1936 Finnish parliamentary election
← 1933 1–2 July 1936 1939 →
All 200 seats in the Parliament of Finland
101 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Kaarlo Harvala Pekka Heikkinen Ernst von Born
Party SDP Agrarian RKP
Last election 78 seats, 37.33% 53 seats, 22.54% 21 seats, 10.42%
Seats won 83 53 21
Seat change Increase 5 Steady 0 Steady 0
Popular vote 452,751 262,917 131,440
Percentage 38.59% 22.41% 11.20%
Swing Increase 1.26pp Decrease 0.13pp Increase 0.78pp
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Juho Kusti Paasikivi Vihtori Kosola Aimo Cajander
Party National Coalition IKL National Progressive
Last election 32 seats, 16.93% Alliance with National Coalition 11 seats, 7.41%
Seats won 20 14 7
Seat change Decrease 12 – Decrease 4
Popular vote 121,619 97,891 73,654
Percentage 10.36% 8.34% 6.28%
Swing Decrease 6.57pp – Increase 1.13pp
  Seventh party Eighth party
 
Party Small Farmers' People's
Last election 3 seats, 3.39% 2 seats, 0.85%
Seats won 1 1
Seat change Decrease 2 Decrease 1
Popular vote 23,159 7,449
Percentage 1.97% 0.63
Swing Decrease 1.42pp Decrease 0.22pp
Prime Minister before election

Toivo Mikael Kivimäki
National Progressive

Prime Minister after election

Toivo Mikael Kivimäki
National Progressive

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Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 1 and 2 July 1936.[1] Following the election Prime Minister Toivo Mikael Kivimäki of the National Progressive Party was defeated in a confidence vote in September 1936 and resigned in October. Kyösti Kallio of the Agrarian League formed a centrist minority government after Pehr Evind Svinhufvud (National Coalition Party) refused to allow the Social Democrats to join the government. After Svinhufvud's defeat in the February 1937 presidential election, Kallio took office as the new President in March 1937, and he allowed the Social Democrats, Agrarians and Progressives to form the first centre-left or "red soil" ("red" for the Social Democrats and "soil" for the Agrarians) Finnish government. Aimo Cajander (Progressive) became Prime Minister, although the real strong men of the government were Finance Minister Väinö Tanner (Social Democrat) and Defence Minister Juho Niukkanen (Agrarian).

Background

Finland had clearly recovered from the Great Depression since 1933, and unemployment had been almost eliminated. Prime Minister Kivimäki wanted to continue in office and to broaden his narrow right-wing minority government. The new Finnish economic prosperity, and the growing contacts between leading Agrarians and Social Democrats, made alternatives emerge for the Kivimäki government. For the first time in the history of independent Finland, an Agrarian-Social Democratic government began to be seriously discussed and planned. Despite its noisy and vigorous activity, the far-right Patriotic People's Movement remained small. Under the leadership of Juho Kusti Paasikivi, the National Coalitioners moved towards the political centre, and rejected calls for a new electoral alliance with the Patriotic People's Movement. The election results showed that the Finnish political democracy and its two leading moderate parties, the Social Democrats and Agrarians, had been strengthened. The Depression-based fringe parties, the Small Farmers' Party of Finland and the People's Party, lost most of their seats, while the Patriotic People's Movement remained at fourteen deputies, and the moderate right (National Coalitioners) gained two seats. The divided Progressives (Prime Minister Kivimäki led their right wing, and Professor Cajander led their left wing) lost four seats.[2][3]

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Social Democratic Party452,75138.5983+5
Agrarian League262,91722.41530
Swedish People's Party131,44011.20210
National Coalition Party121,61910.3620+2
Patriotic People's Movement97,8918.34140
National Progressive Party73,6546.287–4
Small Farmers' Party23,1591.971–2
People's Party7,4490.631–1
Others2,5020.210–
Total1,173,382100.002000
Valid votes1,173,38299.57
Invalid/blank votes5,0300.43
Total votes1,178,412100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,872,90862.92
Source: Tilastokeskus 2004[4] Suomen virallinen tilasto[5]

References

  1. ^ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p606 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Seppo Zetterberg et al., eds., A Small Giant of the Finnish History / Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen, Helsinki: WSOY, 2003
  3. ^ Sakari Virkkunen, Finland's Presidents I / Suomen presidentit I, Helsinki: WSOY, 1994
  4. ^ Tiedosto "595. Eduskuntavaalit 1927–2003 (Tilastokeskus 2004)
  5. ^ Suomen virallinen tilasto 29 A, XVII.
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