City Council of Helsinki

The City Council of Helsinki ( , ) is the main decision-making organ in the local politics of Helsinki, Finland. The City Council deals with issues such as city planning, schools, health care, and public transport.

The 85-seat Council's members are elected every four years in municipal elections. The seat of the Council is the Helsinki City Hall, which overlooks Market Square in central Helsinki. Historically, the center-right National Coalition Party has been the largest player in Helsinki's local politics, with the center-left Social Democratic Party being the second largest. However, since the 2000 elections, the position of the Social Democrats has been challenged by the Green League, for which Helsinki is the strongest area of support nationally, with the former party becoming the second-largest in only the 2008 elections. As of 2021, the second-largest and third-largest parties in the Council are the Green League and the Social Democrats respectively.

The Left Alliance is the Council's fourth-largest party while the Finns are the fifth-largest. The Swedish People's Party is sixth, with the party's support on a steady decline over the years; this can be attributed to the diminishing proportion of Swedish speakers in Helsinki. The agrarian Centre Party, despite being one of the major parties in national politics, has limited support in Helsinki. .

Seat distribution in the Council

1919–1936 Elections SeatsSDPRKPNCPNPPSWPFSMOtherTotal191826228460191924228246019202022738601921152183136019221222931460192311231031360192411241131160192512201149359192813189510459193022161344591933231511645919362415125359Source: Helsinki City StatisticsFinnish municipal elections, Helsingissä vuonna 2008 Statistics 2008, 43 Helsinki City Statistics

1945– Elections Seat Voter turnout %NCPSDPFPDLLeftRKPNPPCDPKDCentreSMPFinnsCRPCPPGreensH2000IndependentsCommunistOtherTotal194514111512615919471515111251a5919501619151387119531518151310711956181915141177196021161513937719642121141173771968212111108 --141b7719722125129621177197622221510633 --4 --8519802823147332131c8519842619983232742d851988272178 --2411734e851992212178123 --1f1542 --851996242168 --23 --1614g85200025187634211 -- --852004252186 --241171 --8557.1 %2008261675234211 --8558.9 %2012231595238191 --8557.4 %20172512105226212h8561.8 %20212313115129183i8561.7 %20252121154124161i8561.1 %a Radical People's Party b Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholdersc Helsinki Movement (Ville Komsi)Historiia Helsingin Vihreät 29 June 2007d Democratic Helsinki Movemente Democratic Alternative (2 councilors), Citizens Movement (2 councilors)f Constitutional Right g Young Finns h Feminist Party (1 councilor), Pirate Party (1 councilor)Kunnallisvaalien vaalitulos puolueittain ja muutokset verrattuna edellisiin vaaleihin / Helsinki (Oikeusministeriö)i Movement NowSource: Statistics Bureau of Finland,29 B, 3-4 (Statistics Bureau) (years 1968-1972); Tilastokeskuksen PX-Web-tietokannat: Finnish municipal elections, 1976-2004 (Statistics 2008) (years 1976-2004)Finnish municipal elections, 1988 (Statistics 1989), s. 36–37, 178. Ministry of Justice,Finnish municipal elections, 1996 (Minister of Justice 1997) Finnish municipal elections, 2000 (Minister of Justice 2000); Finnish municipal elections, 2004 (Minister of Justice 2004); Finnish municipal elections, 2008 (Minister of Justice 30.10.2008); Finnish municipal elections, 2012 (Minister of Justice 1.11.2012); Finnish municipal elections, 2017 (Minister of Justice 13.4.2017); 2021 Finnish municipal elections (Ministry of Justice 2021) & Helsinki City Statistics

Chairmen of the City Council

Leo Mechelin (1875–1878) A. W. Liljenstrand (1877) J. A. Estlander (1879–1880) Lorenz Leonard Lindelöf (1881–1882) M. W. af Schultén (1883–1887) J. W. Runeberg (1888–1891) Leo Mechelin (1892–1899) (2nd time) P. K. S. Antell (1900–1903) Alfred Norrmén (1904–1918) Alexander Frey (1919–1920) Arthur Söderholm (1922) Leo Ehrnrooth (1923–1925) Antti Tulenheimo (1926–1928) Ivar Lindfors (1929–1934) Yrjö Harvia (1934–1936) Eero Rydman (1937–1944) Eino Tulenheimo (1945–1950) Konsti Järnefelt (1951) Lauri Aho (1952–1956) Teuvo Aura (1957–1968) Jussi Saukkonen (1969–1972) Pentti Poukka (1973–1979) Gustaf Laurent (1980) Harri Holkeri (1981–1987) Kari Rahkamo (1987–1991) Erkki Heikkonen (1991–1992) Arja Alho (1993–1994) Suvi Rihtniemi (1995–2000) Pekka Sauri (2001–2003) Minerva Krohn (2003–2004) Rakel Hiltunen (2005–2008) Otto Lehtipuu (2009–2011) Minerva Krohn (2011–2012) Mari Puoskari (2013–)

Deputy Chairman

Väinö Tanner (1929-1930) Johan Helo Pekka Railo Tyyne Leivo-Larsson (1948-1956) B. R. Nybergh (1951-1954) Gunnar Modeen (1954-1964) Yrjö Rantala (1957-1972) Leo Backman (1965-1967) Carl-Gustaf Londen (1967-1974) Keijo Liinamaa (1973-1976) Gustaf Laurent (1974-1980)Kukkiva asfaltti, hiukan nostalginen albumi (2001, Pentti Poukka) Per-Erik Förars (1977-1979) Arvo Salo (1979-1980) Grels Teir Jyrki Lohi (1989-1992) Ulla Gyllenberg (1989-1992) Outi Ojala (1993-1994) Erkki Heikkonen (1993-1995) Ulla Gyllenberg (1994-1998) Per-Erik Förars (1995-1996) Tuula Haatainen (1997-2000) Tuija Brax (1998-2000) Hannele Luukkainen (2000) Suvi Rihtniemi (2001-2004) Arto Bryggare (2001-2004) Harry Bogomoloff (2005-) Minerva Krohn (2005-2008) Rakel Hiltunen (2009–2012) Sara Paavolainen (2013–)

City Manager The City Manager of Helsinki was appointed by the Council. The last holder of the post was Jussi Pajunen. He was appointed for two 7-year terms, starting 1 June 2005. Pajunen was a member of the Council for 8 years, and was the chairman of the city board in 2003–2005. The position of City Manager was abolished in June 2017 and the position of Mayor was created.

List of city managers of Helsinki ImageCity ManagerTermParty Arthur Castrén 1921–1930 Young Finnish Party Antti Tulenheimo 1931–1944 National Coalition Party Eero Rydman 1944–1956 National Progressive Party Lauri Aho 1956–1968 National Coalition Party Teuvo Aura 1968–1979 Liberal People's Party Raimo Ilaskivi 1979–1991 National Coalition Party Kari Rahkamo 1991–1996 National Coalition Party Eva-Riitta Siitonen 1996–2005 National Coalition Party Jussi Pajunen 2005–2017 National Coalition Party

Mayor The position of Mayor of Helsinki was created when the position of City Manager of Helsinki was abolished in June 2017. The incumbent mayor of Helsinki is Daniel Sazonov.

List of mayors of Helsinki ImageMayorTermParty Jan Vapaavuori 2017–2021 National Coalition Party Juhana Vartiainen 2021–2025 National Coalition Party Daniel Sazonov 2025– National Coalition Party

See also Timeline of Helsinki

References

External links