44% elected councillors are new

Altogether 8,999 councillors were elected to municipal councils in the municipal elections 2017 and 44 per cent of the winners are new or contested in the polls for the first time, according to the Statistics Finland.

Of the elected councillors, 39.0 per cent are women, which is 0.9 percentage points fewer than that nominated by the parties. However, the share of women among those elected as councillors increased by 2.8 percentage points from that in the previous elections.

The average age of all councillors elected in the municipal elections was 50.7 years. Current councillors make up 56.1 per cent of the elected councillors. Among the parliamentary parties, most current councillors were elected for another council term in relative terms from among the Finns Party candidates, 62.2 per cent. In relative terms, most new municipal councillors were, in turn, elected from among the Green League candidates, 65.7 per cent.

Of the elected councillors, 92.7 per cent are Finnish or Sami speakers, 6.5 per cent are Swedish speakers and 0.7 per cent councillors have some other native language. Among the parliamentary parties, most foreign-language speakers, 1.9 per cent, were elected from among the Green League candidates in relative terms.

Based on the main type of activity, 80.6 per cent of all elected councillors in the municipal elections were employed, 4.2 per cent were unemployed, and 15.2 per cent were in the inactive population. Among the parliamentary parties, the Coalition Party (85.1%) has the most employed councillors in relative terms, and the Left Alliance has the least (70.8%).

The average income subject to state taxation of all elected councillors is EUR 48,087 per year. Among the parliamentary parties, the newly elected councillors of the Coalition Party have the highest average income, EUR 67,152, and the newly elected councillors of the Finns Party have the lowest, EUR 39,580. More detailed data on the candidates and elected councillors of the municipal elections can be found in the review: “Background analysis of candidates and elected councillors in Municipal elections 2017”.