1951 Finnish parliamentary election

General election Finland state-1920 parliamentary 1948 Finnish parliamentary election 1948 1954 Finnish parliamentary election 1954 All 200 seats in the Parliament of Finland 101 1–2 July 1951 130x130px Emil-Skog-1957.jpg Emil Skog Social Democratic Party of Finland 26.32%, 54 seats 53 480,754 26.52% 1 0.20pp Vieno Johannes Sukselainen.jpg V. J. Sukselainen Agrarian League (Finland) 24.24%, 56 seats 51 421,613 23.26% 5 0.98pp Kulo (cropped).JPG Kusti Kulo SKDL 19.98%, 38 seats 43 391,134 21.58% 5 1.60pp Arvo Salminen (cropped).jpg Arvo Salminen National Coalition Party 17.04%, 33 seats 28 264,044 14.57% 5 2.47pp Ralf Törngren1.jpg Ralf Törngren Swedish People's Party of Finland 7.34%, 13 seats 14 1 131,719 7.27% 0.07pp Eino Saari in 1961 (cropped).jpg Eino Saari People's 3.91%, 5 seats 10 102,933 5.68% 5 1.77pp Åland Coalition 0.35%, 1 seat 1 5,686 0.31% 0.04pp Urho Kekkonen Prime Minister Agrarian League (Finland) Prime Minister after election Urho Kekkonen Agrarian League (Finland) Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 1 and 2 July 1951.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p606 978-3-8329-5609-7 Background Urho Kekkonen of the Agrarian League had served as Prime Minister since March 1950, after losing the February 1950 presidential election to President Juho Kusti Paasikivi. Kekkonen had governed first with the Swedish People's Party and National Progressive Party, but in January 1951 the Social Democratic Party had joined his government. The rationing of goods was ending gradually and the war reparation payments to the Soviet Union were to be completed by 1952. Prime Minister Kekkonen sought to reduce inflation by persuading the employers' organizations and labour unions to refrain from wage increases for the time being. In May 1951, these organizations agreed not to raise wages or prices for five months. During this "castle peace" or civic peace, the Social Democrats took most leadership positions in the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions. The communist Finnish People's Democratic League benefited from the fact that the Social Democrats had agreed to govern with the Agrarians, and had thus "betrayed" (according to some Communists' campaign rhetoric) their fellow left-wingers. The economy's and inflation rate's stabilization possibly hurt the low-income workers (a likely constituency of the Communists) more than the white-collar workers or the businessmen, and this could partly explain the Communists' gain of five deputies. The People's Party of Finland had been formed as the Progressives' successor, and this fresh start can have contributed to its five-seat gain. After the elections, Kekkonen continued to serve as Prime Minister, forming his third government in September 1951. He introduced a new economic stabilization programme, which tied the prices and wages to an automatic full compensation.Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds. (2003) A Small Giant of the Finnish History WSOY, pp803-808 Results File:1951 Eduskunta.svg Social Democratic Party 480754 53 –1 Agrarian League 421613 51 –5 Finnish People's Democratic League 391134 43 +5 National Coalition Party 264044 28 –5 Swedish People's Party 131719 14 +1 People's Party of Finland 102933 10 +5 Åland Coalition 5686 1 0 Small Farmers Party 4964 0 0 Liberal League 4936 0 New Radical People's Party 4486 0 0 Finnish People's Party 243 0 New Others 305 0 – 12962 0 2448239 Tilastokeskus 2004,File "595. Eduskuntavaalit 1927–2003 (Tilastokeskus 2004) Suomen virallinen tilastoSuomen virallinen tilasto 29 A, Kansanedustajain vaalit, XXII(?). By electoral district Electoral districtTotalseatsSeats wonSDPMLSKDLKokRKPSKÅSÅland11Central Finland124521Häme1452331Kymi156423Lapland81331North Karelia1143211North Savo1325411North Vaasa813112Oulu1828611Pirkanmaa135143Satakunta154443South Savo1245111South Vaasa1013123Uusimaa331026573Varsinais-Suomi17434222Total2005351432814101Source: Statistics FinlandSuomen virallinen tilasto XXIX A:23: Eduskuntavaalit vuonna 1951 Statistics Finland 1952 References Category:Parliamentary elections in Finland Parliament Finland