Only 2% of Finns want the current government to continue
A survey commissioned by Yle shows that just 2% of Finnish residents want the current government to remain in power after next spring's parliamentary elections, with no clear favorite coalition emerging among voters.
A poll conducted by research firm Taloustutkimus for Finnish public broadcaster Yle has found that only two percent of Finland's residents would like the current government to continue in its present form after the parliamentary elections next spring. Even among supporters of the Coalition Party, the Finns Party, the Swedish People's Party and the Christian Democrats — the parties making up the current coalition — continuing the government as is is not the top preference.
The survey did not reveal any single clearly preferred coalition option, as responses were spread fairly evenly across different scenarios. The most frequently named "best possible government" was a red-green government led by the Social Democratic Party (13%), resembling the earlier governments of Antti Rinne and Sanna Marin. Nearly equal support went to a left-wing government led by the SDP (12%), a blue-red government combining the Coalition Party and the Social Democrats (11%), and a right-wing government led by the Finns Party (11%) — the latter's popularity resting almost entirely on support from Finns Party and Christian Democrat backers.
Commenting on the results, Elina Kestilä-Kekkonen, a political science professor at Tampere University, pointed out that only a small share of supporters of the current ruling parties hope to see Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's Coalition Party-led government continue. "Something new is needed. The opposition is always stronger, even without offering a clear alternative," she said.
An alternative floated a decade ago — a government led by the Centre Party of Finland with the Coalition Party and the Finns Party as coalition partners — was supported by only 5% of respondents.
The poll also showed a gender divide: women on average were more likely to back a Social Democrat-led government, while men leaned toward right-wing governments. Kestilä-Kekkonen said this pattern is seen elsewhere in Europe too, linking it to a modern gender gap that already appeared in the previous parliamentary elections. She noted that across much of Europe, highly educated women tend to lean toward left-wing parties, while less-educated men favor right-wing ones — a divide that largely mirrors the educational gap.
