City Council

Like in all Finnish municipalities, the city council in Helsinki is the main decision-making organ in local politics, dealing with issues such as city planning, schools, health care, and public transport

Public transport

Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...

. The 85-member council is elected every fourth year by municipal elections.

Traditionally, the conservative National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) has been the biggest party in Helsinki's local politics, with the Social Democrats

Social Democratic Party of Finland

The Social Democratic Party of Finland is one of the three major political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party. Jutta Urpilainen is the current SDP leader. The party has been in the Finnish government cabinet for long periods and has set many...

 being the second biggest. In the 2000 election the Green League

Green League

The Green League is a centrist green liberal political party in Finland. It has ten seats in the Finnish Parliament and two in the European Parliament. The current chairperson is Ville Niinistö....

, for which Helsinki is the strongest area of support nationally, gained the position of the second most popular party. In 2004 however, the Social Democrats regained that position. Currently these three groups hold about 75% of the seats. In 2008 election, the Green League

Green League

The Green League is a centrist green liberal political party in Finland. It has ten seats in the Finnish Parliament and two in the European Parliament. The current chairperson is Ville Niinistö....

 again became the second biggest party.

The Left Alliance

Left Alliance

The Left Alliance is the name of a number of left wing political parties around the world.These include:* Democratic Left Alliance in Poland* Left Alliance * Leeds Left Alliance, now part of the Alliance for Green Socialism...

 and the Swedish People's Party both have some 7-8% of the seats. The latter's support has been steadily declining over the years, most likely because of the diminishing proportion of Swedish

Finland-Swedish

Finland Swedish is a general term for the closely related cluster of dialects of Swedish spoken in Finland by Swedish-speaking Finns as their mother tongue...

 speakers in Helsinki. The Centre Party of Finland, despite being one of the three major parties in nationwide politics, only has little support in Helsinki like it does in most other big cities.

Seat distribution in the city council

Party	2008	2004	2000	1996
National Coalition Party	26	25	25	24
Green League Green League The Green League is a centrist green liberal political party in Finland. It has ten seats in the Finnish Parliament and two in the European Parliament. The current chairperson is Ville Niinistö....	21	17	21	16
SDP Social Democratic Party of Finland The Social Democratic Party of Finland is one of the three major political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party. Jutta Urpilainen is the current SDP leader. The party has been in the Finnish government cabinet for long periods and has set many...	16	21	18	21
Left Alliance Left Alliance The Left Alliance is the name of a number of left wing political parties around the world.These include:* Democratic Left Alliance in Poland* Left Alliance * Leeds Left Alliance, now part of the Alliance for Green Socialism...	7	8	7	6
Swedish People's Party	5	6	6	8
True Finns True Finns True Finns or The Finns is a populist and nationalist political party in Finland, founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The head of the movement is Timo Soini. In the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election, The party won 19.1% of votes, becoming the third largest party...	4	1	-	-
Centre Party Centre Party (Finland) The Centre Party is a centrist and Nordic agrarian political party in Finland. It is one of the four largest political parties in the country, along with the Social Democratic Party , the National Coalition Party and the True Finns , and currently has 35 seats in the Finnish Parliament...	3	4	4	3
Christian Democrats Christian Democrats (Finland) The Christian Democrats is a Christian democratic political party in Finland. Formerly known as the Finnish Christian League , the Christian Democrats have six seats in the Finnish Parliament and one in the European Parliament.The party was founded in 1958, chiefly from the Christian faction of...	2	2	3	2
Communist Party	1	1	0	0
Independents	0	0	1	0

Chairmen of the City Council

• Leo Mechelin
  Leo Mechelin
  Leopold Henrik Stanislaus Mechelin was a Finnish professor, statesman, senator and liberal reformer...
  
   (1875–1878, except 1877)
• ...
• Leo Mechelin (1892–1899)
• ...
• Alfred Norrmén (1904–1918)
• ...
• Antti Tulenheimo
  Antti Tulenheimo
  Antti Agathon Tulenheimo was a Finnish politician from the National Coalition Party who served as Prime Minister of Finland in 1925.-References:...
  
  
• ...
• Pentti Poukka
• Harri Holkeri (1981–1987)
• Rakel Hiltunen (1989–1992)
• Arja Alho (1993–1994)
• Suvi Rihtniemi (1995–2000)
• Pekka Sauri
  Pekka Sauri
  Pekka Markus Sauri is a Finnish psychologist and a Green League politician. He is currently the deputy mayor of Finland's capital city, Helsinki...
  
   (2001–2003)
• Minerva Krohn (2003–2004)
• Rakel Hiltunen (2005–2008)
• Otto Lehtipuu (2009–2010)
• Minerva Krohn (2011–)

Mayor

The Mayor of Helsinki is appointed by the city council. The post is currently held by Jussi Pajunen

Jussi Pajunen

Jussi Ilmari Pajunen is a Finnish politician of the National Coalition Party and mayor of Helsinki since 2005....

. He was appointed for a term of 7 years, starting June 1, 2005. Pajunen was a member of the city 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 will go to the Coalition party.

Current Deputy Mayors are Pekka Korpinen, Ilkka-Christian Björklund, Pekka Sauri

Pekka Sauri

Pekka Markus Sauri is a Finnish psychologist and a Green League politician. He is currently the deputy mayor of Finland's capital city, Helsinki...

, and Paula Kokkonen.

Mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

s of Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

Mayor	Term	Party
Arthur Castrén Arthur Castrén Arthur Castrén was a Finnish politician. He was a member of the Senate of Finland....	1921–1930
Antti Tulenheimo Antti Tulenheimo Antti Agathon Tulenheimo was a Finnish politician from the National Coalition Party who served as Prime Minister of Finland in 1925.-References:...	1931–1944	Kokoomus
Eero Rydman	1944–1956	Edistyspuolue
Lauri Aho	1956–1968	Kokoomus
Teuvo Aura Teuvo Aura Teuvo Ensio Aura was a Finnish politician from liberal party. He served as Mayor of Helsinki and interim Prime Minister of Finland twice, 1970 and 1971–72.-References:...	1968–1979	Vapaamielisten Liitto Vapaamielisten Liitto Liberal League was a Finnish liberal political party. VL existed from 1951 until 1965.The party was founded in spring 1951 by the minority of National Progressive Party, led by Helsinki group, as the party finished its existence. Most of the former Progressive party members joined the People's...
Raimo Ilaskivi Raimo Ilaskivi Raimo Ilaskivi is a Finnish politician. He holds a doctor's degree of economics from the University of Helsinki and has also studied in the U.S. and in the UK.Ilaskivi is best known as the mayor of Helsinki from 1979 to 1991...	1979–1991	Kokoomus
Kari Rahkamo	1991–1996	Kokoomus
Eva-Riitta Siitonen Eva-Riitta Siitonen Eva-Riitta Siitonen is a Finnish politician. She represents the National Coalition Party.She was a member of the Finnish parliament between 1983 and 1989. She was Governor of the Province of Uusimaa between 1990 and 1996. She was Mayor of Helsinki between 1996 and 2005.She was a Member of the...	1996–31 May 2005	Kokoomus
Jussi Pajunen Jussi Pajunen Jussi Ilmari Pajunen is a Finnish politician of the National Coalition Party and mayor of Helsinki since 2005....	Since June 1, 2005	Kokoomus

External links

• How Helsinki is governed - Presentation of the city government on the official website