TheNational Coalition Party (NCP;Finnish:Kansallinen Kokoomus[ˈkɑnsɑlːinenˈko̞ko̞ːmus],Kok;Swedish:Nationella Samlingspartiet,Saml) is aliberal-conservativepolitical party inFinland. It is the current governing political party of Finland.
Founded in 1918, the National Coalition Party is one of the "big three" parties that have dominated Finnish national politics for several decades, along with theSocial Democratic Party and theCentre Party. The current party chair isPetteri Orpo, elected on 11 June 2016. The party self-statedly bases its politics on "freedom, responsibility and democracy, equal opportunities, education, supportiveness, tolerance and caring"[8] and supportsmulticulturalism and gay rights. Their foreign stances arepro-NATO andpro-European oriented, the party is also a member of theEuropean People's Party (EPP).[6] The party is described by literature as a liberal,[9] conservative[2] as well as liberal-conservative[10] party on the centre-right,[7] withcatch-all characteristics.[11]
The party's vote share has been approximately 20% in parliamentary elections since the 1990s and has only been out of coalition governments for eight years since then. It won 44 out of 200 seats in theparliamentaryelections of 2011, becoming the largest party in the Finnish Parliament (Finnish:Eduskunta;Swedish:Riksdagen) for the first time in its history. On themunicipal level, it emerged as the most popular party for the first time in 2008. More recently, the NCP became the largest party during the Finnish2023 general election, with 48 seats, and has been the leading party in the governingOrpo Cabinet since 20 June 2023. IncumbentPresident of FinlandAlexander Stubb is affiliated with the NCP, as was his immediate predecessor,Sauli Niinistö.
The National Coalition Party was founded on 9 December 1918 after theFinnish Civil War by the majority of theFinnish Party and the minority of theYoung Finnish Party, both supportingPrince Frederick Charles of Hesse as theKing of Finland in the new monarchy.[12][13] The previous day, the republicans of both parties had founded theNational Progressive Party.[14] With over 600 representatives, the foundational meeting of NCP declared the following:
A national coalition is needed over old party lines that have lost meaning and have too long separated similarly thinking citizens. This coalition's grand task must be to work to strengthen in our nation the forces that maintain society. Lawful societal order must be strictly upheld and there must be no compromise with revolutionary aspirations. But simultaneously, determined constructive reform work must be pursued."[15]
The party sought to accomplish their task by advocating forconstitutional monarchy and, failing that, strong governmental powers within a republican framework. On the other hand, their goal was to implement a number of social and economic reforms, such ascompulsory education,universal health care, and progressive income and property taxation.[16] The monarchist aims failed and Finland became a parliamentary republic—in which the NCP advocated for strong presidential powers. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the fear ofJoseph Stalin's communistSoviet Union influenced Finnish politics. TheCommunists, backed by theSoviet leaders, accelerated their activities while the ideological position of the National Coalition Party shifted over to very conservative. The new ideology was poorly received, particularly by the youth, attracting instead moreirredentist andfascist movements, such as theAcademic Karelia Society orPatriotic People's Movement.[12][13][14]
In the1933 parliamentary election, the party formed an electoral coalition with the Patriotic People's Movement, founded by former supporters of the radical and nationalistLapua Movement—even thoughP.E. Svinhufvud, the party's firstPresident of Finland, played a key role in halting the Lapua Movement and vanquishing theirMäntsälä rebellion. The result was a major defeat as the NCP lost 24 of its 42 seats inparliament. The NCP broke ties with the Patriotic People's Movement in 1934 under their newly elected party chair,Juho Kusti Paasikivi, but were nevertheless shut out from theFinnish Government until the outbreak of theWinter War in 1939, only slowly managing to regain their support.[13][14][17]
During the Winter War and theContinuation War in 1939–1944, the party took part in the war-timenational unity governments and generally had strong support for its government policies. After the wars, the National Coalition Party sought to portray itself as a defender of democracy against the resurgent Finnish communists. Chair Paasikivi, who had advocated making more concessions to Soviet Union before the Winter War and taken a cautious line regarding cooperation with Germany before the Continuation War, acted first asPrime Minister of Finland (1944–1946) and then as President (1946–1956) of Finland. Paasikivi is remembered as the formulator ofFinnish foreign policy afterWorld War II.[18] The conflict between the NCP and the communistFinnish People's Democratic League culminated when President Paasikivi fired the communist Minister of the InteriorYrjö Leino, who had used theState Police to spy on the party's youth wing among other abuses.[14][19][20]
