Traditionally, the conservative National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) has been the biggest party in Helsinki's local politics, with the Social Democrats being the second biggest. In the 2000 election the Green League, for which Helsinki is the strongest area of support nationally, gained the position of the second most popular party. In 2004 however, the Social Democrats regained that position. Currently these three groups hold about 75% of the seats. The Left Alliance and the Swedish People's Party both have some 7-8% of the seats. The latter's support has declined over the years, most likely because of the diminishing proportion of Swedish speakers. The Centre Party of Finland, despite being one of the three major parties in nationwide politics, has little support in Helsinki reflecting its relatively weak popularity in other large cities.
Party | 2004 |
2000 |
1996 |
National Coalition Party |
25 |
25 |
24 |
SDP |
21 |
18 |
21 |
Green League |
17 |
21 |
16 |
Left Alliance |
8 |
7 |
6 |
Swedish People's Party |
6 |
6 |
8 |
Centre Party |
4 |
4 |
3 |
Christian Democrats |
2 |
3 |
2 |
True Finns |
1 |
- |
- |
Communist Party |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Independents |
0 |
1 |
0 |