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.
1877: Liberals formed the Liberal Club (Liberaalinen Klubi), renamed in 1880 Liberal Party (Liberaalinen Puolue)1882: The Liberal Party disappeared1894: Liberal fennomans formed the Young Finns Party (Nuorsuomalainen Puolue)1918: The NSP is reorganised into the National Progressive Party (Kansallinen Edistyspuolue)1951: The KEP fell apart into the Finnish People's Party (Suomen Kansanpuolue) and the ⇒ Free-minded League1965: The SK and the ⇒ Free-minded League reunited into the Liberal People's Party (Liberaalinen Kansanpuolue)1982: The LKP associated itself with the ⇒ Center Party1987: The LKP disassociated itself from the ⇒ Center Party1995: Last time LKP had a seat in the parliament, since then has been a very small extra-parliamentary party2000: The LKP renamed itself as Liberals (Liberaalit)2007: Removed from the party registry after failing to get a seat in two consecutive parliamentary elections1906 Liberal svekomans formed the present-day Swedish People's Party in Finland (Svenska Folkpartiet i Finland)1917: Progressive liberals formed the People's Party (Finland) (Kansanpuolue)1918: The People's Party merged into the ⇒ National Progressive Party1951: The ⇒ National Progressive Party fell apart and the Free-minded League (Vapaamielisten Liitto) is formed1965: The League merged with the ⇒ Finnish People's Party into the ⇒ Liberal People's PartyCentrists
1965: The agrarian Agrarian League (Maalaisliitto) reorganised itself into the Centre Party (Keskustapuolue).1987: The Centre Party is renamed Finnish Centre (Suomen Keskusta)Liberal and centrist leaders
Kansallinen Edistyspuolue: Kaarlo Juho StåhlbergMaalaisliitto/Keskustapuolue: Urho KekkonenKeskusta: Esko Aho - Anneli Jäätteenmäki - Matti Vanhanen - Mari Kiviniemi - Juha SipiläSvenska Folkpartiet: Ole Norrback - Jan-Erik Enestam - Stefan Wallin - Carl HaglundIn the Contributions to liberal theory the following Finnish thinker is included:
Santeri Alkio (Finland, 1862-1930)Anders Chydenius (Finland, 1729-1803)