City Council of Helsinki

The City Council of Helsinki (Finnish: Helsingin kaupunginvaltuusto, 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.

City Council of Helsinki

Helsingin kaupunginvaltuusto
Helsingfors stadsfullmäktige
History
Founded1873
Leadership
Chairperson
Otso Kivekäs, Green League
First Deputy Chairperson
Harry Bogomoloff, National Coalition Party
Second Deputy Chairperson
Paavo Arhinmäki, Left Alliance
Structure
Seats85
Length of term
Four years
Meeting place
Helsinki City Hall
Website
www.hel.fi/helsinki/en/administration/decision/council/

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. In the 2000 election, the Green League, for which Helsinki is the strongest area of support nationally, gained the position of the second most popular party. In 2004, the Social Democrats regained that position. In the 2008 election, the Green League became the second-largest party again, retaining this spot in the 2012 and 2017 elections.

The Left Alliance is the Council's fourth-largest party; 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 Centre Party, despite being one of the major parties in national politics, has limited support 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

1919–1936
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–
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 %
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]
Source: Statistics Bureau of Finland,[5][6] Minister of Justice,[7] & Helsinki City Statistics[2]

Chairmen of the City Council

Deputy Chairman
  • Väinö Tanner (1929-1930)
  • Johan Helo
  • Pekka Railo
  • Tyyne Leivo-Larsson (1948-1956)
  • B. R. Nybergh (1951-1954)
  • Gunnar Modeen (1954-1964)
  • Yrjö Rantala (1957-1972)
  • Leo Backman (1965-1967)
  • Carl-Gustaf Londen (1967-1974)
  • Keijo Liinamaa (1973-1976)
  • Gustaf Laurent (1974-1980)[11]
  • Per-Erik Förars (1977-1979)[11]
  • Arvo Salo (1979-1980)
  • Grels Teir
  • Jyrki Lohi (1989-1992)
  • Ulla Gyllenberg (1989-1992)
  • Outi Ojala (1993-1994)
  • Erkki Heikkonen (1993-1995)
  • Ulla Gyllenberg (1994-1998)
  • Per-Erik Förars (1995-1996)
  • Tuula Haatainen (1997-2000)
  • Tuija Brax (1998-2000)
  • Hannele Luukkainen (2000)
  • Suvi Rihtniemi (2001-2004)
  • Arto Bryggare (2001-2004)
  • Harry Bogomoloff (2005-)
  • Minerva Krohn (2005-2008)
  • Rakel Hiltunen (2009–2012)
  • Sara Paavolainen (2013–)

City Manager

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. The position of City Manager was abolished in June 2017 and the position of Mayor was created.

List of City Managers of Helsinki
City Manager Term Party
Arthur Castrén1921–1930Young Finnish Party
Antti Tulenheimo1931–1944National Coalition Party
Eero Rydman1944–1956National Progressive Party
Lauri Aho1956–1968National Coalition Party
Teuvo Aura1968–1979Liberal People's Party
Raimo Ilaskivi1979–1991National Coalition Party
Kari Rahkamo1991–1996National Coalition Party
Eva-Riitta Siitonen1996–2005National Coalition Party
Jussi Pajunen2005–2017National Coalition Party

Mayor

The position of Mayor of Helsinki was created when the position of City Manager of Helsinki was abolished in June 2017. The first and incumbent mayor of Helsinki is Jan Vapaavuori. 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
Mayor Term Party
Jan Vapaavuori2017–National Coalition Party

See also

References
  1. "City Council". Helsingin kaupunki. Retrieved 2018-01-02.
  2. Finnish municipal elections, Helsingissä vuonna 2008 Statistics 2008, 43 Helsinki City Statistics
  3. http://www.helsinginvihreat.fi/historiaa 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)
  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. Kukkiva asfaltti, hiukan nostalginen albumi (2001, Pentti Poukka)
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