1958 Finnish parliamentary election

General election Finland state-1920 parliamentary 1954 Finnish parliamentary election 1954 1962 Finnish parliamentary election 1962 All 200 seats in Parliament 101 6–7 July 1958 130x130px Kulo (cropped).JPG Kusti Kulo SKDL 21.57%, 43 seats 50 450,220 23.16% 7 1.59pp Väinö Tanner.jpg Väinö Tanner Social Democratic Party of Finland 26.25%, 54 seats 48 449,536 23.12% 6 3.13pp Vieno Johannes Sukselainen.jpg V. J. Sukselainen Agrarian League (Finland) 24.10%, 53 seats 48 448,364 23.06% 5 1.04pp Jussi Saukkonen (1951).jpg Jussi Saukkonen National Coalition Party 12.80%, 24 seats 29 297,094 15.28% 5 2.48pp Lars Erik Taxell.jpg Lars Erik Taxell Swedish People's Party of Finland 6.76%, 12 seats 13 1 126,365 6.50% 0.26pp Eino Saari in 1961 (cropped).jpg Eino Saari People's 7.88%, 13 seats 8 114,617 5.90% 5 1.98pp Emil-Skog-1957.jpg Emil Skog TPSL – 3 New 33,947 1.75% New Åland Coalition 0.23%, 1 seat 1 5,487 0.28% 0.05pp Reino Kuuskoski Prime Minister Independent Prime Minister after election Karl-August Fagerholm Social Democratic Party of Finland Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 6 and 7 July 1958.Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p606 978-3-8329-5609-7 The Finnish People's Democratic League, which was dominated by the Communist Party of Finland, emerged as the largest party, but was unable to form a government. Background Between March 1956, when Urho Kekkonen (Agrarian League) became president, and the 1958 elections, Finland had had four governments; Karl-August Fagerholm's Social Democratic Party majority government, V. J. Sukselainen's Agrarian minority government, and two civil-service caretaker governments, led by the Governor of the Bank of Finland, Rainer von Fieandt and the Chief Justice of Finland's Supreme Administrative Court, Reino Kuuskoski. The Social Democrats and Agrarians found it difficult to work together in the government, which significantly reduced Finland's chances of having a stable government, because the two other large or fairly large parties, the Finnish People's Democratic League and National Coalition Party, were excluded from the government. The Social Democrats had been split into two parties since Väinö Tanner, a veteran Social Democrat and a former political prisoner (one of the eight "war culprits" after World War II), had very narrowly been elected the Social Democratic leader over Fagerholm in July 1957. The Social Democrats were among Kekkonen's chief opponents and wanted to defeat him in the 1962 presidential elections. After becoming president, Kekkonen wanted to defeat the Social Democrats politically, and thus their split into the majority and the minority, the so-called Skogists (after former Defence Minister Emil Skog) helped him move closer towards that goal. In addition, Finland was suffering from a recession and, by that time's standards, a high unemployment rate, which helped the Finnish People's Democratic League to increase their support. After these elections, Fagerholm formed his third government, which included the Social Democrats, Agrarians, National Coalitioners, Swedish People's Party and the People's Party of Finland, in August 1958. Already when he appointed Fagerholm's government, President Kekkonen indicated that he would not help if it encountered problems. Soon, the government ran into difficulties: the Soviet Union interrupted its trade negotiations with Finland, and in November or December 1958, the Soviet ambassador to Finland returned to the Soviet Union. These "night frosts," along with President Kekkonen's and the other Agrarians' opposition (Foreign Minister Virolainen resigned from the government at the beginning of December 1958, and former Assistant Finance Minister Karjalainen wrote that it was time for the wise people to leave the government), caused Fagerholm to tender his resignation in December 1958. Sukselainen formed another centrist minority government in January 1959, while Kekkonen visited the Soviet Union where the Soviet leader Khrushchev assured him that all was again well in the Finnish-Soviet relations.Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds. (2003) A Small Giant of the Finnish History, WSOY, 2003, p786, 811, 817–821Johannes Virolainen (1991) The Last Electoral Term, Otava Results File:1958 Eduskunta.svg Finnish People's Democratic League 450220 50 +7 Social Democratic Party 449536 48 –6 Agrarian League 448364 48 –5 National Coalition Party 297094 29 +5 Swedish People's Party 126365 13 +1 People's Party 114617 8 –5 Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders 33947 3 New Liberal League 6424 0 0 Åland Coalition 5487 1 0 Agrarian League Opposition 5057 0 New Finnish Christian League 3358 0 New Free Citizens and Centre List 3033 0 New Free Economy List 331 0 New People's Co-operation League 160 0 New Others 242 0 – 10162 0 2606258 Tilastokeskus 2004,595. Eduskuntavaalit 1927–2003 (Tilastokeskus 2004) Suomen virallinen tilastoSuomen virallinen tilasto 29 A, Kansanedustajain vaalit XXVI(?) By electoral district Electoral districtTotalseatsSeats wonSKDLSDPMLKokRKPSKTPSLÅSÅland11Central Finland1233411Häme14342311Helsinki19445321Kymi1525431Lapland94131North Karelia112441North Savo124251North Vaasa811312Oulu1872711Pirkanmaa1353131Satakunta144433South Savo121551South Vaasa1021223Uusimaa16352141Varsinais-Suomi16543211Total2005048482913831Source: Statistics FinlandSuomen virallinen tilasto XXIX A:26: Eduskuntavaalit 1958 Statistics Finland 1959 References Category:Parliamentary elections in Finland Parliamentary Finland