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Finnish People First[1] (Finnish: Suomen Kansa Ensin, SKE[2]) was a nationalist political party in Finland. It was founded in 2018[3] and de-registered in 2023 after failing to win seats in two consecutive parliamentary elections.[4] In July 2023, the party filed for bankruptcy and announced its dissolution.[5]
Finnish People First Suomen Kansa Ensin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | SKE |
| Chairperson | Riikka Salmi |
| Secretary | Ari Lindström |
| Vice chairperson | Kari Sunell |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Dissolved | 2023 |
| Split from | Suomi Ensin |
| Headquarters | Tampere, Finland |
| Ideology | Finnish nationalism Euroscepticism Anti-immigration Anti-Islamization |
| Political position | Far-right |
| Parliament of Finland | 0 / 200 |
| Website | |
| skepuolue | |
Finnish People First originated from the Suomi Ensin ("Finland First") movement that organized a protest camp in central Helsinki in the spring of 2017.[6][7] The movement was led by Marco de Wit,[6] a YouTuber from Tampere.[8][6] The movement splintered into numerous competing factions, one of which evolved into Finnish People First,[6] also led by de Wit.[9] It was registered as an association in November 2017.[10] The association had collected the required 5,000 supporter cards by October 2018, and was admitted to the party register in December that year.[6] Soon after, the party descended into internal strife. A party conference was convened to address the issue, but only resulted in furthering the divides. The conference re-elected Marco De Wit as the party chairman, but some members of the party contested the validity of the conference.[11] Another conference in November 2019 also brought up divisions within the party, when a group of members voted a new chair at a meeting, and after the meeting was partly evicted from the premises by security, the disputed new chair decided the meeting would continue at a neighbouring room with a large part of participants while another disputed chair decided to continue the meeting at the original premises with rest of the participants.[12]
Finnish People First took part in the 2019 parliamentary election. During the campaign the party displayed campaign ads that the police investigated for criminal content.[13] No candidates were elected.[14]
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Finnish People First was extreme nationalist and anti-immigration.[15][6] It opposed Finland's membership in the European Union and the Eurozone, and would return to its former currency, the Finnish markka.[16] The party opposed NATO and what it called "harmful immigration" and "Islamization".[6] The party has been described as far-right,[17] although the way it described its position on the left–right political spectrum was ambiguous.[16]
Parliament of Finland
Municipal elections
| Election | Votes | % | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 197 | 0.0 | 0 |
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