In 1951, the party changed its official name from the originalKansallinen Kokoomuspuolue to the currentKansallinen Kokoomus. The 1950s were also a time of ideological shifts, as the emphasis onindividual liberty andfree market reforms increased at the expense ofsocial conservatism and maintenance of a strong government. A minor division in 1958 led to the formation of theChristian Democrats party. From 1966 to 1987, the party was in the opposition.[21] By criticizing Finnish communists and PresidentUrho Kekkonen of the Centre Party, the party had lost the President's trust—and thus governments formed by the Centre Party and left-wing parties followed one another. A new guard emerged within the NCP in the 1970s that sought to improve relations with long-serving President Kekkonen. Their work was partially successful in the late 1970s.[22] However, even though the NCP supported Kekkonen for president in 1978 and became the second largest party in the country in the1979 parliamentary election, a spot in the government continued to elude the NCP until the end of Kekkonen's time in office.[13][14][20]
During the long years in opposition, the party's support grew steadily and in1987 it attained the best parliamentary election result in its history so far.Harri Holkeri became the party's first prime minister since Paasikivi. During Holkeri's time in office, the Finnish economysuffered a downturn, precipitated by a multitude of factors, and the1991 parliamentary election resulted in a loss. The party continued in government as a minor partner until 2003.[13][14]
After losing six seats in the2003 parliamentary election, the National Coalition Party spent the next electoral period in opposition.Jyrki Katainen was elected party chair in 2004 and in March 2006, vice-president of the European People's Party (EPP). Under the leadership of Katainen, chair until 2014, liberalism became the main attribute of the party.[23] In the2007 parliamentary election, the party increased its share to 50 seats in the largest gain of the election. The party held a close second place in Parliament, shy of the Centre Party and its 51 seats. After the election, the party entered into a coalition government together with the Centre Party, the Green League, and theSwedish People's Party. The NCP secured important ministerial portfolios, includingfinance andforeign affairs. In the 2011 parliamentary election, the party finished first place for the first time in its history with 44 seats, despite losing six seats, and party chair Jyrki Katainen formed hiscabinet as a six-partycoalition government from parties on the left and on the right after lengthy negotiations.[13][14][24]
The National Coalition Party's candidate in the2006 Finnish presidential election was formerminister of finance and former party chairSauli Niinistö. He qualified for the second round runoff as one of the top two candidates in the first round but was defeated by the incumbentTarja Halonen with 51.8% of the vote against his 48.2%. The party nominated Sauli Niinistö again for thepresidential election of 2012. Niinistö won the election, beating his Green League opponentPekka Haavisto decisively on the second round with a 62.6% portion of the votes, and thus becoming the third president elected from the party and the first one since 1956. Niinistö's margin of victory was larger than that of any previous directly elected president in Finland. He won a majority in 14 ofthe country's 15 electoral districts.[13][25] Niinistö is described as a pragmatical fiscal conservative and a pro-European who supports the restraint ofbailouts to partner countries. Upon taking office, Niinistö intended to strengthen interaction with the United States and China and maintain good relations with Russia as well as address theEuropean debt crisis.[24] Niinistö was re-elected in 2018 for a second six-year term. He ran as an independent but had the support of the National Coalition Party.[26]
In 2014, Katainen stepped down as party chair and Prime Minister of Finland for avice-presidential position in theEuropean Commission.[27] Katainen was replaced byAlexander Stubb as chair of the National Coalition Party in theJune 2014 leadership election and thus became the prime minister. Katainen's cabinet was likewise succeeded by theStubb Cabinet on 23 June 2014.[14] Stubb went on to lead the party into the2015 parliamentary election, in which the National Coalition Party placed second in votes and third in parliamentary seats.[28] After the election, National Coalition joined a right-leaning majority coalition consisting of the three largest parties – the Centre Party, the Finns Party and the National Coalition Party.[29] During his term, Stubb faced growing criticism for the NCP's poor poll results, the declining economy as well as compromises in the three-party government. After two years as party chair, Stubb was voted by 361 to 441 to be replaced by Petteri Orpo at theleadership election of June 2016.[30]
After the2019 election, it became the third-largest party in the Finnish Parliament, behind the Social Democrats and theFinns Party, and became the second-largest opposition party after being excluded from theRinne Cabinet.[31]
