Centre Party (Finland) in the context of "Social Democratic Party of Finland"

The National Coalition Party (NCP; Finnish: Kansallinen Kokoomus [ˈkɑnsɑlːinen ˈko̞ko̞ːmus], Kok; Swedish: Nationella Samlingspartiet, Saml) is a liberal-conservative political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland.

Founded in 1918, the National Coalition Party is one of the "big three" parties that have dominated Finnish national politics for several decades, along with the Social Democratic Party and the Centre Party. The current party chair is Petteri Orpo, elected on 11 June 2016. The party self-statedly bases its politics on "freedom, responsibility and democracy, equal opportunities, education, supportiveness, tolerance and caring" and supports multiculturalism and gay rights. Their foreign stances are pro-NATO and pro-European oriented, the party is also a member of the European People's Party (EPP). The party is described by literature as a liberal, conservative as well as liberal-conservative party on the centre-right, with catch-all characteristics.

Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈurho ˈkɑleʋɑ ˈkekːonen] ; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as prime minister (1950–1953, 1954–1956), and held various other cabinet positions. He was the third and most recent president from the Agrarian League/Centre Party. Head of state for nearly 26 years, he dominated Finnish politics for 31 years overall. Holding a large amount of power, he won his later elections with little opposition and has often been classified as an autocrat.

As president, Kekkonen continued the "active neutrality" policy of his predecessor President Juho Kusti Paasikivi that came to be known as the Paasikivi–Kekkonen doctrine, under which Finland was to retain its independence while maintaining good relations and extensive trade with members of both NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Critical commentators referred to this policy of appeasement pejoratively as Finlandization. He is credited by Finnish historians for his foreign and trade policies, which allowed Finland's market economy to keep pace with Western Europe even with the Soviet Union as a neighbor, and for Finland to gradually take part in the European integration process. On the other hand, his perceived hunger for power, his divide-and-rule attitude in domestic politics and the lack of genuine political opposition, especially during the latter part of his presidency, significantly weakened Finnish democracy during his presidency. Kekkonen was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 for his "tireless efforts and success at keeping peace and security in the Nordic countries, and therefore contributing to civic peace and reconciliation in the World". He was also considered a potential candidate for the prize on later occasions.

Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 2 April 2023 to elect members of the Parliament of Finland.

Following the 2019 election, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) formed a governing coalition with the Centre Party, Greens, Left Alliance, and the Swedish People's Party, with Antti Rinne serving as the prime minister of Finland. Later that year, Rinne was involved in a political scandal regarding the Finnish postal service, after which he resigned and was succeeded by Sanna Marin. Marin's government focused on issues regarding climate change, while her government also faced the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The invasion prompted her to announce that Finland would submit its candidacy to join NATO, which it did in May 2022.