Left Alliance (Finland)

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Template:Short description Template:Expand Finnish Template:Infobox political party

The Left Alliance (Template:Langx Template:IPA, Vas; Template:Langx, VF) is a left-wingTemplate:Refn political party in Finland.<ref>Template:Bulleted list</ref>

The Left Alliance was founded in 1990 as the chief successor of the left-wing Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL). Although not as electorally successful as the SKDL, it has achieved some success, typically receiving around eight to ten percent of the vote in parliamentary elections. It has participated in five cabinets, most recently in the Marin Cabinet from 2019 to 2023. It is socialist,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> specifically democratically socialist,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and it supports the principles of eco-socialism.<ref name="Nordsieck">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Left Alliance Party Program 2007">Template:Cite web</ref>

The Left Alliance is a member of the Nordic Green Left Alliance. The party's newspaper is the monthly Kansan Uutiset. It had two ministerial positions in the Marin cabinet, Li Andersson as Minister of Education<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Hanna Sarkkinen as Minister of Social Affairs and Health.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> It is also a part of the European Left Alliance for the People and the Planet, a pan-European party that supports an alternative to capitalism.<ref>WHO WE ARE</ref>

History

The Left Alliance was founded by the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL), the majority of members of the waning Communist Party of Finland (SKP) and the Finnish Women's Democratic League (SNDL). It was later joined by the communist Democratic Alternative. The founding meeting was held in April 1990 in Helsinki, following the publishing of the April Declaration, which stated the party's ideals.

The party's history has been characterised via internal disputes and bickering, as it was formed by people with very different views on society. There have been several defections from the Left Alliance to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Communist Party of Finland. In 2005, the party's former secretary and Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions's assistant head Template:Ill formed a group to promote a merger between the two largest Finnish left-wing political parties, the Left Alliance and the SDP. This caused an outrage within the Left Alliance, and Viialainen was condemned for wanting to break up the party. Viialainen subsequently left the party and ran for parliament on the SDP's ticket in 2007.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2006, the party's leader Suvi-Anne Siimes announced her resignation from the post and the party as a result of long-standing feuds with the leftist section of the party. On 13 May 2006, Martti Korhonen was elected as the new party leader. He was followed by Paavo Arhinmäki in June 2009, following the party's bad performance in the 2009 EU parliamentary election, in which the party lost its only seat.

In the 2011 election, the party won 14 seats and became a partner in the six-party "rainbow" cabinet. The decision to join the government created a split in the party, leading to the expulsion of two MPs from the parliamentary group. In 2014, the Left Alliance left the cabinet over a dispute on a package of spending cuts and tax hikes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2014 European Parliament election, the party regained their lost seat.

In the 2015 parliamentary election, the party received 211,615 votes, 7.1% of the total, and won 12 seats in the parliament.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April 2016, Arhinmäki announced that he wouldn't seek another term as the party leader.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 11 June 2016, Arhinmäki was succeeded by Li Andersson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Under the leadership of Andersson, the party gained support in the 2017 municipal elections and the 2019 parliamentary election, in the latter, the party increased its representation in the parliament for the first time since 1995.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election, the Left Alliance suffered its worst defeat ever, losing five seats, reducing the party to 11 MPs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, in the next year's European Parliament elections, the Left Alliance finished a surprising second, ahead of the Social Democrats, and elected three MEPs, including party leader Li Andersson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Prior to the election, polls had shown the party to be in fourth place.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Andersson herself received the most votes of any Finnish politician in European election history.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 19 October 2024, Andersson was succeeded as party leader by Minja Koskela.<ref name="Chairperson">Template:Cite news</ref> In the 2025 Finnish county election, the Left Alliance came in third nationwide. In the municipal election held on the same day, the party placed fourth. It had higher support in both elections when compared to the results of the previous corresponding elections, and notably surpassed the Finns Party in support in both elections.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Yle reported that the results may signify an ideological shift to the left in Finland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ideology and policies

File:Members of the Left Alliance at Helsinki Pride in 2016.jpg
Members of the Left Alliance at Helsinki Pride in 2016

According to the Left Alliance's party programme, adopted by the 5th Party Congress on 16 June 2007, the fundamental values of the Left Alliance are equality, freedom, sustainable development, and democracy. The party believes that globally, democracy must be strengthened, and that democracy should be stronger than the power of capital, challenging global capitalism. Important values also include global solidarity, stopping political polarisation in Finland, freedom and the right to work, and environmentalism.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> The party is for equality in all its forms and identifies strongly as feminist, anti-racist and is in support of economic democracy. The party has been defined from the outside as social democratic.<ref name= "Lloyds"/> The party supports introducing a universal basic income<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and prioritizes supporting the weakest members of society.

