electionstracker

Finland 1972 parliamentary election

What was the result of the 1972 parliamentary election in Finland?

Social Democratic Party of Finland won 55 of 200 seats with 25.8% of the vote. 81.4% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Finland
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Social Democratic Party of Finland won 55 of 200 seats with 25.8% of the vote; 81.4% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 0.8 points on 1970.

  • Social Democratic Party of Finland 55 +3 seats 25.8% +2.4 points
  • National Coalition Party 34 −3 seats 17.6% −0.4 points
  • Democratic Union / Left Alliance 37 +1 seat 17.0% +0.4 points
  • Centre Party 35 −1 seat 16.4% −0.7 points
  • Finnish Party / True Finns 18 0 seats 9.2% −1.3 points
  • National Progressive Party / [Finnish] Liberal People's Party 7 −1 seat 5.2% −0.7 points
  • Swedish People's Party of Finland 9 −2 seats 5.1% −0.2 points
  • Christian Democrats 4 +3 seats 2.5% +1.4 points
  • Åland Coalition 1 0 seats 0.3% −0.1 points
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Finland 1970 parliamentary election, party by party.

101 of 200 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 25.8%

    Share of the vote won by Social Democratic Party of Finland

    Social Democratic Party of Finland won 55 of 200 seats. A majority needs 101.

  2. +3 seats

    Seats gained by Social Democratic Party of Finland

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1970. National Coalition Party lost 3 seats.

  3. 81.4%

    Voter turnout

    Down 0.8 points on 1970.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Social Democratic Party of Finland55+325.8+2.4664,724
National Coalition Party34−317.6−0.4453,434
Democratic Union / Left Alliance37+117.0+0.4438,757
Centre Party35−116.4−0.7423,039
Finnish Party / True Finns1809.2−1.3236,206
National Progressive Party / [Finnish] Liberal People's Party7−15.2−0.7132,955
Swedish People's Party of Finland9−25.1−0.2130,407
Christian Democrats4+32.5+1.465,228
Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders001.0−0.425,527
Åland Coalition100.3−0.17,672

± is the change against the Finland 1970 parliamentary election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Social Democratic Party of Finland 664,724
  • National Coalition Party 453,434
  • Democratic Union / Left Alliance 438,757
  • Centre Party 423,039
  • Finnish Party / True Finns 236,206
  • National Progressive Party / [Finnish] Liberal People's Party 132,955
  • Swedish People's Party of Finland 130,407
  • Christian Democrats 65,228
  • Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders 25,527
  • Åland Coalition 7,672

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

81.4% of the 3,178,169 registered voters cast a ballot (2,587,060 ballots), down 0.8 points on 1970. 2,577,949 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout since 1958 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Social Democratic Party of Finland25.8% of votes27.5% of seats
  • Democratic Union / Left Alliance17.0% of votes18.5% of seats
  • Centre Party16.4% of votes17.5% of seats
  • National Coalition Party17.6% of votes17.0% of seats
  • Finnish Party / True Finns9.2% of votes9.0% of seats
  • Swedish People's Party of Finland5.1% of votes4.5% of seats
  • National Progressive Party / [Finnish] Liberal People's Party5.2% of votes3.5% of seats
  • Christian Democrats2.5% of votes2.0% of seats
  • Åland Coalition0.3% of votes0.5% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 2.4 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); Social Democratic Party of Finland led National Coalition Party by 8.2 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of