Following the2023 general election, it became the largest party with 48 seats. As a result, its leaderPetteri Orpo started forming a coalition government.[32] TheOrpo Cabinet was sworn into office on 20 June 2023, a NCP-led coalition with theFinns Party,Christian Democrats andSwedish People's Party of Finland.[33]
In February 2024, National Coalition Party candidate Alexander Stubb was elected as Finland's next president. In the second round of theelection he beat Pekka Haavisto, a green running as an independent, by 51.6 percent to 48.4 percent.[34]
Ideologically, the National Coalition Party is positioned fromcentre-right toright on the political spectrum,[6][7] and it has been described asliberal,[35][9][36]conservative,[2][37][38]liberal-conservative,[10][39][40]conservative-liberal,[41] andfiscally conservative.[42]
In 2014, the non-profit The Democratic Society described it as "the heir to both liberal and conservative strains of right-of-centre thought" that is becoming increasingly liberal compared to its official stance of conservatism.[6]
Specifically, it contains elements ofcultural andeconomic liberalism and social reformism.[43] For example, it supportsmulticulturalism, work-basedimmigration,queer rights andsame-sex marriage.[6][44][45][46]
Despite the fact that it was previously considered to be critical of theNordic welfare model, campaigning for strict doctrines of economic liberalism, in the 1970s the party shifted to supporting moresocial liberal policies, such as increasedsocial security, which was justified by the increase of individual liberty,[35] although, in more recent years, some have accused the party of adopting more critical views of the welfare state and of embracing morefiscally conservative positions,[47] in addition to the abandoning of their socially liberal and green values in order to move votes away from the growingFinns Party towards themselves.[48][49]
Ininternational relations, the party advocates formultilateralism. It ispro-European and supports continuedEuropean integration within theEuropean Union (EU). For decades, the party advocated forFinnish membership inNATO,[50] and supported the country's accession to the alliance in 2023, despite being inopposition at the time.
The magazineSuomen Kuvalehti created a profile of a typical National Coalition Party voter from over 18,000 interviews in 2011: a 36-year-old lawyer or management consultant living with a family in theHelsinki metropolitan area who supports economic liberalism, conservative values and enjoysalpine skiing andgolf.[51] Unlike other conservative parties in Europe, the party's voters come predominantly fromurban areas whilerural areas tend to favor the Centre Party.[6] In 2005, the NCP had the highest proportion of female members out of the major parties.[52] Membership in the party was momentarily on the rise in 2008, but declined from 41,000 to 34,000 by 2016.[53] In contrast, the party had 81,000 members in 1970.[54] According to 2008 polling data, the National Coalition Party was the most positively viewed party by Finns[55] and was the most favored party among the young generation in polls conducted in 2008 and 2014.[56][57]
The main structure of the National Coalition Party comprises municipal and local chapters organized into districts and as well as the women's, student and youth wings. Theparty conference (Finnish:puoluekokous), the main decision-making body convening every two years with representatives from the suborganisations as its members, elects theparty chair and three deputy chairs as well as the 61-member party council (Finnish:puoluevaltuusto).[58]
The party chair and the deputy chairs lead the party board (Finnish:puoluehallitus), which is in charge of the daily management and is composed of a representative from each district and from each of the three wings. The party council also elects theparty secretary to head the main office, located inHelsinki, and to coordinate the National Coalition Party's activities according to the board's decisions. Additionally, the NCP has separate groups for coordinatingministers, members ofthe Finnish Parliament, and members ofthe European Parliament.[58]
Two foundations,Kansallissäätiö andPorvarillisen Työn Arkiston Säätiö, assist the party with a source of funding and as anarchive, respectively.[59][60] Reportedly, donations toKansallissäätiö are kept secret, but according to the treasurer, donations are a limited asset compared to the foundation's 5 millioneuro investment capital. In 2008, the foundation supported NCP with €400,000.[61] The NCP owns two companies,Kansalliskustannus Oy andSuomen Kansallismedia Oy, to publish the party newspapersNykypäivä andVerkkouutiset as well as to handle media communications.[62] Additionally, some thematic organizations report themselves as close to the party, such as theSwedish-language groupBorgerlig samling i Finland[63] and thequeer networkKansallinen sateenkaariryhmä – Kasary.[64]
Election results are based on respective files of the Official Statistics of Finland (Finnish:Suomen virallinen tilasto) published by the nationalStatistics Finland institution.
