Liberalism and centrism in Finland

This article gives an overview of liberalism and centrism in Finland. It is limited to liberal and centrist parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it is not necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.

Liberalism was a major force in Finland since 1894. After independence the current gradually decreased. A major other force, agrarianism, choose in 1965 to develop itself into a more centrist current. The liberal character of the Finnish Center (Suomen Keskusta), member of LI and ELDR, is based on liberal ideas like decentralization, peasant-like freedom and progressivism. The Swedish minority party Swedish People's Party (Svenska Folkpartiet i Finland) is also a member of LI, ELDR. The original liberal current is now organized in the Liberals (Liberaalit), a very small extra-parliamentary party. At the autonomous island of Åland the Liberals for Åland (Liberalerna på Åland) are a dominant force.

The timeline

Liberal Club / Liberal Party

1877: Liberals formed the Liberal Club (Liberaalinen Klubi), renamed in 1880 Liberal Party (Liberaalinen Puolue)
1882: The Liberal Party disappeared

From Young Finnish Party to Liberals

1894: Constitutionalist fennomans organized into the Young Finnish faction within the Finnish Party (Nuorsuomalainen Puolue)
1905: The Young Finnish Party secedes from the Finnish Party.
1918: The Republican factions of the two Finnish parties reorganise into the Progressive Party (Kansallinen Edistyspuolue)
1951: The Progressive Party falls apart into the Finnish People's Party (Suomen Kansanpuolue) and the ⇒ Free-minded League (Vapaamielisten liitto)
1965: The People's Party and the ⇒ Free-minded League reunite into the Liberal People's Party (Liberaalinen Kansanpuolue)
1982: The Liberal People's Party associated itself with the ⇒ Centre Party, whilst some liberal youth activists join the Greens.
1983: The Liberal People's Party loses all of seats in the Parliament for the first time.
1986: The Liberal People's Party disassociated itself from the ⇒ Centre Party
1991: The Liberal People's Party returns to parliament with one MP.
1995: The Liberal People's Party loses its only MP.
2000: The Liberal People's Party renames itself Liberals (Liberaalit)
2007: Removed from the party registry after failing to get a seat in two consecutive parliamentary elections

Swedish People's Party

1906: Liberal svekomans formed the present-day Swedish People's Party in Finland (Svenska Folkpartiet i Finland)
1919: Republicans formed the Liberal Swedish Party (Svensk Vänster)
1951: Liberal Swedish Party merged with SFP

People's Party

1917: Progressive liberals formed the People's Party (Kansanpuolue)
1918: The People's Party merged into the ⇒ National Progressive Party

Free-minded League

1951: The ⇒ National Progressive Party fell apart and the Free-minded League (Vapaamielisten Liitto) is formed
1965: The League merged with the ⇒ Finnish People's Party into the ⇒ Liberal People's Party

Centre Party / Finnish Centre

Centrists

1965: The agrarian Agrarian League (Maalaisliitto) reorganised itself into the Centre Party (Keskustapuolue).
1988: The Centre Party is renamed Finnish Centre (Suomen Keskusta)

Liberal Party – Freedom to Choose

2015: Liberal Party - Freedom to Choose is formed.
2023: Liberal Party publishes #LeikattavaaLöytyy shadow budget to balance the national budget.

Åland

Liberals for Åland

1967: Liberals organised itself into the Centrist Liberals (Mittenliberalerna)
1971: The Centrist Liberals are renamed Electoral Union Liberal Assembly (Valforbundet Liberal Samling)
1978: VLS and ⇒ LoS–Liberals merged into the Liberals for Åland (Liberalerna på Åland)

Centre Party

1967: The Rural and Archipelago Electoral Union (Landsbygdens och Skargardens Valforbund) was founded
1975: The LoS–Liberals (LoS–Liberalerna) seceded from the Rural and Archipelago Electoral Union
1976: The Rural and Archipelago Electoral Union is renamed Åland Centre (Åländska Centern)
1978: VLS and ⇒ LoS–Liberals merged into the ⇒ Liberals for Åland

Liberal and centrist leaders

Kansallinen Edistyspuolue: Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg
Maalaisliitto/Keskustapuolue: Urho Kekkonen
Keskusta: Esko Aho - Anneli Jäätteenmäki - Matti Vanhanen - Mari Kiviniemi - Juha Sipilä
Svenska Folkpartiet: Ole Norrback - Jan-Erik Enestam - Stefan Wallin - Carl Haglund

Liberal thinkers

In the Contributions to liberal theory the following Finnish thinker is included:

Santeri Alkio (Finland, 1862–1930)
Anders Chydenius (Finland, 1729–1803)