Finnish Social Democrats and Euroskeptic Populists Make Gains in Elections

On Sunday, April 14 voters in the Nordic country of Finland went to the polls for their national parliamentary elections, which resulted in the progressive social democrats and the eurosceptic populists gaining the most seats. The center-left Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) came in first place by receiving about 17% of the vote or 40 seats while the right-wing populist Finns Party came in second place by receiving about 17% of the vote  or 39 seats.

The moderately liberal Centre Party lost almost 20 seats while the conservative center-right National Coalition Party came in third place with about 17% of the vote or 38 seats. It is expected that the Social Democrats will form a coalition with smaller political parties such as the environmentalist Green League party and the left-wing to far-left Left Alliance party, but not with the nationalist Finns Party.

Top issues for Finnish voters included immigration, man-made climate change, and welfare expansion as well as reform, especially in a country where the birthrate is decreasing and the aging population is on the rise.