The leading right-wing populist Riikka Purra received more individual votes in her election district than the outgoing Social Democratic Prime Minister Sanna Marinin did in hers, results from Sunday's election showed.
Overall, Petteri Orpo, leader of the conservative National Rally Party, won Finland's general election, defeating Marin.
Purra, the 45-year-old leader of the Finns party, received around 42,600 votes in Uusimaa, Finland's voter district with the largest number of eligible voters. In comparison Marin, 37, won around 35,600 votes in her Pirkanmaa constituency.
Those who win a particularly large number of votes in elections are often referred to in Finland as "vote magnets."
Oppo's conservative National Coalition Party was the strongest party in Sunday's election, just ahead of Purra's right-wing populists and Marin's Social Democrats.
Orpo, a former finance minister, is thus likely to be the first to explore the possibilities of forming a new government.
