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1945 Finnish parliamentary election

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1945 Finnish parliamentary election

← 1939 17–18 March 1945 1948 →

All 200 seats in the Parliament of Finland
101 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Onni Hiltunen Cay Sundström Viljami Kalliokoski
Party SDP SKDL Agrarian
Last election 85 seats, 39.77% 56 seats, 22.86%
Seats won 50 49 49
Seat change Decrease 35 new Decrease 7
Popular vote 425,948 398,618 362,662
Percentage 25.08% 23.47% 21.35%
Swing Decrease 14.69pp new Decrease 1.51pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Edwin Linkomies Ernst von Born Tyko Tarponen
Party National Coalition RKP National Progressive
Last election 25 seats, 13.58% 18 seats, 9.61% 6 seats, 4.81%
Seats won 28 14 9
Seat change Increase 5 Decrease 4 Increase 3
Popular vote 255,394 134,106 87,868
Percentage 15.04% 7.90% 5.17%
Swing Increase 1.46pp Decrease 1.71pp Increase 0.36pp

  Seventh party
 
Party Swedish Left
Last election 0 seats, 0.46%
Seats won 1
Seat change Increase 1
Popular vote 8,192
Percentage 0.48%
Swing Increase 0.02pp

Prime Minister before election

Juho Kusti Paasikivi
National Coalition

Prime Minister after election

Juho Kusti Paasikivi
National Coalition

Ballot paper

Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 17 and 18 March 1945. The broad-based centre-left government of Prime Minister Juho Kusti Paasikivi (National Coalition/Independent) remained in office after the elections.

Background

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The communists could, for the first time since 1929, freely present their candidates. Through the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL), they were able to win over a large section of Social Democratic voters. The Patriotic People's Movement (IKL) had been banned by the time of the election. Prime Minister Paasikivi urged in February 1945 Finnish voters to elect "new faces" to Parliament, which they certainly did: almost half of the 200 deputies were new. Some wartime deputies, including Social Democrat Väinö Tanner and Agrarian Viljami Kalliokoski, decided voluntarily not to seek re-election, because under the new political climate (Finland's desire to establish friendly relations with the Soviet Union), their wartime political activities, including their association with the informal Finnish-German military alliance, looked suspicious. The right-wing and centrist parties had to campaign carefully, so as not to appear anti-Soviet, while the Communists could loudly and vigorously accuse the right-wing and centrist parties of accepting their ban from open political activity, which had lasted from 1930 to 1944. One major economic issue in these elections was the continued scarcity of goods caused by the wartime rationing. Communists promised the impoverished voters a quick improvement in their living standards, and also other major parties promised more prosperity in the starting peacetime. These promises were made despite the still limited Finnish foreign trade - World War II would only end in Europe in May and in Asia in September - and the heavy burden which the Soviet Union's war reparations payments imposed on the Finnish economy.[1][2][3]

Results

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PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Social Democratic Party425,94825.0850–35
Finnish People's Democratic League398,61823.4749New
Agrarian League362,66221.3549–7
National Coalition Party255,39415.0428+3
Swedish People's Party134,1067.9014–4
National Progressive Party87,8685.179+3
Small Farmers Party20,0611.180–2
Swedish Left8,1920.481+1
Radical People's Party1,6230.100New
Others3,9040.230
Total1,698,376100.002000
Valid votes1,698,37699.31
Invalid/blank votes11,8750.69
Total votes1,710,251100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,284,24974.87
Source: Tilastokeskus 2004,[4] Suomen virallinen tilasto[5]

By electoral district

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Electoral district Total
seats
Seats won
SDP SKDL ML Kok RKP KE SV
Central Finland 11 3 3 3 1 1
East Viipuri 17 4 2 9 2
Häme 11 4 3 1 2 1
Lapland 8 1 2 4 1
North Karelia 10 4 2 3 1
North Savo 11 3 4 3 1
North Vaasa 8 1 1 2 1 3
Oulu 17 2 5 7 2 1
Pirkanmaa 11 4 3 1 2 1
Satakunta 14 4 4 3 2 1
South Savo 11 4 2 4 1
South Vaasa 10 1 2 2 2 3
Uusima 31 7 9 1 5 6 2 1
Varsinais-Suomi 15 3 5 2 2 2 1
West Viipuri 15 5 2 4 3 1
Total 200 50 49 49 28 14 9 1
Source: Statistics Finland[6]

References

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  1. ^ Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds., A Small Giant of the Finnish History / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen, Helsinki: WSOY, 2003
  2. ^ Sakari Virkkunen, Finland's Presidents I / Suomen presidentit I, Helsinki: WSOY, 1994
  3. ^ Martti Turtola, Risto Ryti: A Life for the Fatherland / Risto Ryti. Elämä isänmaan puolesta, Helsinki: Otava, 1994
  4. ^ "595. Eduskuntavaalit 1927–2003 (Tilastokeskus 2004)
  5. ^ Suomen virallinen tilasto 29 A, Kansanedustajain vaalit, XX.
  6. ^ Suomen virallinen tilasto XXIX A:20: Eduskuntavaalit vuosina 1939 ja 1945. Statistics Finland. 1946.