National Coalition Party gets almost one in three Helsinki votes

Greens and SDP remain Helsinki’s other big parties

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Voters in the city of Helsinki gave the opposition National Coalition Party a record-high 31.3% of votes in the European Parliament election. The figure exceeds the party’s Helsinki result in last year’s Parliamentary elections by more than seven percentage points.
      The party tends to score better in European Parliament elections than in other votes. However, this year’s numbers set a new record in Helsinki.
      In the European Parliament elections five years ago the party got just over 30% in Helsinki. It has also reached the 30% threshold in a few municipal elections.
      "We have to be satisfied. It is a good starting point for the municipal elections", says Kai Hagelberg, the chairman of the party’s Helsinki district organisation.
     
The National Coalition Party got the most votes at about half of Helsinki’s 81 polling stations. The highest figures were in the Kuusisaari-Lehtisaari area, where 55% of voters cast ballots for a National Coalition Party candidate.
      The National Coalition Party was overwhelming in southern and western parts of the city, whereas the central areas of Kannelmäki, Maunula, and Koskela, where rental housing dominates, favoured the Social Democratic Party.
      The Social Democrats were the largest party at 23 polling stations, winning their highest figures in eastern and northeastern areas.
      The highest figures for the SDP came from Jakomäki, where nearly 40% of voters chose a Social Democrat. The party’s overall support in the city was 20.2%.
     
The Green League got 21.3% of Helsinki votes, scoring especially high figures along the eastern shore of the Helsinki peninsula - in areas such as Kallio, Vallila, Alppila, Hermanni, Kumpula, and Käpylä. The Green vote was the highest in Kumpula, where the party got 42% of ballots that were cast.
      The Left Alliance got 9.2% citywide, making its best showing in the northeastern area of Jakomäki, where it polled 18.3%.
      The Centre Party, whose power base is in Finland’s rural areas, got 7.3% of the vote in Helsinki. On the garrison island of Santahamina, the party polled 17.8%.
      The Swedish People’s Party got 5.8% of the overall vote, reaching more than 22% in the prosperous neighbourhood of Kaivopuisto on the southern tip of the centre of the city.
      The Christian Democrats got 2.9% of the Helsinki vote, and the populist True Finns got 0.7%.
     
Leading the race for personal votes was Alexander Stubb of the National Coalition Party, who was the leader at 54 polling stations, getting 30,717 votes in the city. The Greens’ Satu Hassi was the most popular candidate in 23 areas, with 17,860 votes, and the Social Democrats’ Reino Paasilinna finished first in four areas, winning a total of 10,620 votes in Helsinki.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Centre Party and SDP make gains in increased vote for European Parliament elections (14.6.2004)

Helsingin Sanomat