1951 Finnish parliamentary election

1–2 July 1951
All 200 seats in the Parliament of Finland 101 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   130x130px 130x130px Leader Emil Skog V. J. Sukselainen Kusti Kulo Party Social Democratic Agrarian SKDL Last election 26.32%, 54 seats 24.24%, 56 seats 19.98%, 38 seats Seats won 53 51 43 Seat change 1 5 5 Popular vote 480,754 421,613 391,134 Percentage 26.52% 23.26% 21.58% Swing 0.20pp 0.98pp 1.60pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   130x130px 130x130px 130x130px Leader Arvo Salminen Ralf Törngren Eino Saari Party National Coalition Swedish People's People's Last election 17.04%, 33 seats 7.34%, 13 seats 3.91%, 5 seats Seats won 28 14 10 Seat change 5 1 5 Popular vote 264,044 131,719 102,933 Percentage 14.57% 7.27% 5.68% Swing 2.47pp 0.07pp 1.77pp   Seventh party   Party Åland Coalition Last election 0.35%, 1 seat Seats won 1 Seat change Popular vote 5,686 Percentage 0.31% Swing 0.04pp
Prime Minister before election Urho Kekkonen Agrarian Prime Minister after election Urho Kekkonen Agrarian

Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 1 and 2 July 1951.

Background

Urho Kekkonen of the Agrarian League had served as Prime Minister since March 1950, after losing the February 1950 presidential election to President Juho Kusti Paasikivi.

Kekkonen had governed first with the Swedish People's Party and National Progressive Party, but in January 1951 the Social Democratic Party had joined his government. The rationing of goods was ending gradually and the war reparation payments to the Soviet Union were to be completed by 1952. Prime Minister Kekkonen sought to reduce inflation by persuading the employers' organizations and labour unions to refrain from wage increases for the time being. In May 1951, these organizations agreed not to raise wages or prices for five months. During this "castle peace" or civic peace, the Social Democrats took most leadership positions in the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions.

The communist Finnish People's Democratic League benefited from the fact that the Social Democrats had agreed to govern with the Agrarians, and had thus "betrayed" (according to some Communists' campaign rhetoric) their fellow left-wingers. The economy's and inflation rate's stabilization possibly hurt the low-income workers (a likely constituency of the Communists) more than the white-collar workers or the businessmen, and this could partly explain the Communists' gain of five deputies. The People's Party of Finland had been formed as the Progressives' successor, and this fresh start can have contributed to its five-seat gain. After the elections, Kekkonen continued to serve as Prime Minister, forming his third government in September 1951. He introduced a new economic stabilization programme, which tied the prices and wages to an automatic full compensation.