The Left Alliance wants the European Union to be more socially just.<ref name=":0" /> The party endorses the European Green Deal via changing the European Central Bank's financial sector's quantitative easing stimulus into a green stimulus to mitigate global warming and create green-collar jobs.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The party has traditionally been one of the staunch opponents of a Finnish NATO membership accession.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> After Finland considered an accession bid to NATO in May 2022, the party was in doubt whether to officially support an eventual NATO membership but assured that it would stay in the Marin cabinet in the case it made one.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During its annual party congress in June 2022, the Left Alliance adapted its party program and now only demands an eventual NATO membership to remain defensive, with no permanent NATO military bases or nuclear weapons within the country.<ref name=":1" /> It also demanded the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to be taken off the European Union's list of terrorist organisations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The party wants Finland to recognise Palestine and stop Finland's arms trade with Israel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Organization

Logos

Chairpersons

Election results

Parliamentary elections

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 bar:% color:SB width:22   mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S
 bar:1991 from:start till:10.08 text:10.1
 bar:1995 from:start till:11.16 text:11.2
 bar:1999 from:start till:10.88 text:10.9
 bar:2003 from:start till:9.93 text:9.9
 bar:2007 from:start till:8.82 text:8.8
 bar:2011 from:start till:8.15 text:8.1
 bar:2015 from:start till:7.14 text:7.1
 bar:2019 from:start till:8.20 text:8.2
 bar:2023 from:start till:7.06 text:7.1
 </timeline>
Election Votes % Seats +/- Government
1991 274,639 10.08 Template:Composition bar New Template:No2
1995 310,340 11.16 Template:Composition bar Template:Increase 3 Template:Yes2
1999 291,675 10.88 Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 2 Template:Yes2
2003 277,152 9.93 Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 1 Template:No2
2007 244,296 8.82 Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 2 Template:No2
2011 238,437 8.15 Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 3 Template:Yes2
Template:No2
2015 211,702 7.13 Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 2 Template:No2
2019 251,808 8.20 Template:Composition bar Template:Increase 4 Template:Yes2
2023 218,340 7.06 Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 5 Template:No2

Municipal elections

Election Councillors Votes %
1992 1,319 310,757 11.67
1996 1,128 246,597 10.37
2000 1,027 219,671 9.88
2004 987 228,358 9.56
2008 833 224,170 8.78
2012 640 199,312 8.0
2017 658 226,626 8.8
2021 508 194,385 7.9
2025 536 224,005 9.3

European Parliament

Election Votes % Seats +/– EP Group
1996 236,490 10.51 (#4) Template:Composition bar New The Left
1999 112,757 9.08 (#5) Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 1
2004 151,291 9.13 (#5) Template:Composition bar Template:Steady 0
2009 98,690 5.93 (#7) Template:Composition bar Template:Decrease 1 –
2014 160,818 9.32 (#6) Template:Composition bar Template:Increase 1 The Left
2019 125,749 6.89 (#6) Template:Composition bar Template:Steady 0
2024 316,859 17.32 (#2) Template:Composition bar Template:Increase 2

Presidential elections

Election Candidate 1st round 2nd round Result
Votes % Votes %
1994 Claes Andersson 122,820 3.8 (#6) Template:Lost
2000 None Template:Lost
2006 Supported Tarja Halonen 1,397,030 46,31 (#1) 1,630,980 51,79 (#1) Template:Won
2012 Paavo Arhinmäki 167,359 5.5 (#6) Template:Lost
2018 Merja Kyllönen 89,977 3.0 (#7) Template:Lost
2024 Li Andersson 158,328 4.88 (#5) Template:Lost

Elected members of parliament

The following politicians were elected to the Finnish Parliament in the April 2023 parliamentary election.

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Left Alliance (Finland) Template:Finnish political parties Template:European Left Alliance for the People and the Planet Template:Authority control

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