2017 Finns Party leadership election

The 2017 Finns Party leadership election was held in Jyväskylä, Finland, on June 10, 2017,^[1] to elect the new chair of the Finns Party. All members of the party who had paid their subscription were allowed to vote in the election.^[2]

The incumbent party chair Timo Soini, who had led the party since 1997, did not run for the leadership this time.^[3] MEP Jussi Halla-aho and Sampo Terho, Minister for European Affairs, Culture and Sport, were considered the strongest candidates to succeed him.^[4] Leena Meri and Veera Ruoho, two Members of the Finnish Parliament, and Riku Nevanpää, a local politician, also ran for party chair.^[5]^[6]^[7] Raimo Rautiola, another local politician, initially stood for election but pulled out of the race on 5 June.^[8]

The election was won by Halla-aho who received 949 votes in the first round, 56% of the total vote. Terho received 629 votes.^[9]^[10] In addition, Laura Huhtasaari was chosen as the first deputy leader, while Teuvo Hakkarainen and Juho Eerola won the races for second and third deputy leaders of the party, respectively. The incumbent party secretary Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo maintained her position after a vote.^[11]

These selections were characterised by newspaper Helsingin Sanomat as a takeover by the anti-immigration wing of the Finns party, from the allegedly more moderate followers of the former leader Soini.^[11] Halla-aho's rise to power was described as a "unique event in Finnish political history" by the Prime Minister and Centre leader Juha Sipilä.^[12] According to Bloomberg News, the results of the leadership election put the future of the ruling coalition in jeopardy.^[12] On 12 June, both Sipilä and NCP leader Petteri Orpo tweeted that in their view, they could not carry on co-operating with Halla-aho-led Finns Party.^[13]^[14] On 13 June, twenty Members of Parliament left the Finns Party parliamentary group and formed a new group of their own, called New Alternative (which later became a party called Blue Reform). Included in this group of defectors were former leader and current Foreign Minister Soini, as well as all the other Finns Party Ministers (Terho, Jari Lindström, Jussi Niinistö, Pirkko Mattila) and Speaker of Parliament Maria Lohela.^[15]

Notable endorsements

Jussi Halla-aho

Teuvo Hakkarainen, MP for Central Finland.^[16]
Laura Huhtasaari, MP for Satakunta.^[17]
Olli Immonen, MP for Oulu.^[18]

Sampo Terho

Jari Lindström, Minister for Labour, MP for South-Eastern Finland.^[19]
Maria Lohela, Speaker of the Parliament, MP for Finland Proper.^[20]
Jussi Niinistö, Minister for Defence, MP for Uusimaa.^[20]

Opinion polls

Poll source	Survey dates	Halla-aho	Terho	Others	Undecided
Poll source	Survey dates
Taloustutkimus^[21]	17 May 2017	40%	26%	9%	25%
Lännen Media^[22]	5 June 2017	42%	43%	6%	8%

Results


Candidate	Votes	%
Jussi Halla-aho	949	56.15
Sampo Terho	629	37.22
Leena Meri	60	3.55
Veera Ruoho	44	2.60
Riku Nevanpää	8	0.47
Total	1,690	100.00

Valid votes	1,690	91.60
Invalid/blank votes	155	8.40
Total votes	1,845	100.00
Source: ^[10]

References

^ "Ensi kesän puoluekokous järjestetään Jyväskylässä". Suomen Uutiset. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
^ "Perussuomalaiset rp:n säännöt". Finns Party. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
^ "Soini announces he will not continue at Finns Party helm". Yle News. Yle. 5 March 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
^ "Halla-aho's bid for Finns Party leadership boosts interest in party membership". Yle News. Yle. 2 April 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
^ "Parliamentary group chief Sampo Terho to vie for Finns Party chair". Yle News. Yle. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
^ "Kansanedustaja Veera Ruoho ilmoittautui perussuomalaisten pj-kisaan". MTV Uutiset. MTV3. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
^ "Perussuomalaisten puheenjohtajakiertue: Sampo Terho lupasi tehdä puolueesta Suomen suurimman". Yle News. 6 May 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
^ "Raimo Rautiola vetäytyy puheenjohtajakisasta". Yle News. 6 May 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
^ Mattila, Sanni (10 June 2017). "Jussi Halla-aho on perussuomalaisten uusi puheenjohtaja: "Olen sanaton"". Iltalehti. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Jussi Halla-aho valittiin suoraan ensimmäisellä kierroksella". perussuomalaiset.fi. Finns Party. 10 June 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Perussuomalaisten maahanmuuttovastaisen siiven värisuora: Teuvo Hakkarainen valittiin 2. varapuheenjohtajaksi". hs.fi. Helsingin Sanomat. 10 June 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Finnish Populists' Step to Right Threatens Ruling Coalition". bloomberg.com. Bloomberg Politics. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
^ "Juha Sipilä on Twitter". Twitter.com. Juha Sipilä. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
^ "Petteri Orpo on Twitter". Twitter.com. Petteri Orpo. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
^ Thynell, Tuulia (13 June 2017). "Tällainen on Uusi vaihtoehto – Nämä kansanedustajat jättivät perussuomalaiset". Yle News. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
^ "Teuvo Hakkarainen kannattaa Jussi Halla-ahoa Soinin seuraajaksi: "Siitä alkaa trumppilainen politiikka"". Ilta-Sanomat. 5 March 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
^ "Terho ja Halla-aho ovat perussuomalaisten puheenjohtajasuosikkeja MTV:n kyselyssä". Mtv.fi. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
^ "Tuen Jussi Halla-ahoa perussuomalaisten puheenjohtajaksi". Olli Immonen's blog. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
^ "Ministeri Lindström tukee Sampo Terhoa perussuomalaisten puheenjohtajaksi". YLE. 27 May 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Sampo Terholle heti kaksi kovaa tukijaa – Jussi Niinistö ei lähde pj-kisaan". Uusisuomi.fi. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
^ Kempas, Karla (17 May 2017). "Taloustutkimus: Perussuomalaisten äänestäjät kannattavat Halla-ahoa puolueen seuraavaksi puheenjohtajaksi selvästi enemmän kuin Terhoa". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 18 June 2017.
^ "Yli 300 perussuomalaisen LM-kysely: Halla-aho on kirinyt Terhon etumatkan kiinni – trilleri tasan". Aamulehti (in Finnish). 2 June 2017. Archived from the original on 15 June 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.