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1919 | 155,018 | 15.70 | 28 / 200 | New | Opposition(1919–1920) |
| Coalition(1920–1921) | |||||
| Opposition(1921–1922) | |||||
| 1922 | 157,116 | 18.15 | 35 / 200 |  7 | Opposition |
| 1924 | 166,880 | 18.99 | 38 / 200 | 2 | Coalition(1924–1926) |
| Opposition(1926–1927) | |||||
| 1927 | 161,450 | 17.74 | 34 / 200 |  4 | Opposition |
| 1929 | 138,008 | 14.51 | 28 / 200 | 6 | Opposition |
| 1930 | 203,958 | 18.05 | 42 / 200 | 14 | Coalition(1930–1932) |
| Opposition(1932–1933) | |||||
| 1933 | 187,527 | 16.93 | 32 / 200 | 10 | Opposition |
| 1936 | 121,619 | 10.36 | 20 / 200 | 12 | Opposition |
| 1939 | 176,215 | 13.58 | 25 / 200 | 5 | Coalition(1939–1944) |
| Opposition(1944–1945) | |||||
| 1945 | 255,394 | 15.04 | 28 / 200 | 3 | Opposition |
| 1948 | 320,366 | 17.04 | 33 / 200 | 5 | Opposition |
| 1951 | 264,044 | 14.57 | 28 / 200 | 5 | Opposition |
| 1954 | 257,025 | 12.80 | 24 / 200 | 4 | Opposition |
| 1958 | 297,094 | 15.28 | 29 / 200 | 5 | Coalition(1958–1959) |
| Opposition(1959–1962) | |||||
| 1962 | 346,638 | 15.06 | 32 / 200 | 3 | Coalition |
| 1966 | 326,928 | 13.79 | 26 / 200 | 6 | Opposition |
| 1970 | 457,582 | 18.05 | 37 / 200 | 11 | Opposition |
| 1972 | 453,434 | 17.59 | 34 / 200 | 3 | Opposition |
| 1975 | 505,145 | 18.37 | 35 / 200 | 1 | Opposition |
| 1979 | 626,764 | 21.65 | 47 / 200 | 12 | Opposition |
| 1983 | 659,078 | 22.12 | 44 / 200 | 3 | Opposition |
| 1987 | 666,236 | 23.13 | 53 / 200 | 9 | Coalition |
| 1991 | 526,487 | 19.31 | 40 / 200 | 13 | Coalition |
| 1995 | 497,624 | 17.89 | 39 / 200 | 1 | Coalition |
| 1999 | 563,835 | 21.03 | 46 / 200 | 7 | Coalition |
| 2003 | 517,904 | 18.55 | 40 / 200 | 6 | Opposition |
| 2007 | 616,841 | 22.26 | 50 / 200 | 10 | Coalition |
| 2011 | 598,369 | 20.44 | 44 / 200 | 6 | Coalition |
| 2015 | 540,212 | 18.20 | 37 / 200 | 7 | Coalition |
| 2019 | 523,957 | 17.00 | 38 / 200 | 1 | Opposition |
| 2023 | 644,555 | 20.82 | 48 / 200 | 10 | Coalition |
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 453,729 | 20.17 (#3) | 4 / 16 | New | EPP |
| 1999 | 313,960 | 25.27 (#1) | 4 / 16 |  0 | EPP-ED |
| 2004 | 392,771 | 23.71 (#1) | 4 / 14 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 386,416 | 23.21 (#1) | 3 / 13 | 1 | EPP |
| 2014 | 390,112 | 22.59 (#1) | 3 / 13 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 380,106 | 20.79 (#1) | 3 / 13 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 453,636 | 24.80 (#1) | 4 / 15 | 1 |
| Election | Councillors | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 88,159 | 5.85 | |
| 1953 | 133,626 | 7.59 | |
| 1956 | 105,220 | 6.29 | |
| 1960 | 275,560 | 14.04 | |
| 1964 | 213,378 | 10.0 | |
| 1968 | 1,388 | 364,428 | 16.09 |
| 1972 | 1,503 | 451,484 | 18.06 |
| 1976 | 2,047 | 561,121 | 20.92 |
| 1980 | 2,373 | 628,950 | 22.94 |
