Toimi Kankaanniemi

Toimi Kankaanniemi
Member of the Finnish Parliament
for Central Finland
Incumbent
Assumed office
22 April 2015
In office
21 March 1987 – 19 April 2011
Development minister of Finland
In office
26 April 1991 – 28 June 1994
Prime MinisterEsko Aho
Chairman of the Christian Democrats
In office
1989–1995
Personal details
Born (1950-02-26) February 26, 1950 (age 74)
Tyrvää, Pirkanmaa, Finland
Political partyFinns Party (2012—)
Christian Democrats (until 2011)
Alma materUniversity of Tampere (1975)

Toimi Olavi Kankaanniemi (born 26 February 1950) is a Finnish politician, born in Tyrvää. Kankaanniemi was the Chairman of the Finnish Christian Democrats from 1989 to 1995. In 1994, he was a candidate for President of Finland, finishing ninth of eleven candidates.[1] He served as a Member of the Finnish Parliament from 1987 to 2011. Kankaanniemi was also a minister in the cabinet of Esko Aho from 1991 to 1994, responsible for international development as well as alcohol issues. He resigned from the cabinet in 1994, citing his opposition to the European Union, which Finland was about to join.[2]

After retiring from the Parliament Kankaanniemi resigned his membership in the Christian Democrats and, in 2012, joined the Finns Party (True Finns) as a candidate in that year's municipal election.[3] He became a member of the Finns Party the following year.[4] He was a candidate in the 2014 European Parliament election, but was not elected.

In the 2015 parliamentary election Kankaanniemi returned to the parliament as a Finns Party MP. After admitting to sending sexually suggestive messages over Facebook to several women, Kankaanniemi was removed from the Finns Party's government negotiation team.[5]

  1. ^ "Kankaanniemi, Toimi". Our Campaigns.com. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
  2. ^ "Parliament of Finland biography".
  3. ^ "KSML: Nimekäs loikkari Perussuomalaisiin". 18 September 2012. Archived from the original on September 19, 2012.
  4. ^ "Kankaanniemi liittyi perussuomalaisiin". 29 June 2013. Archived from the original on July 2, 2013.
  5. ^ HS: Finns MP Kankaanniemi kicked out of coalition talks Yle