Why Sanna Marin lost Finland’s election

A journalist and observer of Finnish politics once said there is one headline that works for every Finnish election: ‘Finland elects new government, nothing will change’. Few prime ministers have survived longer than one term in the Arctic nation. Just as day becomes night and that spring follows on winter, the rhythm of the country’s elections has been to hand victory to the main opposition party – depending on which of them that was outside the last ruling coalition.

Finland’s major parties are all centrist and pragmatic, and the difference between the left and the right is hard to detect. Even the populist Finns party feels tidy and well-behaved. With a difficult geography (on the periphery of Europe, sharing a long border with Russia) and strong homogeneity, the country isn’t a breeding ground for ideological passion – let alone Anglo-Saxon like culture wars. It takes pride in national political cohesion. Compromise is a virtue; confrontation is a vice.