The city council of Helsinki consists of eighty-five members. Following the most recent municipal election in 2012, the three largest parties are National Coalition (23), Greens (19), and Social Democrats (15). The mayor, Jussi Pajunen, is a member of the National Coalition Party.
Like in all Finnish municipalities, the City Council of Helsinki is the main decision-making organ in local politics, dealing with issues such as city planning, schools, health care, and public transport. The 85-member council is elected every fourth year by municipal elections.
Traditionally, the conservative National Coalition Party (kokoomus) has been the biggest party in Helsinki's local politics, with the Social Democrats being the second biggest. In the 2000 election the Green League, for which Helsinki is the strongest area of support nationally, gained the position of the second most popular party. In 2004 however, the Social Democrats regained that position. In 2008 election, the Green League again became the second biggest party, and they remained so in the 2012 election.
The Left Alliance is the fourth largest party, while the True Finns have increased their support steadily to become the fifth largest party. The Swedish People's Party's support has been steadily declining over the years, most likely because of the diminishing proportion of Swedish speakers in Helsinki. The Centre Party of Finland, despite being one of the major parties in nationwide politics, only has little support in Helsinki like it does in most other big cities.
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