The European Parliament elections in Finland are unlikely to see a significant swing in support toward the Eurosceptic Finns Party

With Finland due to hold parliamentary elections in 2015, the European elections in May will be viewed as an indicator of where the major parties stand with the electorate. Tapio Raunio gives an overview of the campaign, noting that European Parliament (EP) elections in Finland are traditionally highly ‘candidate centred’ due to the use of open party lists. Nevertheless one of the main areas of interest in the campaign is the performance of the Eurosceptic ‘Finns Party’, who had a breakthrough in the last parliamentary elections in 2011. He writes that while the Finns Party are still holding firm in the polls, the fact that their charismatic leader, Timo Soini, is not standing for an EP seat leaves them without a much needed leading candidate in the election.