Sipilä cabinet

Sipilä's Cabinet

74th Cabinet of Finland
Date formed29 May 2015
Date dissolved8 March 2019
(continued on caretaker basis until 6 June 2019)
People and organisations
Head of stateSauli Niinistö
Head of governmentJuha Sipilä
No. of ministers14 (2015–2017)
17 (2017–2019)
Member partiesSince 13 June 2017
Centre Party
National Coalition Party
Finns Party (2015–2017)
Blue Reform (2017–2019)
Status in legislatureuntil June 2017
Majority government (coalition)
124 / 200(62%)










from June 2017
Majority government (coalition)
106 / 200(53%)









History
Election2015 parliamentary election
Budget€55,774 billion (2018)
PredecessorStubb Cabinet
SuccessorRinne Cabinet

The cabinet of Juha Sipilä was the 74th government of Finland, from 2015 to 2019. It was formed following the parliamentary election of 2015 and formally appointed by President Sauli Niinistö on 29 May 2015. From June 2017, the cabinet consisted of a coalition formed by the Centre Party, Blue Reform and the National Coalition Party. The cabinet's Prime Minister was Juha Sipilä.

Following the parliamentary election of 2015 and cabinet discussions, a coalition government consisting of the three largest centre-right parties – the Centre Party, the National Coalition Party, and the Finns Party – was formed. Centre returned to lead the government after four years in opposition. This was the first time that a right-wing populist party, namely the Finns Party, had participated in a Finnish government and the first time since 1979 that the Swedish People's Party was left out. The center-right coalition had a total of 124 seats (62%) in the 200-seat parliament when it started. On 22 June 2016, Finns Party MP Maria Tolppanen joined the Social Democratic Party, which decreased the government's share to 123 seats.

As a result of the 2017 Finns Party leadership election, Jussi Halla-aho became the party's leader. On 12 June 2017, Sipilä and Orpo declared that they did not see grounds for continued co-operation with the Finns Party, effectively announcing the imminent dissolution of the Sipilä Cabinet. They cited disagreements in the parties' value bases, as well as Halla-aho's newfound leadership of his party from Brussels as obstacles for maintaining the three-party coalition. On the following day, 13 June 2017, a group split from the Finns Party forming a new parliamentary group called Blue Reform (initially New Alternative), and declared a willingness to continue in the cabinet. As a result, Blue Reform took the Finns Party's place in the cabinet and the cabinet continued with the same ministers as before, with the Finns Party entering opposition. After the split, the total number of seats held by the government changed a few times due to the shifting allegiance of some Finns Party MPs, but ultimately was settled to 106 seats, of which one is the speaker of the parliament, and as a result is unable to vote.

The Sipilä cabinet was the most male-dominated government in contemporary Finnish history. It consisted of 17 ministers, of which twelve were men and five women.

On 8 March 2019 it was announced that Sipilä had asked permission from President of Finland Sauli Niinistö to dissolve the cabinet and that Niinistö had accepted. The Cabinet was dissolved that day but was requested to continue on a caretaker basis until a new government was formed.