electionstracker

Finland 1979 parliamentary election

What was the result of the 1979 parliamentary election in Finland?

Social Democratic Party of Finland won 52 of 200 seats with 23.9% of the vote. 75.3% 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 52 of 200 seats with 23.9% of the vote; 75.3% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 1.5 points on 1975.

  • Social Democratic Party of Finland 52 −2 seats 23.9% −1.0 points
  • National Coalition Party 47 +12 seats 21.7% +3.3 points
  • Democratic Union / Left Alliance 35 −5 seats 17.9% −1.0 points
  • Centre Party 36 −3 seats 17.3% −0.3 points
  • Christian Democrats 9 0 seats 4.8% +1.5 points
  • Finnish Party / True Finns 7 +5 seats 4.6% +1.0 points
  • Swedish People's Party of Finland 9 0 seats 4.2% −0.5 points
  • National Progressive Party / [Finnish] Liberal People's Party 4 −5 seats 3.7% −0.6 points
  • Åland Coalition 1 0 seats 0.3% 0.0 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 1975 parliamentary election, party by party.

101 of 200 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 23.9%

    Share of the vote won by Social Democratic Party of Finland

    Social Democratic Party of Finland won 52 of 200 seats. A majority needs 101.

  2. +12 seats

    Seats gained by National Coalition Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1975. Democratic Union / Left Alliance lost 5 seats.

  3. 75.3%

    Voter turnout

    Up 1.5 points on 1975.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Social Democratic Party of Finland52−223.9−1.0691,512
National Coalition Party47+1221.7+3.3626,764
Democratic Union / Left Alliance35−517.9−1.0518,045
Centre Party36−317.3−0.3500,478
Christian Democrats904.8+1.5138,244
Finnish Party / True Finns7+54.6+1.0132,457
Swedish People's Party of Finland904.2−0.5122,418
National Progressive Party / [Finnish] Liberal People's Party4−53.7−0.6106,560
Constitutional Right Party0−11.2−0.434,958
Åland Coalition100.30.09,286

± is the change against the Finland 1975 parliamentary election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Social Democratic Party of Finland 691,512
  • National Coalition Party 626,764
  • Democratic Union / Left Alliance 518,045
  • Centre Party 500,478
  • Christian Democrats 138,244
  • Finnish Party / True Finns 132,457
  • Swedish People's Party of Finland 122,418
  • National Progressive Party / [Finnish] Liberal People's Party 106,560
  • Constitutional Right Party 34,958
  • Åland Coalition 9,286

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?

75.3% of the 3,858,553 registered voters cast a ballot (2,906,066 ballots), up 1.5 points on 1975. 2,894,446 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Social Democratic Party of Finland23.9% of votes26.0% of seats
  • National Coalition Party21.7% of votes23.5% of seats
  • Centre Party17.3% of votes18.0% of seats
  • Democratic Union / Left Alliance17.9% of votes17.5% of seats
  • Christian Democrats4.8% of votes4.5% of seats
  • Swedish People's Party of Finland4.2% of votes4.5% of seats
  • Finnish Party / True Finns4.6% of votes3.5% of seats
  • National Progressive Party / [Finnish] Liberal People's Party3.7% 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 2.7 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 5.8 by votes and 5.2 by seats; Social Democratic Party of Finland led National Coalition Party by 2.2 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of