
The 1960s were an '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 a
popular front
government, the CD only had
Raino Westerholm
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.
[11]
The party was a junior coalition partner in government
from 1991 to 1995
, when it occupied the development aid portfolio. It was a
soft Eurosceptic
party and stressed the importance of the principle of subsidiarity in European affairs. After being renamed to "The Christian Democrats" in 2001, it moved to a
pro-European
stance.
[10]
Bjarne Kallis
, 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
centrist
voters.
[11]
At the 2003 general election, the Christian Democrats polled its highest vote of 5.3%.
[12]
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, Finland.
[13]
Ideology
[
edit
]
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.
[6]
The party also claims to be committed to
environmental protection
.
[14]
It is also orientated towards
socially conservative
policies.
[9]
Politicians
[
edit
]
Parliamentary election 1972 campaign event of Finnish Christian League at 1971.
List of party chairs
[
edit
]
First deputy chairs
[
edit
]
Party secretaries
[
edit
]
Current members of parliament
[
edit
]
[15]
Members of European Parliament
[
edit
]
Sari Essayah
was the most recent MEP of the party; she was elected to the
European Parliament
in the
2009 election
but failed to win re-election in
2014
.
Election results
[
edit
]
Parliamentary elections
[
edit
]
Election
|
Votes
|
%
|
Seats
|
+/-
|
Government
|
1958
|
3,358
|
0.17
|
|
|
Extra-parliamentary
|
1966
|
10,646
|
0.45
|
|
|
Extra-parliamentary
|
1970
|
28,228
|
1.40
|
|
1
|
Opposition
|
1972
|
65,228
|
2.53
|
|
3
|
Opposition
|
1975
|
90,599
|
3.29
|
|
5
|
Opposition
|
1979
|
138,244
|
4.77
|
|
|
Opposition
|
1983
|
90,410
|
3.03
|
|
6
|
Opposition
|
1987
|
74,209
|
2.58
|
|
2
|
Opposition
|
1991
|
83,151
|
3.05
|
|
3
|
Coalition
|
1995
|
82,311
|
2.96
|
|
1
|
Opposition
|
1999
|
111,835
|
4.17
|
|
3
|
Opposition
|
2003
|
148,987
|
5.34
|
|
3
|
Opposition
|
2007
|
134,643
|
4.86
|
|
|
Opposition
|
2011
|
118,453
|
4.03
|
|
1
|
Coalition
|
2015
|
105,134
|
3.54
|
|
1
|
Opposition
|
2019
|
120,144
|
3.90
|
|
|
Opposition
|
2023
|
130,394
|
4.22
|
|
|
Coalition
|
Municipal elections
[
edit
]
Election
|
Councillors
|
Votes
|
%
|
1972
|
134
|
49,877
|
2.0
|
1976
|
322
|
85,792
|
3.2
|
1980
|
333
|
100,800
|
3.7
|
1984
|
257
|
80,455
|
3.0
|
1988
|
273
|
71,614
|
2.7
|
1992
|
353
|
84,481
|
3.2
|
1996
|
353
|
75,494
|
3.2
|
2000
|
443
|
95,009
|
4.3
|
2004
|
392
|
94,666
|
4.0
|
2008
|
351
|
106,639
|
4.2
|
2012
|
300
|
93,257
|
3.7
|
2017
|
316
|
105,551
|
4.1
|
2021
|
311
|
88,259
|
3.6
|
European parliamentary elections
[
edit
]
Election
|
Votes
|
%
|
Seats
|
+/?
|
1996
|
63,134
|
2.8
|
|
|
1999
|
29,637
|
2.4
|
|
1
|
2004
|
70,845
|
4.3
|
|
1
|
2009
|
69,467
|
4.2
|
|
1
|
2014
|
90,586
|
5.2
|
|
1
|
2019
|
89,204
|
4.9
|
|
|
2024
|
75,376
|
4.1
|
|
|
Presidential elections
[
edit
]
Indirect elections
[
edit
]
Direct elections
[
edit
]
Literature
[
edit
]
- Eravalo, Esa (2018).
Yhteinen hyva
. Johdatus kristillisdemokratiaan. Kompassi Think Tank.
ISBN
978-952-7289-03-7
.
- Vakaumuksena valittaminen - Med hjarta i politiken
. SKL 1958 / 2008 KD. KD-Mediat Oy. 2008.
ISBN
978-952-67038-0-0
.
Affiliated organisations
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Freston, Paul (2004).
Protestant Political Parties
. A Global Survey. Ashgate.
ISBN
0-7546-4062-0
.
- Madeley, John T.S. (2004). Steven Van Hecke; Emmanuel Gerard (eds.).
Life at the Northern Margin: Christian Democracy in Scandinavia
. Christian Democratic Parties in Europe Since the End of the Cold War. Leuven University Press. pp. 217?241.
ISBN
90-5867-377-4
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Suomen Kristillisdemokraattiset (KD) Nuoret ry"
.
kansalaisyhteiskunta.fi
(in Finnish). Kansalaisfoorumi. Archived from
the original
on 14 February 2019
. Retrieved
14 February
2019
.
- ^
"Kristillisdemokraattiset Naiset"
.
kansalaisyhteiskunta.fi
(in Finnish). Kansalaisfoorumi. Archived from
the original
on 14 February 2019
. Retrieved
14 February
2019
.
- ^
"PUOLUEEN TOIMINTAKERTOMUS 2019-2021"
(PDF)
. Liitteet 3 ja 4: Suomen Kristillisdemokraatit r.p. ? Kristdemokraterna i Finland r.p. 2021.
- ^
Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019).
"Finland"
.
Parties and Elections in Europe
.
- ^
Bale, Tim (2021).
Riding the populist wave: Europe's mainstream right in crisis
.
Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser
. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. p. 34.
ISBN
978-1-009-00686-6
.
OCLC
1256593260
.
- ^
a
b
"Our goals?Christian Democracy"
.
Christian Democrats
. Archived from
the original
on 9 December 2014
. Retrieved
4 June
2009
.
- ^
Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019).
"Finland"
.
Parties and Elections in Europe
.
- ^
"Sari Essayah kristillisdemokraattien puheenjohtajaksi"
. 28 August 2015.
- ^
a
b
"Finland's largest political parties"
.
European Parliament Information
. Retrieved
15 April
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Freston P., (2004) Protestant Political Parties Aldershot (Ashgate), pp.42
- ^
a
b
Arter, D. (2009) Scandinavian Politics Today Manchester (Manchester University Press), pp.126-128
- ^
Arter, D. (2006),
Democracy in Scandinavia
, Manchester University Press, p.187
- ^
Immigrants
Archived
10 June 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
. Christian Democrats
- ^
Environment and Energy
Archived
7 March 2009 at the
Wayback Machine
Christian Democrats
- ^
"Candidates elected"
. Ministry of Justice. 22 April 2015
. Retrieved
24 December
2015
.
External links
[
edit
]
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