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City Council of Helsinki

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City Council of Helsinki

Helsingin kaupunginvaltuusto
Helsingfors stadsfullmäktige
History
Founded1873
Leadership
Chairperson
Fatim Diarra, Green League
First Deputy Chairperson
Wille Rydman, Finns Party
Second Deputy Chairperson
Pilvi Torsti, Social Democratic Party
Structure
Seats85
Political groups
  •   KOK (23)
  •   VIHR (18)
  •   SDP (13)
  •   VAS (11)
  •   PS (9)
  •   SFP (5)
  •   LIIK (3)
  •   KESK (2)
  •   KD (1)
Length of term
4 years
Elections
Last election
June 13, 2021
Meeting place
Helsinki City Hall
Website
www.hel.fi/helsinki/en/administration/decision/council/

The City Council of Helsinki (Finnish: Helsingin kaupunginvaltuusto [ˈhelsiŋːin ˈkɑu̯puŋːinˌʋɑltuːsto], Swedish: Helsingfors stadsfullmäktige) is the main decision-making organ in the local politics of Helsinki, Finland.[1] 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.

City Hall, the seat of the Helsinki City Council.

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. This is because there are very few farmers in Helsinki.

Former Helsinki City Manager Jussi Pajunen (center) with former leading City Council members Chairman Minerva Krohn (background), Osmo Soininvaara (left), and Arto Bryggare (right). Portrait of former chairman Alfred Norrmén on the wall.

Seat distribution in the Council

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1919–1936

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Elections Seats
SDP RKP NCP NPP SWPF
SM 		Other Total
1918 26 22 8 4 60
1919 24 22 8 2 4 60
1920 20 22 7 3 8 60
1921 15 21 8 3 13 60
1922 12 22 9 3 14 60
1923 11 23 10 3 13 60
1924 11 24 11 3 11 60
1925 12 20 11 4 9 3 59
1928 13 18 9 5 10 4 59
1930 22 16 13 4 4 59
1933 23 15 11 6 4 59
1936 24 15 12 5 3 59
Source: Helsinki City Statistics[2]

1945–

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Elections Seat Voter turnout %
NCP SDP FPDL
Left 		RKP NPP CDP
KD 		Centre SMP
Finns 		CRP
CPP 		Greens H2000 Independents Communist Other Total
1945 14 11 15 12 6 1 59
1947 15 15 11 12 5 1a 59
1950 16 19 15 13 8 71
1953 15 18 15 13 10 71
1956 18 19 15 14 11 77
1960 21 16 15 13 9 3 77
1964 21 21 14 11 7 3 77
1968 21 21 11 10 8 -- 1 4 1b 77
1972 21 25 12 9 6 2 1 1 77
1976 22 22 15 10 6 3 3 -- 4 -- 85
1980 28 23 14 7 3 3 2 1 3 1c 85
1984 26 19 9 8 3 2 3 2 7 4 2d 85
1988 27 21 7 8 -- 2 4 1 1 7 3 4e 85
1992 21 21 7 8 1 2 3 -- 1f 15 4 2 -- 85
1996 24 21 6 8 -- 2 3 -- 16 1 4g 85
2000 25 18 7 6 3 4 21 1 -- -- 85
2004 25 21 8 6 -- 2 4 1 17 1 -- 85 57.1 %
2008 26 16 7 5 2 3 4 21 1 -- 85 58.9 %
2012 23 15 9 5 2 3 8 19 1 -- 85 57.4 %
2017 25 12 10 5 2 2 6 21 2h 85 61.8 %
2021 23 13 11 5 1 2 9 18 3i 85 61.7%
a Radical People's Party
b Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders
c Helsinki Movement (Ville Komsi)[3]
d Democratic Helsinki Movement
e Democratic Alternative (2 councilors), Citizens Movement (2 councilors)
f Constitutional Right
g Young Finns
h Feminist Party (1 councilor), Pirate Party (1 councilor)[4]
i Movement Now
Source: Statistics Bureau of Finland,[5][6] Ministry of Justice,[7] & Helsinki City Statistics[2]

Chairmen of the City Council

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Deputy Chairman

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City Manager

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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. According to local media, the three biggest parties in the council had agreed in the wake of the October 2004 municipal election that the mayor's seat would go to the National Coalition Party.[citation needed] The position of City Manager was abolished in June 2017 and the position of Mayor was created.

List of city managers of Helsinki

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Image City Manager Term Party
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

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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 Juhana Vartiainen. Vapaavuori has been a Helsinki City Council member in the years 1997-2007 and 2017-. Vapaavuori started his term on 7 June 2017.

List of mayors of Helsinki

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Image Mayor Term Party
Jan Vapaavuori 2017–2021 National Coalition Party
Juhana Vartiainen 2021- National Coalition Party

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "City Council". Helsingin kaupunki. Retrieved 2018-01-02.
  2. ^ a b Finnish municipal elections, Helsingissä vuonna 2008 Statistics 2008, 43 Helsinki City Statistics
  3. ^ Historiia Helsingin Vihreät 29 June 2007
  4. ^ Kunnallisvaalien vaalitulos puolueittain ja muutokset verrattuna edellisiin vaaleihin / Helsinki Archived August 27, 2002, at the Wayback Machine (Oikeusministeriö)
  5. ^ 29 B, 3-4 (Statistics Bureau) (years 1968-1972); Tilastokeskuksen PX-Web-tietokannat: Finnish municipal elections, 1976-2004 Archived 2012-05-26 at archive.today (Statistics 2008) (years 1976-2004)
  6. ^ Finnish municipal elections, 1988 (Statistics 1989), s. 36–37, 178.
  7. ^ 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)
  8. ^ "Adliga ätten nr 260 LINDELÖF". Archived from the original on 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  9. ^ "Jälkeläistaulut – Schultén af, Maximus Widekind". Archived from the original on 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  10. ^ "Mari Puoskari Helsingin valtuuston puheenjohtajaksi, Emma Kari vihreän valtuustoryhmän johtoon". Helsingin Vihreät. 3 December 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  11. ^ a b Kukkiva asfaltti, hiukan nostalginen albumi (2001, Pentti Poukka)
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