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Christian Democrats
Name in Finnish	Kristillisdemokraatit
Name in Swedish	Kristdemokraterna
Leader	Päivi Räsänen
Founded	1958
Headquarters	Karjalankatu 2 C 7 krs. FIN - 00520 HELSINKI
Political Ideology	Christian Democracy, Conservatism
Political Position	Centre-right
European Affiliation	European People's Party, European Christian Political Movement
International Affiliation	Christian Democrat International
Colours	Blue, Orange
Website	http://www.kristillisdemokraatit.fi (Finnish)
See also	Finnish Politics Finnish Parliament Finnish Government Finnish President Political parties Elections

The Christian Democrats (in Finnish: Kristillisdemokraatit, KD; in Swedish: Kristdemokraterna) is a political party in Finland. The party was founded in 1958, chiefly from the Christian faction of the conservative National Coalition Party. The name was initially Finnish Christian League (in Finnish Suomen Kristillinen Liitto, SKL; in Swedish Finlands Kristliga Förbund) but it was changed in 2001.

The Christian Democrats have a tendency of forming alliances with other parties during elections and their success in elections is mainly determined by their success in these alliances. Their own voter base is stable and loyal, totaling around 5% of the votes.

Contents 1 Ideology 2 Politicians 2.1 List of party chairs 2.2 Current members of parliament 3 Elections results 3.1 Parliament elections 3.2 Local council elections 3.3 European parliament elections 4 See also 5 External links

The Christian Democrats is a conservative right-of-centre party. However, in many social issues such as poverty and family policy, the party is nearer to the left-of-centre views.

Ideologically the Christian Democrats represent the Christian world view in politics in Finland. The party emphasizes the Christian faith as the basis of all political work, family as the center of the society, and responsible freedom. The party opposes e.g. gay marriages, abortion, euthanasia and divorce. The Christian Democrats promote e.g. human dignity, social equality and justice in political questions.

The party is an observer member of the European People's Party (EPP).

• Olavi Päivänsalo (1958-1964)
• Ahti Tele (1964-1967)
• Eino Sares (1967-1970)
• Olavi Majlander (1970-1973)
• Raino Westerholm (1973-1982)
• Esko Almgren (1982-1989)
• Toimi Kankaanniemi (1989-1995)
• Bjarne Kallis (1995-2004)
• Päivi Räsänen (2004-)

• Päivi Räsänen (Häme constituency)
• Kari Kärkkäinen (Pohjois-Savo constituency)
• Sari Palm (Kymi constituency)
• Bjarne Kallis (Vaasa constituency)
• Toimi Kankaanniemi (Keski-Suomi constituency)
• Leena Rauhala (Pirkanmaa constituency)
• Tarja Tallqvist (Uusimaa constituency)

Part of the Politics series on Christian Democracy

Parties

Christian Democratic parties Christian Democrat International Christian Dem Org of America European People's Party Euro Christian Political Movement European Democratic Party

Ideas

Social conservatism Social market economy Communitarianism Human dignity · Stewardship Sphere sovereignty · Distributism Catholic social teaching Neo-Calvinism · Neo-Thomism

Important documents

Rerum Novarum (1891) Stone Lectures (Princeton 1898) Graves de Communi Re (1901) Quadragesimo Anno (1931) Laborem Exercens (1981) Sollicitudi Rei Socialis (1987) Centesimus Annus (1991)

Important figures

Thomas Aquinas · John Calvin Pope Leo XIII · Abraham Kuyper Maritain · Adenauer · De Gasperi Pope Pius XI · Schuman Pope John Paul II · Kohl · Skillen

Politics Portal · edit

Year	MPs	Votes	Share of votes
1958	0	3 358	0,17%
1966	0	10 646	0,45%
1970	1	28 228	1,40%
1972	4	65 228	2,53%
1975	9	90 599	3,29%
1979	9	138 244	4,77%
1983	3	90 410	3,03%
1987	5	74 209	2,58%
1991	8	83 151	3,05%
1995	7	82 311	2,96%
1999	10	111 835	4,17%
2003	7	148 987	5,34%
2007	7	134 643	4,9%

Year	Councillors	Votes	Share of votes
1972	134	49 877	2,0%
1976	322	85 792	3,2%
1980	333	100 800	3,7%
1984	257	80 455	3,0%
1988	273	71 614	2,72%
1992	353	84 481	3,2%
1996	353	75 494	3,2%
2000	443	95 009	4,3%
2004	392	94 666	4,0%

Year	MEPs	Votes	Share of votes
1996	0	63 134	2,8%
1999	1	29 637	2,4%
2004	0	70 845	4,3%

• Christian Democracy as a political ideology
• Kristillisdemokraattiset Nuoret ry. (Finnish Christian Democrats Youth Organization)

• Christian Democrats - Official site (Finnish)

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Centre Party - Christian Democrats in Finland - Green League - Left Alliance - National Coalition Party - Social Democratic Party of Finland - Swedish People's Party - True Finns Communist Party of Finland - Finnish Seniors' Party - For Peace and Socialism - Communist Workers Party - Workers Party of Finland
Portal:Politics - List of political parties - Politics of Finland