| 1984 | 2,423 | 619,264 | 22.96 |
| 1988 | 2,392 | 601,468 | 22.87 |
| 1992 | 2,009 | 507,574 | 19.05 |
| 1996 | 2,167 | 514,313 | 21.64 |
| 2000 | 2,028 | 463,493 | 20.84 |
| 2004 | 2,078 | 521,412 | 21.83 |
| 2008 | 2,020 | 597,727 | 23.45 |
| 2012 | 1,735 | 544,682 | 21.9 |
| 2017 | 1,490 | 531,599 | 20.68 |
| 2021 | 1,552 | 522,623 | 21.4 |
| 2025 | 1,592 | 529,542 | 21.9 |
| Electoral college | |||||||||||||||
| Election | Candidate | Popular vote | First ballot | Second ballot | Third ballot | Results | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | |||||||
| 1919 | |||||||||||||||
| 1925 | Hugo Suolahti | 141,240 | 22.7 | 68 / 300 | 68 / 300 | 22.7 (#3) | 80 / 300 | 26.7 (#3) | Lost | ||||||
| 1931 | Pehr Evind Svinhufvud | 180,378 | 21.6 | 64 / 300 | 88 / 300 | 29.3 (#2) | 98 / 300 | 17.7 (#2) | 151 / 300 | 50.3 (#1) | Won | ||||
| 1937 | Pehr Evind Svinhufvud | 240,602 | 21.6 | 63 / 300 | 94 / 300 | 31.3 (#2) | 104 / 300 | 34.7 (#2) | Lost | ||||||
| 1940 | Pehr Evind Svinhufvud | 1 / 300 | 0.3 (#4) | Lost | |||||||||||
| 1943 | Väinö Kotilainen [fi] | 4 / 300 | 1.3 (#2) | Lost | |||||||||||
| 1946 | Juho Kusti Paasikivi | 159 / 300 | 79.5 (#1) | Won | |||||||||||
| 1950 | Juho Kusti Paasikivi | 360,789 | 22.9 | 68 / 300 | 171 / 300 | 57.0 (#1) | Won | ||||||||
| 1956 | Juho Kusti Paasikivi | 340,311 | 17.9 | 54 / 300 | 84 / 300 | 28.0 (#3) | Lost | ||||||||
| 1962 | 288,912 | 13.1 | 37 / 300 | ||||||||||||
| 1968 | Matti Virkkunen [fi] | 432,014 | 21.2 | 58 / 300 | 66 / 300 | 22.0 (#2) | Lost | ||||||||
| 1978 | Urho Kekkonen | 360,310 | 14.7 | 45 / 300 | 259 / 300 | 86.3 (#1) | Won | ||||||||
| 1982 | Harri Holkeri | 593,271 | 18.7 | 58 / 300 | 58 / 300 | 19.3 (#2) | 58 / 300 | 19.3 (#2) | Lost | ||||||
| 1988[nb 1] | Harri Holkeri | 603,180 | 20.2 | 63 / 300 | 63 / 300 | 21.0 (#3) | 18 / 300 | 6.0 (#4) | Lost | ||||||
| Election | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| 1988[nb 1] | Harri Holkeri | 570,340 | 18.4 | Lost | ||
| 1994 | Raimo Ilaskivi | 485,035 | 15.2 | Lost | ||
| 2000 | Riitta Uosukainen | 392,305 | 12.8 | Lost | ||
| 2006 | Sauli Niinistö | 725,866 | 24.1 | 1,518,333 | 48.2 | Lost |
| 2012 | Sauli Niinistö | 1,131,254 | 37.0 | 1,802,400 | 62.6 | Won |
| 2018 | SupportedSauli Niinistö | 1,874,334 | 62.6 | Won | ||
| 2024 | Alexander Stubb | 882,113 | 27.21 | 1,575,211 | 51.62 | Won |
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The following NCP members have held high offices:[65]
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| European Parliament Group Presidents |
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| European Commissioners (2024–2029) |
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| International | |
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| Other | |
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