Vapaamielisten Liitto
Encyclopedia
Liberal League was a Finnish liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

. VL existed from 1951 until 1965.

The party was founded in spring 1951 by the minority of National Progressive Party
National Progressive Party (Finland)
The National Progressive Party was a liberal political party in Finland from 1918 to 1951. The party was founded December 8 1918, after the Finnish Civil War, by the republican majority of the Young Finnish Party and the republican minority of the Finnish Party...

, led by Helsinki group, as the party finished its existence. Most of the former Progressive party members joined the People's Party of Finland
People's Party of Finland (1951)
The People's Party of Finland was a Finnish liberal political party founded on 3 February 1951 after the National Progressive Party was disbanded. In 1965 it merged with the Liberal League into the Liberal People's Party....

.

VL included among others MP Rolf B. Berner, minister 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:...

 and the director of the Bank of Finland
Bank of Finland
The Bank of Finland is the central bank of Finland. It is the fourth oldest central bank in the world.-History:The Bank of Finland was established on 1 March in 1812 in the city of Turku by Alexander I of Russia. In 1819 it was relocated to Helsinki...

 and once PM, Sakari Tuomioja
Sakari Tuomioja
Sakari Severi Tuomioja was a Finnish politician , diplomat, Prime Minister of Finland during the caretaker government which was formed in 1953...

. VL was heir to National Progressive Party seat in the Liberal International
Liberal International
Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...

 – People's Party was not accepted into the International as a result.

VL proposed Sakari Tuomioja
Sakari Tuomioja
Sakari Severi Tuomioja was a Finnish politician , diplomat, Prime Minister of Finland during the caretaker government which was formed in 1953...

 as candidate for 1956 presidential elections
Finnish presidential election, 1956
Two-stage presidential elections were held in Finland in 1956. On 16 and 17 January the public elected presidential electors to an electoral college. They in turn elected the President. The result was a victory for Urho Kekkonen, who won in the third round of voting. Voter turnout in the public...

. He was also supported by National Coalition Party
National Coalition Party (Finland)
The National Coalition Party is a liberal conservative political party in Finland founded in 1918.The National Coalition Party is one of the four largest parties in Finland, along with the Social Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the True Finns...

. Tuomioja eventually lost the race to Urho Kekkonen
Urho Kekkonen
Urho Kaleva Kekkonen , was a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland and later as the eighth President of Finland . Kekkonen continued the “active neutrality” policy of his predecessor President Juho Kusti Paasikivi, a doctrine which came to be known as the “Paasikivi–Kekkonen...

, the Agrarian League
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...

 candidate and a favourite of Moscow.

In 1965 the VL merged with the People's Party into Liberal People's Party
Liberals (Finland)
Liberals is a free market liberal party in Finland. Founded in 1965 as a reunification of the People's Party of Finland and Liberal League. Originally named Liberal People's Party , it restyled its name as Liberals in 2000....

, founded December 29, 1965 and the Eduskunta factions also merged.

Elections

Results
Parliamentary
Year MPs Votes
1951
Finnish parliamentary election, 1951
Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 1 and 2 July 1951.-Background:Urho Kekkonen had served as Prime Minister since March 1950, after losing the February 1950 presidential election clearly to President J.K...

0 4,936 0.27%
1954
Finnish parliamentary election, 1954
Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 7 and 8 March 1954.-Background:In June 1953, Prime Minister Kekkonen had presented a simultaneous deflationary program, which tried to lower wages, prices and public expenditures to the level of the export industry's profitability...

0 6,810 0.34%
1958
Finnish parliamentary election, 1958
Year 1958 Eduskunta election took place 6–7 July 1958. As the result of the election Democratic Alliance of the Finnish People has been one of a few cases for a communist party to have become the dominant party in a Western European country during the Cold War...

0 6,242 0.32%
1962
Finnish parliamentary election, 1962
Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 4 and 5 February 1962.-Background:Sukselainen's second minority government had resigned in 1961, followed by Prime Minister Martti Miettunen's first government, also a centrist minority government. In the spring of 1961, Mr...

1 12,000 0.52%
Presidential
Vuosi Candidate / Electors Äänet
1956
Finnish presidential election, 1956
Two-stage presidential elections were held in Finland in 1956. On 16 and 17 January the public elected presidential electors to an electoral college. They in turn elected the President. The result was a victory for Urho Kekkonen, who won in the third round of voting. Voter turnout in the public...

Sakari Tuomioja
Sakari Tuomioja
Sakari Severi Tuomioja was a Finnish politician , diplomat, Prime Minister of Finland during the caretaker government which was formed in 1953...

 / 3
32,662 1.7%
1962
Finnish presidential election, 1962
Two-stage presidential elections were held in Finland in 1962. On 15 and 16 January the public elected presidential electors to an electoral college. They in turn elected the President. The result was a victory for Urho Kekkonen, who won in the first round of voting. Voter turnout in the public...

1 7,898 0.4%
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