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1924 Finnish parliamentary election

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1924 Finnish parliamentary election

← 1922 1–2 April 1924 1927 →

All 200 seats in the Parliament of Finland
101 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Väinö Tanner Pekka Heikkinen Antti Tulenheimo
Party SDP Agrarian National Coalition
Last election 25.06%, 53 seats 20.27%, 45 seats 18.15%, 35 seats
Seats won 60 44 38
Seat change Increase 7 Decrease 1 Increase 3
Popular vote 255,068 177,982 166,880
Percentage 29.02% 20.25% 18.99%
Swing Increase 3.96pp Decrease 0.02pp Increase 0.84pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Eric von Rettig Oskari Mantere
Party RKP STPV National Progressive
Last election 12.41%, 25 seats 9.21%, 15 seats
Seats won 23 18 17
Seat change Decrease 2 New Increase 2
Popular vote 105,733 91,839 79,937
Percentage 12.03% 10.45% 9.09%
Swing Decrease 0.38pp New Decrease 0.12pp

Prime Minister before election

Aimo Cajander
Independent

Prime Minister after election

Lauri Ingman
National Coalition

Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 1 and 2 April 1924.[1] Although the Social Democratic Party remained the largest in Parliament with 60 of the 200 seats, Lauri Ingman of the National Coalition Party formed a centre-right majority government in May 1924. It remained intact until the Agrarians left in November 1924. Voter turnout was 57.4%.[2]

Background

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President Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg decided to dissolve Parliament in January 1924 and to organise early elections for April 1924, as since August 1923, Parliament had been 27 members short following the arrest of the Communist MPs suspected of treason. Around December 1923 and January 1924, the Social Democrats threatened to withdraw from Parliament, unless early elections were held. Prime Minister Kyösti Kallio opposed the dissolution of Parliament, true to his parliamentary principles, and resigned after Ståhlberg indicated that he would dissolve Parliament. After Kallio's resignation, Ståhlberg appointed a caretaker government of civil servants, led by Professor Aimo Cajander (a Progressive). The 1922 land reform had been enacted, on the initiative of Prime Minister Kallio. The National Coalitioners were becoming more right-wing and less reformist. The Progressives were losing votes to the National Coalitioners and Agrarians, with their brand of petty-bourgeois, urban liberalism losing its appeal in the still heavily agrarian Finland.[3][4]

Results

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PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Social Democratic Party255,06829.0260+7
Agrarian League177,98220.2544–1
National Coalition Party166,88018.9938+3
Swedish People's Party105,73312.0323–2
Electoral Organisation of Socialist Workers and Smallholders91,83910.4518–9
National Progressive Party79,9379.0917+2
Peasants' List4560.050New
Others1,0460.120
Total878,941100.002000
Valid votes878,94199.45
Invalid/blank votes4,8840.55
Total votes883,825100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,539,39357.41
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p606 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p613
  3. ^ Sakari Virkkunen, Finland's Presidents I / Suomen presidentit I, Helsinki: WSOY, 1994
  4. ^ Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds., A Small Giant of the Finnish History / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen, Helsinki: WSOY, 2003