Stunning Rise by True Finns Party

The surprise victor in these elections is the True Finns Party. Although still a small party with few seats on any city council, the party posted a stunning rise in popular support. Party chair MP Timo Soini, who was running for a seat on the Espoo city council, also garnered the second most votes in the country.

Since the last municipal elections in 2004, the True Finns have risen from relative obscurity to become the sixth largest party in the nation. At that time, they earned less than one percent of the vote. Now, they have multiplied thier popular support to 5.4 percent.

Soini says he believes this strong growth will also be reflected in the next Parliamentary elections.

The True Finns party, which takes a restrictive line on immigration, has been accused of pandering to feelings of racism and xenophobia. The True Finns' chairman Timo Soini denies this:

"I'm not a racist and I'm very moderate. I'm a devoted catholic and it's against my beliefs," says Soini.

SDP chair Jutta Urpilainen says she believes the True Finns made gains at the SDP's expense, while National Coalition chair Jyrki Katainen credited Soini's down-to-earth charisma for the party's popularity.

The Green League also made gains, surpassing the Left Alliance as the largest of the smaller parties. Party Chair Tarja Cronberg says she was quite happy with the result.

She also commented on the True Finns' sudden rise, speculating that the party was perhaps finally making its message reach the public - thanks in large part to a charismatic leader, she says.

Of the smaller parties, the Green League is out front with 8.9 percent, followed by the Left Alliance (8.8 percent), the True Finns (5.4 percent), the Swedish People's Party (4.7 percent), and the Christian Democrats (4.2).